Porkbun is an American-based domain registrar that’s been around since 2015. Underneath its quirky pig-based exterior, it promises to be one of the cheapest options around. It sells most domains at cost price of wholesale pricing, plus ICANN fees, and credit card fees, without making a chunky sum out of hidden fees. Besides domains, it also offers web hosting, and email hosting, but I’m focusing on its domain services here.

I’ve been buying domain names for the past 25 years and have been reviewing services for over a decade. This Porkbun review is based on my hands-on testing, consulting official documentation and support, as well as checking verified user reviews for additional feedback.

For more options, why not look through our list of the best domain registration services.

Porkbun: My experience

Signing up to a domain via Porkbun only took moments. On the main page, I entered the domain name I was interested in purchasing and was quickly presented with a list of all the domain suffixes available right now. Once choosing to purchase one, there’s an option to add hosting and also to ‘upsell me’. Click the latter button and Porkbun suggests some relevant domain names you might also want to add on.

A minute later and you’re all set. Again, there’s a bit more upselling with the option of adding a site builder or WordPress hosting, but it’s not too intrusive. The domain management page is right there and it's simple to browse through your domains. As with most domain registrations, it takes a minute or two to be registered and it was pretty quick with Porkbun. The simple management page has everything you need and I liked the process. Just make sure to toggle auto-renew off unless it’s essential for you.

Porkbun: Features

Porkbun keeps things simple so when it comes to features, there’s no filler here. Buying a domain name also brings the offer of web hosting but that’s about as complicated as it gets.

On the domain registration page, you’re given WHOIS privacy as standard. You can toggle the domain lock on or off, and there’s an auto-renew toggle as well. If you’re planning on selling your domain name at some point, you can also quickly add to the marketplace to auction it off to someone. CSV file downloads of all your domain name details, including auth codes, can be quickly obtained from the management page too.

Wrapping things up well, it’s easy to configure your DNS records for many popular services with a couple of clicks of a button. These include Google Workspace, Squarespace, Shopify, and Bluesky, amongst other services.

Porkbun: User experience

Porkbun is very simple to use even if it isn’t exactly attractive to look at. There’s no conventional onboarding process like you’d get with one of the more user-friendly (and more expensive) services, but its domain management page is reasonably straightforward to figure out, even if you’re not a particularly advanced user.

Crucially, a series of tooltips and one line explainers go a long way to ensuring that you won’t break anything. A few toggles are also available and clearly laid out. What it lacks in looks, it makes up for with easily accessible settings.

Porkbun: Customer support

Porkbun offers a good range of support options. It has a knowledge base which should solve most simple queries. There’s also an AI chat bot which answers a lot of questions before transferring you to a person if needed. Refreshingly, you can also click a button to go straight to talking to a real person if you’d prefer.

There’s also phone support although that isn’t 24/7. It’s available between 9am and 5pm PST. Otherwise, email support is 24/7 and human chat support is a somewhat vague ‘hours vary’ although I found I always got a response.

Porkbun: Pricing

There’s seemingly a domain name suffix for every occasion here. Porkbun’s cheapest are its .xyz domains which cost $1 to register for the first year. .com domains are available from $11.08 while .net starts at $12.52.

As with any domain service, your mileage will vary depending on the domain name you have in mind, but those are good starting prices. Type in the name you have in mind and you’re given a vast list of available options along with a renewal price for the future.

Porkbun: Specs

Porkbun: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

• You want a no-frills domain service. Porkbun skips fancy visuals and focuses on providing domain names very cheaply and clutter-free.
• You want the best value. Some kind of domain name for $1? Porkbun makes it very tempting to bulk buy in the best way.
• You want quick access to many domains. Porkbun dishes out a huge list of available domain names making it oh so easy to click on multiple domains to buy.

Don't buy it if...

• You need hand holding. If you want guidance through setting up a domain, Porkbun isn’t the service for you. It’s not complicated but the onboarding could be a little more welcoming.
• You want web hosting from the same place. Porkbun’s web hosting isn’t bad but there are better options if you want an all-in-one service.
• You want a stylish experience. Porkbun is very basic looking and that can be a little off-putting compared to some competitors.

Porkbun: The competition

• Namecheap: For cheap domain names, Namecheap lives up to its name. Its dashboard is a little more appealing than Porkbun but renewals can be pricier.
• GoDaddy: Want good hosting as well as a domain? GoDaddy is the place to go. Just be aware of its upselling tactics.
• Dynadot: Dynadot has fairly cheap domains, limited upselling, and a good approach to domain registration. It misses a few TLDs out but for most people, it’s great.

How I tested Porkbun

• Set up an account and bought two domain names
• Tested the domain management features
• Evaluated the price of domains compared to competitors

I set up an account with Porkbun before searching for new domain names then buying two. I went through the sign up process to purchase the domain, before going into the domain management tools to make adjustments. This included looking at nameservers, how to change DNS records, and how to turn off auto renew and other features.

• Windows Subsystem for Linux gets new container feature after being teased last month
• CLI and API form the basis of the latest update, Intune management also added
• Other changes being made available to alternative container CLI tools

Microsoft has released Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) containers in public preview following its earlier announcement at Build 2026, as a way to create, run and manage Linux containers directly on Windows.

When the feature update was first revealed, Microsoft described it as "a built-in way to create, run and interact with Linux containers using familiar CLI & API."

The new container feature is now available in the latest pre-release version, which can be downloaded from GitHub, and includes two new core features.

WSL containers now available in public preview

As part of the update, Microsoft has added a built-in container CLI and an API to let Windows applications run Linux containers.

The company noted that the API is particularly useful for reusing existing Linux specific code, like running cloud applications locally, while the CLI tool uses a familiar format so users can "use [their] existing muscle memory when running Linux containers."

Microsoft also added new management settings to let admins control whether people can use WSL distros and containers via Intune.

Besides the headlining container update, Principal Product Manager Craig Loewen also highlighted a series of other changes the company has made to WSL, including a new 'virtiofs' file system that makes Windows file access 2x faster and a new 'consomme' default networking mode to improve compatibility.

Loewen noted that the lower level platform changes are also being made available across "other fantastic Linux container CLI tools" like Docker Desktop, Podman Desktop and Rancher Desktop.

Microsoft has also published a support page covering how to install the API, which includes support for C, C++ and C#.

The company hasn't yet provided a timeline for general availability.

Creating your own app no longer requires in-depth knowledge of an appropriate programming language. No-code tools like Base44 can be instructed to create web apps and superagents in minutes, using instructions written in much the same way you would explain the process of boiling an egg or running a bath.

Bought by Wix.com in 2025, just months after it was founded, Base44 is one of the most recognizable no-code tools. To ascertain how useful it can be, we’ve explored its features, its support for integration with third-party tools and services, and how easy it is to deploy. We’ve assessed its pricing and considered how Base44 compares with the competition, and we’ve also used it to create a web app.

To see more of the options that are out there, take a look at our list of the best no-code platforms.

Base44: Features

From the off, Base44 gives you a free option with 25 message credits and 100 integration credits. It is worth noting, however, that these have varying values depending on the type of project you’re describing. These credits increase through the plans, as do the features. Free users get database functionality, for example, along with authentication tools and analytics.

Scale up to a paid plan, and you can get unlimited app projects, in-app code edits, a choice of AI model, GitHub integration, domain connection, backend functions, and even premium support.

Base44 also has beta functions under ongoing development, which can also be accessed with the top tier plans.

The key feature of Base44, beyond its no-code prompt, is its support for superagents. These are described as being able to “do the work of a personal assistant, support rep, marketing team, analyst” and all you need to do is tell it what to do. Along with various templates – such as specific options for finance-based tasks, e-commerce projects, and more – Base44 has a lot to offer in terms of integrations. Pretty much every productivity tool and data platform you can think of is available for connection to your web project or superagent.

As such, Base44’s potential as a no-code automation tool is a strong advantage.

Base44: Interface and ease of use

Base44 is designed to make it easy for you to develop a web app with instructions in plain English. You simply enter a prompt, and wait for the results. A clear user-interface – much like any other AI-based prompt box – is presented for use, although you do need to register first. Free and paid accounts are available, along with a free trial of the premium features.

You aren’t limited to text prompts, either. It’s an easy task to upload an image, to assist with your plans for a web app. Or you might initiate a connection to one of the many integrations supported by Base44.

In addition, Base44 has a mobile app, for both iPhone and Android, which is intended to assist in no-code development wherever you are. Projects can also be deployed or published via the mobile app.

Base44: Integration and extensibility

It’s worth taking a deeper look at the integrations and connections available with Base44. Most importantly, you do not need a third party database solution, as this is built into all plans. If you need it, however, Base44 supports Supabase with a dedicated connection.

Google Suite tools like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Calendar can be integrated with Base 44, as can Google Drive, Google Analytics, Search Console, and Meet. Slack and the Slack Bot can be connected, as can ClickUp and AirTable. Meanwhile, cloud storage like Dropbox, OneDrive, and Box are also options.

LinkedIn, Instagram Business, and Discord also have connection options with Base44. Many more are available, and each offers the potential for an integration with a web app or superagent automation.

Base44: Deployment and maintenance

Creating an app or superagent is only the first step. In order to use them, you need to publish.

Several options are available here. The simplest is to publish to a Base44 subdomain, but you can easily share it via email or to a social network, too. Note that there is no option to sync it to GitHub.

Note that once a project is published, the integration credits come into play. This means that a web app or superagent needs the integration credits to perform the tasks you have specified. If the credits run out, your no-code project will not work again until the period resets or you upgrade to get more credits.

As noted, your project can also be published via the mobile app. This also supports submission to the Apple App Store and Google Play for approval.

Creating a crypto price calculator with Base44

To help understand just how useful Base44 is as a no-code solution, I developed a prompt to create a web app. The aim of the tool is to calculate the price of popular cryptocurrencies when purchased in USD, GBP, or Euros. It relies on a free API (two are specified as options), which the app should be able to connect to and draw data from. The prompt also specifies input fields and a calculation table.

The prompt is as follows – and we’ve used the same prompt when testing other no-code tools:

Build a tool that compares the price of a specific asset (like Bitcoin) against multiple fiat currencies simultaneously.

Functional requirements

API Integration: Connect to a free API (like CoinGecko or ExchangeRate-API).

Input Handling: A field where the user enters a "Budget" (e.g., $1,000$).

Dynamic Calculation: A list or table that automatically updates to show how much of the asset that budget buys in USD, EUR, and GBP.

Toggle Switch: A "Dark Mode" or "Refresh" toggle to test UI state management.

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Two initial attempts were made, each resulting in a drawn out “Building your idea” message – one of which lasted for 3 hours (in contrast, competing tools completed the task within 5 minutes).

Rather than re-entering the prompt for a third time, I posed the question: “why is this not working?” As a result, Base44 took a more verbal approach as it made its third attempt. While it made progress, it still wasn’t working, providing a “fix with AI” button to overcome problems displaying the app’s preview. This was progress, however, and within a few more moments the calculator was displayed.

The resulting web app delivered on the aims of the prompt, but offered an additional 9 currencies that were not specified. Publishing the app was a one-click process, and you can see the results here: https://global-crypto-spend.base44.app

Base44: Pricing and Documentation

The basic free version of Base44 is limited, but is enough to get you started. If you need more, the Starter plan is $20/month (working out at $16/month with annual billing) and gives you 100 message credits and 2000 integration credits.

The Builder plan takes things to the next level with 250 message credits and 10,000 integration credits each month, for just $50/month (or $40/month with annual billing), while the Pro plan has 500 message credits and 20,000 integration credits. This is $100/month, or $80/month with annual billing.

Finally, there is the $200/month option ($160/month if paying annually) with 1200 message credits and an incredible 50,000 integration credits each month.

Where Base44 also excels is in its superb knowledge base. Available via docs.base44.com, this is a comprehensive collection of authored documents that guide you through everything from writing prompts to queries over connections. There is also support for billing.

If you can’t find the answers you’re looking for, the docs are supported by one of the best AI help chat assistants we’ve come across. It appears to be regularly maintained and trained on Base44’s current feature set, which is an advantage and preferable to receiving solutions that appear to be six months out of date.

Base44: The competition

Various alternatives to Base44 are available. Among these are Lovable, Bubble, and Hostinger Horizons. All offer free trials and a collection of affordable plans. However, Base44 seems to deliver a more compelling collection of support documents, and its dual focus on web apps and superagents as distinct project types is an advantage.

Most of these tools offer the same integrations and connections, so there isn’t a whole lot of difference in that regard. However, Hostinger Horizons and Lovable were – in our experience – faster at delivering a working web app based on the same prompt.

Base44: Final verdict

Base44 impresses alongside the competition, with a collection of plans and features that will certainly make choosing a no-code tool more difficult. Price-wise, the free option gives you everything you need to kick off no-code development, while the paid tiers evolve the available features as you spend more.

In terms of generating a project, while Base44 was responsive to fixing errors, it struggled to deliver what is a comparatively straightforward web app. Competing no-code solutions have performed more efficiently in this regard.

It also went off-script by delivering currencies that were not specified. With this in mind, you might wonder if the time spent working on and refining a prompt with Base44 might be time better spent with a more immediately responsive tool.

Base44 has an affordable set of plans and its mobile support is good, but more reliable alternatives are available.

No-code tools are AI-based systems that enable people with little to no coding skills to quickly have a working program or application in just a few minutes. At the same time, no-code can be used by actual developers who need a quick start – perhaps to build a template and save time importing libraries into a project.

One of the key names in cloud AI is Vercel, which was founded in 2015 and launched v0 in 2023. Designed to create “web applications with natural language prompts,” this is an award-winning tool that collected a 2025 Webby Award. To learn more about Vercel v0, we’ve assessed its features, pricing and plans, ease of use, and tested it with a prompt for a web app. We’ve also compared v0 with competing tools to see how effective it is against the alternatives.

If you want to weigh up the other options, take a look at our list of the best no-code platforms.

Vercel v0: Features

The main reason to use v0 is to create a web application or some other web-hosted tool accessibly via a browser. Capable of understanding plain English instructions (or your native language) and converting them into a web app, v0 can create and deploy a project in minutes. It employs continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) to make this possible, a feature available in all plans, from the free Hobby tier upward.

Vercel v0 has a web application firewall, global CDN, DdoS mitigation, and traffic and performance insights, along with Vercel’s serverless infrastructure model Fluid Compute. All of those features are available each tier.

Pro users also get team collaboration and viewer seats, faster builds with no queues, and enterprise add-ons, while Enterprise plans add guest and team access controls, advanced support, managed rulesets, and a 99.99% uptime.

Vercel v0: Interface and ease of use

All of the no-code tools we’ve assessed offer a focused user interface, with a prompt box in the middle of the screen. It’s the same approach used for search tools, and is immediately inviting.

Once the prompt has been made, things evolve with Vercel v0. Assuming you have already registered (Google, GitHub, and other accounts are supported, as well as your own self-hosted or corporate email address), v0 will begin to process the prompt, analyzing the instructions and delivering its processes via a verbose sidebar. It is incredibly straightforward, leaving you with little else to do but sip a warm beverage and be entertained by the AI’s updates for a few minutes.

Pulling back from the prompt box of each individual project you develop with v0, information about your account is available, along with all active projects. These can be viewed via a series of dashboards, which also display server usage, analytics (up to 50,000 events are supported in the free Hobby mode) and even information about what integrations are in use.

Vercel v0: Integration and extensibility

Integrations make no-code platforms far more flexible than basic web apps. Features such as databases and login authentication add data resilience, user-specific settings, and privacy. With v0, a considerable selection of integrations are available. These include Stripe for payments, CMS solutions such as Formspree, Makeswift and Agility CMS, and a range of AI tools such as ElevenLabs for voice AI and Perplexity.

If a database is required, AWS is available as an option, but v0 itself recommends Supabase. This can be set up and integrated by v0 either as part of your prompt, or later when the kinks and bugs have been ironed out. The process is wholly automated, and as with everything else within this no-code environment, can be completed in minutes.

Vercel v0: Deployment and maintenance

Using Vercel v0 to deploy a web project gives you several options. You can publish directly to a subdomain, or to a GitHub repository where it can be made accessible to collaboration. A completed project can then be branched and revised, and the changes pushed to the current live environment.

Of particular interest is the v0 tool’s ability to maintain an existing project. If changes are required, the chat interface, positioned on the left-hand side of the completed web app, enables changes to be made. For more direct revision, the code view can open each of the generated files used in the development of the web app, and live changes made.

For debugging, a live console is also provided. All in all, these are solid, accessible revision and maintenance tools.

Creating a crypto calculator with Vercel v0

With various no-code tools available to choose from, it is important to know how effectively they can take the prompt you give them and deliver a usable app. To this end, I developed a prompt for a cryptocurrency calculator that would show how much of a specific cryptocurrency could be bought in USD, GBP, and EUR for a specific amount of money.

To ascertain how v0 handles a no-code prompt, I outlined what I wanted from the tool. The idea is that the prompt should result in a user-friendly web app.

Here’s the prompt we attempted to use with Vercel – the same one has been used with other no-code tools that we’ve looked at:

Build a tool that compares the price of a specific asset (like Bitcoin) against multiple fiat currencies simultaneously.

Functional requirements

API Integration: Connect to a free API (like CoinGecko or ExchangeRate-API).

Input Handling: A field where the user enters a "Budget" (e.g., $1,000$).

Dynamic Calculation: A list or table that automatically updates to show how much of the asset that budget buys in USD, EUR, and GBP.

Toggle Switch: A "Dark Mode" or "Refresh" toggle to test UI state management.

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Vercel v0 timed the creation at 1 minute and 44 seconds, and produced a tool that not only worked as described, but met the clear specification of the prompt. Deployment options allow immediate publishing, either to a Vercel subdomain or a dedicated URL you already own and are ready to connect.

There is also the option to publish to GitHub, although note that this comes with some complications for publishing later – the option to publish from the Vercel v0 interface is removed once this happens, limiting you to logging in to the no-code tool with your GitHub credentials to push it live. This seems over-complicated, but I was able to instruct the Vercel v0 AI chat assistant to publish the project.

Vercel v0: Pricing and documentation

A compact collection of options are available for using v0. Vercel offers three plans: the “free forever” Hobby option, the $20/month Pro selection, and the Enterprise option, which appears to be priced on scale of use and has the option to request a demo. As noted above, the Enterprise option is aimed at development teams. There is no annual payment option.

Given the range of features available through the Hobby and Pro plans, however, these should suit most uses. Note, however, that additional usage costs are applicable with the Pro plan, with $2 per 1 million additional Edge Requests and $0.15 per additional GB of data transfer. Various other changes can be applied for server use, project build costs, and accommodating additional developers. So while the Pro plan may look affordable, it has hidden costs if you go beyond its confines. These have regional variations, which can be found in the Vercel.com documentation pages.

Vercel v0 has a useful collection of documentation, a knowledge base format that is both readable and searchable. In addition, the AI assistant can find solutions to bugs or issues with its generated projects. The knowledge base feels as though it has been curated or compiled by humans, and is easy to read.

Vercel v0: The competition

The pricing for v0 is far simpler than with most competing tools, which all offer more pricing tiers.

Vercel appears particularly adept at keeping to the confines of the prompt. Some of the tools we’ve used have gone “off-script” and produced additional features – such as a longer list of currencies – whereas the web app produced by Vercel is exactly as specified. On the other hand, deployment proved a little trickier with Vercel once GitHub was factored into the process.

In terms of creating a fast web app without mission creep, Hostinger Horizons and Vercel v0 are pretty much equivalent, although the former has a swifter set of deployment options. But the depth of the Hobby plan and the Pro price are certainly in v0’s favor.

Vercel v0 also falls short against Lovable in terms of the ease with which the generated web app’s user interface can be edited. This is a shame, as the alternative to a friendly point-and-click revision is getting embroiled in CSS, which a no-code prompter may not feel comfortable with.

Vercel v0: Final verdict

Competition among no-code solutions is tight. Most offer the same features, with a similar user interface, at prices that barely differ. The main points of difference come with the success of the initial prompt, what revisions are possible, and the deployment options.

Vercel v0 stands out in our testing for having a strong free plan, and for delivering a working web app that met the exact requirements (and constraints) of the prompt. Deployment and publishing was tricky, but the AI chat assistant helped to overcome any issues publishing the web app as a live tool.

While it lacks a mobile app, v0 is a strong choice for no-code projects, and should be on your list of options.

No-code AI tools take a prompt in plain English (and other languages) and create a web app or other tool. Bolt is one such AI powered development platform, which launched in late 2024 and can create a web app based on your instructions without any need for coding tools or environment.

Various no-code development tools are currently available, but is Bolt able to compete with names like Replit and Base44? To find out, we tested its no-code capabilities with a straightforward prompt, assessed its features and pricing, and compared it with the competition.

