14 Best Online Business Tools for Productivity in 2024

In today's fast-paced digital landscape, businesses constantly seek ways to enhance efficiency, productivity, and profitability. This is where business tools come into play.

Online business tools encompass various software applications and services designed to help businesses operate more efficiently and effectively. From project management and communication to marketing and sales, these tools are essential for businesses of all sizes to stay competitive and meet their goals.

Table of contents

• Why do businesses need online tools?
• The 14 best online business tools
• Best business tools for teams
• Best online business tools for work management
• Best online business tools for team communication
• Best online business tools for Customer Relationship Management
• Best tools for accounting and HR
• Factors to consider when choosing the right tool for your business

Why do businesses need online tools?

Online tools for businesses allow companies to automate routine tasks, manage remote teams effectively, and analyze data to make informed decisions.

They also enable seamless communication and collaboration among team members, regardless of location. Online business tools empower companies to operate more proficiently, swiftly adapt to market changes, and achieve sustainable growth in an increasingly digital world. A corporate purchasing card can help optimize payments for these tools, offering enhanced security through built-in fraud protection and spending controls.

This article will delve into the four top online business tool categories that help companies scale at a larger horizon.

The 14 best online business tools

The following four types of business tools are categorized for the reader's ease of understanding. This section will find the best online business tools for marketing, analytics, work management, team collaboration, and customer relationship management.

These online business tools offer easy management skills to help users meet their social media needs, such as storing confidential documents, planning, posting, scheduling, and monitoring marketing departments.

Best business tools for teams

These online business tools offer easy management skills to help users meet their needs, such as storing confidential documents, planning, posting, scheduling, and monitoring marketing departments.

Internxt

Best for: Businesses to manage teams, store and share files securely

Pricing Starts at € 6.99 per user/per month. Business plans are available on the Internxt website.

Internxt is the best secure cloud storage platform for businesses to manage multiple teams simultaneously and ensure confidential files are stored in complete privacy.

Internxt is the perfect tool for businesses as its zero-knowledge and end-to-end encrypted platform protects businesses from data breaches and hackers. Internxt business plans include:

• Account management: add users, assign storage, and manage billing and payments.
• Secure sharing: password-protect and share files securely within departments, protected with the best encryption technology available.
• Backup what's important: back up your files automatically to prevent data loss.
• Organize your team: manage teams from 3 to 100 users.

Internxt cloud storage for business pricing

Internxt offers two plans for businesses: Standard and Pro monthly or annual subscriptions.

Internxt pricing: Business Standard

Standard plans cost €6.99 per user, billed monthly.

Includes:

• 1TB storage per user
• Encrypted file and folder sharing
• Create and manage users & teams
• Starting at 3 users and up to 10
• GDPR compliant
• Upload files of up to 5GB
• Manage account billing & payments
• Premium customer support

Internxt pricing: Business Pro

Business pro prices cost €79 per user, billed annually.

Includes:

• 2TB storage per user
• Encrypted file and folder sharing
• Create and manage users & teams
• Starting at 3 users and up to 100
• GDPR compliant
• Upload files of up to 20GB
• Manage account billing & payments
• Premium customer support

Pros:

1. Protect your business: With a secure cloud storage business plan for up to 100 people, you and your team can protect your sensitive information and against data breaches.
2. Secure file-sharing: teams can limit access to sensitive files to protect confidential information with a password or expiring link.

Cons:

1. Currently does not offer live collaboration editing in documents.

Hootsuite

Best for: business marketers

Pricing: start at $99/mo

Hootsuite provides features that help solo business owners and large teams manage their social media accounts efficiently. Users can integrate all major social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

The friendly UI offers a helpful library to gain content inspiration, Canva for designing, and their built-in social AI tool, OwlyWriter. Moreover, users can easily repurpose their priority posts, fix typos, and get hashtag recommendations within the dashboard.

Pros:

1. Unlimited Posts: They offer infinite social media posting options in all plans.
2. Posts Optimization: the built-in AI feature suggests post-time optimization for maximum engagement.

Con:

1. Slow support: customer support does not respond promptly.

SocialPilot

Best for: small B2B businesses

Pricing: starts from $25.50/mo

Social Pilot is an all—in—one platform that allows users to schedule and publish social media content on different platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Business Profile. Moreover, it has a user-friendly interface that offers a hassle-free experience even for non-tech users.

Pros:

1. Multi-Account Management: it allows users to manage multiple accounts for multiple brands.
2. Value for Money: with its affordable pricing and advanced features, users get excellent value for money.
3. Customer support: 24/7

Con:

1. No automatic support: auto support is unavailable if any posting queue fails to respond.

Quid Monitor:

Best for: midsize or large businesses

Pricing: Request a demo for a quote

Quid Monitor, previously known as Netbase is a social media analytics tool that helps businesses understand customers and market needs. With its advanced social listening features, users can monitor and participate in real-time conversations on their own and external channels, including brand campaigns, PR mentions, and social media posts.

