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

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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

[and soon one more that I am working on – – prevents me from being banned on LinkedIn, so I will not lose my account.]

What are your five?

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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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

 Thank you for sharing! :)

  1. for learning, analyzing, drafting

  2. for understanding our business through data

  3. for planning everything product-related

  4. for tracking and storing knowledge

  5. for communicating with the team and customers

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

 Do you ever sleep? :D

My five:

  • zer0email - inbox automation so I'm not drowning in newsletters and cold outreach before I even start work.

  • Claude - thinking partner for everything from architecture to copy.

  • Linear - keeps the chaos organized without overhead.

  • Notion - documentation and async communication.

  • Google Calendar - boring but irreplaceable

 Thank you for sharing!

hey My 5 would probably be:

Claude / Fable for coding, planning, and thinking through product logic

ChatGPT / Nano Banana for visual generation and creative experiments

Notion for notes, ideas, and keeping messy thoughts organized

Awish for building and testing automation workflows

Product Hunt / Reddit for seeing how people actually talk about problems

The last one is underrated. Tools help with execution, but communities help you understand the language, objections, and real context around a problem.

 Nice edition – and it is true that on my daily list are PH and LinkedIn too :)

 Yes also linkedn of course:)

If "simply couldn't do your work without" then

  • VS Code

  • Terminal

  • Edge/Chrome

  • File Manager

  • Image Viewer

 from the stack can see you are a dev, right? :)

 Yes! 🎉 Human, Problem Solver, Programmer!

cursor, google search engine, figma, github, chatgpt …

 another developer? :)

yeah✌🏻
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