For more options, you can also take a look at our list of the best no-code platforms.

Bolt: Features

Bolt will generate a web app based on a prompt you enter. This can be an outline you have finessed elsewhere, or something developed within a threaded, iterative conversation with the AI.

Several plans are offered by Bolt, each with an expanding raft of features. The free plan gives you the facility to commence both public and private projects, with 300K tokens each day. These are used with each AI interaction, depending on the scale of the request. 1 million tokens are awarded at the start of each month, and this doesn’t roll over.

Bolt's free plan gives you website hosting (with Bolt branding) for a project and a 10MB file upload limit – useful for sharing UI designs, for example. Also on the free plan, you'll get unlimited databases and support for 333,000 web requests (visitors).

The Pro plan gives you 10 million tokens by default and removes the Bolt branding. You also get custom domain support. Additionally, unused tokens will rollover to the next month.

A Teams plan adds team-level access management, granular administration controls, centralized billing, internal sharing, and support for private NPM registries. The Custom plan for enterprise scale projects adds further features such as SSO, audit logs, compliance, custom workflows, data governance policies and a dedicated account manager for 24/7 support.

Bolt: Interface and ease of use

A cursory look at several no-code tools will reveal a pretty standardized user interface not dissimilar to ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, with a prompt box awaiting text input. Bolt does boast a far slicker UI than some of its competitors, making it immediately enticing.

You can create an account with your own credentials, with the now-ubiquitous Google sign in, or with GitHub. The latter will make integration with the code collaboration platform slightly more streamlined.

Entering a prompt is simple, and the generation of a project is logged in the left-hand pane. It’s all very straightforward and intuitive, and consequently extremely easy to use. However, there is a potential barrier to getting the most out of Bolt.

This no-code platform requires a specific browser, either Google Chrome (or Chromium) Microsoft Edge, or Brave. It doesn’t work with Firefox, with any attempt greeted by the message “Your current browser doesn’t support key technologies that Bolt relies on.”

Bolt: Integration and extensibility

Creating a web app from scratch with a single prompt is only part of the challenge for no-code tools like Bolt. They also need to be able to offer integration with tools that make the web app work. These might be payment processing services, login authorization, databases, for example, and perhaps even cloud integration.

You might also wish to ensure the project is effectively managed by integrating a suitable tool.

Bolt has a number of options in this area, from database support with Supabase to error tracking with Sentry and AI meeting notes with Granola. Bolt’s creators have aimed to provide a tool for many eventualities, although it should be noted that Bolt doesn’t offer Stripe or Google authorization as connectors or integrations. Instead, these are available at the prompt level, by adding a phrase such as “Add Sign-In with Google to my application.”

Bolt: Deployment and maintenance

In addition to the integrations, Bolt can be synced with GitHub. This adds an important aspect to your project’s reliability, allowing the invitation of collaborators and for the code to be reviewed. Remember, this is a no-code platform, and while the projects it creates should work well, it doesn’t mean that the code is perfect. Having the option for GitHub is useful, as it means you can take what is essentially a bootstrapped web app and polish it with the help of others.

Completed projects can be published via Bolt with two clicks. A subdomain is assigned for the project to run in. The option to host your project on a custom domain can also be configured at this stage.

Creating a crypto calculator with Bolt

To gain some understanding about how effective Bolt is for no code app generation, we conducted a test to see how it handled a clear prompt to create a web app.

The web app was conceived as a cryptocurrency calculator, designed to display live conversion prices for a trio of fiat currencies and whichever cryptocurrencies are provided via the chosen API. Two free API options are presented (CoinGecko and ExchangeRate-API) which the AI should draw information from.

Here is the prompt we used:

Build a tool that compares the price of a specific asset (like Bitcoin) against multiple fiat currencies simultaneously.

Functional requirements:

API Integration: Connect to a free API (like CoinGecko or ExchangeRate-API).

Input Handling: A field where the user enters a "Budget" (e.g., $1,000$).

Dynamic Calculation: A list or table that automatically updates to show how much of the asset that budget buys in USD, EUR, and GBP.

Toggle Switch: A "Dark Mode" or "Refresh" toggle to test UI state management.

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Bolt’s results with this web app were good, but not without some caveats. First and foremost, it took a little over 5 minutes to complete the task. Other tools we’ve seen have been able to generate a web app from the prompt in under 90 seconds.

In addition, Bolt went off-script, over delivering on the physical currencies provided in the web app. The prompt specifies just three: USD, EU, GBP.

Deployment is one-click, however, which means you can have a live no-code web app published in just seconds. You can view the generated web app here: https://multi-currency-asset-sipu.bolt.host/

Bolt: Pricing and documentation

You can get started with Bolt for free, but for a more in-depth no-code experience, you will need to consider the Pro plan. This starts from $25/month ($18/month with annual billing) for a plan that gives you 10 million tokens. If that isn’t enough you can increase your bank of tokens, but this has a direct impact on the plan’s price. Options from 26 million to 1200 million tokens are available, with prices that increase along the way, topping out at $2000/month.

In scenarios where a lot of tokens are required, and multiple users require access to Bolt for no-code development or post-generation revision, there is the Teams plan. This is $30/month (working out at $27/month with annual billing), with a similar pricing structure for additional tokens.

Information about pricing or tiers for tokens isn't available for the Custom plan – this is aimed at enterprise-level businesses with more complex requirements.

Details about the plans and tokens can be found (along with other important information about Bolt) in the documentation. These are well written and seem to cover everything from creating a new project, editing it in your browser or opening it to collaboration on GitHub to importing from competing platforms like Lovable.

Bolt: The competition

If you searched for a list of AI no-code platforms, you would invariably come across Bolt. It is a strong option that stands out alongside the alternatives thanks to its striking user interface. However, we found faster and better no-code tools, such as Lovable, Hostinger Horizons, and Vercel v0.

They all deliver faster and/or stay on-script when a single prompt is entered. As that is our benchmark, it is important to highlight that Bolt isn’t hitting it. But Bolt does have strengths compared with the alternatives, not least the swift deployment of a live web and heavy GitHub integration.

However, we were impressed with the depth of Bolt's plans for large-scale teams.

Bolt: Final verdict

Bolt is slow, and has fewer AI tokens than competing tools in free mode. These refresh daily, but are restrictive. The 300K tokens daily limit isn’t enough to explore revisions and there is no trial option where you can enjoy the features of the Pro plan.

On the puls side, Bolt offers an excellent set of documentation, which can prove invaluable in helping you to shape the idea for a web app into a working project with all the necessary authentication, payment, database, and other features.

I’ve enjoyed using Bolt’s intuitive collection of tools, but unfortunately it doesn’t deliver a no-code web app as effortlessly and quickly as many of the alternatives.

Replit has had an interesting development story, launching in 2016 as a platform for running code in a browser window (technology adopted by teaching platforms like Codecademy) and developing in 2018 into an AI coding platform. Unlike many other no-code tools, Replit also opens access to the underlying code, falling back into its evolution as a browser based IDE (Integrated Development Environment).

With this in mind, we looked at how it compares with other no-code platforms, taking into account features and plans, pricing, ease of deployment, and usability (standalone, and with documentation). With the help of a testing prompt, we used Replit to generate a straightforward web app, which helped us to evaluate the tool and rate it.

For more options, take a look at our full list of the best no-code platforms.

Replit: Features

One of the most interesting things about Replit is its dual purpose as both no-code generator and browser-based IDE. This makes it ideal for bootstrapped projects, where you need to get something ready for further development, but don’t have the time to import libraries, define parameters, and so on.

You simply enter the prompt, Replit generates a working project framework, and you can then dig into the code, making the necessary changes. Yes, Replit can create something more developed than a basic framework, but in both cases you can drill down and physically enter files within the browser. Replit also offers a quick redesign tool if you don’t like the way the CSS has been generated.

Daily credits for use with the AI agent, full database access, tools to create slides, videos, and animations, and the ability to publish a single project (with optional password protection) are included with the free plan.

The Replit Core plan adds collaborators, two simultaneous AI agents, unlimited workspaces and removes the “Made with Replit” badge from published projects, while Replit Pro adds 28 day database rollbacks, access to the most powerful AI models, and 10 simultaneous agents.

Replit: Interface and ease of use

Creating a project with Replit is pretty intuitive, requiring a simple prompt, typed or pasted into the box. You will find some template options – websites, animations, slides – that can speed things up if appropriate.

The UI feels a little less flashy than some competing tools, but everything is pretty much where you would expect to find it. All menu controls – settings and projects, for example – can be found on the left of the main screen. The same area is used when you’re in no-code mode, where responses are displayed, and you can ask further questions or tweak the results.

Replit: Integration and extensibility

Competing platforms offer a pretty long list of integrations that they support. It’s a bit trickier to ascertain what can be integrated with Replit, and whether the connection can be both ways, reliant on an API, or agentic. However, a check in the documentation reveals that Stripe integration is possible for payments (but not in the custom plans), as is Google OAuth.

Connectors for “Linear, Jira, Gmail, Slack, Discord” are listed within the Replit documentation.

Remember, you can dig down and edit the generated code with Replit, which means you should be able to manually add the desired integrations if they’re not already offered.

Replit: Deployment and Maintenance

Of all the no-code tools we’ve looked at, Replit is the slowest when it comes to deployment. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however. Usually, when you publish a no-code project with one of these platforms, it seems to take just a few moments before it goes live. With Replit, various checks are made, including a security scan, which are explicitly displayed via a progress screen.

I’m not suggesting rival tools don’t check the security of the web app and its suitability for hosting, but Replit makes this process a lot clearer.

As already noted, anything created with Replit can be viewed within the platform’s IDE, and its code edited if necessary. This can save a lot of time when it comes to revising or troubleshooting your project, but if course is intended for developers, not newcomers using no-code to play with code for the first time.

Creating a crypto calculator with Replit

The entire point of a no code platform like Replit is that it can take straightforward instructions in plain English (or another supported language) and produce an application – a software tool of some sort – in a fraction of the time it would take to complete manually.

To explore what can be expected from Replit, we developed a prompt that clearly outlines the requirements for a cryptocurrency calculator web app. It should compare asset prices, connect to an appropriate free API, and support three standard currencies, USD, GBP, and Euro.

We used the following prompt with each of the no code tools we’ve reviewed:

Build a tool that compares the price of a specific asset (like Bitcoin) against multiple fiat currencies simultaneously.

Functional requirements:

API Integration: Connect to a free API (like CoinGecko or ExchangeRate-API).

Input Handling: A field where the user enters a "Budget" (e.g., $1,000$).

Dynamic Calculation: A list or table that automatically updates to show how much of the asset that budget buys in USD, EUR, and GBP.

Toggle Switch: A "Dark Mode" or "Refresh" toggle to test UI state management.

--

Replit read the prompt and completed the no code web app in under 3 minutes. Its output along the way was pretty verbose, although geared to developers, relying on displaying command line interface instructions rather than something more suited to non-coders. However, this does usefully communicate the procedure that the tool follows, namely working on the backend first, then the frontend.

Upon completion, Replit also makes suggestions for revision. For example in this case, it offered “support for more assets by letting users search the full CoinGecko coin list.”

In addition, Replit supports various revisions, both to the code and to the user interface. Direct editing of the code is possible, while changes to the UI are limited within the Replit tool – it’s easier to make instructions via the AI assistant. That, of course, uses up credits, so finding the right balance is important.

Deploying the finished web app is slower than the competing platforms, but this is mainly due to a collection of checks that are made by Replit, which include ensuring the code is secure. You can publish with or without these checks. The project can be published to a custom domain, or use the auto-generated Replit subdomain.

Replit: Pricing and Documentation

The four plans, Standard, Replit Core, Replit Pro, and Enterprise, have their own pricing and features. If you’re just starting with no code tools, the Standard free plan is ideal, giving daily credits and support for one project.

Replit Core is $20/month, or the equivalent of $18/month if you pay upfront for 12-months. This includes $20 of monthly credits for the AI and supports up to 5 collaborators. Meanwhile, Replit Pro is $100/month (paying annually works out at $90/month), and has $100 worth of monthly credits and up to 15 collaborators and 50 viewers. There is the option to upgrade the credits to a different plan, potentially as much as $2,500/month of credits.

If the scale of the Core and Pro plans doesn’t meet your needs, the Enterprise-targeted custom plan is available. As is usual with such plans, a sales person will provide a demo, ascertain your requirements from the no code platform, and shape a quote that suits your budget, team, and scale.

An impressive resource of documentation is available via the docs.replit.com address, clearly explaining the scope, scale, and even the smallest steps about using Replit. This is a searchable resource, one that is split into tutorials and standard knowledge base docs, and aims to provide answers to everything. Anything that cannot be found within the docs can be directly queried with the AI assistant.

Replit: The Competition

The no-code market is getting busier, with tools like Lovable, Bubble, and Hostinger Horizons standing out as popular solutions for anyone who wishes to create an app without learning to code (or paying someone to do it).

In terms of generating a web app from the prompt, Replit didn’t deliver as quickly as most other no-code platforms, but still produced a working tool within 5 minutes. This is in contrast to Emergent, which took more than three times that duration.

Replit: Final Verdict

Price-wise, Replit is in the sweet spot, and its features make it a good choice if you’re in the market for a no-code tool. It stands up against comparison with competing tools like Lovable, Hostinger Horizons, and Base44. It’s fast, and the generated web app looked good and was functional.

However, if you're specifically looking for a free tool, I would steer clear of Replit - if you have the need to get to grips with a project, the daily credit limit will slow you down. Instead, opt for Replit Core with an appropriate level of AI credits unless you need something with many more collaborators.

Overall, users shouldn't overlook what Replit really offers: almost instantaneous development bootstrapping with code you can dig into immediately via its native IDE.

Created by twin brothers Madhav and Mukund Jha, Emergent is a dedicated “vibe coding” platform, and its marketing as such has made it one of the key names in the no-code landscape.

Launching officially in 2025, Emergent has over 6 million worldwide users. But does it live up to the billing? And how does it compare with competing no-code platforms?

To find out, we created a test prompt and evaluated Emergent’s ability to create a usable web app. We also compared Emergent directly with tools like Base44, Hostinger Horizons, and various others, looking at features, price, ease of use, integrations, and deployment.

For more alternatives, take a look at our rundown of the best no-code platforms.

Emergent: Features

Unlike most no-code tools, Emergent lets you select your LLM, including those created by OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.

Other features include integrations with third party platforms, and mobile app development. With the Pro plan it also gives you the option of custom agent development and analytics to measure your web app or agent’s demand.

And, of course, it will create a web app or other software tool from the instructions you give it. That's a pretty decent feature in its own right, regardless of everything else.

Emergent: Interface and ease of use

You can get to work immediately with Emergent, which offers a standard text entry field for inputting a prompt. If has a choice of full stack app, mobile app, or landing page.

When it comes to entering a prompt, Emergent will quiz you further. For example, with our prompt for a web app (see more on that below), the interface asks questions about the choices within the web app, as well as its overall design. This is before the code is generated, and makes you feel like Emergent is interested in the outcome.

In truth, it is attempting to get things finalized before proceeding. We’ve seen some other no-code tools go “off script” with the finished product, and Emergent avoids that with this technique. However, the initial prompt had clear parameters, so it was slightly disconcerting to be asked questions that were already answered.

Emergent: Integration and extensibility

An impressive collection of integrations give Emergent uses that go beyond generating a static web page or mobile app. It has Google Suite integration, databases can be maintained with Supabase, and there is Stripe integration for payment handling.

Elsewhere, Emergent has integration with Giphy, but for a more professional angle, it also supports Slack integrations, and Resend too. What seems to be missing, however, are supported functional linkups with tools like Asana or Clickup for project management. Other no-code platforms offer a number of alternatives (e.g. Supabase or hosted within the no-code platform, Stripe or PayPal, etc.) so it is disappointing to seen the options somewhat limited in this regard.

Emergent: Deployment and Maintenance

A completed web app can be deployed as a live website, either to your own hosting or a subdomain within Emergent (although this is limited to paid plans only). Anything it generates for you can also be shared to GitHub for collaboration. Changes made on GitHub can also be pushed to the code on Emergent. Perhaps the most impressive GitHub integration is the ability to pull existing projects from your repository and work on them within Emergent.

If you need to change anything, the Emergent AI chatbot can respond to requests. However, if you’re using this for vibe coding and have something you can polish in code, there is a browser-based IDE option to switch into.

Creating a crypto calculator with Emergent

Comparing no code tools is not an exact science, so we opted to create a task that each of the no code platforms that we’ve looked at should be able to complete.

This is a straightforward task, formatted as a prompt, to create a cryptocurrency calculator. The aim is to build a tool that works via a browser and can display the current price of a crypto asset in either of three currencies: USD, GBP, and Euros. Using a free API (CoinGecko and ExchangeRate-API are both offered), the tool should be interactive, supporting changes to the input budget.

Our prompt was as follows:

Build a tool that compares the price of a specific asset (like Bitcoin) against multiple fiat currencies simultaneously.

Functional requirements:

API Integration: Connect to a free API (like CoinGecko or ExchangeRate-API).

Input Handling: A field where the user enters a "Budget" (e.g., $1,000$).

Dynamic Calculation: A list or table that automatically updates to show how much of the asset the budget buys in USD, EUR, and GBP.

Toggle Switch: A "Dark Mode" or "Refresh" toggle to test UI state management.

--

So, how did Emergent perform?

Good news first: it produced an attractive and usable web app. However, it did not perform as expected in the generation of the project and was considerably slower than competing tools. The prompt was input at 12:22 pm, but the project did not complete until 12:39pm. Completing a web app of this kind by hand would take far longer than 17 minutes, but we’ve run the same prompt with other tools, and each produced a web app in a fraction of the time.

In Emergent’s favor, it is by far the most verbose of the no code tools we’ve looked at. To start with it offers a choice of AI, some free, some premium. Once the prompt is evaluated, it also tests various questions, offering you a multiple choice. For example, the matter of whether to limit the tool to the specified currencies or add others was posed.

Other no code tools have simply proceeded and added those currencies, going off-script, so it was refreshing to see Emergent effectively asking permission to do that.

Reviewing the temporary share link on a mobile device (Android) confirmed that the web app worked well in multiple screen resolutions and form factors.

Replit: Pricing and documentation

Four pricing options are available with Emergent: three aimed at individuals, and one aimed at enterprise and large-scale operations.

The free plan affords 10 monthly credits, which should be enough to begin no code development. With the Standard plan at $20/month (an annual plan works out at $17/month), Emergent is aiming at first time builders requiring a few extra features.

Things scale up considerably with the Pro plan ($200/month, or the equivalent of $167/month if you pay for a year up-front), which gives you 750 monthly credits. The enterprise option is called a Custom plan, and comes with no specified subscription. Instead, pricing is based on an initial demo and a quote offered based on the requirements of your project.

If you need any help, you can of course ask Emergent. Additionally, a collection of in-depth documentation covers everything from getting started to GitHub integration, rollback support, and more.

Emergent: The Competition

Price-wise, Emergent has similarly-priced plans as the competition, although it is noticeably slower. The timing we recorded for generating the web app from the no-code prompt was three times longer than the next slowest (Replit).

One thing that sets Emergent’s free plan apart from its competitors is the lack of free deployment. This means that unless you have something set up for hosting, your no-code project is going nowhere. It’s a policy that is in stark contrast with what we’ve seen elsewhere, where you either get 30-days free hosting for your web app, or a longer term option. So, unless an active, paid plan is in operation, a no-code project with Emergent can only be shared, not published, and then only with a temporary link. This expires after 30 minutes, which may limit your sharing options.

Emergent is a popular name in the no-code/vibe coding market. Unfortunately, while it offers useful post-prompt interactions to help you polish the prompt further, it just doesn’t deliver the same degree of instant completion as you get with, say, Lovable or Hostinger Horizons. Similarly, its list of integrations is shorter than other tools.

Emergent: Final Verdict

My experience in the no-code arena began with Emergent, so I have a certain amount of affection for it. I’ve seen many excellent demonstrations of what is possible with this tool, but was ultimately disappointed at how slow Emergent is compared with, say, Lovable or even Replit, and what integrations it fell short on.

Price-wise, most of the no-code tools we’ve looked at are in roughly the same ballpark, so this isn’t much of an issue. However, in testing our prompt, Emergent was on the brink of exhausting the AI credits, which could be a problem if you’re just feeling your way with this technology.

It has a useful choice of features (I enjoy being able to flip the LLM choice) and its conversational element can have a striking effect on the created web app. However, while 6 million users can't be wrong, I feel Emergent has slipped behind the competition.

