By David Nield, Brian Turner last updated July 27 22 There are a lot of rivals, but Microsoft still offers the best office software package, and Microsoft 365 offers a cloud version that you can use both at home and in the office. The first thing Microsoft 365 counts is its familiarity: if you've used Microsoft Office before, you'll easily find your way around this platform. Even if you haven't and used rivals, the same applies, because Microsoft Office is the market leader that others try to copy. The second is that Microsoft 365 works in the cloud, which offers several advantages, the first is that you can use it on the go with your smartphone or tablet, but the second is that all your documents are saved online in the cloud with OneDrive.This means that you don't have to worry about losing important files due to a hard drive failure, and also that you can change devices without losing your work.
Prices may seem a little more expensive than they used to be to buy a separate license for Microsoft 365 Personal, which provides you with Word
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, Excel(opens in a new tab)
, Powerpoint(opens in a new tab)
, Publisher and Access, with online emails served by Outlook(it opens in a new tab)
and OneDrive(opens in a new tab)
for cloud document storage. There's also Microsoft 365 Home, which offers up to six licenses, which could be ideal and cost-effective to distribute to employees if you have five or fewer. Microsoft 365 Business Premium is aimed at larger companies and includes Sharepoint, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Teams(opens in a new tab)
.Overall, Microsoft 365 offers what you need in terms of office software and management platform, and remains superior in terms of functionality than its rivals. In addition, it expects to find many suppliers and contractors who also use it, making it easy to share, exchange or send files between the two without a problem.Read our full Microsoft 365 review. Sage Accounting makes a good first impression with its clear pricing and no tricks. The best Sage Accounting plan offers decent value, and there's a 30-day free trial as well. Read our full Sage Accounting review.
Project Management Software
Do you have to manage a team and several projects? Asana helps you determine who should do what at any given time, which maximizes the chances of everything going well by the deadline (although you also need a certain amount of talent and effort from your staff, of course).As with the other software tools on this list, it's not just the features that Asana has that make it special, but the way those functions are grouped into one sleek, accessible interface that's easy to navigate and works across all mobile apps and the web without skipping a beat.We also like the way Asana integrates very well with more than a hundred other products and services. All the big names (Dropbox, Slack, Gmail, Salesforce, etc.) are included, and this means that Asana is flexible enough to adapt to whatever workflow you have set up right now (or want to test in the future). Whether you're planning the steps of a project, assigning tasks and responsibilities, checking the current status of a plan, or trying to get an overview of exactly what's happening at any given time, Asana makes the process much easier than you might expect. Believe the hype, or at least in part - Slack may not be done with email yet and it can become a waste of time if you're not disciplined in the way it's implemented, but it's also fair to say that this communications platform has helped transform the way many small teams companies keep in touch.However, what Slack does well is to bring that simple idea to life in a very intuitive way, with an elegant and responsive interface, and a wealth of integrations, plugins and shortcuts to keep the conversation flowing.
All the features you think you might need, from file transfers to video calls, are there for you. You don't get much from Slack for free, but it gives you an idea of the app and should be fine for smaller teams. At the highest price level, you get 24-hour support and a guaranteed four-hour support response time, as well as unlimited message archives.
Antivirus Software
The free version of Avast has long been considered one of the best for home users, but if value for money and simplicity are key factors, Avast Business could be a sensible choice. Read our full Avast Business Antivirus review.CRM Software
Bitrix24's unusually generous free account supports 12 users and includes 5 GB of storage, but if you need more there are additional paid accounts that offer more and for more users.Overall Bitrix24 offers a powerful set of tools that will be especially useful for small businesses and start-ups to help them develop and grow through increased productivity all on a single platform.
Website Building Software
Choose from thousands of free and premium themes to get your small business website up quickly without having any coding knowledge. Robust comprehensive software that is hosted in the cloud so there are no downloads or installations.When it comes to running a small business having the right tool for the job can make a big difference both in your workday and in the performance of your company. That's why now is a good time to be an entrepreneur - you still need to wear a lot of hats but there have never been more business tools available to help you fit in a little better in those hats.The key is to find the right tool just when your small business needs it. That's why we created this giant list of software and other resources from accounting software to marketing tools for small businesses and everything in between.We've even included some of our picks for the best options within each category.
