My Personal/Recommended Software Stack
This is the tech stack I personally use, have tested alternatives to, and could confidently recommend to clients and others. There are far more tools in my day-to-day, but this list is reserved for the ones I have deep confidence in.
Security
Most people don't use a password manager at all, which is a massive security risk. 1Password is my go-to — it has a huge user base, is trusted by companies like Stripe, Salesforce, and Canva, and has historically withstood serious attacks without ever being breached. The UI is clean and it just works. It does cost a bit, and if that's an issue Bitwarden is a solid free alternative — but for what it provides, the cost is completely worth it.
Most people don't use a password manager at all, which is a massive security risk. 1Password is my go-to — it has a huge user base, is trusted by companies like Stripe, Salesforce, and Canva, and has historically withstood serious attacks without ever being breached. The UI is clean and it just works. It does cost a bit, and if that's an issue Bitwarden is a solid free alternative — but for what it provides, the cost is completely worth it.
1password.com ↗Workflow Automation
When it comes to workflow automation there are only three major names: Zapier, Make, and n8n. Zapier is the most well-known but the weakest of the three — limiting capabilities, high costs, and the only real advantage is that it's beginner friendly. Make and n8n are both superior. Comparing the two, n8n outshines Make in a few core areas — self-hosting, lower costs at scale, more code flexibility, and better support for agentic workflows, but these benefits come with added complexity. If you don't have a technical background, start with Make, it will make learning n8n a lot easier. If you do, jump straight into n8n.
When it comes to workflow automation there are only three major names: Zapier, Make, and n8n. Zapier is the most well-known but the weakest of the three — limiting capabilities, high costs, and the only real advantage is that it's beginner friendly. Make and n8n are both superior. Comparing the two, n8n outshines Make in a few core areas — self-hosting, lower costs at scale, more code flexibility, and better support for agentic workflows, but these benefits come with added complexity. If you don't have a technical background, start with Make, it will make learning n8n a lot easier. If you do, jump straight into n8n.
n8n.io ↗Make holds its ground against n8n in most areas, and where it wins is usability. It's significantly more beginner friendly, has a large library of pre-built app integrations that make working with APIs much less painful, and the visual workflow builder makes it easy to read and understand what a scenario is doing at a glance. It also comes with built-in scheduling and operations infrastructure, so there's no need to worry about self-hosting. If you don't come from a technical background and want to get into automation, Make is the place to start.
Make holds its ground against n8n in most areas, and where it wins is usability. It's significantly more beginner friendly, has a large library of pre-built app integrations that make working with APIs much less painful, and the visual workflow builder makes it easy to read and understand what a scenario is doing at a glance. It also comes with built-in scheduling and operations infrastructure, so there's no need to worry about self-hosting. If you don't come from a technical background and want to get into automation, Make is the place to start.
make.com ↗AI & LLMs
There are quite a few solid LLMs out there right now, but when it comes to an overall best pick, Claude is the one. The reasoning quality, instruction-following, and output consistency are noticeably stronger for the kind of work I do — complex prompt logic, long-context tasks, and structured outputs inside automation pipelines. On top of that, the toolset is wide: simple chat, Claude Code, Artifacts, and more. I've tried most of the major models, and if I could only use one LLM for everything, it would be Claude — it's simply the strongest all-round pick, at this current moment.
There are quite a few solid LLMs out there right now, but when it comes to an overall best pick, Claude is the one. The reasoning quality, instruction-following, and output consistency are noticeably stronger for the kind of work I do — complex prompt logic, long-context tasks, and structured outputs inside automation pipelines. On top of that, the toolset is wide: simple chat, Claude Code, Artifacts, and more. I've tried most of the major models, and if I could only use one LLM for everything, it would be Claude — it's simply the strongest all-round pick, at this current moment.
claude.ai ↗NotebookLM is the go-to when you need an AI that works exclusively with your specific data. You upload your sources — documentation, company logs, research, links, etc. — and it only pulls from those sources, which makes it extremely reliable for finding specifics within large volumes of information. On top of that, the slide and mind map generation is genuinely impressive for an AI tool — if you need to turn specific data into a structured visual quickly, the quality is hard to beat.