• Tens of millions of credentials may have been leaked following an attack on one of Japan's largest ISPs
• The attack leveraged a vulnerability in a third-party software used by KDDI
• Five other ISPs were also affected in the attack

A data breach that has potentially exposed the email and password combinations for over 14 million customers across six internet service providers (ISPs) has been disclosed by Japanese telecoms provider KDDI Corporation.

According to the company, hackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party software to access the database of credentials. KDDI said that it immediately blocked the hackers' access after discovering the intrusion on June 17, 2026.

“Although technical defensive measures have already been implemented for the system, there remains a possibility that customers' email addresses and passwords were obtained by unauthorized third parties as a result of the incident,” the company said in a statement.

Millions of credentials exposed

Unfortunately, the breach was not confined to just KDDI. The email services of five other ISPs were also affected by the breach:

• STNet, Inc.
• JCOM Co., Ltd.
• Chubu Telecommunications C., Inc.
• NIFTY Corporation
• BIGLOBE Inc.

KDDI is yet to finish a formal investigation into the attack, but said that the hacker may have gained access to the emails addresses and passwords for 14.22 million current and former customers. The company also said that some of the passwords were stored in an encrypted format, and so will be inaccessible for the hackers, but the company did not say how many were stored in this manner.

Since discovering the breach, KDDI has also been working alongside the affected ISPs to secure systems and put in place mitigation measures to counter the abuse of exposed account credentials.

In order to stay protected, customers have been advised to change their account passwords and implement two-factor authentication.

Breaches such as these are particularly dangerous because they expose email and password combinations. As most people will have either one or two email addresses across their accounts, it increases the likelihood that hackers can attempt to use the exposed email and password combinations to try and access other accounts created with the same email.

This is especially true if the same password (or a variant thereof) is used across multiple accounts. Hackers can use brute force techniques to try hundreds of password combinations in a very short amount of time in order to crack weak or reused passwords.

When creating or updating a password for any account, no matter how infrequently it is used, always create a strong unique password. Password managers can create and suggest strong passwords, securely store them, and automatically fill login forms to take the hassle out of remembering passwords.

Alternatively, some services offer the ability to login using a passkey, which utilizes the built-in biometric authentication mechanisms of your device such as a facial scan or fingerprint. These login methods not only remove the need to type in passwords, but also reduce the possibility of hackers accessing your account through phishing attacks.

Via BleepingComputer

• @Claude is an AI colleague that your colleagues can see
• It'll answer questions and proactively contribute where it's useful
• Teams first, other platforms later, but remember to set spending limits

In a bid to make its AI assistant even more collaborative, Anthropic has launched Claude Tag into Slack to make it more like interacting with a real colleague.

But tagging @Claude in a discussion, the AI reads the discussion's context to respond with relevant information, answer questions, summarize long chats, identify updates and surface missed information.

The shared assistant allows multiple people to interact with the same Claude instance, rather than everybody having separate chats with AI.

You can now tag @Claude in Slack

"We’re tagging Claude to chase down product metrics and data, work through support tickets, or even help find the root cause of tricky bugs," Anthropic said about its own internal use of the tool, powered by Opus 4.8.

Anthropic described Claude Tag as a virtual teammate, but the existing Slack connector for Claude gives the chatbot access to the app's context for users who still want to have private discussions with the tool.

Claude Tag can also connect to external tools – for example a Gmail connection monitors incoming emails and notifies users within Slack in a bid to keep everything in one place.

The built-in chatbot also promises to 'take initiative' by surfacing relevant information when a discussion is taking place, or by setting reminders for action items when a chat goes quiet.

Claude Tag is available for Enterprise and Team customers in research preview. Anthropic is giving away a 'launch credit' for users to try it out, but the company recommends setting a spend limit.

Though Slack is the first platform to support Claude Tag, the company promises to be working on integrating it into other workplace tools too.

• Looking for the free video editor version? See our DaVinci Resolve 21 (2026) review

DaVinci Resolve comes in two flavors: a powerful free version - which I reviewed recently, and it remains the best free video editing software and best video editing software I've ever used.

But there's also the more powerful DaVinci Resolve Studio. This is the high-end, pro-grade variant for professional filmmakers and videographers. It unlocks a raft of extra features for a reasonable one-time fee.

Now, I'm a massive fan of both of Blackmagic Design's video editing tools, so I was keen to see what the latest version of Studio brings to the editing bay.

You can download the app by clicking here.

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: Pricing & plans

• One-off cost just under $300
• Advanced professional non-linear desktop video editor and visual effects compositor
• Frankly, it’s a steal at this price

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that you have to pay for professional software. Yes, the free version of DaVinci Resolve is the outlier here, as it offers so much for free, but there are some limitations compared to Studio.

For instance, whereas Resolve limits your exports to 4K and 60 fps (which is honestly fine for the overwhelming majority of us), pros have been known to need more, so Studio lets them work up to 32K and 120fps.

This is but scratching the surface of course, and I’ll show you some exciting features Studio exclusively has over its free sibling in this review, but how much will this cost you, I hear you ask. Less than $300.

Not as a subscription, not the price you have to pay for each major new version, but $300 as a one off, which is the same price Apple charges for Final Cut Pro - at least as long as Apple keeps its one-time charges, since unlike Blackmagic Design, the company have now embraced subscription pricing for its Creator tools.

So yes, $300 for a professional video editing platform, which includes powerful colour grading, special effects creation and audio cleanup, for Windows, Linux and Mac computers. Not too shabby.

Why is it so cheap? Because just like Apple, Blackmagic subsidizes the development cost through their hardware sales - which is there waiting for you, when you’re ready to take your video editing to the next level

• Score: 5/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: Interface

• Modern interface
• Cleverly crams so many features into a single app

Launching Studio after having worked in Resolve, you’ll be hard pressed to notice any difference. The interface looks identical. Even the app’s icon is merely labelled ‘DaVinci Resolve’. The only way you can definitely tell at a glance which version you’re in, is lower left of the bottom toolbar - you’ll either see ‘DaVinci Resolve 21’, or ‘DaVinci Resolve Studio 21’.

Very briefly, Studio’s interface is divided into various sections, which are referred to as ‘Pages’. They’re listed in the order you’re expected to work in (although that’s by no means compulsory). ‘Media’ is where you import and catalog your clips and footage, and ‘Photo’ is brand new for 21 (I explored it in greater detail in my review of the free DaVinci Resolve 21).

‘Cut’ and ‘Edit’ are there to build your project; one is for quick work, the other is for more precise editing, coupled with far more tools and features. ’Fusion’ is for all your special effects magic, while colour correction and grading is done in ’Color’. ‘Fairlight’ is for detailed audio work and sound editing, and when all your work is done, ‘Deliver’ is where you export your finished project.

Each Page offers different tools and capabilities, keeping all workspaces focussed on the work at hand, while letting you effortlessly and seamlessly switch between each as you need to. It’s a great way to keep the interface as simple as possible while allowing you to do everything in a single app, and allows for the easy addition of new Pages, as the developers have just done with Photo.

• Score: 4.5/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: AI tools

• AI tools speed up workflows
• Seriously useful features like background cataloguing

Version 21 of Resolve Studio brings a wealth of new features for the free and paid-for versions, like the aforementioned Photo Page. There are also some interesting and welcome additions, like a spell-checker, as well as emoji support, and being able to see nodes - which are always a challenge for Resolve newcomers - as a list.

This makes them look more like the effects you’re used to from other competing video editors. All that and more is great, but what truly sets Resolve Studio apart is its AI tools, and version 21 introduced some much needed ones, some impressive ones, and some deeply troubling ones.

But let’s start with the positives: AI IntelliSearch. The concept isn’t anything new, as Adobe Premiere Pro has had that ability for a while, and even Apple introduced the same for Final Cut Pro recently (imagine trailing behind FCP…). What this does is ever so useful, especially if you have to deal with a ton of media: select all the clips you need to sort, then right-click, and go to AI Tools > IntelliSearch > Analyse for Search.

If this is the first time you’re doing this, you’ll need to download some ‘packages’, namely ‘AI IntelliSearch Faster’. You can also take the opportunity to grab the ‘Better’ search package, along with any others you’d care to install.

Resolve Studio will then analyse your chosen clips, and depending on how many you have, this could take a little time. Once done, use the regular search field to look for anything specific, like clips containing a ‘person’, a ‘tree’, or an ‘insect’, and after a few seconds, your media pool will only show clips with what you’re after.

Another useful new feature for large projects, is the ability for the algorithms to detect a slate, and catalog your footage based on the information contained on it. You no longer need to manually type in all that info - it’s all done for you upon request. This is what complex algorithms are supposed to do: making cataloguing and organising easier for us humans.

• Score: 5/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: Clips

• Use AI to fix clips without costly reshoots
• Your mileage may vary here

Then we have tools designed to fix problematic shots - those whose focus was a little off, for instance. Ultra Sharpen is an effect that will help salvage such shots… but it doesn’t work miracles: don’t expect a clip whose focus was way off to be rescued in that way.

AI Motion Deblur takes this a little further and aims to sharpen up blurry moving shots. This works by Resolve creating entirely new clips based on the original. You access this feature via the AI Tools menu, just like you do to initiate IntelliSearch. I could see a difference between the original and the improved clip, but I wasn’t able to replicate the remarkable improvements you see in Blackmagic’s promotional pages. You’re given options prior to rendering a new clip, such as choosing an ‘Extreme’ or ‘Standard’ model (the former is selected by default), rendering at the source resolution or not, or using more GPU memory to improve the quality. I turned everything on, and that did actually make for a better output.

These tools are definitely worth checking out if you need to fix some clips and have no alternatives. They’re definitely better than if they weren’t there.

AI Cinefocus lets you alter the focus of footage after it’s been shot. If your foreground and background are pretty much even focus-wise, you can use that feature to add depth of field to your clip, and choose to focus on the foreground, background, or move between the two over time, thanks to a few convenient sliders in the Inspector sidebar. This is a surprisingly powerful filter, with easy to manipulate controls.

• Score: 4/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: Face reshaper & transformer

• A common tool for complex AI algorithms
• Improve - or degrade - a person’s face with just a few clicks

If you’re used to manipulating images in Photoshop and the like, you’ll have no trouble understanding these three new tools Resolve Studio are introducing in this latest version. One of them lets you remove blemishes from people’s faces. The process is but a drag and drop away, with a slider to alter the extent of the effect’s power. It’s as simple as you can get, and you don’t even need to put on your makeup!

Face Reshaper is an odd one. After it’s detected the face you wish to alter, and analysed your clip, tracking your subject over time, you’re able to make changes to their facial features - make the eyes wider, reposition the nose, thicken the left eyebrow, and even alter every change you make over time. It can be a little disconcerting, but it can have its uses, especially if you wish to simulate cartoon-like effects in live action footage, or give viewers that ‘uncanny valley’ feel.

And speaking of uncanny valley, there’s AI Face Age Transformer. Remember how we laughed at Marvel’s original de-ageing technology, only to later be impressed with what all those Disney dollars could achieve? Well now it’s possible to replicate this from the comfort of your own editing chair. More or less.

The technology is impressive and works the same way as the Face Reshaper tool, but instead of altering your face like it’s made of putty, you tell Resolve Studio the age the person is and how many years you’d like to add or remove to them (the offset is limited to 50 years either way).

I found aging a person yielded better results, as adding more wrinkles feels more convincing than smoothing out a face (anyone remember those “almost people” from Doctor Who? I kept thinking of that when I used the filter to de-age myself), but it’s still highly impressive what you can achieve with a personal computer these days: de-ageing for the rest of us!

• Score: 4/5

DaVinci Resolve Studio 21: AI speech generator

• An amazing - yet terrifying - feature
• Could be used for nefarious reasons

I've touched on a lot of AI tools found in Resolve Studio 21.

What comes next, though, is as amazing as it is terrifying: AI Speech Generator. Now this is not new. Resolve Studio already allowed you to clone someone’s voice, but you needed a recording of about 10 to 15 minutes, then you had to record yourself speaking and Resolve would then graft the generated voice onto your speech cadence… this was a lot of work, especially compared to what you can do now…

As with IntelliSearch, should you be trying this for the first time, you’ll need to download an additional package. It’s just as free, and is pretty much a seamless experience.

Resolve Studio’s Speech Generator comes bundled with two male and two female voices, which sound pretty much as you’d expect a generated voice to sound… but that’s not even close to the interesting part: there’s also the option to choose a ‘Custom Voice’. In order for that to work, you need to load a recording of the voice you wish to copy. 10 to 15 seconds of clean audio will do, although there’s a hurdle.

A tiny little hurdle: the audio must be a WAV file - not even AIFF is acceptable. This means that if you record someone with your phone, you won’t be able to use that audio - until you convert it into the approved format (which frankly isn’t hard to do).

You then only need to type in your script, click on ‘Generate’, give Studio a few seconds to work its magic, and a new audio clip will appear in your timeline sounding… exactly like the original. You have a few parameters you can alter, such as speeding up or slowing down the speech, altering the pitch, or adding some variation to the audio. Each change you make necessitates the generation of a new audio file before you can check the result, but once you’ve found the right balance, you can churn out clip after clip.

Considering how little this filter needs to work its magic, the result really is truly impressive. It’s so good in fact, it’s concerning. It’s far too easy to make anyone say anything they never said, nor would ever say.

Now of course, Resolve Studio is not the only software capable of doing this; frankly, the genie’s been out of that particular AI bottle for a while, and it’s far too late to put the cork back in. I can see so many potentially useful ways this could be of benefit to a video project, but I also know scammers and nefarious people are also going to love this.

• Score: 2.5/5

Should I buy DaVinci Resolve Sstudio 21?

Buy it if...

If you’re serious about video editing, need a powerful all-in-one software package which includes the creation of special effects and powerful audio tools, love very useful and well implemented AI tools, and especially appreciate an affordable one-time fee.

Don't buy it if...

The additional tools go above and beyond what you’re looking for in a video editor, you don’t need to export video at 32K, would rather not deal with AI algorithms, and feel the free version of Resolve is more than powerful enough for your needs.

For more creative software, we've tested and reviewed the best video editing software for beginners and the best video editing apps for mobile devices.

I consider Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve to be among the best professional-grade desktop non-linear video editing software out there.

You'll find it a core part of our guides to the best free video editing software and best video editing software we've ever tested. So, I was keen to see what the latest version (21), offers. And to say I was surprised would be an understatement. This is one of those tools that just keeps getting better.

And as its latest major update has just been officially released, I thought it would be a great opportunity to see what Resolve 21 has to offer.

You can download the free app by clicking here.

DaVinci Resolve 21: Pricing & plans

• Powerful free version
• One-off fee for more advanced tools
• Professional tools at an absolutely unbeatable price

This is going to be a quick section: DaVinci Resolve is free.

There are no one-off fees, and certainly no subscription costs. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. We all know of Adobe’s continuous (and pricy) subscription plans, and even Apple are now embracing the subscription model with its Apple Creator Studio collection. But Resolve bucks the trend, and remains a bright beacon of hope in a dystopian subscription landscape.

Now there are limitations to Resolve, but these are generous: your exports are limited to 4K and 60fps, and any hardware acceleration is throttled, for instance. That’s because Blackmagic also have Resolve Studio, which unlocks export resolutions up to 32K and 120fps, offer more advanced color correction, additional effects, and also introduces a slew of AI-driven tools, all for a one-off price of $300.

But don’t let that put you off: Resolve should fit most people’s needs, this review will focus on the free version.

• Score: 5/5

DaVinci Resolve 21: Interface

• Conceals complexity behind multiple interfaces called Pages
• Only shows the tools you need when you need them
• Great for beginners and veterans to use the same interface

Before we delve into what’s new, if you’re unfamiliar with what DaVinci Resolve is, let’s take a broad look at what it offers. Yes, it’s a video editor, but how good can it be considering it’s free? I mean, have you seen Windows Movie Maker? And iMovie used to show so much promise, but has now fallen by the wayside.

But Resolve is so much more than a basic and limited video tool. Despite it being free, it should really be compared to Apple’s Final Cut Pro and Adobe’s Premiere Pro. Within a single program, you can catalogue your clips, build your edit, apply transitions and titles, create complex effects, perform advanced color correction, perfect the audio, and finally export your completed project.

No need to venture into After Effects or Audition, or anything like that (unless you want to of course): pretty much everything can be done within Resolve. In order to achieve this, Resolve is divided into sections, which are referred to as ‘Pages’.

‘Media’ is where you ingest and organise your clips, ‘Cut’ and ‘Edit’ are two ways to build your project - ‘Cut’ having a simplified interface, while ‘Edit’ offers more versatile options. I see ‘Cut’ as ideal for newcomers to the editing world, but I also love the fact you can effortlessly move from one Page to the other and although you might not be able to alter the more advanced functions in ‘Cut’, if you added them while in ‘Edit’, you’ll still be able to preview them while in ‘Cut'.

Next is ‘Fusion' - which is probably the trickiest Page. It’s where you create special effects, but rather than dragging a function onto a clip, Fusion uses the concept of nodes: you add effects to your worktop then connect clips to those effects. It’s an incredibly versatile and powerful way of working - once you get used to it.

And getting used to it you must, as that concept is also present in ‘Color’, Resolve’s color Correction section, where you can perform anything from basic alteration to more advanced options used by professionals (not surprising, since Resolve started out solely as a color grading tool), and finally, the ‘Fairlight’ Page is for working on the audio.

Whether you’re using Resolve or Resolve Studio, you have access to all the same Pages. The major difference is all the added tools Studio brings to the table.

You could very easily start your journey in Resolve, primarily focussing your efforts in the ‘Cut’ Page, and as you grow in confidence, start exploring the other sections, maybe even graduating to Resolve Studio in time - all without having to pay a penny - at first. If only I had such tools when I myself started out as a struggling editor.

• Score: 5/5

DaVinci Resolve 21: Photo Page

• ‘Photo’ is a new dedicated space to work on your images
• Think of it as a sort of Lightroom replacement
• The color correction tools are relatively simple through Resolve’s powerful ‘Color’ Page
• Everything you could do to video clips, you can now do to photos.

It’s not that you couldn’t use photos in your video projects before, but now, they have their own dedicated Page, sitting between ‘Media’ and ‘Cut’. So what can you do with it? Pretty much everything you’d expect from a dedicated image organiser tool.

Resolve’s ‘Photo’ is compatible with common RAW formats from Canon, Sony and Nikon, as well as a host of others. Put it this way: I didn’t come across a format Resolve couldn’t handle. Working on an image is a fully non-destructive process: no matter what you do, the original file is never altered.

Any photo that’s added via the ‘Media’ Page will be found here, but you can also drag others straight onto the Page’s 'Media Pool’ sidebar. To the right in an Inspector, where you’ll find a histogram, cropping tools, various color adjustments, even pitch and yaw sliders to rectify errors like fish-eye distortions for instance. You can also mark photos as ‘good’ (represented with a heart), or ‘reject’ (with an x). It’s all there, but it’s all pretty basic. Put it this way, Lightroom won’t be having sleepless nights over this inclusion.

But that’s only part of the story. In order to perform more advanced alterations, you need to add photos to an album (which is conveniently located where the timeline usually is). Once that’s done, you can venture to Resolve’s ‘Color’ Page, and have access to all the power and versatility (and complexity) that comes with that incredible color grading tool. Just like ‘Fusion’, ‘Color' works with nodes.

You add them in sequence or parallel, reorder them, disconnect them, all of this will affect how each node affects your image, and once you go back to Photo, those alterations will be visible from there. This powerful versatility could be something Lightroom might have some concerns about, especially since this is but the first version of this few functionality.

• Score: 4.5/5

DaVinci Resolve 21: AI tools

• Packed with more and more AI tools
• I repeat, tools - not slop: this is the good stuff
• Only available for paying Resolve Studio users

A new Page is always a big thing to talk about when it comes to a new version of Resolve, but another new trend is the increasing addition of AI tools.

But there’s a caveat: they’re reserved for paying customers. In the free version, that menu’s either greyed out, or if you click on the ‘AI Clip Analysis’ icon, a popup window encourages you to pay the one-time fee to gain access to all the goodies in Resolve Studio.

And goodies there are, like IntelliSearch, which allows you to search for that specific element inside a clip, or the ability to transcribe what’s being said in a clip, detect faces, transform said faces, remove blemishes, remove motion blur, and so much more. Sadly, all these are out of bounds - they’ve got to entice you to upgrade somehow, right?

Should I try DaVinci Resolve?

Try it if...

You’re looking for a powerful professional-grade video editor with an impressive amount of complex and versatile features, which now includes a dedicated section for cataloguing and grading your photos… all for free.

Don't try it if...

You’re totally wedded to the likes of Apple or Adobe and have invested so much in those software ecosystems that you can’t be prised away from them, even at the prospect of a powerful and free video editing tool.

