[9 Secure] Best Remote Startup Tools for Building Remote Team

The number of startups across the globe has been increasing over the past decade. They are all managing their work with remote teams.

Team members of remote startups work from around the world.

The online tools for video editing apps, payment platforms, time & task management software, invoicing software, online meeting platforms, and social media publishing make remote work easy.

These online tools enable a remote startup to assign tasks, manage teams, communicate and collaborate with its employees across the globe effortlessly.

The remote startup seems to be the new normal, from drop shipping businesses to digital marketing agencies and software companies.

Setting up a remote team requires hiring, mail handling, training, task allocation, daily meetings, collaboration, Business PowerPoint templates, discussions, leave management system, payroll management, and much more.

It would be very overwhelming to manage multiple platforms to manage all these tasks daily.

Remote startup seemed like a distant dream a couple of decades ago and is the best way to manage a startup in the current scenario.

It is no secret that startups work on a tight budget. A remote team helps them to cut a significant chunk of expenses for office space, operational costs, employee benefits (occurred onsite), and a variety of other expenses.

A standard office setup helps employers build a culture and enable their employees to get acquainted with it.

Email, stand up meetings, technical discussions, daily communication, career growth, interpersonal relationships, and much more are much more comfortable in a traditional office setup.

But like everything else, it comes with a cost. An office set up also mean hiring people from different locations and paying them a competitive salary.

Thanks to technology, a remote startup can easily manage all the activities through online tools that enable hiring, training, task allocation, communication, and collaboration without any hassles.

Remote jobs have been at an all-time high. While some of it is due to a remote startup’s fast-growing trend, the others may be due to the pandemic.

Most large organizations are looking to move their sales, marketing, business development, and content creation teams into working remotely. Remote startup jobs are also increasing heavily.

Teams like customer service and a significant part of the senior management have even begun working remotely.

The quality of life has changed, and so has the work culture across companies. Freelancing career has not been popular previously.

Today it has become one of the fast-growing types of employment and seems to become mainstream. Technology is the main reason for this change. With the pandemic creating waves of change in every aspect of life, remote working has become routine.

A remote startup can create more remote jobs. Technology-based jobs, skills that can work remotely are growing.

Companies looking to hire remote jobs are utilizing online tools for a variety of tasks.

Remote jobs in roles like business development, sales, marketing, technology, and a few others were initially working well.

However, recent technology has made it possible for many other roles to work remotely, except for a few others. Like everything else, remote startup companies also face tons of challenges and some fantastic benefits.

Benefits of setting up a remote startup:

• Not using office space curtails cost.
• Time-saving since there is no commute involved.
• Flexible work timings for employees.
• Improved productivity.
• It helps to hire from a larger talent pool.

Challenges of setting up a remote startup:

• No personal touch/ emotional exchange sans the online meetings and phone conversations can lead to a lack of empathy and even make employees distant.
• Conversation/ meetings over the phone(audio calls) can become distractions, both digital and non-digital.
• Lacks organic visibility for employees since they do not physically catch up daily.
• Retention can be challenging since it does not involve a change in routine for employees.

Building a remote startup has both benefits and challenges.

Regular onsite meetups (when necessary and possible) and group meetups for employees in similar geographical locations, team lunches, annual team building activities, and a few other plans can improve the togetherness between employees.

Building a remote startup involves a lot of challenges on the business front.

The remote hiring, training, payroll, leave management, task allocation, communication, employer of record services and collaboration only add to the bandwagon.

However, technology has got it all covered through a variety of online software products. These applications enable employees to work remotely and companies to hire remote workers.

The pandemic has added to the surging number of remote jobs. Startups are leveraging some of the best software to manage their teams remotely.

Remote work has become the new normal, with more companies hiring their business development, marketing, customer care, and a few other teams to work remotely.

We will discuss the features, uses, benefits, and pricing of some of the best software that enables a remote startup and fast-growing companies to manage their remote workforce.

E-learning software development, has enabled students to take up a course that might help them pursue a hobby/ interest, learn a new skill

Toptal

Toptal is a talent network where companies can hire the cream of talent for their development, designing, and financial positions.

The best talent available in Toptal has excellent communication skills in English, irrespective of their origin. Toptal offers a talent pool of talents to companies looking for freelancers, full-time workforce, and part-time employees.

Features

Uses

• It helps cut down the cost of hiring and lead time to hire.
• The trial period of utilizing freelancer skills is for free.
• Best for remote startups

Benefits

• Risk-free recruitment
• The remote and onsite talent pool
• Seamless integration of freelancers
• Shorter turn around time for hiring

Pricing

• A free trial is not available.
• Requires companies/ users to deposit $500.
• The freelancer’s fees are $60 per hour.
• The deposit is refundable in case of no hiring.

Indiehackers

Indiehackers works as a platform that enables companies(remote startup entrepreneurs) to collaborate with talents(like developers) to share their strategies and financials to allow the projects to perform better.