NotebookLM is the go-to when you need an AI that works exclusively with your specific data. You upload your sources — documentation, company logs, research, links, etc. — and it only pulls from those sources, which makes it extremely reliable for finding specifics within large volumes of information. On top of that, the slide and mind map generation is genuinely impressive for an AI tool — if you need to turn specific data into a structured visual quickly, the quality is hard to beat.
notebooklm.google.com ↗Outreach & Lead Gen
Instantly is the best cold email outreach platform I've used. The UI is polished enough for non-technical users, it integrates cleanly with automation tools, and features like inbox placement testing and automated inbox rotation make managing campaigns at scale significantly less painful. The only real con is the price — it's noticeably more expensive than alternatives. But for what it delivers, it's hard to argue against it if cold email is a core part of your outreach.
Instantly is the best cold email outreach platform I've used. The UI is polished enough for non-technical users, it integrates cleanly with automation tools, and features like inbox placement testing and automated inbox rotation make managing campaigns at scale significantly less painful. The only real con is the price — it's noticeably more expensive than alternatives. But for what it delivers, it's hard to argue against it if cold email is a core part of your outreach.
instantly.ai ↗There are quite a few decent appointment booking platforms out there, with Calendly being the most popular. But aside from the larger user base and slightly more beginner friendly UX, Cal.com is better in almost every way. The main reason I use it is the automation capabilities — they are by far the best in the market for a booking tool.
There are quite a few decent appointment booking platforms out there, with Calendly being the most popular. But aside from the larger user base and slightly more beginner friendly UX, Cal.com is better in almost every way. The main reason I use it is the automation capabilities — they are by far the best in the market for a booking tool.
cal.com ↗If you need to scrape a platform but don't have the time or technical background to build a scraper yourself, Apify most likely has you covered. It's essentially a marketplace where developers publish ready-to-use scrapers — thousands of them — that you can access instantly without writing a single line of code. The automation integration capabilities are great on top of that. The main con is the pricing model: you pay for a subscription and a usage allocation, and if you don't use it all within the month it's gone. A pay-as-you-go model would make it a much easier recommendation — but if you're using it all up, it's great.
If you need to scrape a platform but don't have the time or technical background to build a scraper yourself, Apify most likely has you covered. It's essentially a marketplace where developers publish ready-to-use scrapers — thousands of them — that you can access instantly without writing a single line of code. The automation integration capabilities are great on top of that. The main con is the pricing model: you pay for a subscription and a usage allocation, and if you don't use it all within the month it's gone. A pay-as-you-go model would make it a much easier recommendation — but if you're using it all up, it's great.
apify.com ↗Productivity & Knowledge
I've been using Notion for over half a decade and it's become my second brain. Documentation, databases, project and task management, etc. — it all lives in Notion. The capabilities are very wide, and I won't try to cover them here, but if you're looking for one tool to centralize how you work and think, Notion is it.
I've been using Notion for over half a decade and it's become my second brain. Documentation, databases, project and task management, etc. — it all lives in Notion. The capabilities are very wide, and I won't try to cover them here, but if you're looking for one tool to centralize how you work and think, Notion is it.
notion.so ↗Loom has saved me an enormous amount of time over the years. Instead of scheduling a meeting to walk someone through something, you record a quick video and send it — simple as that. It's also great for cold outreach follow-ups, adding a personal touch that makes you stand out in a sea of templated messages. There are many more ways to use it, but these are a few core reasons I keep coming back to it.
Loom has saved me an enormous amount of time over the years. Instead of scheduling a meeting to walk someone through something, you record a quick video and send it — simple as that. It's also great for cold outreach follow-ups, adding a personal touch that makes you stand out in a sea of templated messages. There are many more ways to use it, but these are a few core reasons I keep coming back to it.
loom.com ↗PandaDoc is a solid tool for digital document signing and one of the market leaders in the space. The biggest reason it became my choice is the ability to automate proposal generation — before, a single proposal could take hours to write and refine. With workflow automation and proposal standardization, I've cut that process down by roughly 80%. The main con is the price — it's noticeably more expensive than alternatives, but if proposals are a regular part of your workflow the time savings more than justify it.
PandaDoc is a solid tool for digital document signing and one of the market leaders in the space. The biggest reason it became my choice is the ability to automate proposal generation — before, a single proposal could take hours to write and refine. With workflow automation and proposal standardization, I've cut that process down by roughly 80%. The main con is the price — it's noticeably more expensive than alternatives, but if proposals are a regular part of your workflow the time savings more than justify it.
pandadoc.com ↗Data & Design
Airtable for most use cases is simply the best no-code database tool on the market. Beyond the databases themselves, it has expanded into a significantly broader platform — custom apps, automations, and a lot more that can all be built on top of your data. It's a well-rounded tool that covers a lot of ground without requiring any technical background.