For more creative software, we've tested and reviewed the best video editing software for beginners and the best video editing apps for mobile devices.

Jobber is not trying to be everything to everyone.

It's a CRM and field service management (FSM) platform built specifically for the people who keep the world running — plumbers, HVAC techs, landscapers, cleaners, and electricians. It makes no apologies for that narrow focus. After putting the platform through its paces in a live environment, I can say it largely delivers on its promise to its audience. Whether it delivers enough value at the price you'll actually pay, however, is a much more complicated question.

Jobber CRM: Plans and pricing

Jobber's pricing structure is split into individual plans and team plans, and this is where things get complicated fast. In June 2026, the entry point is the Core plan ($49 per month billed annually). For a solopreneur just starting out, it's a revelation. You get basic scheduling, quoting, invoicing, and the mobile app. It's enough to get you off paper and onto a screen.

But here's the kicker: Jobber is fantastic for solo operators, but as soon as you hire your first helper, the "Jobber Tax" kicks in. You are forced off that $49 solo plan and onto the Connect Team plan ($199 per month annually) just to give that new hire a login. That's nearly a 300% jump in overhead before your new employee has even picked up a wrench.

From there, the ladder continues:

Grow Team ($399 per month): Includes up to 10 users and adds job costing, two-way SMS, and automated quote follow-ups.

Plus ($699 per month): For up to 15 users; this is the "all-in" tier that finally includes the AI Receptionist and the Marketing Suite.

The "hidden" costs are what usually cause bill shock. Every user beyond your plan's included seats costs an additional $29 per month. A twenty-person team on the Plus plan, for instance, could easily be paying over $740 per month before you even look at payment processing fees.

Then there is the AI Receptionist ($99/mo add-on). It's a lifesaver for catching leads while you're under a sink, and in 2026, it's remarkably good at understanding accents and technical jargon. But don't expect it to do your outbound cold calling or complex project management — it's strictly an intake valve. For $99 a month, it's cheaper than a human, but it won't replace a real office manager when a job goes sideways, and you need to shuffle five crews at once.

Jobber CRM: Features

Jobber is built around the idea of letting field service businesses manage the entire lifecycle of a job from one screen. At this price point, it gets closer than most. Scheduling and dispatching use a drag-and-drop calendar that is remarkably fast. If a tech calls out sick, you can drag their entire day's worth of appointments onto another tech's column, and Jobber automatically asks if you want to notify the affected customers.

The mobile app is what your crews will actually live in. It lets them access job details, capture "before and after" photos, complete safety forms, and log their time. For 2026, Jobber has leaned heavily into "Tap to Pay." Techs can collect credit card payments directly on their phones without needing those finicky Bluetooth card readers that always seem to die in the middle of a job.

Client records are where the "CRM" part of the name earns its keep. You get a full service history, communication logs, and property-specific notes (like "gate code is 1234" or "dog is friendly"). The Client Hub is perhaps the best feature for reducing office overhead. It's a self-service portal where customers can view their quotes, approve work, and pay invoices. It effectively ends the "I never got the email" excuse.

However, Jobber's limits become clear when you look at the data. Quoting and invoicing are muscular — quotes support photos and "optional" add-ons that are great for upselling — but the reporting and analytics are surprisingly shallow. You can track revenue and basic job history, but if you want a detailed performance analysis across different service types or crews to see who is actually your most profitable tech, you'll find the tools frustratingly basic. You get the "what," but rarely the "why."

Jobber CRM: Getting set up

Jobber has put real effort into onboarding, clearly understanding that their users don't have time for a three-month implementation. A setup wizard walks you through the core configuration, and the platform is intuitive enough for non-technical business owners.

Importing existing client data via CSV is a standard affair, but the Jobber support team offers "white-glove" migration assistance on the Plus plan, which is a massive help if you're moving from a mess of spreadsheets. Most small teams are operational within 48 hours. This is the primary reason people choose Jobber over ServiceTitan — you can learn Jobber while you work, whereas ServiceTitan often requires pausing your business for a week of intensive training.

Jobber CRM: Ease of use

The Jobber dashboard is modern and clean, surfacing the most important information — today's schedule, outstanding quotes, and unpaid invoices — at a glance.

That said, the platform has some rough edges that only show up once you're in the field. The mobile app is mostly solid, but if you're working in a basement or a rural area with one bar of service, the syncing spinner can become your worst enemy. I've seen more than one technician get frustrated because a job photo they took in the field didn't actually hit the office dashboard until they got back to Wi-Fi.

There's also the lead-capture form. You can embed it on your business website, and it works, but it's remarkably inflexible in its layout. If you've spent money on a beautiful, custom-designed website, the Jobber form will stick out like a sore thumb because you can't easily style it to match your brand.

Jobber CRM: Support

Jobber provides chat and email support across all plans, with phone support available on Connect and above.

The Plus plan adds "Premium Support," which effectively moves you to the front of the line. Response times are generally praised in user reviews, and the help center is a goldmine of video walkthroughs. For a business owner who is usually fixing a leak or pruning a tree while trying to run an office, having a support team that actually picks up the phone is a major selling point.

Jobber CRM: Security and privacy

Jobber uses standard encryption for data during transit and at rest, and the platform is compliant with GDPR and CCPA. Role-based permissions allow you to control what your techs can see; for instance, you can let them see their schedule and customer notes without giving them access to the company's total bank balance or other crews' schedules.

While Jobber Payments is PCI compliant, the company is still relatively quiet on formal SOC 2 Type II certifications or public penetration testing results. For a local 10-person HVAC shop, what's here is more than enough. But for a larger enterprise looking to manage hundreds of technicians and high-value government contracts, the lack of published high-level security audits might be a sticking point.

Jobber CRM: The competition

Jobber's most direct rival is Housecall Pro. They sit at a similar price point and offer a nearly identical feature set. The choice between them usually comes down to "vibe" — Jobber feels a bit more modern and clean, while Housecall Pro often feels more feature-dense but cluttered.

Then there is the elephant in the room: ServiceTitan. It is the gold standard for large operations (50+ trucks), offering advanced dispatching, inventory management, and deep ROI tracking for marketing. ServiceTitan is significantly more powerful, but it's also dramatically more expensive and carries a learning curve that can break a small business.

FieldCamp and Tradify are newer, leaner options that compete on price, but they lack the massive integration library and established community that Jobber offers. For businesses already in the QuickBooks ecosystem, Jobber's integration is so tight that it's almost always the natural choice.

Jobber CRM: Final verdict

Jobber earns its reputation as the go-to platform for home service businesses that are ready to ditch the whiteboard. The combination of fast onboarding, a genuinely useful Client Hub, and a mobile app that your least tech-savvy tech can figure out in a lunch break makes it the easiest recommendation in its category for solo operators and small crews. The 2026 additions — particularly the improved AI Receptionist and Tap to Pay — show a company that understands what its users actually need in the field, not in a boardroom.

The pricing requires a clear warning: the jump from solo to team plans is sharp, and adding users or features quickly drives up the monthly cost well beyond the base price. It’s easy to be surprised by your bill if you don’t calculate future growth up front. Reporting is also weaker than that of some competitors. For a plumber, landscaper, or HVAC tech with a crew of fewer than 15, Jobber is the standard—but go in fully aware that costs scale quickly as your team grows.

I'll be honest: when I first opened Attio, I wasn't expecting much.

There are a lot of CRMs out there claiming to be the next big thing, and most of them aren't. But Attio's clean interface, flexible data model, and AI-first approach made it clear pretty quickly that this team is building something different. It's not perfect, and there are areas still being refined, but the ambition here is hard to ignore.

Attio CRM: Plans and pricing

Attio offers four tiers. You should examine the structure closely before you commit. The Free plan is a good starting point for solo users or very small teams. It supports up to three seats, includes real-time contact syncing, automatic data enrichment, and basic reporting with up to three reports. It actually works for light individual use, which isn't always the case with free tiers. However, the object limit of three and a cap of 50,000 records will push most growing teams to upgrade quickly.

The Plus plan costs $36 per user per month, or $29 per user per month when billed annually—a 20% discount that makes the annual commitment worth considering. Plus removes the seat ceiling, unlocks private lists, enhances email sending to 1,000 per month, and bumps record storage to 250,000. It's the entry point for small collaborative teams.

The Pro plan is where Attio starts to flex its full capabilities. At $86 per user per month (or $69 annually), it unlocks Call Intelligence, personalized outreach sequences, advanced permissions, priority support, up to 12 objects, and 1,000,000 records. For growing teams that rely on sales engagement features, Pro is likely the practical minimum. At $69 a month billed annually, it's a big jump, but if you're actually closing deals using their Call Intelligence, it'll pay for itself pretty quickly.

Enterprise pricing is custom, billed annually, and targets organizations that need unlimited objects, unlimited teams, and advanced security controls, including single sign-on. The pricing transparency is a breath of fresh air, specifically the credit system, which governs AI usage. It's clearly laid out by tier, ranging from 100 seat credits per user per month on Free to 2,500 on Enterprise. It's a relief to see exactly what you're paying for without digging through a 50-page PDF. That said, keep an eye on those Workspace credits. A few complex multi-step automations running in the background can eat through your monthly allotment faster than you'd expect, potentially leaving your workflows stalled halfway through the month.

Attio CRM: Features

Attio is built around the idea that a CRM should work the way your business works, not the other way around. The platform pulls that off through a combination of a flexible data model, AI integration, and automation tools that can handle genuinely complex processes.

One of the first things I noticed about Attio was how differently it handles data. Instead of forcing users into strict frameworks, Attio offers the flexibility to create custom objects, like Workspaces, Partnerships, or Invoices, each with unique attributes, relationships, and views. Unlike competitors, Attio is a great fit for startups and scaling SaaS teams with non-standard sales processes, making it more adaptable than traditional CRMs.

Unlike many CRMs that slap an AI badge on an existing feature, Attio's AI feels like it was built into the platform from day one. You can ask natural-language questions such as "prep for next meeting" or "recap last call," and the AI pulls the relevant context straight from your CRM data. AI agents can automate tasks such as lead scoring and prospecting, going beyond the basic chatbot capabilities seen elsewhere. The MCP server for connecting to other AI tools is a nice bonus for technical teams, and it's the kind of feature you simply won't find in most competing CRMs.

Attio's workflow automation engine supports complex branching logic, custom trigger conditions, and pre-built integration blocks with applications like Slack, Segment, and Zapier. Sequences, included with Pro and above, let you run personalized, multi-step outreach directly from within the platform, which goes a long way toward eliminating the need for stand-alone sales engagement software. Call Intelligence, also unique to Attio's Pro tier, captures and analyzes meetings without requiring integration with other vendors like Gong. One thing to watch out for is the integration library. It's got the basics covered, but if your stack includes niche tools or you're hoping for a LinkedIn inbox sync, you're still going to be doing some manual lifting or paying for an iPaaS middleman.

Reporting is another area where Attio has clearly put in the work. At higher tiers, you get real-time dashboards, funnel reports, segment breakdowns, historical attribute tracking, and time comparisons, all wrapped in an interface that's clean enough that I was able to build detailed pipeline views without needing a data analyst to hold my hand.

Attio CRM: Getting set up

Setting this up was surprisingly painless. Connecting your email and calendar takes minutes, and the platform instantly begins building your contact database from your existing communication history, automatically populating records with enriched company and people data. For teams migrating from another CRM, Attio supports direct imports from Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho, and standard CSV or Excel files. A migration service is available on paid plans (contact sales for details), which is useful for larger data sets.

The onboarding experience is guided without being patronizing. Attio's help center and a dedicated Academy cover core features, making self-serve setup realistic for non-technical founders and operators. I didn't face the weeks-long implementation timelines that slow down enterprise CRM migrations. For most small- to mid-sized teams, Attio is functional within a day.

Attio CRM: Ease of use

It’s rare to find a CRM that doesn't look like a 1990s tax form. With Attio, navigation is logical, and record views are uncluttered. Keyboard shortcuts and command palettes are sprinkled throughout, which power users will appreciate. The mobile apps for iOS and Android effectively mirror core functionality, including access to records, activity feeds, and calendar events, which is important for sales teams who need CRM access in the field.

That flexibility does come at a cost, though. The custom object model is powerful but requires upfront thinking about how you want to structure your data. The first hour in Attio is a bit like staring at a blank Notion page. It’s powerful, but if you don't have a clear idea of your "objects" beforehand, you’ll spend more time playing architect than actually selling.

Additionally, the credit system for AI features, while transparent, creates a layer of resource management that simpler CRMs don't require. You get out what you put in—don't expect it to work magic on day one.

Attio CRM: Support

Attio provides chat and email support on all paid plans. Priority support starts at the Pro tier. The help center is thorough and well-organized, covering automation setup and developer documentation. An Experts marketplace connects users with certified Attio consultants. This is a nice addition for organizations without dedicated RevOps resources.

From what I've seen in user reviews, the support team knows its stuff and responds quickly. The one thing worth flagging is the lack of phone support, which could be a sticking point for larger teams used to having a dedicated account manager on speed dial.

Attio CRM: Security and privacy

In the CRM world, security usually means a boring list of compliance badges, and Attio has the big ones: ISO 27001, GDPR, and CCPA. But what’s more interesting is how they handle the "human" side of data privacy.

Since Attio effectively "lives" inside your inbox and calendar, the potential for accidentally sharing a private thread or a sensitive medical appointment is real. I was glad to see they’ve built specific guardrails for this. The "Protected Recipients" and "Blocklist" features are essential here—they let you hard-code certain domains or people (like your lawyer or a sensitive M&A lead) so that their emails never even touch the CRM.

The platform also handles email visibility with more nuance than most. By default, it usually only shows subject lines and participants, requiring a "request access" handshake if a teammate wants to read the actual body of the email. It’s a smart way to balance transparency with privacy.

Attio CRM: The competition

So, where does this fit in the crowded CRM landscape?

HubSpot is the name most people reach for first, and for good reason. Its free tier is generous and the broader ecosystem of marketing, sales, and service tools is hard to beat. The catch is that costs climb fast once you start growing.

Salesforce is the other obvious comparison, and it's still the go-to for large enterprises that need extensive customization, but for most startups, it's overkill.

Pipedrive is a solid, no-frills option for teams that just need a clean pipeline without all the complexity.

Attio CRM: Final verdict

Attio has pulled off something genuinely difficult: building a CRM that feels modern without sacrificing depth. The flexible data model, AI that's integrated into the platform rather than bolted on as a marketing feature, and an onboarding experience that doesn't require a dedicated implementation team all point to a company that actually understands what scaling teams need in 2026.

If you've ever felt trapped inside HubSpot's restrictive pricing tiers or intimidated by Salesforce's sprawl, Attio is the platform that makes you wonder why CRMs ever had to be this complicated.

That said, it's not a tool you can hand to a new sales hire on Monday and expect results by Friday. The blank-slate setup rewards teams that come in with a clear sense of their own data structure, and the AI credit system offers a layer of resource management that simpler platforms don't require.

The missing LinkedIn inbox sync and the absence of phone support are real gaps for enterprise buyers. But for a startup or a scaling SaaS team that's willing to invest a day in setup, Attio delivers a CRM that bends to fit your business rather than the other way around — and that alone puts it ahead of most of the field.

• Dell has won a Pentagon contract worth $9.7 billion
• The technology services company will act as a single procurement point
• The Pentagon, intelligence community, and Coast Guard will jointly procure software

The Pentagon is looking to cut costs and stop software license sprawl in its latest contracts with Dell and Microsoft.

A $9.69 billion contract has been awarded to Dell to act as a single procurement point for Microsoft licenses across the US Defense Department, the intelligence community and the Coast Guard. The contract will move the Pentagon and other military departments away from duplicative spending on Microsoft licensing.

Defense Department Chief Information Officer Kirsten Davies said the contract would allow the Pentagon to save $422 million annually by consolidating “existing IT budgets from across the services and the agencies into a single efficient vehicle.”

Annual savings of $422 million

The contract awarded to Dell - known as the Microsoft Department of War Enterprise Software Agreement II Core Enterprise Technology Agreement - allows Dell to provide Microsoft 365, advanced cloud subscriptions and on-premises licensing. The contract continues the Pentagon’s existing Enterprise Technology Agreement with Dell and Microsoft.

However, the $9.7 billion is not new funding, but a consolidation of budgets from contracts that have come up for renewal at the same time.

“This second-generation blanket purchase agreement will streamline and consolidate critical Microsoft software and services across the Department of War, the intelligence community and the U.S. Coast Guard,” Davies said.

Acting Navy Chief Information Officer Barry Tanner said, “The vendors were all evaluated based on competition, comparison to GSA schedule pricing and overall chain of value to the department. Going through the process of evaluation, they came out on top.”

Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, has recently courted favor with President Donald Trump by pledging $6.25 billion to fund investment accounts for children, called “Trump accounts” in the President’s honor.

The Department of Defense has been under increasing scrutiny from across the political divide as it seeks approval for a $1.5 trillion budget for 2027. The Pentagon has failed every audit it has undertaken since they were legally required in 2018, with the Pentagon targeting to pass its first audit by 2028.

Via CNBC

• EU appears to be worried about US tech resilience and continuity amid ongoing tensions
• Data center capacity could triple in five to seven years due to streamlined processes
• Sovereignty washing would also be ironed out with stricter framework

We're already familiar with years of antitrust investigations and strict regulation in the European Union, and critics have argued the Commission has imposed hefty fines and penalties on foreign tech vendors to promote European tech sovereignty in recent years.

However now, the European Commission has taken this one step further and will now be actively funding and promoting European tech alternatives.

This comes amid growing geopolitical tensions and fears that the US could restrict or suspend European access to critical digital infrastructure that's sold by American tech vendors.

Europe set to actively promote European software alternatives

The Financial Times reports on a draft European tech sovereignty strategy, which reveals the EU wants to "reclaim its place in the global race for geoeconomics power."

Under the proposal, the Cloud and AI Development Act could triple the EU's data center capacity within the next five to seven years with a major focus on streamlining site selection processes.

Sovereignty risk assessments could also force bloc member governments and other critical industries to identify and evaluate any hidden dependencies on US software vendors.

Europe is also planning to iron out so-called sovereignty washing, where Big Tech firms hide behind European subsidiaries, via a four-step framework that assesses: who ultimately controls the corporate entity; the supply chain; AI model data processing; and infrastructure location and security.

According to the FT, the Commission is framing the changes more as "strategic counterweights that enhance Europe's capacity to remain open to the world without compromising its interests and values," rather than an exercise in "isolation, protectionism or tech decoupling."

Earlier in April, CISPE launched its Sovereign and Resilient Cloud Services Framework designed to let customers verify the sovereign and resilience credentials of a cloud service provider.

• G Suite legacy users are being pushed to upgrade to business plans
• Google says that some users are using the free suite for commercial purposes
• Users have submitted GDPR subject access requests to have accounts restored

Numerous G Suite Legacy users are complaining that Google is pushing free for life users into business plans over apparent commercial usage.

Many of those affected say they have been using G Suite legacy for family emails or personal domains for years - in some cases decades - with no commercial intention or activity.

Those who have attempted to appeal the decision have encountered an unclear appeals process, and apparently in some cases, automatic denial.

“Please upgrade to a paid Google Workspace subscription”

G Suite legacy free edition was officially discontinued for business purposes in 2022, but Google allowed personal use of the suite to continue in a free for life format, provided the users did not use the accounts for commercial purposes.

Now, those affected by this wave of apparent commercial use have received an email that reads, “Please upgrade to a paid Google Workspace subscription to continue using your services. Look out for a notification regarding the appeal process in Google Admin console or email. If you don’t take action during your 45-day appeal period, Google will begin suspending your Google Workspace core services, including Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and Meet. As a result, you will lose access to these core services and data.”

One Google community post asking for help states that their family has been using G Suite legacy for almost 20 years under a custom family name domain with 15 accounts, “purely for private email and basic Google services.”

“There is no business, no revenue, no commercial activity of any kind associated with this domain. The stakes are very high for our family,” the post states, with the user explaining that the accounts exist as part of “digital identities built up over nearly two decades”, noting that some family members would not be equipped to handle migrating to a new domain.

Numerous users on Reddit’s r/gsuitelegacymigration have also received the account upgrade email

"G Suite legacy free edition is intended for personal non-commercial use. If users are identified as commercial users, we are enforcing our existing policy and helping them transition to a Google Workspace subscription. Anyone who believes their account has been identified as being used for commercial purposes in error can file an appeal,” a Google spokesperson told The Register.

Google has not explained how it relates G Suite legacy domains to commercial activity. One Reddit user said their account was flagged as being used for commercial purposes. and their appeal was denied. The user managed to have their account restored after filing a GDPR subject access request asking Google to present the evidence of the domain being used for commercial use.

Most email marketers aren't failing because their product is weak or their copy is bad. They're failing because they're sending the same message to everyone and calling it an email marketing campaign. With inboxes receiving an estimated 376 billion emails a day in 2025, generic blasts don't just underperform; they get ignored.

The good news is that email still delivers a higher return than any other digital marketing channel, averaging $36 to $42 for every dollar spent, according to data from Litmus and HubSpot. The gap between average and high-performing campaigns comes down to a handful of tactical decisions. Here's what separates them.

1. Segment your list — and keep those segments fresh

Segmented campaigns generate up to 760% more revenue than untargeted ones, according to Campaign Monitor data. That's not a small edge. It's the difference between a campaign that pays for itself and one that quietly erodes your sender reputation.

Segmentation doesn't have to mean dozens of micro-lists. Start by grouping subscribers based on where they are in the customer journey: new sign-ups, active buyers, and lapsed customers. From there, layer in behavioral signals like recent clicks or product category interest. Tools like Campaigner and ActiveCampaign support behavior-based segmentation that updates automatically as subscribers interact with your emails or website.

One thing many marketers miss: segments go stale. A customer who bought from you eight months ago and hasn't opened an email since needs different messaging than someone who clicked three times last week. Build a re-engagement flow for dormant contacts before they start dragging down your deliverability metrics.

2. Personalize beyond the first name

Dropping a subscriber's first name into a subject line is a good start, but it's table stakes. Personalized subject lines lift open rates by around 26%, according to Campaign Monitor, though deeper personalization tied to behavior or purchase history can push those gains much further.

Dynamic content blocks let you show different email content to different segments without building separate campaigns. A retailer, for example, can send a single email that surfaces different products for different buyer segments, with the rest of the copy staying identical. Platforms like Campaigner offer dynamic content features that pull from CRM data or purchase history to tailor individual sections of an email automatically.

The practical benchmark worth aiming for: more than 80% of marketers report performance improvements when they use subject line personalization, per Omnisend research. Combining that with content-level personalization typically compounds the gains.

3. Build automation workflows around what subscribers actually do

Automated emails make up just 2% of total email volume, yet they drive 37% of all email-generated sales, according to Litmus. The math is hard to argue with.

The highest-performing automations are behavioral, triggered by actions like signing up, viewing a product, or abandoning a cart. Abandoned cart emails alone achieve an average open rate of 50.5% and a conversion rate of over 3%, based on Klaviyo benchmark data. That's well above what a standard promotional newsletter will deliver. Most mid-range and enterprise email platforms include visual workflow builders that let you map out multi-step journeys with branching logic, including Campaigner and HubSpot.

If you're starting from scratch, a welcome series and a cart recovery flow will cover the majority of high-value automation use cases for most businesses. Add a re-engagement sequence once those are running.

4. A/B test with a clear hypothesis, not a gut feeling

A/B testing works best when you treat it as a structured experiment rather than a chance to try things and see what sticks. Pick one variable, state what you expect to happen, and let the test run until you have a statistically meaningful result. Testing subject lines against a large enough segment, typically at least 1,000 contacts per variant, is usually where the biggest gains are found first.

Subject line length and personalization are both worth testing systematically. Research from Snov.io shows that subject lines with six to ten words tend to outperform shorter or longer ones on open rates, though your audience may behave differently. Send time and day of week also affect performance: some analyses identify Tuesday and Thursday as the strongest days for B2B emails, but your own historical data will always give a more accurate picture than industry averages.

Build a testing log so you don't repeat experiments or lose track of what you've already learned. Even small lifts compound meaningfully over a year of consistent testing.

5. Sort out your deliverability foundations first

None of the tactics above matter if your emails are landing in spam. Deliverability is often treated as a technical afterthought, but it's the precondition for everything else working.

Start with authentication. Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain tells inbox providers that your emails are legitimate. Only 33.4% of senders had DMARC configured correctly as of 2025, per industry data, meaning most businesses are unnecessarily exposed to inbox placement problems. Google and Yahoo both tightened enforcement standards in 2024, and non-compliant senders face increased filtering as a result.

List hygiene matters just as much. Sending to a large number of invalid addresses or disengaged contacts inflates your bounce rate and signals to inbox providers that your domain is low-quality. Most platforms let you suppress contacts who haven't engaged in 90 to 180 days, which protects your sender reputation without requiring you to permanently delete those contacts.

6. Design every email as though it will only be read on a phone

More than half of all email opens now happen on mobile devices, with some estimates putting that figure closer to 65%. If your email doesn't render cleanly on a small screen, a significant share of your audience will delete it before reading a single line.

Single-column layouts work best on mobile. Keep your font size at 14px or above for body text and make sure your call-to-action button is large enough to tap without zooming in. More than 50% of mobile users delete emails that don't display correctly, according to ZeroBounce data, so a poorly formatted email leaves a negative impression that's hard to walk back.

Most email platforms include mobile preview tools. Use them on every campaign, not just the ones you consider high-priority.

7. Track metrics that actually reflect engagement

Open rates have become a less reliable indicator of genuine engagement since Apple introduced Mail Privacy Protection in 2021. With around 64% of Apple Mail users on MPP, which pre-loads email images regardless of whether the subscriber actually opened the message, open rate figures are now artificially inflated for many senders.

Click-through rate (CTR) and click-to-open rate (CTOR) are more trustworthy signals. CTR measures how many recipients clicked a link relative to total emails sent; CTOR compares clicks to opens, giving you a clearer read on whether your content resonates with people who did engage. Revenue per email is arguably the most useful metric for ecommerce senders, as it connects campaign performance directly to business outcomes.

We'd also recommend tracking unsubscribe rate by segment and campaign type. A sudden spike often signals a content mismatch or frequency problem that's worth addressing before it compounds into a deliverability issue.

You send emails, but you're not sure they're actually driving sales.

Maybe open rates look fine, but the conversions aren't adding up, and you can't figure out why. That challenge is almost universal among email marketers once they move beyond basic newsletters and start asking harder questions about what the channel is worth.

Email marketing consistently outperforms other digital channels on ROI. According to Litmus, businesses earn between $36 and $42 for every dollar spent on email marketing. That figure masks significant variation, though. Some teams barely break even, while others push well past $70 per dollar. The gap almost always comes down to how well they're using their tools.

Why the gap between average and exceptional ROI is so large

So that $36 average includes everything from a weekly newsletter sent to an undifferentiated list to a fully automated multi-step campaign that adjusts in real time based on subscriber behavior. Those are very different programs and produce very different results.

Litmus data shows that brands using personalization consistently achieve a 43:1 ROI, compared to 12:1 for those who rarely or never personalize. Budgeting rarely explains this gap. Execution does, because much of that comes down to which platform features a team is actually using.

Automation: the multiplier most teams underuse

Automated emails account for roughly 2% of total email volume, yet Litmus data attribute 37% of all email-generated sales to them. That's a concentration of returns that no other tactic in the channel can match.

The reason automation performs so well is timing. A cart abandonment reminder fired 30 minutes after someone leaves your store, or a re-engagement email triggered when a subscriber goes quiet for 60 days, arrives at a moment when the message is directly relevant. Behavior-triggered campaigns generate roughly three times higher engagement than scheduled sends, according to Moosend.

Most platforms now offer visual workflow builders that let you map out these sequences without writing any code. Campaigner includes a drag-and-drop workflow builder for multi-step automations; you can configure branching logic that sends different emails depending on whether someone opened, clicked, or ignored a previous message. Platforms like ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo take similar approaches, with ecommerce integrations that pull in purchase history to trigger post-sale sequences automatically.

The key question to ask when evaluating any platform is whether it supports behavior-based triggers — not just time-based scheduling. Automated sequences built around fixed days and times are useful, but the revenue impact is far greater when they fire in response to what a subscriber actually does.

Personalization as a revenue driver

Campaign Monitor research consistently shows that segmented campaigns generate 30% more opens and 50% more click-throughs than non-segmented ones. In more aggressive implementations, revenue lift from advanced segmentation has been measured at up to 760%. Most teams are leaving a substantial portion of that on the table.

Basic segmentation means splitting your list by geography or job role. Advanced segmentation means dividing subscribers by purchase history and lifecycle stage, layering in email engagement patterns to add further precision, then sending each group content that speaks to where they actually are. The more relevant the message, the more likely it is to drive action.

Dynamic content takes this further. Instead of building separate campaigns for each segment, dynamic content blocks let you swap out headlines, images, and offers within a single send depending on who's receiving it. Campaigner supports dynamic content at the subscriber level, while tools like Klaviyo and Mailchimp offer similar capabilities with strong ecommerce data connections built in.

One practical starting point: segment your list by recency of engagement. Subscribers who've opened or clicked in the last 30 days will behave very differently from those who haven't engaged in six months. Treating them identically wastes budget and risks deliverability issues if the disengaged group starts marking emails as spam.

A/B testing: where small bets pay off

Litmus data also confirms that marketers who regularly A/B test their emails achieve 42:1 ROI, compared to 23:1 for those who never test. That's a substantial return on something most platforms include at no extra cost.

Subject lines are the obvious starting point. A 26% lift in open rates from a personalized subject line, a figure cited by Campaign Monitor, can translate directly to more revenue downstream if conversion rates hold. But send time and call-to-action wording affect performance too, and both can be tested systematically without much additional effort.

What matters is having a platform that supports multivariate testing, not just A/B. Multivariate testing lets you run multiple variables simultaneously, which speeds up learning considerably for teams with large enough lists. In our testing, we've found this to be one of the clearer differentiators between mid-tier and higher-end platforms. Campaigner includes multivariate experiments alongside standard split testing; Brevo and Mailchimp offer A/B testing at most plan tiers, though multivariate capabilities tend to appear only at higher price points.

Pick one variable, run the test until you have statistical significance, apply the winner, and then move to the next. Teams that do this consistently over months build a compounding advantage that isolated one-off tests never produce.

Metrics that actually reflect revenue

Open rates have become an unreliable proxy for performance since Apple's Mail Privacy Protection began registering automatic opens regardless of whether a recipient actually viewed the email. That inflated the headline figures you see in benchmarks and made open rate a poor standalone measure of campaign health.

The metrics that tell you more about actual revenue impact are click-to-conversion rate and revenue per email sent. Revenue per email is particularly useful because it captures the full downstream effect of a campaign, not just whether someone clicked. According to Litmus, the top 8% of email programs achieving >45:1 ROI have largely shifted their reporting toward revenue accountability metrics rather than engagement proxies.

Most modern platforms generate these figures automatically, but you'll need to connect your email platform to your ecommerce store or CRM to get the full picture.

Native integrations with Shopify and Salesforce are increasingly standard; most major platforms, including Campaigner and Klaviyo, support them. Without that data connection, you're measuring email activity in isolation from the purchases it influences.

What to look for in an email marketing platform

Automation, segmentation, A/B testing, and dynamic content are table stakes at this point. Most mid-tier platforms include them. The more useful questions are about depth: how granular can your segmentation get, how complex can your automation workflows become before the interface gets unwieldy, and how well does the platform connect to the rest of your stack?

Deliverability is worth scrutinizing, too. According to InboxAlly, only 83.1% of marketing emails successfully reach inboxes, meaning roughly one in six never arrives. Platforms with strong infrastructure and list verification tools reduce that risk materially. Campaigner offers a list verification feature called Reputation Defender that monitors for invalid or risky addresses before they damage your sender reputation. For high-volume senders, that kind of proactive hygiene is a real revenue safeguard.

Pricing structure matters as well, particularly for growing lists. Some platforms charge by contact count, which means costs scale quickly as your list expands. Others are priced by email volume or feature tier. Factor in where your list is likely to be in 12 months, not just today, and make sure the pricing model won't penalize growth.

Final thoughts

Email's $36–$42 average ROI is the floor, not the ceiling. Teams that invest in automation and segmentation consistently push that number higher — not by spending more, but by using what their platform already offers more deliberately.

Most platforms have the necessary features. The gap is almost always in how thoroughly they're applied.

You've built a mailing list, and you're sending regular email marketing campaigns. But manually tracking who clicked what, which leads went quiet, which customers need a nudge, etc., is more than most teams can keep on top of.

Email marketing automation takes care of that for you.

Automation lets you build workflows that send emails based on what your subscribers actually do: signing up, buying something, or going quiet for too long. Once those workflows are live, they run without you. Your contacts get timely, relevant messages whether your team is in meetings or focused on something else entirely.

What is email marketing automation?

Email marketing automation uses software to send pre-built emails based on triggers, conditions, or time intervals, rather than manual sends. You define the rules once ("send this email when a subscriber joins the list" or "follow up 48 hours after a purchase") and the platform handles the rest.

The key difference from standard email marketing is that automation makes personalization possible at scale. A single workflow can deliver different messages to different people based on their behavior, purchase history, or stage in the customer journey.

How email marketing automation works

Every automated email starts with a trigger: an event or condition that tells the platform to begin a sequence. Triggers can be behavior-based (a contact clicks a link or makes a purchase), time-based (a set number of days after sign-up), or list-based (a contact moves into a specific segment).

From there, the workflow follows a defined path, with conditions, delays, and branching logic built in. A basic welcome sequence might send one email immediately after sign-up and a follow-up three days later. A more complex workflow might branch depending on whether the first email was opened, sending a different message to those who didn't engage. For example:

Segmentation

Segmentation divides your audience into groups based on shared characteristics or behaviors, so automation workflows deliver the right message to each one. You can segment by location, purchase history, engagement level, or how a contact first found you.

Many platforms support dynamic segments that update automatically as contacts meet or fall out of criteria, so your lists stay accurate without manual maintenance. This is important because without good segmentation, even a well-built workflow ends up sending irrelevant messages, hurting both engagement and deliverability.

A/B and multivariate testing

Most automation platforms let you test variations within a workflow to find what works. Subject line testing is standard, but some tools go further with multivariate testing, letting you test multiple variables simultaneously rather than one at a time.

You can marry your A/B testing workflows with segmentation to create more targeted campaigns that personalize both the timing and content of your emails. Over time, this kind of systematic testing can significantly lift open rates, click rates, and conversions.

Common types of automated email marketing campaigns

Most teams start with one or two automation types and expand from there. These are the campaigns we see produce the clearest results earliest.

Welcome sequences

A welcome email is the first workflow most businesses build, and it's consistently one of the highest-performing. According to Omnisend data, welcome flows average $2.65 in revenue per recipient, with the top 10% reaching $21.18. A short sequence of two or three emails, introducing your brand, surfacing useful content or products, and nudging toward a first action, outperforms a single one-off message every time.

Abandoned cart emails

Cart abandonment automation is among the highest-value workflows for e-commerce businesses.

When a shopper adds items and leaves before completing their purchase, an automated reminder (or series of reminders) can bring them back. Abandoned cart emails carry an average open rate of around 50%, and top-performing flows generate as much as $28.89 per recipient, per Omnisend research.

Drip campaigns

Drip campaigns deliver a series of emails at set intervals, typically used to nurture new leads or onboard new customers. They work well for longer sales cycles, where building familiarity before asking for a commitment tends to produce better results than a single direct pitch.

Re-engagement campaigns

Not every subscriber stays active. A re-engagement workflow targets contacts who haven't opened or clicked in a set period, giving you a chance to win them back or confirm they should be removed from your list to protect your sender reputation.

Transactional emails

Order confirmations, shipping updates, and password resets are all transactional emails, and they tend to have the highest open rates of any type because people are actively waiting for them. Adding a relevant product recommendation or a referral prompt to a transactional email can generate meaningful returns from messages that would otherwise just confirm a fact.

Why email automation matters: the numbers

The performance gap between automated emails and standard broadcast campaigns is hard to ignore. According to Omnisend, automated messages account for 41% of all email-driven orders while representing just 2% of total sends. Overall, automated campaigns generate 320% more revenue than non-automated ones, according to research cited by OptinMonster.

The broader picture reinforces this. Email marketing as a channel already delivers an average return of $36 for every $1 spent, per Litmus research. Automation pushes that further: the top 10% of automated email flows earn $16.96 per recipient, compared with $0.95 for the top 10% of standard campaigns.

Time savings are another meaningful benefit. GetResponse research found that businesses using automation save around 30% on operational costs, with the three most cited gains being time efficiency, lead generation, and revenue growth. The upfront setup takes time, but the workflows keep working long after you've moved on to other things.

What to look for in an email automation platform

Not every platform offers the same depth of automation. Here's what's worth checking before you commit to one.

• Workflow builder: A visual, drag-and-drop builder makes it easier to map sequences and understand how branches connect. Campaigner's workflow builder supports both simple and multi-step paths with behavioral triggers and A/B conditions built in.
• Segmentation depth: Check whether you can segment based on purchase behavior, engagement history, and custom fields, not just basic demographics. Dynamic segments that update automatically are worth prioritizing.
• Testing capabilities: A/B testing on subject lines is a baseline expectation. Multivariate testing, which lets you test several variables at once, is a significant advantage for teams running high-volume campaigns.
• Multi-channel support: Email and SMS together can lift results for time-sensitive promotions. Campaigner's paid plans include combined email and SMS workflows. Klaviyo is another strong option here, particularly for e-commerce brands that want to coordinate across multiple channels.
• Deliverability tools: Your campaigns are only as effective as their ability to reach the inbox. List verification and reputation monitoring matter. Campaigner includes a Reputation Defender feature that periodically checks contact lists for risky email addresses, helping protect your sender score.
• Integrations: Your automation platform needs to connect cleanly to your CRM, e-commerce store, and analytics tools. Native integrations tend to be more reliable than third-party connectors that require constant re-authentication. Campaigner integrates directly with Shopify and Magento, while Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign cover a wider range of third-party tools.
• Analytics: Reporting should go beyond open and click rates. Look for revenue attribution at the workflow level, conversion tracking by segment, and the ability to compare performance across automation types.

Where to start

If you haven't built any automation yet, a welcome sequence is the right first move. It's high impact, low complexity, and useful for every new subscriber you add to your list. Set it up, measure results over a few weeks, then layer in abandoned cart or nurture sequences depending on your business model.

Most platforms, including Campaigner, Mailchimp, and ActiveCampaign, offer free trials. We'd recommend building at least one real workflow during that period, not just a test email, so you can properly assess how the builder handles branching logic and whether the reporting tells you what you need to know.

Automation rewards planning. Spending time mapping your customer journey before you start building will save you considerable rework further down the line.

Sender has been building a reputation as an affordable email marketing platform since 2012, and today it counts more than 180,000 businesses in its user base. The platform handles newsletters, automation workflows, transactional emails, and SMS under one roof, whereas many competitors split those features across multiple pricing tiers or reserve them for higher-cost plans.

We've been reviewing email marketing software at TechRadar Pro for over a decade, covering platforms from Mailchimp and Brevo to ActiveCampaign and Omnisend year after year. This Sender review is based on hands-on testing across the platform's automation, template, and form-building tools, cross-referenced against official documentation and verified user reviews.

My experience with Sender

Creating an account takes about two minutes and requires no credit card, which sets the right expectations from the start. The dashboard is clean and easy to navigate, and you can launch your first campaign without sitting through a tutorial. For anyone coming over from pricier tools like Mailchimp, that combination of low friction and lower cost tends to land well.

Our experience confirmed what many longtime users report: Sender works best when your campaigns are relatively straightforward. The drag-and-drop builder is functional and fast, but you won't find advanced layout controls or content blocks that match what Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign offer at comparable price points. For simple newsletters, welcome sequences, or abandoned cart reminders, Sender is a capable and cost-effective tool, provided you understand where its ceiling sits.

Sender review: Features

Sender covers the core email marketing toolkit without obvious gaps. You get a drag-and-drop email builder, a library of pre-built templates, a visual automation builder, subscriber segmentation, signup forms, and popups, including spin-to-win and exit-intent variants. Transactional email is also included at every tier, which is worth noting since many platforms treat it as a separate product.

The visual automation builder is one of Sender's stronger tools. You can map out multi-step workflows, set behavioral triggers like link clicks or cart abandonment, and combine email and SMS steps in a single flow. Pre-built automation templates cover common use cases such as welcome sequences and re-engagement campaigns, which cuts setup time considerably for straightforward programs.

That said, Sender shows its limits at the edges of the feature set. The template library skews toward basic designs, which can be a real constraint if you're producing brand-heavy campaigns. There's also no built-in CRM, so you'll need Zapier or a direct integration to keep your marketing and sales data synced. And while deliverability essentials like SPF/DKIM authentication and double opt-in are supported, there's no dedicated deliverability dashboard. If your open rates drop, diagnosing the cause takes more detective work than it should.

Sender review: User experience

The interface prioritizes simplicity, and for most users, that approach pays off. Creating a campaign takes a handful of clicks, and the drag-and-drop builder doesn't require any design background to produce something functional. Most users report being ready to send their first campaign within minutes of signing up.