NetBase is an ideal solution for businesses monitoring and analyzing conversations and consumer sentiment beyond social media.

Pros:

1. Influencer Marketing: the tool suggests collaborating with influential individuals on social media to drive maximum engagement.
2. Customizable Dashboards: With this feature, the user can have a dashboard that fits their needs and preferences.

Con:

1. API restrictions: the effectiveness of social listening may be compromised due to API restrictions.

Unbounce

Best for: small businesses

Pricing: starts at $74/mo

Ubounce is a SaaS online business tool that helps to create targeted landing pages for small or newly launched businesses. Users can create fully optimized marketing campaigns using landing pages, pop-ups, and other conversion-generating features.

The tool offers a timeless list of templates for various applications accessible at any time. Moreover, the landing pages built from Ubounce are mobile-responsive, making it the top choice for beginners and small business owners.

Pros:

1. Easy to Use: the interface is user-friendly, allowing individuals without coding experience to use it efficiently
2. Professional layouts: the tool provides professional-looking layouts to help the user stand the best

Con:

1. No split testing: The split testing feature is unavailable for low-cost plans.

Best online business tools for work management

Work management tools, including task management platforms and employee recognition software, are designed to help individuals and teams organize, track, and complete tasks and projects efficiently.

ProofHub:

Best for: project management and team collaboration

Pricing: starts from $45/mo

The project management platform is ideal for businesses that manage many teams simultaneously. Its centralized workspace feature reduces the risk of team or employee conflicts. The all-in-one platform eases management by bringing all projects, team meetings, and scheduled plans together in one area.

Moreover, with its built-in chat feature, the employees do not have to manage multiple tools for communicating and task updating. All can be done within the dashboard, whether a task update or an idea to share!

Pros:

1. Improve Workflow Efficiency: businesses can streamline and standardize workflow processes with their custom workflow builder.
2. Works Like Manager: individuals can view tasks in real-time.

Con:

1. Basic training modules: less efficient training modules are proposed.

Time Doctor

Best for: remote businesses, SMBs, and service-based businesses

Pricing: starts from $5.9/mo

The time-tracking management tool tracks employees' performance and activity throughout the day. It is ideal for remote businesses, as manually managing employees' time on a particular task can be daunting.

Moreover, many small—and mid-sized businesses hire off-site employees who work hourly; therefore, Time Doctor is handy for managing their work time and activities.

Pros:

1. Alert feature: One of the unique features of this management tool is the alert feature. A message on the screen pops up when an employee spends more time than required on other activities rather than the priority tasks.
2. Accuracy: unlike other tools, it gives each individual an accurate time.

Con:

1. Poor customer service: the tool does not offer prompt support.

Monday

Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses and creative agencies.

Pricing: starts from $8/mo

Monday is an intuitive, fully customizable, and powerful cloud-based platform that allows users to create their applications and project management software. They offer multiple integrations, including Facebook, Dropbox, Quickbooks, and Slack.

It is a no-code automation tool that makes it easy for users who lack coding skills, making it ideal for everyone. The users can easily customize their workflows virtually with no training.

Pros:

1. Best UX: It offers the best and easiest-to-use UX, making it efficient for individuals of all types.
2. Affordability: the low-cost plans offer great features.

Con:

No Mobile-Responsive Design: the tool does not offer great functionality on mobile phones.

Wrike

Best for: Project managers and developers.

Pricing: starts from $9.80/mo

Wrike is a multifaceted project management application with integrated collaborative work management functionality. This online business tool works well for businesses of all types.

It has a general project management app. However, it also offers a customized application platform for some companies and agencies with specific needs.

The tool offers a built-in time-tracking feature that helps individuals and businesses track workflow and manage tasks efficiently.

Pros:

1. Flexible Project Templates: Teams or individuals can reuse or customize templates to save time building from scratch.
2. Powerful Proofing Tool: it is an ideal central workspace for teams requiring collaboration.

Con:

1. Limited time-tracking option: this feature is only available for business plans or higher.

Best online business tools for team communication

Team communication tools enable employees and managers to collaborate effectively regardless of their physical location. Whether they are working remotely or on different schedules, these tools provide a platform for seamless communication within the teams.

Slack

Best for: tech startups, SMBs, and marketers

Pricing: starts from $12.50/mo

It is a dedicated team management platform that allows individuals and teams to work closely, regardless of any barrier. Its easy-to-use interface allows users to share files, make audio or video calls, and send instant messages.

One of Slack's best features is its infinite channels. Individuals or teams can create dedicated channels for projects or meetings to avoid overlapping. Moreover, their "Huddle" feature allows team members to connect on call within the dashboard.

Pros:

1. Integration: it offers seamless integration for over 2000 apps
2. Accurate Employee Status: This feature lets all team members know their other members' availability status.

Con:

1. Poor Calls Quality: the video and audio call quality is slightly compromised.

Calendly

Best for: sales teams, HRs, and service-based businesses

Pricing: starts from $10/mo

Calendly is a scheduling appointment online business tool that can automate meeting scheduling to eliminate back-and-forth communication. The ideal tool for scheduling meetings can be integrated with Google Calendar to schedule business or team meetings seamlessly.

Once the calendar is booked, Calendly sends automated follow-up messages along with meeting links to both parties. Moreover, the user can set their calendar according to their availability, and likewise, the other party can view all possible dates to choose the best one according to their availability.

Pros:

1. User Interface: it has an intuitive UI for all users
2. Security: it is a secure platform for scheduling without the fear of getting information leaked.

Con:

1. Syncing Errors: The tool struggles to sync when multiple calendars are integrated.

Zoom

Best for: enterprise-level organizations, sales and marketing teams

Pricing: starts from $13.32/mo

Zoom is widely used for team meetings and video conferencing for larger companies. This online business tool allows users to host single sessions, webinars, or simple in-house conferences. Zoom's unique feature is its in-chat options, where attendees can ask questions or give suggestions without speaking.

The top features include its capability to add up to 1000 participants in a single meeting. It also offers a screen-sharing feature that allows participants to see real-time presentations or documents.

Pros:

1. Call quality: the HD video and audio calling quality is top-notch.
2. Beginner-friendly: it is effortless to learn and use.

Con:

1. Pricing: business and enterprise-paid plans are expensive.

Best online business tools for Customer Relationship Management

One of the most useful online business tools is CRM. These tools allow businesses to centralize their customer information, including contact details, purchase history, communication history, and preferences, in one accessible database.

ZenDesk

Best for SaaS companies and e-commerce platforms

Pricing: starts from $55/mo

ZenDesk is an online customer service and ticket management tool that allows businesses to offer top-notch customer support without hassle. Its centralized platform allows companies to track, organize, and resolve customers' queries.

The built-in AI system generates a ticket and sends it to the respective agent to resolve the issue quickly. The user can directly engage with their customer on an audio call.

Pros:

1. Integration: it offers over 1,000 integrations with various third-party applications and services.
2. Ease-of-Use: it is easy to navigate.

Con:

1. Pricing: expensive paid plans

Zoho CRM

Best for: small and medium-sized businesses

Pricing: starts from $14/mo

It is a client relationship management platform that helps businesses manage their sales, marketing, and customer support activities. With Zoho CRM, businesses can manage a large customer database. One of the most useful features is multichannel marketing, which allows users to manage marketing campaigns from one place.

The other features include utilizing Salesforce automation to streamline and optimize sales operations for enhanced efficiency and enhanced business intelligence for informed decision-making.

Pros:

1. AI feature: the Zia feature can help predict analysis.
2. Onboarding Assistance: best support and guidance provided to new users.

Con:

1. Limited feature: free has fewer features.

Best tools for accounting and HR

These tools help businesses to process payrolls seamlessly. It reduces the time and effort required for expense tracking and employee management.

FreshBooks

Best for: small businesses and freelancers

Pricing: starts from $9.50/mo

It is a one-stop solution for your account needs. It manages accounting, bookkeeping, time tracking, payroll management, invoices, project estimates, reporting, and client management under one space.

It also creates professional invoices and can send payment reminders.

Pros:

1. Versatility: it offers extensive features.
2. Easy to use: it has a beginner-friendly interface.

Con:

1. Pricing: expensive paid plans.

Powtoon

Best for: business marketers and educators

Pricing: Starts at $89/mo

Powtoon is a dynamic tool tailored for business marketers and educators, allowing them to create visually compelling videos and presentations. It supports a variety of uses, from marketing campaigns and promotional videos to training and educational content.

Powtoon’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to produce professional-looking animations and videos without requiring extensive design skills. Users can choose from a wide range of customizable templates, characters, and pre-designed scenes to enhance their storytelling.

The platform also integrates with popular tools like YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook, facilitating seamless content sharing. For example, you can embed YouTube Shorts into your content to engage your audience with dynamic, short-form videos.

Pros: Customizable Templates: A wide array of customizable templates for different purposes. User-Friendly Interface: Intuitive drag-and-drop functionality that simplifies the video creation process. Integration: Smooth integration with popular platforms for easy content sharing.

Cons: Limited Animation Options: Some users may find the animation options restrictive compared to other advanced animation tools.

Factors to consider when choosing the right tool for your business

Choosing the right business tool can directly impact the organization's performance and efficiency, whether you are a small business owner or a large one. Many tools are available online; however, only a few will work best for your business.

While choosing the right business tool, keep in mind the three crucial factors —

1. The tool should have the ability to deliver your intended purpose,
2. Make sure the tool has scalability, which means that it can cater to your current and future business needs
3. Ensure the tool takes the necessary measures to secure your business data.

Thanks to companies like Internxt, affordable and valuable tools are available to protect data and ensure smooth and secure business operations without the employee or customer data being leaked in a cyberattack.