Airtable for most use cases is simply the best no-code database tool on the market. Beyond the databases themselves, it has expanded into a significantly broader platform — custom apps, automations, and a lot more that can all be built on top of your data. It's a well-rounded tool that covers a lot of ground without requiring any technical background.
airtable.com ↗Canva is the go-to for anyone who needs to produce good-looking visual content without a design background. It's beginner friendly, covers everything from social media graphics to presentations to brand assets, and the quality you can achieve with minimal effort is genuinely impressive. It's not a replacement for a professional designer, but for most day-to-day design needs it's more than enough — and the speed at which you can produce something polished is hard to beat.
Canva is the go-to for anyone who needs to produce good-looking visual content without a design background. It's beginner friendly, covers everything from social media graphics to presentations to brand assets, and the quality you can achieve with minimal effort is genuinely impressive. It's not a replacement for a professional designer, but for most day-to-day design needs it's more than enough — and the speed at which you can produce something polished is hard to beat.
canva.com ↗E-commerce & Payments
Shopify is the strongest e-commerce platform on the market. It's beginner friendly enough that anyone can get a store up and running quickly, while also being robust enough to scale to massive volumes. The app ecosystem is huge, covering pretty much any functionality you'd need, and the payment infrastructure is reliable and well integrated. It's not the cheapest option once you factor in transaction fees and apps, but it's the market leader for a reason — if you're selling online, Shopify is the safest and most capable choice.
Shopify is the strongest e-commerce platform on the market. It's beginner friendly enough that anyone can get a store up and running quickly, while also being robust enough to scale to massive volumes. The app ecosystem is huge, covering pretty much any functionality you'd need, and the payment infrastructure is reliable and well integrated. It's not the cheapest option once you factor in transaction fees and apps, but it's the market leader for a reason — if you're selling online, Shopify is the safest and most capable choice.
shopify.com ↗Stripe is the gold standard for payment processing. It's trusted by some of the biggest companies in the world, the API is one of the cleanest and most developer friendly available, and the range of products it covers — payments, subscriptions, invoicing, payouts — makes it a one-stop shop for most financial infrastructure needs. The documentation is excellent, automation integration is seamless, and the dashboard gives you a clear view of everything. If you're building anything that involves taking money, Stripe is the default choice.
Stripe is the gold standard for payment processing. It's trusted by some of the biggest companies in the world, the API is one of the cleanest and most developer friendly available, and the range of products it covers — payments, subscriptions, invoicing, payouts — makes it a one-stop shop for most financial infrastructure needs. The documentation is excellent, automation integration is seamless, and the dashboard gives you a clear view of everything. If you're building anything that involves taking money, Stripe is the default choice.
stripe.com ↗Operations
GoLogin is an anti-detect browser — it lets you manage multiple accounts across platforms without triggering bans or detection. If you're running any kind of multi-account operation, whether for outreach automation, social media management, or anything else that requires separate identities online, GoLogin is the tool for it. Each browser profile is completely isolated with its own fingerprint, cookies, and proxy settings, making it virtually indistinguishable from a real separate user. It's the most reliable anti-detect browser I've used and a core part of any serious multi-account workflow.
GoLogin is an anti-detect browser — it lets you manage multiple accounts across platforms without triggering bans or detection. If you're running any kind of multi-account operation, whether for outreach automation, social media management, or anything else that requires separate identities online, GoLogin is the tool for it. Each browser profile is completely isolated with its own fingerprint, cookies, and proxy settings, making it virtually indistinguishable from a real separate user. It's the most reliable anti-detect browser I've used and a core part of any serious multi-account workflow.
gologin.com ↗Fireflies is an AI meeting note taker that automatically joins your calls, records them, transcribes the conversation, and generates a summary with action items. The amount of time it saves is significant — no more manually taking notes during calls or trying to remember what was agreed. The transcription accuracy is solid, the search functionality lets you find specific moments across past meetings, and the automation integration capabilities mean you can pipe meeting summaries directly into your CRM, Notion, or wherever your workflow lives. It is on the pricier side, and if that's a concern there are slightly cheaper alternatives at the cost of some functionality.
Fireflies is an AI meeting note taker that automatically joins your calls, records them, transcribes the conversation, and generates a summary with action items. The amount of time it saves is significant — no more manually taking notes during calls or trying to remember what was agreed. The transcription accuracy is solid, the search functionality lets you find specific moments across past meetings, and the automation integration capabilities mean you can pipe meeting summaries directly into your CRM, Notion, or wherever your workflow lives. It is on the pricier side, and if that's a concern there are slightly cheaper alternatives at the cost of some functionality.
fireflies.ai ↗