A few rough edges show up once you move beyond the basics. Managing larger subscriber lists or building more granular segments can feel fiddly, with some actions requiring more steps than you'd expect. If your team is international, it's also worth knowing that the platform currently supports only four interface languages: English, Lithuanian, Polish, and Spanish. For most small businesses, though, Sender stays accessible without getting in the way.

Sender review: Customer support

Customer support is one area where Sender stands out against similarly priced tools. The company offers 24/7 live chat with an average response time measured in seconds, and users on G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot consistently praise both the speed and quality of responses. For a platform at this price point, that level of access is unusual.

Free plan users have the same live chat access as paid subscribers, which matters if you're evaluating the free tier as a long-term option rather than a trial. Support is also available through a help center and by email, though live chat is the fastest route for anything time-sensitive.

Sender review: Pricing

The free plan is one of the most practical entry points in the market. At 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 monthly emails, it gives you room to run a real newsletter operation without any time limit. The main tradeoff is the Sender branding on outgoing emails and forms, which disappears as soon as you move to any paid plan. Both Standard and Professional scale from 1,000 to 200,000 subscribers, so you're not forced into a dramatic price jump the moment your list grows.

The Professional plan earns its premium over Standard with features that matter for active marketers. A dedicated IP keeps your sender reputation separate from other users on shared infrastructure, and the ecommerce-specific reporting covers metrics like revenue per campaign that Standard doesn't surface. On annual billing, Standard costs $7/month and Professional $14/month, which is worth factoring in if you're confident the platform fits your needs long-term.

Note that all listed prices exclude VAT, which varies by country.

Sender review: Specs

Should I buy Sender?

Buy it if...

• You want a free plan that doesn't have a countdown clock. Sender's free tier supports 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 monthly emails with no expiry date, which is more room to operate than Mailchimp, Brevo, or Omnisend's equivalent offerings.
• You're running straightforward email workflows. The visual automation builder handles welcome sequences, abandoned cart reminders, and re-engagement campaigns without requiring a developer or a lengthy onboarding process.
• Support access matters to you at any budget. Live chat is available on every plan, including free, and Sender's response times are consistently faster than most competitors at this price point.

Don't buy it if...

• You need design-heavy, on-brand campaigns. The template library is functional but limited, and the editor lacks the advanced layout options available in tools like Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign.
• Your stack relies on a CRM for contact management. Without a built-in CRM, you'll need Zapier or a native connector to keep your marketing and sales data aligned, which adds friction for CRM-heavy teams.
• Your list is scaling fast, and your automation needs are growing. Once you push past basic triggers and simple segments, the platform's constraints become more apparent, and upgrade costs step up in fixed increments.

Also consider

• Mailchimp: It offers a broader integration ecosystem and more sophisticated audience segmentation tools. It's a better fit if you're running a complex marketing tech stack, though pricing rises sharply as your list grows.
• Brevo: Brevo (or Sendinblue) includes a built-in CRM and stronger transactional email capabilities, making it worth evaluating if contact management is central to how your team operates.
• Omnisend: Built specifically for ecommerce, with native Shopify and WooCommerce connections and pre-built workflows for post-purchase sequences and product recommendations.

How I tested Sender

• Set up a free account and built campaigns across newsletter, automation, and transactional email categories to test the builder and workflow tools end-to-end.
• Tested subscriber segmentation, form creation, and pop-up builder against typical small business use cases, including list growth and re-engagement.
• Evaluated pricing tiers against competitor platforms and cross-checked all features and pricing claims against Sender's official documentation, pricing page source, and verified user reviews.

Testing Sender involved working through its three core use cases: broadcast email, automated workflows, and list building. I built multi-step automations using the visual builder, created segmented subscriber lists, and set up signup forms and exit-intent popups. Pricing figures were verified directly against Sender's official pricing page. User feedback from verified review platforms informed my assessment of support quality and day-to-day usability.

Google Photos has been available for a decade, and during much of that time, I used the image hosting service to organize and store my photos and videos. Increasingly, I grew concerned that my data wouldn’t be secure. In doing so, I started to look for open-source options.

After much research, I chose Piwigo to replace Google Photos. Have you never heard of Piwogo? You probably aren’t alone. Here’s more about it and why I am growing to love it.

What is Piwigo?

Piwigo is an incredible free and open-source web-based photo gallery software, specially designed for individuals, photographers, and organizations passionate about managing and sharing their cherished digital image collections. Whether you're an amateur capturing moments with friends or a professional photographer showcasing your stunning portfolios, Piwigo caters to your needs with a tailored solution that can be self-hosted or hosted by Piwigo. This flexibility ensures that you maintain complete control over your precious photos and data, making it feel like a personal space just for you.

What truly sets Piwigo apart is its rich set of features designed to enhance your photo management experience. You can effortlessly organize your photos into albums and sub-albums, making navigating through your treasured memories a breeze. The tagging feature allows for easy searching, so you can quickly find that beautiful sunset or that unforgettable family reunion with just a few clicks. Plus, with the ability to customize your gallery's appearance through various themes, you can express your unique style and make your gallery feel like a true reflection of your personality.

But Piwigo doesn’t stop at photos; it embraces a variety of media formats, allowing you to showcase a broader range of content. With its robust user management system, you can invite friends, family, or collaborators to view specific albums while giving them the proper access and permissions to ensure your privacy. And suppose you’re looking to elevate your gallery even further. In that case, Piwigo's extensive plugin architecture allows you to add various functionalities, from watermarking your images to advanced statistics that help you track engagement. Plus, the seamless integration with other services means you can expand your gallery’s horizons and make the most of your digital assets.

Piwigo is available online; you can access your content through iOS and Android-based Piwigo apps. You can upload content through both.

Self- and cloud-hosted options

Piwigo offers two ways to manage your photo library: a self-hosted option and a cloud-hosted service. With the self-hosted Piwigo, you download the free software and install it on your web hosting, which supports PHP and MySQL databases. This gives you complete control over your data and server environment, allowing for extensive customization and the freedom to manage updates and backups yourself. The cost is primarily your web hosting fees, as the Piwigo software is free.

On the other hand, Piwigo's cloud-hosted service provides a fully managed experience. You subscribe to a plan on Piwigo.com, and they handle the installation, updates, backups, and the underlying infrastructure. This option eliminates the technical overhead of managing your server and often includes dedicated support from the Piwigo team. While it comes with a subscription cost, it offers convenience. It ensures your gallery runs on an infrastructure optimized for Piwigo, often with features like automatic backups and updates included in the plan. Both options provide the user with full ownership of the data.

Isn't self-hosting difficult?

When I first started using Piwigo, I tested the company’s fee-based cloud-hosted option. This version allows you to upload your photos to Piwigo’s servers. I went that route when I realized that, as a Hostinger web customer, I could install Piwigo through that account (for no extra cost).

You can install Piwigo through an auto-installer from the Hostinger website. Other hosts provide similar tools that make installing more or less pain-free. If your provider doesn’t, you can install Piwigo manually, which requires uploading a few files via FTP and configuring.

Even with the auto-installer, you must know a little about web hosting. No doubt, you do if you have a hosting plan through Hostinger or another provider. It took me about 30 minutes to get everything set up. Now that Piwigo is installed, I can upload unlimited content for absolutely zero.

Cost for cloud-based solution

Piwigo’s cloud-hosted plans offer a range of options with varying storage capacities to suit different needs. While specific pricing details can fluctuate and depend on your region and current promotions, Piwigo typically offers several tiers that start as low as $25 per month.

These cloud-hosted plans generally include the benefits of a fully managed service, where Piwigo handles the technical aspects such as installation, updates, and backups. You can expect features like albums, sub-albums, tags, metadata import, privacy controls, user management, customizable themes, and the ability to extend functionality through plugins. Some plans might also include advanced features like smart albums, automatic tagging via AI, and automatic file expiration dates.

Is Piwigo worth it?

For individuals and organizations looking for a robust and customizable photo management solution, Piwigo is an excellent choice. Its open-source nature allows users complete control over their data and the flexibility to customize the platform to meet their specific needs using a wide range of themes and plugins. Opting for self-hosting gives you full ownership and can save on subscription fees, but it also means you are responsible for server maintenance.

Alternatively, Piwigo offers a cloud-hosted service that provides a hassle-free experience by managing the technical aspects for a reasonable monthly fee. Whether you prioritize detailed control and long-term cost efficiency with self-hosting or prefer the convenience of managed infrastructure in the cloud, Piwigo offers a feature-rich platform for organizing, sharing, and showcasing your valuable photo collections. This makes it a worthwhile investment for serious photo enthusiasts and professionals alike.

I’ve created numerous websites over the years, and in almost all cases, I’ve used WordPress to get the job done. Recently, I noticed that Hostinger, which I use for web hosting, makes it easy to install Joomla sites. Because of this, I decided to use Joomla, rather than WordPress, for my next project. The result was mostly positive, although a few aspects bugged me.

What is Joomla?

Joomla is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) that helps you publish web content easily. It's a powerful and flexible platform for creating all sorts of websites and online applications. Because it’s under the GNU General Public License, you can use, change, and share it for free. Joomla comes with handy tools to create, edit, and organize your website content without a hitch.

You can also get more out of Joomla by adding extensions like components, modules, and plugins, which bring in new features to your site. Want your website to look a certain way? Joomla uses templates, so you can pick from many pre-made designs or whip up your own from scratch.

Managing users is a breeze, too, with Joomla’s robust system that lets admins control who can do what. Plus, it supports multiple languages, making it great for multilingual websites. If you're keen on boosting your site’s visibility, Joomla offers features to help with search engine optimization, like friendly URLs that search engines love.

Joomla runs on PHP and usually stores its data in a MySQL or MariaDB database. It uses a model–view–controller (MVC) architecture, which keeps things organized by separating logic, data, and presentation. You can build a range of sites with Joomla, from corporate websites and online magazines to e-commerce shops and community pages.

It has a huge, active community of users and developers who are constantly chipping in to improve Joomla and provide help through forums and docs, so you’re never alone in your journey.

You'll see some key differences when you compare Joomla to other popular CMS platforms like WordPress and Drupal. WordPress is super user-friendly and has a massive plugin library, making it perfect for blogs and simple sites. Drupal, on the other hand, is very flexible and can handle complex, enterprise-level sites. Joomla strikes an outstanding balance between being easy to use and offering flexibility, which is perfect for many websites.

What is Hostinger?

Hostinger is a web hosting company that provides affordable and reliable hosting solutions for individuals and businesses. Founded in 2004, Hostinger has grown into a global provider, serving millions of users across various countries. It offers a wide range of hosting services, including shared hosting for beginners, cloud hosting for scalable resources, VPS hosting for advanced users, WordPress hosting optimized for WordPress websites, and email hosting for professional communication.

Hostinger is known for its budget-friendly pricing, making it a great choice for startups and small businesses. Its custom-built control panel, hPanel, ensures easy website management, while its AI website builder helps users create websites quickly with automated tools. Hostinger also has multiple global data centers to enhance website speed and performance. Additionally, the company offers 24/7 customer support in various languages, ensuring users receive assistance whenever needed.

Overall, Hostinger is a popular choice for cost-effective and efficient web hosting. With its diverse hosting plans, user-friendly tools, and strong customer support, it caters to both beginners and experienced users looking to establish their online presence.

Installing Joomla on Hostinger

Before installing Joomla on Hostinger, you must have already purchased a hosting plan through Hostinger. Perhaps even more importantly, that plan must support Joomla. You must also own a registered domain name or plan to buy one.

Hostinger simplifies Joomla installation with its Auto Installer:

• Log in to your Hostinger account and go to hPanel.
• Navigate to Website > Auto Installer.
• Select Joomla from the list of available applications.
• Enter your website details, including admin username and password.
• Click Install and wait for the process to complete.

Once installed, you can access your Joomla dashboard:

• Log in using the credentials you set during installation.
• Configure site settings, including language, timezone, and SEO preferences.
• Install essential extensions to enhance functionality.

Joomla offers a variety of templates to design your website:

• Go to Extensions > Templates in the Joomla dashboard.
• Browse and install a template that suits your website’s purpose.
• Customize the template using Joomla’s built-in editor.

Start adding content to your Joomla website:

• Navigate to Content > Articles.
• Click New to create a page or blog post.
• Format text, add images, and publish your content.

To improve user experience, create navigation menus:

• Go to Menus > Main Menu.
• Add menu items linking to different pages.
• Customize the menu layout and position.

Enhance your website’s visibility with SEO best practices:

• Enable SEF URLs in Joomla’s settings.
• Install an SEO extension to manage metadata.
• Use relevant keywords in your articles.

Protect your Joomla website from security threats:

• Keep Joomla and extensions updated.
• Install a security plugin.
• Enable SSL certificate for secure connections.

Once everything is set up, launch your website:

• Test all features to ensure smooth functionality.
• Share your website on social media and online communities.
• Monitor performance using analytics tools.

Joomla vs. WordPress

Joomla and WordPress are widely used content management systems (CMS), but they serve different purposes depending on user needs. Joomla offers more flexibility, making it ideal for developers who require advanced customization options. It has built-in multilingual support, eliminating the need for additional plugins, and provides better user management with robust access control settings. Additionally, Joomla has strong security features with built-in settings and extensions. However, its steeper learning curve can disadvantage beginners, as it requires more technical knowledge. Its ecosystem is also smaller, offering fewer plugins and themes than WordPress, and its interface can be complex for new users.

WordPress, on the other hand, is renowned for its ease of use, making it an excellent choice for beginners. It has an extensive library of themes and plugins, allowing users to customize their websites effortlessly. WordPress also excels in SEO optimization, with powerful plugins like Yoast SEO enhancing visibility. The platform benefits from a strong community, providing extensive documentation and support forums. However, its popularity makes it more prone to security vulnerabilities, requiring regular updates and security measures. Unlike Joomla, WordPress lacks built-in multilingual support, requiring plugins for such functionality. Additionally, while it is excellent for simpler websites, Joomla offers more flexibility for complex projects.

Ultimately, WordPress is better for users who want an intuitive, beginner-friendly platform with a vast ecosystem. At the same time, Joomla is ideal for those who need more control and customization for advanced projects. Choosing between the two depends on the user’s specific needs and technical expertise.

Human Resource Management (HRM) software operates under the names Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) and Human Capital Management (HCM) software to provide technology solutions that automate core human resources department operations. The platforms operate as centralized systems that handle different stages of employee life cycles, from recruitment and onboarding through performance management to payroll and benefits administration.

Implementing HRM software through digital process integration enables organizations to boost operational efficiency while decreasing administrative work, maintaining labor law compliance, and delivering important workforce data insights. The main purpose of HRM software is to maximize the management of organizational people assets, which results in better productivity, employee engagement, and business success.

I recently had the opportunity to install OrangeHRM onto my Hostinger web-based server. It was a relatively painless process, and any company looking for an HRM solution should consider it.

What is OrangeHRM?

OrangeHRM is a comprehensive Human Resource Management (HRM) software solution tailored for organizations seeking to optimize their workforce management. The platform features an extensive suite of modules that comprehensively address the entire employee lifecycle. This includes crucial functions such as recruitment, onboarding, leave management, time tracking, performance evaluations, and HR administration.

OrangeHRM is available in two main editions: a free, open-source Community Edition, which offers essential features for smaller businesses, and a Professional/Advanced version that includes a broader array of functionalities designed for more complex organizational needs. This versatility ensures that businesses of all sizes can find a suitable option.

In this article, you’ll learn how to install the open-source version.

The primary objectives of OrangeHRM are to centralize HR data, automate repetitive tasks to enhance operational efficiency, improve data accuracy, and generate insightful reports. By streamlining these processes, OrangeHRM empowers HR departments to function more strategically and significantly enhances the overall employee experience within the organization.

What is Hostinger?

Hostinger is a top web hosting company offering multiple hosting solutions to help people and businesses build and manage their online presence successfully. The company provides four main hosting solutions, which include shared hosting for beginners and small websites, managed WordPress hosting for WordPress CMS users, cloud hosting for scalable performance needs, and Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting for projects that need dedicated resources.

The server space provided by Hostinger includes a simple website builder that uses advanced AI tools to help users create their sites quickly. Hostinger’s annual plans come with complimentary domain names, which create a unified online presence, and free SSL certificates, which protect data transmission through encryption. Hostinger also offers website migration services that simplify the process of moving existing websites to its platform.

Hostinger achieves high performance through its implementation of LiteSpeed technology and NVMe storage solutions and its extensive data center network worldwide. The strategic data center arrangement provides fast website loading speeds and reliable uptime performance. Hostinger offers professional email services for business correspondence and maintains strong security measures through malware detection tools and DDoS protection systems to protect user websites. The company maintains a 24/7 live chat and email support system to help users with technical problems and questions.

How to install OrangeHRM onto Hostinger

The quickest way to get OrangeHRM up and running is to use Hostinger’s Auto-Installer tool. You can install it manually if your hosting platform doesn’t offer something like this. These steps are available on the OrangeHRM website.

To get started using the Auto Installer:

- Log in to your Hostinger account on the official Hostinger website.

- From the left-hand menu, click on Websites.

- Next to your account name, click Dashboard.

- In the left-hand menu, go to Websites again and select Auto Installer.

- Under the "Other" section, click Select.

- From the dropdown menu, choose OrangeHRM.

- Click Select.

A pop-up window will appear to configure your installation. To keep it separate from your main site, it’s recommended that you install OrangeHRM in a subdirectory of your website (e.g., `yourdomain.com/HRM`).

During these next steps, you must assign a Website Title, Administrator Email, Administrator Username, and Administrator Password at the top of the pop-up window.

Next, click Advanced, then:

In the Enter Subdirectory box, type the name you want for your subdirectory (e.g., `ls`, `HRM`, `orangeHRM`).

Important: Make sure "Create new database" is selected, and then assign a strong password for this new database.

Final steps

Once you’ve installed OrangeHRM on your server, it’s time to prepare it for use. To do this, log into the subdirectory where you installed it using the credentials you provided above.

From there, add essential company information such as the organization name, address, and fiscal year. You'll also need to establish the basic organizational structure, including departments, job titles, and locations, and define roles and permissions for different user types within the system. After that, you should start populating the employee database, ensuring that all relevant personal and professional details are entered accurately.

Finally, explore the various modules available in OrangeHRM, such as leave management, time tracking, and performance management, and customize them to align with your organization's specific HR policies and workflows. Regular backups of your OrangeHRM database are also highly recommended to prevent data loss.

Manual installation

If your web-host provider doesn’t offer an auto-install feature, you can install OrangeHRM manually by downloading the necessary files from the company’s website.

Installing open-source OrangeHRM involves steps, beginning with ensuring your server meets the necessary prerequisites. This typically includes having an Apache HTTP Server (version 2.2 or later), a MySQL or MariaDB database (version 5.5 or later), and PHP (version 7.4 or later) with various essential extensions enabled. Many users simplify this by using an AMP stack solution such as XAMPP or WAMP. Once your environment is ready, download the OrangeHRM open-source package from their official website.

Next, prepare your server by creating an empty database for OrangeHRM and noting down the database name, username, and a strong password; this user will need specific permissions for installation. You'll also need to configure your `php.ini` file to adjust settings like `memory_limit` and `max_execution_time` to prevent issues during installation. After preparing your environment, extract the downloaded OrangeHRM files into your web server's document root (e.g., `htdocs` or `/var/www/html/`). Ensuring your web server user has write permissions to the OrangeHRM installation directory is crucial, especially the `lib/confs` folder.

Finally, you can run the web installer. Open your browser and navigate to the URL where you extracted OrangeHRM (e.g., `http://localhost/orangehrm/`). The installer will guide you through a series of steps: accepting the license, a system check to verify prerequisites, configuring your database details (including creating a less privileged database user for day-to-day operations), providing organizational information, and creating the main administrator account with a strong username and password. After reviewing your details, the installer will complete the process, allowing you to log in to your new OrangeHRM system. Post-installation, it's highly recommended to implement security measures like changing file permissions, setting up SSL/TLS for HTTPS, and establishing a routine for regular backups.

Mailjet launched in France in 2010 with a focus on making email collaboration easier for teams. Today it serves over 100,000 customers across 150 countries. Now part of the Sinch group (following the Pathwire acquisition in 2021), it covers both marketing campaigns and transactional email through a single account.

In this Mailjet review, a few things stand out: volume-based pricing that doesn't penalize you for list size, real-time co-editing built into the campaign builder, and deliverability tools that most platforms either charge extra for or don't include at all.

TechRadar Pro has been reviewing email marketing software since 2012. Our contributors have tested leading email marketing tools like Mailchimp and Brevo year after year. That track record gives us a solid benchmark for where Mailjet fits in the market today.

