15 best SaaS tools to increase productivity

In 2023, over two-thirds of businesses are planning to

increase their spending on software

to help them boost productivity and achieve cost savings -- in fact, the total amount of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) spend is projected to

reach almost $600 billion

this year alone.

In pursuit of higher productivity, it’s clear that businesses are eager to loosen their purse strings and invest in the best SaaS tools on the market. From content marketing platforms that customize workflows with plugins and widgets to SEO tools that enhance online visibility, these tools are designed to enhance efficiency. But which SaaS software tools are right for your business or team?

In this article, we explore 15 of the top SaaS tools for business management, marketing, analytics, reporting, project management, and sales to help you make the best investment, improve business productivity, and reduce costs.

Unlike traditional, on-premises software of the past that would usually require expensive IT infrastructure and large upfront costs, SaaS business tools offer a more cost-effective and accessible alternative with minimal onboarding. In fact, many SaaS companies offer free plans as well as premium paid plans.

Without the need for complex on-site installations, businesses can access SaaS applications via the internet from any device with an internet connection, and many offer iOS and/or Android mobile apps for on-the-go access.

If you’re a business traveler, corporate travel manager or travel admin,

TravelPerk

is here to bring your team the best travel at competitive prices. As one of the most flexible and comprehensive business travel management systems available, it’s the perfect SaaS solution for companies looking to scale business growth, control spend, and centralize all aspects of business travel.

Customers rave about its

user experience

and

excellent support

provided.

Core strengths:

Second on the list of the best SaaS management tools is ClickUp, an all-in-one project and collaboration platform suitable for small businesses and enterprises.

ClickUp’s user-friendly platform is designed to boost productivity by helping individuals and teams manage tasks, projects, and workflows from one place. The solution’s solid feature set includes time and goal tracking, document management and collaboration, and customizable dashboards to suit different project management methodologies.

Customers love the

tool's versatility across different departments

and how they can

customize the platform

to suit their specific business needs.

Core strengths:

Topping the list of the best SaaS marketing tools is HubSpot, an all-in-one marketing, sales, and customer service platform designed to help organizations deliver exceptional customer experiences.

The tool’s automation features, data-driven insights, and metric tracking enable marketing teams to optimize their inbound marketing strategies while boosting productivity.

Customers highly rate the tool’s

marketing automation features

and the ease of

creating reports

.

Core strengths:

Wrike is a work management tool that helps marketing teams increase their productivity with centralized task management, real-time collaboration features, and customizable workflows.

The platform assists companies in managing every aspect of their marketing strategies, connecting the entire campaign process from the planning to the execution stages.

The platform's

interdependencies feature

and its ability to provide

complete visibility

to entire marketing teams receive high praise from customers.

Core strengths:

Quip is Salesforce's productivity platform that helps marketing teams boost collaboration and streamline project management processes. The tool combines spreadsheet and document management, task lists, and chat functionality with automation and templates to break down team silos and enhance productivity.

Customers love how they can

share real-time data

with their teams and

track changes

in real time within multiple document types.

Core strengths:

Hootsuite is a social media management tool that helps marketing teams schedule and manage content across various platforms and analyze their performance from a single dashboard.

The platform offers a broad range of features for content management, creation, monitoring, and reporting, making it a valuable SaaS tool for teams looking to streamline and syndicate their social media content and processes.

Customers highly rate how easy it is to

schedule posts across multiple channels

and the platform’s dedicated

support team

.

Core strengths:

First on the list of the best SaaS analytics tools is Zoho Analytics, a business intelligence and data analytics platform that helps small and large organizations easily glean valuable business insights.

Offering a user-friendly platform for data analysis and visualization from multiple sources, including spreadsheets, databases, cloud storage, and third-party applications, Zoho Analytics makes it easy for organizations to make data-driven decisions that optimize performance and drive growth.

Customers are highly impressed with the platform’s

custom dashboards

and user-friendly

drag-and-drop functionality

.

