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Nika

What are the 5 tools you simply couldn't do your work without?

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minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
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This could be related to your industry, or even a side project you're working on.

Here are my 5 (I couldn't function without them):

  1. Grammarly – proofreading my texts, not just posts, but also client communication

  2. ChatGPT / Claude – mostly brainstorming, help with copy, and summarising

  3. Figma – I can put the basic graphics together quickly.

  4. Translator – sounds incredibly old-school, but English is not my mother tongue

  5. Gmail – and not only for communication, but also for storing ideas and sending myself email reminders for posts

What are your five?

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Glen

MS PAINT

CALCULATOR

CTRL-C CTRL V

NOTEPAD++

COMMAND PROMPT

Nika

@fatleopard using calculator, I already forgot to count manually on my own :D

sanreds

mine would be, a plain text file with no sync or formatting for zero-friction capture, terminal for anything that actually matters, Claude when i need a draft that still sounds like me, a browser tab i never close, and probably Gmail for the same reason you listed. the tools that don't make these lists are usually the invisible ones you only notice when they're gone.

Nika

@sanreds you seem to be raw old-school – love the vibe!

Mark Trowbridge GCTL

It really depends on what part of the business I am focused on at any moment in time, but most used in general:

1. Gmail / Google
2. XAPP - Managing / grouping all messaging
3. Pigeon Link - Secure Communications
4. PostXtra - social posts across our 14 corporate web sites
5. Stripe - watching sales transactions and cash flow in real time

Nika

@mark_trowbridge mostly do not know 2,3,4 – I need to reserach them! :)

Mark Trowbridge GCTL

@busmark_w_nika - please do, and if you need any guidance with any of them let me know!

Faisal Javaid

Mine is regular and kind of very basic ones. I wonder why most of the people are still considering emailing tools like Gmail or outlook etc) as separate tool's. We can connect them with LLMS's like Gemini / Copilot and it can will manage emails, calendar, reminders etc kind of work.

Nika

@faisal_2420010 I think it is matter of time and habit when they start using it integrated with mlm

Luigi Fernandez Ortega

running a 3-person SaaS so mine probably skews COO-ish:

  1. Linear: keeps the whole team from losing the thread on anything

  2. Claude: more for pressure-testing decisions

  3. PostHog & Retool: analytics, dashboard

  4. Figma & Canva for designs

  5. Receiptor AI: my bookkeeping automated

Nika

@luigi_receiptorai at least 2 of them I am using too! :)

Marcelo Vegas
20+ years building admin tools · my 5 essentials in 2026:

1. Cursor · prompt-quality multiplier · 3x output on boilerplate work
2. Tailwind CSS 4 native (not Bootstrap port) · the dark variant fix
   alone saves hours
3. Vite · zero-config build speed · still hard to beat
4. TypeScript strict · catches 40% of bugs before runtime
5. Vortex (admin template) · I shipped my own template after years
   of starting from scratch on every project. Honest bias confession ·
   I built it. But the time it saves on internal tools alone justifies
   making it.

What's your #1 surprise tool? · always curious what other senior makers
have discovered.
Nika

@marcelo_vegas This is more dev (programmer stack), so I will let other programmers to answer this! :) I am not that experienced :)

Louis Cada
my top 5 - Claude: for brainstorming, drafting, learning information - masterfile: for tracking my budget, solo projects, notes, credentials - Canva: for quick asset and marketing materials - Gmail: i need this to get in touch with clients - Docs: for playbooks and managing timelines
Nika

@louis_cada How do you perceive the saying of some designers that Canva is not a proper design tool? Do you agree or not?

Louis Cada

@busmark_w_nika I can't completely agree with them since Canva has really evolved from just your go-to for university slides into a powerful digital media tool. It has a super gentle learning curve, making it perfect for beginners. While some designers might be skeptical, I think Canva is actually a great stepping stone as it bridges the gap for new creators and gives them the confidence to eventually tackle heavier tools like Figma and Photoshop.

Nika

@louis_cada I think that if they added more Photoshop features, it would be a solid competition to Figma, PS etc

FinSight AI

Great question! Here are my 5 essentials:

  1. Claude – my go-to for deep reasoning, writing, and complex problem-solving. It's become my thinking partner for almost everything.

  2. 2. Notion – keeps all my notes, projects and ideas organized in one place.

  3. 3. VS Code – I can't write a single line of code without it.

  4. 4. Linear – perfect for tracking tasks and staying focused on what matters.

  5. 5. Figma – even as a non-designer, it's indispensable for quick wireframes and mockups.

The common thread: tools that reduce friction and let me stay in flow. What matters most isn't the feature list, it's how invisible the tool becomes when you're deep in work.

Nika

@tim_blanc Thank you for sharing! :)

Wil Nefkens

Did not expect Grammarly! Mine are:

  1. Claude - Presentation creation (through HTMLs), workshopping, studying / learning

  2. Docfarm - Let's me store and share all my AI assets regardless of file type and integrates directly with Claude

  3. Granola - Meeting notes

  4. Notion - For organization in both professional and personal life

  5. Superhuman - Essentially an iron man suit for my Gmail

    I pay for all of these, execpt Docfarm which is free. Let me know if anyone uses the same!

Nika

@wilnefkens Solid list! How much are you willing to pay per software at maximu? :D (small market research) :D

Wil Nefkens

@busmark_w_nika Good question, and really depends on the software haha! For Claude of course a lot because of how useful it is. The others I would say around 15 EUR per month for each is my max. Anything more is a bit too much as they are more precision tools compared to Claude

Max Musing

  1. @ChatGPT by OpenAI for learning, analyzing, drafting

  2. @Basedash: AI data analyst for understanding our business through data

  3. @Linear for planning everything product-related

  4. @Notion for tracking and storing knowledge

  5. @Slack for communicating with the team and customers

These apps are basically open 24/7 on my computer 😄

Nika

@maxmusing Do you ever sleep? :D

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