My experience with Mailjet

Getting started takes slightly longer than you'd expect. Before you can launch your first campaign, Mailjet's support team runs a verification check on your business details and intended sending volume. It's a minor but noticeable friction point compared to platforms that let you start sending immediately after signup.

Once your account is active, the experience is organized and straightforward. The dashboard separates campaign tools, API settings, and contacts into clearly labeled sections, and the onboarding guide forks into different paths depending on whether you're setting up as a marketer or a developer.

Value for money is strong, especially on the Essential plan, where unlimited contacts and access to deliverability tools make the $17/month price point hard to argue with.

Mailjet review: Features

Mailjet's standout feature is its real-time collaborative editor. Multiple users can work on the same campaign at once, leave inline comments, and lock individual sections to prevent unintended edits. For teams that typically bounce email drafts around over Slack or shared folders, this alone is a meaningful upgrade. It's an unusual capability at this price range.

Beyond collaboration, the platform covers both marketing and transactional email through a shared API infrastructure. The MJML-based editor generates responsive layouts automatically, and A/B testing supports up to 10 campaign variations, which is one of the more flexible implementations we've come across. The Brand Kit, which can generate your visual identity from a website URL, speeds up template setup and keeps designs consistent across sends.

Where Mailjet trails the field is automation. The workflow builder handles standard drip sequences and basic triggers, but it doesn't support the behavioral conditions or multi-path journeys that tools like ActiveCampaign or Brevo offer. The template library (around 65 designs) is functional but limited in variety. There's also no built-in landing page builder, which some competitors include as standard.

Mailjet review: User experience

The interface is clean and logically laid out.

Campaign creation follows a clear progression: pick a template, edit in the drag-and-drop builder, select your recipients, and schedule. Non-technical users should find the flow intuitive from day one, and the editor works well for standard newsletter and promotional campaigns without needing any code knowledge.

A few details worth knowing: Mailjet automatically applies dark mode CSS and meta tags to your emails, which prevents the broken-layout issues that affect many campaigns in dark-mode inboxes. The Brand Kit also makes it faster to stay on-brand across multiple campaigns without manually re-entering colors and fonts each time. The overall UI is functional, though it feels less modern than newer platforms, and some sections look like they haven't been refreshed in a while.

Mailjet review: Customer support

Support access is tiered by plan, and the lower tiers are restrictive. Free and Starter subscribers get online support for the first month only; after that, you rely on Mailjet's documentation center and its self-serve Email Academy. Essential and Premium customers retain ongoing access to online support, which is a step up but still falls short of live chat options offered by some rivals.

Custom enterprise customers receive a dedicated Technical Account Manager plus an API expert, which is a meaningful upgrade for high-volume senders. For a platform that serves developers and teams running critical email infrastructure, the gap in support between entry-level and enterprise plans is wide enough to matter. If deliverability issues arise on a lower-tier plan, your path to resolution is mostly self-service.

Mailjet pricing and plans

Mailjet's pricing model is one of its clearest advantages over contact-capped competitors. Because Essential and Premium charge by email volume rather than contacts stored, businesses with large but infrequently mailed lists get considerably better value than they would on Mailchimp or Klaviyo.

The free plan covers 6,000 monthly sends with a 1,000-contact cap and a 200-per-day limit. Starter at $9/month removes that daily cap but tops out at 8,000 emails per month with no way to scale it further, making it a transitional tier rather than a long-term home. Essential at $17/month is where the platform opens up: unlimited contacts, 500 email validations, 500 email previews per month, and volume scaling from 15,000 to 500,000 sends.

Premium at $27/month adds expanded preview credits, team and account management tools, and a dedicated IP on plans with 100,000+ sends, with the same volume range. Annual billing reduces Essential to $15.30/month and Premium to $24.30/month. For senders above 500,000 emails, a Custom enterprise tier is available with dedicated support and tailored terms. All prices listed are in USD and exclude VAT where applicable.

Mailjet review: Specs

Should I buy Mailjet?

Buy it if…

• You manage email with a team. The real-time co-editing and granular permission controls speed up campaign production in a way most platforms don't match at this price. If your team currently passes drafts around over email or Slack, this feature alone justifies the switch.
• Your contact list is large but you don't email often. Because you pay for sends rather than contacts stored, Mailjet is significantly cheaper for businesses that maintain big lists but only campaign occasionally.
• You need marketing and transactional email in one place. A shared API infrastructure means your developers and marketers aren't managing separate tools or reconciling sender reputations across two platforms.

Don't buy it if…

• Advanced automation is central to your strategy. The workflow builder covers basic scenarios, but behavioral triggers, complex segmentation, and multi-path journeys require a platform like ActiveCampaign or Brevo.
• You want a wide template selection. Around 65 designs is enough for straightforward campaigns, but it's a thin library compared to what Mailchimp offers, and design variety leans minimal.

Also consider

• Brevo: This platform has volume-based pricing like Mailjet's but with more capable automation, SMS support, and a more polished interface. A natural comparison for teams weighing their options.
• MailerLite: Worth a look if landing pages, digital product sales, or a more contemporary design experience matter to you, alongside solid email tools.
• ActiveCampaign: Stronger choice if sophisticated marketing automation and integrated CRM are non-negotiable.

How I tested Mailjet

• Signed up for a Mailjet account and completed the onboarding flow for both marketer and developer setup paths.
• Built and sent test campaigns using the drag-and-drop editor, A/B testing tool, and automation builder across free and paid tiers.
• Reviewed official pricing documentation alongside user feedback from major review platforms.

For this Mailjet review, testing focused on the features a typical small business or marketing team uses day to day: campaign creation, contact management, collaboration tools, and the analytics available on standard plans. I also assessed the setup experience, support quality at each tier, and how the platform compares against competitors at a similar price point.

Your phone is already in your hand. You're scrolling through reels, refreshing feeds, doing absolutely nothing productive with it. What if those same minutes turned into actual cash?

That's the promise of survey and poll apps. And some of them deliver on it, while most don't.

I've been using OnePulse for a while now. Three questions, under 60 seconds, up to $0.40 per pulse. It's fast and fun, but the $20 monthly cashout cap and the fact that pulses close within seconds made me wonder, “Are there better options out there?”

So I tested seven of the most popular survey and poll apps to find out. I looked at three things that actually matter. How much you earn per minute of your time, how easily you can get your money out, and how often you get disqualified before finishing a survey (because nothing kills motivation faster than spending 10 minutes on a survey only to get booted at the end). Here's what I found.

If you're on the other side and want to create surveys for your own projects or business, we’ve covered the best survey tools in a separate guide.

Best apps to earn money from surveys and polls: TL;DR

The best survey and poll app of 2026 in full:

Best pay per minute

Prolific connects you with actual researchers from universities like Harvard and King's College, as well as AI developers who need human feedback. The result? Studies that pay between $8 and $15 per hour, consistently.

What makes it different is the type of work. See, you're not just clicking through surveys with "Which cereal brand do you prefer" type of questions. Some tasks involve editing AI-generated text, judging chatbot responses, or annotating data. If you’re lucky enough, the AI training roles can pay up to $25 per hour, which is genuinely hard to find in this space.

The best part? There are almost zero disqualifications. Prolific matches you to studies before they hit your dashboard, so if a study shows up, you're already qualified. Compare that to Survey Junkie's low qualification rate, and you'll see why this matters. But then you won't find hundreds of studies waiting for you. A handful appear each day, and the good ones fill up in minutes. I learned that the hard way and ended up turning on browser notifications just to stand a chance at grabbing a decent Prolific study before it was gone.

Prolific is also strictly web-based, with no dedicated app. The lack of it does feel a bit limiting if you’re used to doing everything on your phone. And while the payouts are pretty straightforward, everything goes through PayPal.

Minimum cashout is around $6 (£5), and withdrawals are processed on Tuesdays and Fridays. After your first four payouts, you get to access the instant transfers feature, too.

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Best experience

If you want surveys and nothing else, Survey Junkie is the simplest option out there. It is available in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK, with over 20 million members and backing from DISQO.

The interface is clean, and the transparency gives you a clear view of what you’re doing. Every survey shows a "points-per-minute" metric upfront, so you can quickly decide if it’s worth it. Most surveys pay around 3 to 5 cents per minute, though I’ve seen some hit 19 cents for shorter ones.

You can also try the "Surf to Earn" feature if you're comfortable sharing browsing data for passive points. But that's a personal privacy call.

While using Survey Junkie, there’s one small detail most people miss. There are these colored diamonds next to each survey telling you how likely you are to qualify. If you see green or aqua diamonds, you’re in luck. These surveys are more general and easier to get into, so you’re far less likely to get screened out halfway through. On the other hand, red and amber diamonds usually mean the survey is looking for a very specific type of participant. Unless you fit that exact profile, there’s a good chance you’ll get disqualified after answering a few questions.

On the downside, even if you play it smart, you’ll only qualify for roughly one in five surveys you attempt. Getting screened out is part of the experience. But to its credit, Survey Junkie does soften the blow a little. If you get screened out, you’ll usually receive a small consolation prize of around 3 points. It is modest, but better than leaving empty-handed.

For payouts, you can cash out via PayPal, often instantly, as well as through bank transfer or gift cards for Amazon, Target, Walmart, and others.

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Best for multi-tasking

Out of all the tools on this list, Swagbucks feels more like a rewards ecosystem than a simple survey platform. It lets you earn through surveys, shopping cashback, streaming, gaming offers, web search rewards, and even a browser extension that runs passively. For those who prefer stacking multiple small income streams, Swagbucks offers a versatile and flexible approach.

The system is straightforward; you earn points called SB, where 100 SB equals $1. These points can be redeemed for PayPal cash, gift cards, or prepaid cards. Gift cards start at around $3 (300 SB), while PayPal withdrawals typically require a higher threshold. In my experience, gift cards usually arrive within 24 to 48 hours, while PayPal takes about 3 to 5 business days.

While surveys are still the bread and butter, the disqualification rate can be frustrating. One tester was screened out of 75% of attempts, which lines up with what I’ve seen. When you do qualify, payouts typically range from $0.50 to $2 per survey. Across all earning methods, a one-hour test brought in about $4.83, which feels decent for this category.

I know how Swagbucks’ gaming section sounds exciting on paper, with some offers exceeding $600, but there’s a catch. These are typically “offer wall” deals where you’re rewarded for hitting certain milestones in a game, like reaching a level or completing in-app tasks. In reality, that often means weeks of grinding or putting money up front, so I wouldn’t really call it free money.

If you shop online regularly, you’re probably leaving money on the table without the SwagButton browser extension. It works quietly in the background, picking up cashback where it can. Add in the occasional discounted gift cards, where a $5 Amazon card might cost only 450 SB, and you start to see the extra value.

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Best OnePulse alternative

If you like OnePulse’s quick-poll format but want more ways to earn, Toluna feels like a natural step up. It’s available across 60+ countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and much of Europe and Asia, so it has a broader global reach than most platforms in this space.

Beyond standard surveys, Toluna includes short, opinion-based polls that feel more like social media prompts than formal questionnaires. I like how it leans towards building and nurturing a community. You can interact with other users, vote on trending topics, join discussions, and even create your own polls or content to see how others respond.

The points system takes some getting used to. Around 3,000 points equals $1. Most surveys pay between 2,000 and 6,000 points, which works out to roughly $0.67 to $2 per survey. A tester measured the average hourly rate at about $3.43, which is mid-range for this category.

The daily Toluna Wheel offers you one free spin per day and gives you anywhere from 40 to 200 points. It's a small, fun feature, but it adds up when you're consistent.

But keep in mind that if you don’t use your points within 12 months of earning them, they can expire. Even with regular use, older points can quietly drop off, so it’s usually better to cash out once in a while instead of waiting to redeem everything in one go. The minimum payout typically ranges from $5 to $10, and processing times vary by reward. In most cases, redemptions take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

On the plus side, PayPal, gift cards, and even charity donations are all supported. And if you prefer not to rely on the web version, Toluna also offers mobile apps for both iOS and Android.

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Best beginner friendly

Branded Surveys is one of the more beginner-friendly platforms on this list. The dashboard is clean, point values are easy to understand, and the minimum cashout has been lowered to $5 from $10. You also get a 100-point ($1) welcome bonus just for signing up, so you can start earning right away.

When it comes to payouts, you have a few solid options, including PayPal, direct bank transfer (US only), and gift cards for Amazon, Walmart, Starbucks, and more. Silver and Gold tier members also get access to instant payout processing.

While trying out Branded Surveys, most surveys took between 5 and 20 minutes at most, which feels reasonable. The system itself is simple. Each point is worth $0.01, and the surveys typically pay between $0.50 and $5. There’s also a daily poll that takes less than a minute, but gives you 5 points. It’s not much, but it’s one of those small things that add up if you stay consistent.

I was curious about their Branded Elite loyalty program, so I decided to test it out, too. Complete at least 12 surveys per week, and you unlock tiered bonuses on your total earnings. Bronze gets you a 5% boost, Silver pushes it higher, and Gold members can earn up to 19% extra on top of everything they’ve made that week. Unlike leaderboard systems that only reward top earners, this one benefits anyone who shows up and uses Branded Surveys regularly.

That said, it’s limited to the US, UK, and Canada, so if you’re outside those three, this is one you can skip.

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Best for product reviews

I almost didn't include Pinecone Research. Two years ago, it would have topped this list. Today, it's a cautionary tale about what happens when a great platform changes too much.

Pinecone Research is owned by Nielsen, one of the biggest names in market research. It used to be invite-only, paid a guaranteed flat $3 per survey, rarely disqualified anyone, and offered PayPal payouts. That combination made it legendary in survey communities.

Here's what's changed: Pinecone Research is now open to everyone. The consistent $3 rate has dropped to $0.50 to $1 for many surveys. PayPal has been removed as a payout option. The minimum cashout was raised from $3 to $10.

And worst of all, users now report getting spammed with survey invites they don't qualify for, sometimes spending 40 minutes answering questions before getting screened out.

So why include it at all? Two reasons. First, you'll still see it recommended on every other survey list because most writers haven't updated their research. You deserve to know the current reality. Second, it still offers occasional product testing (you sometimes get actual products shipped to your door), and a $5 sign-up bonus for completing the welcome survey. If you treat it as a supplement, not a primary app, it can still add a few dollars.

Payout is now through gift cards, prepaid Visa cards, or bank transfer. But also know that the points expire after 12 months of inactivity.

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Most straightforward

Google Opinion Rewards is the lowest-effort survey app you'll ever use. Each survey is 1 to 3 questions, takes under 30 seconds, and pays between $0.10 and $1. You'll get about one survey per week, sometimes more if you keep location tracking on.

That's the whole pitch. There's no complex point system, profile surveys to grind through, or a disqualification gauntlet. Google sends you a notification, you tap through a few multiple-choice questions, and credits appear in your account. The surveys are mostly about places you've visited, purchases you've made, or quick opinion polls.

On Android, you earn Google Play credits (useful for apps, games, movies, subscriptions). On iOS, you get actual PayPal cash once you hit the $2 threshold. A lot of people don't realize the PayPal option exists on iPhone, which is worth knowing.

The obvious downside is that you're not going to earn much. A few dollars per month at best. And Google Play credits are locked to the Google ecosystem, so if you're an iPhone user, getting PayPal is actually the better deal.

Like Pinecone Research, the credit that you earn through Google Opinion Rewards are bound to expire one year from the date you've earned it. So it's better to use them when you can, maybe on a Black Friday sale on the Play Store, or when you want to renew your YouTube Premium subscription.

Pro tip: turn on location services. Surveys tied to places you’ve actually visited, like a store or restaurant, can pay around $0.50 compared to about $0.14 for generic ones. Same 20 seconds, nearly triple the payout.

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Further reading

The biggest mistakes are simple. People rely on just one app, let points expire, rush through surveys, skip profile setup, and believe unrealistic earnings claims. Fix these, and you’ll qualify for more surveys, avoid losing points, and make better use of your time.

Relying on just one app: Survey supply dries up fast on any single platform. Prolific might give you three studies today and nothing tomorrow. Survey Junkie might run out of matching surveys by lunchtime. It’s best to try a stack of 3 to 4 apps. It’ll be enough that you always have something available when you check your phone.

Ignoring points expiry: This one catches people off guard. Toluna expires your points 12 months after you earn them, even if you're still active. Google Opinion Rewards credits expire after one year. Pinecone kills your balance after 12 months of inactivity. Survey Junkie is more forgiving (points stay alive if you complete one survey every 12 months), but the lesson is the same: cash out at the minimum threshold. Don't let balances sit.

Rushing through surveys: It sounds counterintuitive, but going too fast costs you money. Platforms use attention checks (simple math problems, "select the non-living object," trick questions) to catch people who aren't reading. Fail these, and you get flagged. Get flagged enough, and you lose access to surveys or get your account suspended. Take an extra 30 seconds per survey.

Skipping profile setup: Incomplete profiles mean the platform can't match you to the right surveys. The result? More disqualifications, fewer invites, and lower earnings across the board. Survey Junkie's colored diamond system literally depends on your profile data to show you easier-to-qualify surveys. Complete every single profile questionnaire on day one. It's boring, but it pays off immediately.

Falling for unrealistic earnings claims: Any app promising $50 or more per hour is lying. The realistic range across all survey apps is $2 to $15 per hour, with Prolific at the top and most others landing between $2 and $5. Setting the right expectation up front saves you from frustration later.

Best best survey and poll apps FAQs

beehiiv launched in 2021, founded by former Morning Brew engineers who built the platform around what actually drives newsletter growth: cross-promotion, referrals, and monetization without fees. That origin story shows up clearly in the product. If you've been looking for a beehiiv review, you might also want to weigh it against Substack or Kit — two platforms with very different philosophies on how (and how much) to charge creators.

We've been reviewing email marketing software at TechRadar since 2012, covering platforms like Mailchimp, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, and more. What distinguishes beehiiv in that group is the combination of a newsletter publishing environment, a web presence builder, and a monetization layer that most ESPs simply don't offer.

My experience with beehiiv

Getting started on beehiiv is fast. You can be publishing within minutes of signing up, with no credit card required on the free plan. The onboarding flow asks you about your newsletter topic and helps you configure a basic website, which is a nice touch that sets expectations early: beehiiv treats your newsletter as a publication, not just an email blast.

For solo creators, especially, the value is hard to argue with at the free tier. You get a custom domain, unlimited email sends, campaign analytics, and a podcast channel, all before paying anything. The caveat is that key monetization features, including the ad network and paid subscriptions, require upgrading to Scale.

beehiiv review: Features

beehiiv's feature set is clearly built around newsletter publishers rather than email marketers. You get subscriber segmentation, an audience referral program, Boosts (a cross-promotion network where you earn per new subscriber from recommendations), and an in-platform ad network that starts matching you with advertisers once you hit around 1,000 subscribers. These features work together as a growth engine rather than a checklist of add-ons.

The platform added AI writing assistance, a website builder with custom webpages, polls, and surveys. The Max plan goes further with dynamic content and audio newsletters. One area where beehiiv trails traditional ESPs is automation: triggers are fairly basic, and complex behavioral sequences are harder to build here than in something like ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo. Third-party integrations also rely heavily on Zapier rather than native connectors, which adds friction and cost for anyone running a more complex tech stack.

The 0% take rate on paid subscriptions is the headline differentiator. Substack takes 10% of every subscription; beehiiv takes nothing beyond Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee. For a newsletter with 500 paying subscribers at $10 a month, that works out to $600/month more in the creator's pocket.

beehiiv review: User experience

beehiiv's writing environment is built more like a blog CMS than a typical email builder. There's no conventional drag-and-drop layout editor, so if you're accustomed to Mailchimp's block-based design tools, the experience will feel stripped down. What you do get is a clean, distraction-free writing interface that makes publishing fast, though not visually flexible.

Navigation across the dashboard is logical, and the analytics surface is more detailed than most: you can track opens, clicks, subscriber growth, revenue, and verified click rates (which filter out bot activity) from one place. The 3D analytics feature, available on Scale and above, adds a useful multi-dimensional view of audience engagement. New users from a content background tend to adapt quickly; those migrating from traditional marketing platforms may need a short adjustment period.

beehiiv review: Customer support

Support quality depends on your plan. Free (Launch) users get access to an AI assistant and documentation, but no direct human support. Scale users unlock human support via email, along with access to a Slack community. Max subscribers receive priority support with faster response times, and Enterprise customers get a dedicated account manager.

Several user reviews note that when support is available, the team responds with real platform knowledge rather than generic troubleshooting scripts, which is worth noting. The absence of live chat or phone support across all paid tiers is a limitation if you run a time-sensitive publication and hit a sending issue before a big send.

beehiiv pricing and plans

The free plan covers real ground for early-stage newsletters, offering custom domains, campaign analytics, and the recommendation network. Upgrading to Scale unlocks the ad network, Boosts, paid subscriptions, automations, and human support. The jump from $0 to $49 is the sticking point: there's no intermediate tier for creators who've outgrown 2,500 free subscribers but aren't yet ready to monetize seriously.