Core strengths:

Power BI by Microsoft is well known as one of the best SaaS reporting tools on the market. The cloud-based business intelligence platform provides a suite of reporting, data visualization, and business intelligence tools that enable businesses to convert raw data into actionable insights.

The platform converts data from hundreds of sources and transforms it into interactive dashboards, charts, graphs, and reports. The tool is also used by businesses to

predict future outcomes, gain valuable insights into their data, and leverage real-time insights to make better decisions.

Customers highly rate the platform’s powerful

data visualization capabilities

and the ability to easily

import data from various sources

.

Core strengths:

Monday.com is a cloud-based work management platform and team collaboration tool that unifies team communication, task and time management, and project tracking in a centralized platform.

The solution helps businesses and teams of all sizes streamline workflows, collaborate effectively, and enhance their productivity and serves as a hub from which they can manage projects, portfolios, resources, and business operations.

Customers love the

ready-made templates

and how the platform helps them

track every step

of any process.

Core strengths:

Standing tall among the best SaaS project management tools is Asana, a work and project management platform that helps streamline communication and collaboration across companies and teams.

The centralized platform also helps businesses organize, track, and manage their work, and optimize their workflows with customizable boards, automation, and task management features. To reduce platform switching and enhance productivity, the tool enables users to assign tasks, comments, and files to specific team members.

Customers love how the tool

improves team productivity

with its

tailored workflows

.

Core strengths:

Trello is a task management and collaboration platform designed to help businesses organize, sort, plan, and work together on projects and tasks.

The platform’s main page serves as a comprehensive team dashboard. Users create boards for projects, organize them into lists for project stages, and use cards for individual tasks or ideas. This combination offers a clear view of the responsibilities and current tasks to help organizations prioritize their workload.

Customers rate the platform’s

intuitive dashboards

and

drag-and-drop functionality

as key features.

Core strengths:

At its core, Slack is a business communication tool that helps organizations better collaborate with messaging, file sharing, and workflow builders. Recognized as one of the best SaaS solutions for startups due to its user-friendly interface, Slack has grown into an indispensable project management software tool.

The platform helps businesses of all sizes manage projects, streamline communication, and minimize software silos. As well as individual chats, businesses can create group chats dedicated to specific discussion points, purposes, or projects. The tool’s voice and video conferencing feature also helps businesses with remote teams remain productive despite the distance.

Customers love how Slack helps teams easily

align their goals

with its

channel-based platform

.

Core strengths:

Salesforce is a cloud-based sales and CRM platform designed to help businesses manage and analyze customer data, sales operations, marketing campaigns, and customer support processes.

One of the best SaaS sales tools on the market, Salesforce’s strong lead management, data analysis, and A/B testing features help companies better connect with and serve current customers and identify potential customers.

Customers love how Salesforce enables them to

store and manage

leads, contacts, accounts, and opportunities in one place and the tool’s timely

follow-up reminders

.

Core strengths:

Zendesk is a customer service platform aimed at enhancing communication between companies and customers. A suite of features -- including helpdesk, email marketing, live chat, sales, employee engagement, and customer engagement -- help businesses stay productive while delivering stellar customer experiences.

The tool uses customer data and historical interactions to personalize communication, anticipate requests, and boost customer satisfaction and retention levels, and its robust knowledge base enables customers to access self-service support on their own terms.

Customers love the ability to

manage multiple channels

from a single platform and the tool’s

flexibility and scalability

.

Core strengths:

Pipedrive is a sales CRM platform that helps teams visualize their pipelines, organize contacts, and forecast sales. The tool guides sales reps through setting up their pipeline stages, scheduling reminders, and tracking progress toward goals to help them remain productive throughout the entire sales process.

As well as lead generation and management, sales teams can also use Pipedrive to track all communications, automate repetitive tasks, and access email and market segmentation to send targeted emails to the right audience.

Customers love the

holistic view of their sales pipelines

and that the tool is

highly customizable

.

Core strengths: