Tools worth keeping.

Project, finance and CRM tools reviewed for small creative and marketing teams.

6 tools

Notion

Notion Labs

Flexible enough for ops docs, proposals, and light CRM. Dangerous if everything becomes a wiki nobody maintains.

Best for: Teams that need one shared workspace without enterprise IT.

Asana

Clear ownership and timelines for client work. Stronger than a chat thread; lighter than enterprise PM suites.

Best for: Studios of 5–20 running parallel projects.

Xero

Clean bookkeeping for project agencies. Pair it with a weekly cash view and it becomes a decision tool, not just compliance.

Best for: Agencies ready to stop living in spreadsheets alone.

Harvest

Time tracking that helps pricing and capacity without feeling like surveillance. Useful for fixed-fee margin reviews.

Best for: Teams that sell hours or need honest project costings.

HubSpot CRM

HubSpot

Free tier is enough for a small pipeline if the team updates stages weekly. Do not turn on every automation on day one.

Best for: Owners escaping inbox-as-CRM habits.

Figma

Default creative collaboration layer for modern studios. Treat file hygiene and permissions as part of delivery quality.

Best for: Design-led marketing and creative teams.