Features

• Financial tracking apps
• Advanced campaign management
• Integrations with popular platforms
• Payment apps

Uses

• Community
• Flexibility
• Opportunities

Benefits

• Community
• Feedback
• Traffic generation
• Funding assistance

Pricing

The Starter plan costs $14.99 per month and includes Unlimited – members, page views, and staff accounts.

Up to two thousand newsletter emails per month, custom domain, up to ten GB media storage, monthly backup, SSL, and Theme store access are also a part of this plan.

The “Advance” plan costs $34.99 per month and covers all the starter plan features.

Up to ten thousand newsletter emails per month and a hundred GB of media storage are also a part of the Advance plan.

Any time cancellation, fourteen days free trial, automatic updates, images & content, support through chat and email, free migration for the first hundred users are some of the features covered across all the pricing plans.

Mailer Lite

Mailer lite offers email marketing and fits well for startups. It is easy to use, and the helpful features are a part of the Mailer lite software.

The drag and drop editor feature helps businesses to design professional-looking emails and newsletters effortlessly.

Landing pages, web forms, and many other exciting features are a part of the Mailer lite software.

Features

Uses

• Automated welcome emails
• Automated sequencing
• Automated audience segmentation
• Automated educational emails
• Lead nurturing

Benefits

• Mailer lite is easy to use and set up.
• Customized templates and the drag and drop editor make emails to look professional and improve audience engagement.
• Analytics & reporting enables users to improve/ change strategies.
• Mobile device optimization enables to improve subscribers to stay updated on the go.

Pricing

A free trial is available.

The Forever Free plan includes up to a thousand subscribers.

The Small business plan costs $15 per month and includes all the features and up to two thousand five hundred subscribers.

The Large business plan costs $260 per month and covers all the features along with sixty thousand subscribers

Mailer lite website/ vendor team can help with discussions about discounts on annual plans.

NiftyPM

Nifty PM is a complete package that enables companies to manage the entire project cycle and automate reporting.

NiftyPM is an excellent fit for your business, whether you are a startup or a large organization.

The project tracking and collaboration features of NiftyPM enable companies to improve communication and feedback mechanisms between team members and share ideas in real-time.

Task management, instant messaging, communication, idea sharing, discussions, and much more is possible with a few clicks.

Features

Uses

• Agile project management enables teams to work effectively and efficiently.
• Client management
• Digital agency
• Marketing and advertising teams

Benefits

• Workflow collaboration
• Idea sharing
• Invite team members with documents
• Improves team productivity

Pricing

A free trial is available.

The forever free subscription includes three active projects: files, docs, discussions, and team overviews. Kanban Task board, team chat, roadmap, up to ten users, and up to one GB storage per user are also a part of the forever free plan.

The Standard plan costs $89 per month. It covers unlimited – projects & clients, up to fifty users, five GB storage per user, priority support, milestone dependencies, and a self-serve help center.

The Premium plan costs $124 per month.

Up to a hundred users, up to fifteen GB of storage per user, custom fields, Google Single sign-on, dedicated success manager, and Microsoft SSO are part of the premium plan.

The enterprise is based on a quote and includes all the premium plan features and custom storage, budget & time tracking, reporting, onboarding, and training.

Hive

Hive enables data analysis, querying, and summarizing. Remote teams enjoy Hive since it allows them to work with freedom.

The Kanban and Gantt chart are some of the most popular features by the engineering and design team.

Features

Uses

• Agencies
• Education
• Startups

Benefits

• Data storage
• Data analysis

Pricing

A fourteen-day free trial is available.

The base plan costs $12 per month per user. Flexible project layouts, summary views, actions, chat, automated workflows, dashboards, Hive mail, and meeting notes are a part of the base plan.

The enterprise plan covers all the features with add-ons like proofing & approval, resourcing, timesheets, security, and analytics for $4 per user per month plus the base price.

Hubstaff

Hubstaff offers both desktop and mobile app development versions making it easier for users to manage work on the go.

The in-depth reporting, time tracking, automated invoice generation, payroll management, timesheets, and many other features offered by Hubstaff make it a breeze for a remote startup to manage remotely.

Hubstaff offers time tracking and URL tracking features that help freelancers to track their most productive time.

Features

Uses

• Ecommerce
• Healthcare
• Design
• Software

Benefits

Hubstaff works well for both employees and employers.

While it helps employers manage employee performance, it also enables freelancers/ contract employees to calculate the actual time required to perform a task, making it easy for them to figure.

Employee productivity tracking is much more comfortable with tracking tools.

Pricing

A free trial is available.

The Solo Lite is a free plan that includes one user, time tracking, activity levels, and limited screenshot storage.

The Basic plan costs $5 per user per month and covers screenshots, employee payments, 24/7 support, time tracking, keyboard, and mouse activity.

The Premium plan costs $9 per user per month and covers all the basic plan features.

Automatic payroll, integrations, idle time control, attendance scheduling, weekly budgets, and URL tracking are some of the other premium plan features.

attendance tracking software can make your job easy without wasting time.

Clickfunnels

Sales teams love the click funnels app because of its simplification tools that help in marketing and sales activities.

Sales teams can create effective funnels without wasting time on website hosting, landing pages, and email responses. All these features are available in a single platform with Clickfunnels.

Features

Uses

• Marketing
• Advertising
• Health & Fitness
• Coaching

Benefits

Clickfunnels simplifies funnels for all types of businesses.

Pre-built sales funnels to suit the requirements of the users.

Time-saving.

User-friendly interface.

Pricing

A fourteen days free trial is available.

The Startup subscription costs $97 per month.

It covers up to twenty funnels, a hundred pages, twenty thousand visitors, three custom domains, unlimited contact leads, email integrations, and unlimited members.

Optin funnels, sales & membership funnels, upsell & down sale pages, order pages, hangout funnels, and webinar/ auto webinar funnels are all a part of the startup plan.

The Enterprise plan costs $297 per month and includes all the startup features.

Up to twenty custom domains, priority support & template requests, unlimited contact leads, three hundred pages, seventy funnels, and a hundred thousand visitors are a part of the enterprise subscription.

Hey.com

Hey.com is an email provider just like Gmail and others but offers to screen your emails, thereby safeguarding from anyone snooping.

Hey enables users to stay in control of their content-based email.

Features

Uses

• Safeguards from snooping
• Available on all platforms

Benefits

• Email management tools.
• Anti Email tracking.

Pricing

The HEY for YOU is an excellent plan for individual freelancers. You can try it for free for up to fourteen days.

The paid version costs $99 per year and covers @hey.com email address, available on all platforms, up to a hundred GB storage space, and spy pixel blocking.

The HEY for the WORK plan works well for large organizations and costs $12 per month per user.

All the “hey for you” features are available in this plan along with multi-user, custom domain, thread sharing, email aliases, and private team comments.

Plutio

Plutio is an excellent fit for freelancers and small businesses. Managing remote teams, collaboration, client communication can all be done on a single platform.

The customizable application helps users manage tasks, proposals, invoicing and much more on a single app and a few clicks.

Features

Uses

• Task assignment
• Track milestones
• Communicate with suppliers

Benefits

• Time tracking effortlessly
• Easy to use
• CRM
• Streamlined communication

Pricing

A free trial is available.

The Solo subscription costs $15per month and covers all the Plutio features.

The Studio plan costs $20 per month and covers all the Solo features and the client portal.

The Team plan costs $30 per month and covers all the Studio plan features and up to five contributors. 

Simpu

Simpu is an omnichannel communication platform designed to enhance team collaboration and customer engagement in remote startups. It integrates various communication channels like emails, social media, and live chat into a single, easy-to-use interface.

Features

• Unified inbox for multiple channels
• Real-time analytics for performance monitoring
• Customizable workspaces
• Email, social media, and live chat integration
  

Usecases

• Centralized customer interaction management
• Enhanced team collaboration
• Efficient communication across platforms
• Streamlined customer support process
  

Benefits

• Improved customer engagement
• Increased team productivity
• Data-driven decision-making
• Personalized customer experiences
  

Pricing

• Basic Plan: $54/month, including core features, up to 5 team inboxes, and 8 communication channels.
• Professional Plan: $500/month, offering advanced automation, analytics, and up to 10 team inboxes.
• Business Plan: Custom pricing for larger enterprises, with unlimited team members, inboxes, and advanced features.
  

For detailed information, visit Simpu’s website.

Our Experience

Funding plays a vital role in a startup, and cutting costs that do not seem necessary is the first and foremost thought in those growing years.

Startups went through hiring, training, office space, and many other overheads that were previously mandatory. However, the concept of a remote startup cut down the initial investment on a variety of overheads.

A remote startup uses a variety of tools/ software to streamline their regular work process.

Communication, collaboration, task assignment, daily meetings, hiring, training, leave management, payroll management, time and expense tracking is all now possible with the online tools.

The remote startup has its challenges, but the team management, work assignment, tracking time, project management, and other areas are all managed with the online tools effortlessly.

Some of the online tools also enable taxation, analytics, reporting, accounting software, and expense tracking, making it a lot easier to manage a startup, whether remote or not.

Choosing the right tool plays a vital role.

No best tool works well for all types of businesses. While accounting is the key at one startup, communication, and collaboration between remote team members may be critical for another.

Some startups are dependent on the collaboration between the marketing and sales teams so on and so forth. It would be best if users get to decide which is the most suitable tool for their business.

We have discussed the features, uses, benefits, and pricing of some of the best apps in the market to enable a better decision.

Questions asked while looking for tools used in remote startup: