Must-have sales and marketing tools for launching a business

A new company needs a small sales and marketing stack: business email, a simple website, a CRM, email marketing, a scheduling link, a shared workspace, a design tool and free analytics. Google Workspace covers email and documents, HubSpot gives you a free CRM and website builder, Mailchimp or Brevo handle email, Calendly books meetings and Canva handles design. Almost all of it can start on a free plan.

How we picked

The picks are based on public information: vendor pricing pages, product documentation and the refreshed tool pages on this site. Nobody tested the tools for this article. For a brand-new company we looked for a usable free plan, quick setup and paid tiers to grow into. No vendor paid to be included, and prices are shown in the currency the vendor's page showed when checked.

Business email, calendar and documents

Google Workspace gives you email on your own domain, a shared calendar, video meetings, chat, cloud storage and documents in one account. That makes it the first thing to set up. There's no free plan, but there is a free trial. Business Starter costs $7 per user per month with a one-year commitment, and the flexible plan without a commitment costs more (prices checked on 1 November 2026). G Suite, recommended in the old version of this page, is the same product under its old name.

Website and landing pages

HubSpot has a free website builder for up to 2 users, with up to 30 website pages, 30 landing pages and a blog, all with HubSpot branding. Forms feed straight into the free HubSpot CRM, so no early lead gets lost. Paid Starter plans list $20 per seat per month, with lower prices for new customers while HubSpot's offer runs (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Unbounce is for later, when you run ads and want dedicated landing pages you can test without a developer. It has no free plan, only a free trial. Starter costs $22 per month billed yearly, for 5 pages and up to 500 visitors a month (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

CRM

HubSpot CRM is the easiest free start, with contacts, deals, emails and meetings in one place. Its free plan covers 2 users and 1,000 contacts with no time limit. Starter normally costs $20 per seat per month, or $7 for new customers who pay yearly while the offer lasts (prices checked on 31 October 2026).

Bigin by Zoho is the cheapest step up for a small team that wants pipelines and follow-ups. The free plan covers one user, one pipeline and 500 records, and Express costs $7 per user per month billed yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Attio suits startups that want to shape the CRM around their own sales process. It builds records from your email and calendar. The free plan covers up to 3 seats and 50,000 records, and Plus costs $35 per user per month billed yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026). See also our list of the best CRMs for startups.

Email marketing

Mailchimp is easy to start with, thanks to a drag-and-drop builder and ready-made templates. It's free for fewer than 250 contacts, and Essentials starts at $13 per month (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Brevo, formerly Sendinblue, prices mainly by emails sent rather than contacts, which suits a young list. The free plan sends up to 300 emails a day, and Starter costs $9 per month (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Before your first campaign, set up DMARC, DKIM and SPF on your domain. Our tips for booking more meetings with sales automation explain the Gmail and Yahoo sender rules.

Scheduling and video calls

Calendly is the quickest way to let prospects book a call without emails back and forth. The free plan includes one event type, and Standard costs $10 per seat per month billed yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Zoom is worth adding if your prospects expect it, since Google Workspace already includes video meetings. The free Basic plan allows meetings of up to 40 minutes, and Pro costs $14.16 per user per month billed yearly (prices checked on 31 October 2026).

Docs and project management

Notion puts your wiki, docs and simple project boards in one place. The free plan is meant for individuals, and storage is limited once two or more members join. Plus costs $10 per seat per month billed yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Trello is the simplest visual board for a launch checklist or content calendar. It's free for up to 10 collaborators per Workspace, and Standard costs $5 per user per month billed yearly (prices checked on 31 October 2026).

ClickUp gives you more structure as the team grows, with tasks, docs and chat in one tool, but expect some setup time. Free Forever includes unlimited tasks and members with 60 MB of storage, and Core costs $9 per user per month billed yearly (prices checked on 31 October 2026). Compare them in Notion vs Trello and Notion vs ClickUp.

Design and video

Canva lets you make social posts, slides and ads without a designer. The free plan includes templates, one Brand Kit and 5GB of storage, and Pro costs $18 per month for one person (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Loom is for short product walkthroughs and sales videos. The free Starter plan allows 25 videos per person of up to 5 minutes, and Business costs $18 per user per month billed monthly (prices checked on 31 October 2026).

Website analytics

Google Analytics shows where visitors come from and which pages lead to sign-ups. It's free (checked on 1 November 2026).

Hotjar shows where visitors click and drop off, with heatmaps and session replays. It is now part of Contentsquare, so new users sign up there. The free plan covers up to 200,000 sessions a month, and Growth starts at $39 per month paid yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026). If you sell in Europe, check the cookie consent rules before you add tracking.

SEO

Google Search Console is Google's own report on which searches show your site and which pages have indexing problems. It's free (checked on 31 October 2026).

Semrush helps with keyword and competitor research once content becomes a channel. Its free plan allows one demo project and 10 reports a day, and the SEO plan costs $117.33 per month billed yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Social media

Buffer schedules posts at a low price. The free plan covers 3 channels with 10 scheduled posts each, and Essentials costs $5 per channel per month billed yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Hootsuite, recommended in the old version of this page, fits bigger teams better now. It has no free plan, and Standard costs $99 per user per month billed yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Team chat

Slack keeps conversations in channels and lets you share channels with clients. The free plan keeps 90 days of message history and up to 10 integrations, and Pro costs $7.25 per user per month billed yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Microsoft Teams suits companies that run on Microsoft 365. The free version is for personal use only, and Teams Essentials costs $4 per user per month paid yearly (prices checked on 1 November 2026).

Connecting your tools

Zapier passes data between apps without code, for example from a form to your CRM, your email list and Slack. The free plan includes 100 tasks a month with two-step Zaps, and Professional starts at $19.99 per month billed yearly (prices checked on 31 October 2026).

What it costs to start

You can cover every need above on free plans except business email, so a founder can launch for the price of Google Workspace. Upgrade one tool at a time when you reach a limit, such as HubSpot's 1,000 contacts or Mailchimp's 250. For more ideas, see the best sales and marketing tools and our list of team collaboration tools.