Let me show you my bank statement from January 2024.
HoneyBook: £28/mo. Calendly: £8/mo. Toggl: £9/mo. QuickBooks Self-Employed: £6/mo. DocuSign: £10/mo.
That's £61 a month. £732 a year. For tools I used maybe 40% of.
I didn't notice at first. Each one was small. "It's just £8." "It's just £10." But they add up. And as a freelancer, every pound matters — especially in the first couple of years when you're still building.
So I did something drastic. I cancelled everything and started from scratch.
The freelancer tax nobody talks about
Here's the thing about freelance tools: they're all priced for businesses. Not individuals.
HoneyBook charges £28/mo because they're thinking about studios and agencies. Dubsado charges £20/mo because they assume you're booking dozens of clients. QuickBooks charges £6/mo for accounting features you'll never touch.
But you're one person. Sending maybe 3-5 invoices a month. Signing 2-3 contracts. Writing a few proposals. You don't need enterprise-grade anything.
You need tools that respect the fact that you're a solo freelancer. And most of them don't.
What I actually use every week
I tracked my tool usage for a month. Here's what I actually opened every week:
Invoicing — every week, usually twice. Contracts — once or twice a month. Proposals — a few times a month when pitching new work. CRM — checked my pipeline maybe once a week. Time tracking — every day. Scheduling — a couple of times a month.
That's it. Six features. And I was paying for six separate tools to get them.
The switch that saved me £700 a year
I moved everything into one app. One login. One subscription. One place to check.
My invoice goes out from the same platform where I signed the contract and tracked my time. My proposal links to the same CRM where I manage my pipeline.
Total cost: £5 a month. £60 a year. That's a saving of £672 annually compared to my old stack.
I'm not going to pretend it was a perfect transition. I missed some things. Calendly's booking page was nicer than what I switched to. QuickBooks had tax estimates I had to give up.
But those are nice-to-haves. Not essentials. And the time I saved by not switching between six apps was worth more than any single feature I lost.
What to look for in a cheap freelance tool
"Cheap" doesn't have to mean bad. Here's what separates a good budget tool from a bad one.
Does it cover the basics? Invoicing, contracts, proposals. If it can't do all three, it's not actually replacing your stack — it's just adding another tool.
Is the price honest? Some tools show a low price then lock core features behind higher tiers. Check what the cheapest plan actually includes.
Can you grow with it? Your needs might change. CRM, time tracking, scheduling — you might not need them today but you will eventually. Pick a tool that won't force you to switch again in six months.
Does it feel fast? If the tool is slow or clunky, you won't use it. And a tool you don't use is expensive at any price.
The comparison nobody makes
Everyone compares features. Nobody compares what you actually need vs. what you're paying for.
Here's a rough breakdown:
A typical freelancer uses invoicing (100% need it), contracts (90%), proposals (70%), basic CRM (60%), time tracking (50%), and scheduling (40%).
Most tools charge £20-40/mo and include features like advanced automations, team collaboration, white-label portals, and custom workflows. Useful for agencies. Useless for you.
The question isn't "which tool has the most features?" It's "which tool has my features at a price I can justify?"
My honest recommendation
If you're a solo freelancer spending more than £15/mo on tools, you're probably overpaying.
Look at your bank statement. Add up every SaaS subscription. Ask yourself: do I actually use all of this?
If the answer is no, simplify. Find one tool that covers the 90% and let go of the 10%.
I built SoloPad specifically for this. £5/mo. Invoices, contracts, proposals, CRM, time tracking, scheduling, AI drafting. No hidden tiers. No feature gates.
But even if you don't use SoloPad — even if you pick Bonsai or Moxie or anything else — the principle is the same. Stop paying for tools built for agencies when you're a team of one.
Your bank account will thank you.
SoloPad: everything freelancers need to manage clients and get paid. Starting at £5/mo. Try it free for 30 days.