Max adds white-labeling (removing beehiiv branding), audio newsletters, a sponsorship storefront, up to 10 publications, and unlimited team seats. Both Scale and Max use subscriber-based pricing, so your monthly cost rises as your list grows toward the 100,000-subscriber cap. All plans include unlimited email sends, which compares favorably to volume-based pricing at competing platforms.

beehiiv review: Specs

Should I buy beehiiv?

Buy it if…

• You want to monetize without fees. beehiiv takes 0% of paid subscription revenue, compared to Substack's 10%. At even modest subscriber counts, that difference adds up quickly.
• Newsletter growth is your primary goal. The Boosts network, referral program, and cross-promotion tools are purpose-built for audience building in ways that generic email platforms aren't.
• You need a publication hub, not just an ESP. beehiiv combines email delivery, a hosted website, archive pages, and podcast support, giving creators one place for everything.

Don't buy it if…

• You need sophisticated automation. Behavioral email sequences, advanced segmentation triggers, and CRM-style flows are better served by platforms like ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo.
• You rely on deep third-party integrations. Native connectors are limited; you'll need Zapier for most external tools, which adds cost and complexity.
• You're on a tight budget below $49/month. There's no mid-tier plan between free and Scale, so creators who've outgrown 2,500 subscribers but aren't yet earning from their list will feel the jump.

Also consider

• Substack: A simpler entry point for writers who want built-in discovery and don't mind the 10% revenue cut. It's worth considering if you prefer a reading-app-style ecosystem over a standalone publication.
• Kit (formerly ConvertKit): Offers more mature automation and landing page tools, making it a better fit for creators who sell digital products through complex email funnels.
• Ghost: An open-source alternative with no platform fees and strong CMS features, though it requires more technical setup and self-hosting or a paid Ghost Pro subscription.

How I tested beehiiv

• Signed up for a free account and walked through onboarding, newsletter creation, website setup, and the analytics dashboard hands-on.
• Reviewed the full feature comparison across Launch, Scale, Max, and Enterprise plans using beehiiv's official pricing page.
• Assessed third-party reviews and user reports from G2, EmailToolTester, and creator case studies to evaluate real-world performance.

I tested beehiiv by setting up a publication from scratch, publishing test sends, and walking through the monetization features available at each tier. Pricing and feature details were verified directly against beehiiv's official pricing page at beehiiv.com/pricing. I also cross-referenced competitor pricing to evaluate the platform's relative value, particularly around Substack's 10% take rate versus beehiiv's 0%.

Founded in Athens in 2012, Moosend has grown into a platform used by over 100,000 businesses worldwide.

A few things make it stand out: contact-based pricing (rather than per-send billing), 32 automation triggers available on every paid plan, and consistent praise for live chat support that actually responds quickly. Importantly, it's one of the few platforms where automation and reporting are included from the base tier, rather than held back for higher plans.

We've been reviewing business software at TechRadar Pro since 2012, with new email marketing tools evaluated every year. This Moosend review draws on hands-on testing, platform walkthroughs, and analysis of several hundred verified user reviews to give you an honest picture of what the platform gets right and where it falls short.

My experience with Moosend

Getting started takes less time than most comparable tools. An onboarding checklist walks you through importing contacts, setting up your sending domain, and creating your first campaign, with live chat accessible throughout. For a platform at this price, the initial setup is notably friction-free.

That said, the editor has some rough edges. A few interface elements appear greyed out until you hover over them, and the campaign editor works slightly differently from the automation email editor, so habits from one don't always carry over to the other. Neither issue slows you down significantly, but they're worth knowing upfront.

Moosend review: Features

At this price point, Moosend's feature set is hard to fault for small business use. All paid plans include unlimited email sends, a drag-and-drop editor with 130+ templates, an AI writer for copy and subject lines, landing pages, subscription forms, and an SMTP server. Nothing is locked behind a higher tier just to drive upgrades.

The automation builder is where Moosend earns its reputation. It offers 32 triggers, 30+ filter criteria, and 11 action types, which is more than most platforms at similar pricing. Eighteen pre-built "recipes" cover common journeys, including welcome sequences, cart abandonment, birthday campaigns, and re-engagement flows, so you don't need to build from scratch. There's also a Perfect Timing feature that uses subscriber behavior to estimate the best send time per contact.

Reporting covers click maps, geolocation, device breakdowns, and revenue attribution. You can share reports with teammates via a no-login link. One gap worth noting: you can't filter out bot clicks or Apple Mail Privacy Protection opens, which matters if you need clean engagement data for deliverability analysis or compliance.

Moosend claims a 98% deliverability rate and supports SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration with clear documentation. The integration catalog runs to around 80 native connections, covering WooCommerce, Shopify, Salesforce, and Zapier, among others, though you'll need Zapier for anything outside the mainstream stack.

Moosend review: User experience

The interface is clean and sensibly organized. Campaigns, Automation, Audience, and Growth tools sit clearly in the left-hand navigation, and most everyday tasks are reachable in two or three clicks. The platform is available in seven languages, and the drag-and-drop editor responds quickly without the lag you sometimes get from browser-based builders.

There are a few quirks that surface over time. The "More" tab in the navigation functions as a catch-all for miscellaneous settings, which can make finding less-used features a guessing game. The editor occasionally behaves unpredictably when rearranging content blocks. These are minor annoyances rather than fundamental problems, but they do add up in a busy workflow.

Moosend review: Customer support

Live chat is Moosend's most consistent strength in support. Users report typical response times of five to thirty minutes, with agents working through issues rather than redirecting to help articles. Chat transcripts get sent to your inbox automatically, which is a useful touch for keeping records.

The knowledge base is organized across 13 categories — covering campaigns, automation, integrations, deliverability, and billing — with video tutorials alongside written articles. The main limitation is availability: support runs Monday to Friday only, and there's no phone option on any plan. If you run into an urgent issue over a weekend, you're working from documentation alone. Dedicated account managers are reserved for Moosend+ and Enterprise customers.

Moosend pricing and plans

Moosend+ and Enterprise are custom-priced plans that add optional add-ons, including transactional emails, dedicated IPs, SSO & SAML, and an account manager.

Moosend charges by subscriber count, which works in your favor if you send frequently. At 5,000 contacts, you're looking at $48/month on monthly billing or $38/month on annual. The full Pro feature set (automation, landing pages, forms, analytics, AI writer) is available from the starting price without needing to upgrade. There's a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.

The important caveat is transactional email. Order confirmations, password resets, and shipping notifications aren't included on the Pro plan and require either the Moosend+ custom plan with the transactional email add-on or an Enterprise package. If your business depends on transactional messaging, this affects your total cost significantly and should be confirmed before signing up.

Moosend review: Specs

Should I buy Moosend?

Buy it if…

• You need automation on a tight budget. Moosend's Pro plan includes 32 triggers, pre-built recipes, and unlimited sends from $7/month on annual billing. You're not gated from automation features until a higher tier.
• You're launching standard email journeys fast. The 18 pre-built recipes cover welcome series, cart abandonment, and re-engagement without requiring you to map out logic from scratch. You can have a functional automation live within an hour of signing up.
• Responsive support matters to your team. Live chat agents typically respond within thirty minutes during business hours, and the quality of help is consistently rated above average across user review platforms.

Don't buy it if…

• Your business relies on transactional email. Order confirmations, account alerts, and similar triggered messages aren't included on the Pro plan. Adding them requires a custom Moosend+ or Enterprise package, which changes the cost calculation meaningfully.
• You need a wide integration catalog out of the box. ~80 native connections, which cover the major tools but leave gaps for anything outside the mainstream stack. If you rely on niche CRMs or platforms, expect to build bridges through Zapier.
• You need support outside business hours. Moosend's chat and email support runs Monday to Friday. Weekend outages or time-sensitive campaigns that hit problems after hours will leave you relying on documentation rather than live help.

Also consider

• Brevo: Worth a look if you need transactional email, SMS, or WhatsApp included without a custom plan. It also offers a free tier and supports multi-channel campaigns that Moosend doesn't cover.
• MailerLite: Occupies a similar price range but includes a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers. It's a better fit for newsletter publishers and content creators who don't need advanced automation depth.
• Mailchimp: Leads on integrations and name recognition, though its free tier was scaled back to 250 contacts in late 2025. It makes sense if integration breadth is a higher priority than low pricing.

How I tested Moosend

• Created a fresh trial account and completed the full onboarding process, including contact import, domain authentication setup, and first campaign creation.
• Built and tested automation workflows using both pre-built recipes and custom trigger logic, and reviewed the reporting dashboard using a live test send.
• Analyzed verified user reviews from a range of sources to cross-reference my testing observations with real-world user experience at scale.

Our testing process focused on the tasks a typical SMB marketing team would handle week to week: building campaigns, setting up automations, managing a contact list, and checking deliverability configuration. I also contacted the live chat support team directly during standard business hours and reviewed the knowledge base for coverage depth and ease of navigation.

Adobe Illustrator began development in 1985, with its initial release coming out in 1987. 39 years in an eternity in computing terms, and it’s amazing this venerable piece of software is still the ruling king when it comes to design, illustrations and vector-based work.

We've long championed it as one of the best graphic design software apps around - but now I'm taking a look at some of the new features that are being introduced with the latest version, Adobe Illustrator 2026 (I explored version 30.3).

Adobe Illustrator: Pricing & plans

• Subscription-only but the price befits its status as the king of the hill
• Cheaper alternatives available like Canva’s Affinity
• But they lack all the features and integration with other Adobe software

Adobe Illustrator is a professional app, and as such, is part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud Pro subscription. As has been the case for years now, you can’t purchase the software, you can only rent it.

Creative Cloud Pro includes over twenty high end software packages, including Photoshop, InDesign, and of course, Illustrator, and will cost you $35 a month for the first three months on an annual subscription (after that deal, the price reverts to $70 a month for the remainder of your agreement).

If that’s too much for you, you can subscribe to Illustrator on its own for $23 a month. Students and educational institutions can also get it or the entire suite at a steep discount.

Be aware though that every time you use generative AI, you’ll be spending credits. You get a set number every month with your plan, but also have the option of purchasing more separately, either as a one-off, or as part of another subscription.

OK, time to take a look at some of the new features that caught my eye in Adobe Illustrator’s new release.

Adobe Illustrator: Features

• Loads of new features added
• I especially like those focused on interface improvements like color artboards
• Great tools for refining your designs including snapping to tangents

Let’s start with some simple improvements to do with Artboards. Up to now, if you needed them to have colored backgrounds, you’d have to create a rectangle, apply a color to it and use that as your backdrop, which, although doable, was cumbersome.

Now, finally, you can apply different colors to each of your Artboards, right from the Properties panel, through its Fill dropdown menu. By default, it’s set to transparent, but you can also choose either black or white, and if that’s not enough, selecting ‘Custom’ gains you access to a virtually unlimited gamut of colors.

Right-clicking on the canvas offers some handy options to manage your document’s artboards. You’re able to rename, duplicate, or delete them, or even create new ones with ease. There’s also the option to lock a selected artboard, but sadly no option to unlock it - to do that you need to go to Window > Artboards, and click on its lock icon from the popup window. So, I guess 'cumbersome' hasn’t completely gone away.

But it’s still an improvement. And speaking of improvements, the classic Eyedropper tool has been enhanced, and I found it works more reliably than before. A single click, for instance, will now properly copy the color and stroke of a selected object (you can extract more of course, but that depends on what you selected in the Eyedropper options).

There’s also shift-clicking. Press and hold the shift key, and you’ll get a large circle around the eyedropper cursor. The bottom half represents the current color, while the top half is the color it’ll change to once you click.

A color picker that works as advertised and has added functionality, I can work with that.

This leads us to some subtle additions you probably never knew you needed, like how the end of a straight line now snaps to a circle’s tangent, or how one line snaps perpendicularly to another. Those are on by default and will make precise designs much easier.

And speaking of much easier, how about gradients with fewer banding - or no banding at all, even? Depending on how close you get to a gradient, you’ll start to notice lines along it as the one color changes to another. This latest version of Illustrator introduces two options to dissipate those lines, creating a much smoother gradient.

The first one is via a new menu in the gradient Properties called “Method”. By default, it’s set to ‘Classic’, but change it to ‘Perceptual’, and it should look more like it would in real life - at least that’s the intention. The change can be quite subtle depending on the complexity of your gradient, and in my experience, it ranged from no discernible change, to a pleasing improvement.

The second option is a ‘Dither’ tick box. This one works in either ‘Method’, and when toggled, it adds a mesh of subtle imperfections to the gradient to conceal any banding, and I found the results to be very effective.

Adobe Illustrator: AI tools

• Introduces impressive AI-based tools to expand your creation’s horizons

But why do all the hard work when you can let a complex algorithm do it all for you, right? Right? Well… not quite, but Adobe Illustrator now comes with some interesting “AI” tools to broaden your digital creations, like Generative Expand.

Triggering the tool will give you handles which you then drag beyond the confines of your original creation. This will create pink borders, making it clear where Illustrator needs to apply itself. When you’re ready (and you have enough credits), click on ‘Generate’ and the machine will get to work.

It should only take a few seconds but I found the end results, like Generative Expand on Photoshop, to be impressive - and I don’t particularly like AI! The results weren’t perfect, mind, but it should be much easier to manually refine the output as opposed to creating all that expanded area yourself.

Another complex algorithm feature I was impressed by is Turntable. It’s designed to turn a 2D vector graphic into a 3D one. Your results may vary, and the tool itself warns you if it thinks the image you’ve selected might not yield good results. That warning may, or may not be correct - sometimes the only way to know for sure is to spend your credits and try it out.

The objects I experimented with, varied in their success. The globe was… interesting, but then again Illustrator did warn me it might not work as expected, so kudos for the warning. The butterfly was mostly flawless, and the horse’s head (a sketch of a head, not a Godfather triggering nightmare) was perfect.

So yes, your mileage may vary, but when it works great, it’s eye opening (but not in A Clockwork Orange way). Once done, you’re able to rotate your now-3D object 360 degrees using a slider. To the right of it are Up and Down arrows; these allow you to see your design from above or below by a maximum of 30 degrees either way.

All in all, Illustrator keeps getting refined with each update. The improvements are most welcome, and the new features will certainly please a lot of artists. There’s something here for everyone which is always a positive thing.

Should I buy?

Buy it if...
You need a powerful vector-based illustration system with a steady stream of improvements and new features to make the expensive subscription worthwhile

Don't buy it if...
You’re not a fan of the increasing incursion of AI into the software, or despite all its features, the asking price is just too much for you.

We've also tested out the best Adobe InDesign alternatives and the best alternatives to Adobe Photoshop

If you’re a small business selling products to consumers, you’d better have an e-commerce site and operation. But where to begin? You can choose a solution like Shopify or BigCommerce and risk spending top dollar. You can also go the open-source route and use a product like CubeCart.

With CubeCart, you can develop and maintain an entire e-commerce platform and install it on your company server or use a web-based solution like Hostinger. I did this recently when I wanted to set up an online store.

What is CubeCart?

CubeCart is a popular open-source e-commerce shopping cart solution that enables businesses of all dimensions to develop and manage their online commercial platforms. The British company provides a full suite of online store management tools, including product and order management, customer account features, and reporting capabilities. All CubeCart versions are free and don’t require licensing keys.

CubeCart’s primary advantage stems from its ability to adapt to specific business needs. The Smarty engine, together with user-friendly templates, enables users to design and modify their online store appearance with ease. The platform features a responsive design that guarantees both form and functionality across every device, including desktop computers, smartphones, and tablets.

CubeCart allows users to organize their inventory easily, manage products by category, and upload detailed product information and digital download content. The platform’s central order management interface simplifies order processing, order history viewing, and customer information management.

The platform enables global e-commerce because it supports both multi-currency and multi-language functionalities. It also supports secure transactions through various payment gateways, SSL encryption, and payment transaction log capabilities.

The platform delivers improved online visibility through SEO optimization, which produces search engine-friendly URLs alongside manual metadata controls. The CubeCart marketplace provides users with numerous plugins and integrations that help expand platform functionality through shipping methods, social plugins, abandoned cart recovery, and marketing tools.

The intuitive admin interface of the system makes managing an online store easy for both beginners and experts. The platform features an analytics dashboard that tracks sales performance and customer activity. You can run CubeCart as a self-hosted system or choose official optimized hosting solutions.

What is Hostinger?

Hostinger provides compelling benefits tailored for small businesses, making it a popular choice for establishing an online presence. One of the most significant advantages is its affordability. Hostinger offers competitively priced plans with essential features such as a free domain name, SSL certificates, and professional email accounts. This combination can significantly reduce initial setup costs, making it an ideal option for budget-conscious entrepreneurs looking to launch their websites without breaking the bank.

In addition to cost-effectiveness, Hostinger prioritizes performance. With features like LiteSpeed web servers and SSD storage, users benefit from fast loading times, crucial for user experience and search engine optimization. A website that loads quickly is more likely to retain visitors, enhance engagement, and improve search engine rankings. This focus on performance ensures that small businesses can create a seamless online experience for their customers, which can be a deciding factor in today's competitive digital landscape.

Hostinger also makes website creation and management accessible, even for those with limited technical expertise. Their user-friendly hPanel control panel and intuitive drag-and-drop website builder allow anyone to create a professional-looking website without extensive coding knowledge. This ease of use empowers small business owners to focus on their core operations rather than getting bogged down in technical details, enabling them to bring their visions to life quickly and efficiently.

Customer support is another vital aspect in which Hostinger excels. With reliable 24/7 customer support via live chat, small business owners can promptly address technical issues or questions, ensuring minimal downtime. This level of support is crucial for businesses that rely on their online presence to attract and retain customers, as delays can lead to lost sales and damaged reputations.

Security is a top priority for Hostinger. The platform includes robust security measures such as daily backups, malware scanners, and DDoS protection to safeguard valuable business data and customer information. By prioritizing security, Hostinger helps small business owners gain peace of mind, knowing that their websites and customer data are well-protected against potential threats.

Finally, one of Hostinger’s standout features is its scalability. As small businesses grow, so do their online needs. Hostinger offers the flexibility to easily upgrade hosting plans as traffic and resource demands increase. This scalability ensures that businesses do not have to worry about outgrowing their hosting solutions, allowing them to confidently focus on growth and expansion.

Installing CubeCart on Hostinger

You can install CubeCart manually on a company server or use an auto-installer tool if you are a Hostinger customer.

To get started using the Auto Installer:

• Log in to your Hostinger account on the official Hostinger website.
• From the left-hand menu, click on Websites.
• Next to your account name, click Dashboard.
• In the left-hand menu, go to Websites again and select Auto Installer.
• Under the "Other" section, click Select.
• From the dropdown menu, choose CubeCart.
• Click Select.
• A pop-up window will appear to configure your CubeCart installation. To keep it separate from your main site, it’s recommended that you install CubeCart in a subdirectory of your website (e.g., `yourdomain.com/store`).

During these next steps, you must assign a Website Title, Administrator Email, Administrator Username, and Administrator Password at the top of the pop-up window.

Next, click Advanced, then:

In the Enter Subdirectory box, type the name you want for your subdirectory (e.g., `ls`, `store`, `cubecart`).

Ensure "Create new database" is selected, and then assign a strong password for this new database.

Final steps

It’s time to set up CubeCart using the new site’s administrator control panel. This page is tricky to find because of how it’s set up. Many installations include an “admin.php” file for this, but CubeCart does not. For security purposes, it changes the name of this file to something like “admin_xkdlsdf.php.” That’s the location where you’ll find the control panel.

You can go into the FTP section of Hostinger to find the example name of this file.

In my example, I installed CubeCart as a subdirectory for my website called “store.” Therefore, the control panel is located at http://mywebsitename.com/store/admin.xkdlsdf.php.

You can log in from this page using the credentials you created above. On the next page, you can set-up CubeCart to your liking.

Want to know more? We tested, reviewed, and rated all the best web hosting services.

The modern world demands easy ways to manage and distribute knowledge between people. A wiki provides one of the most effective solutions for building organizational knowledge bases, community information portals, and personal research repositories. MediaWiki is a leading wiki software solution because of its powerful features, flexible design, and widespread adoption.

MediaWiki operates as the platform behind Wikipedia to deliver a complete solution for building dynamic web pages with version control, user management, and extensive customization features. This article guides you through MediaWiki installation to establish your server as a robust collaborative knowledge management center. Your customizable wiki awaits its full potential.

What is MediaWiki?

MediaWiki is a free, open-source software package written in PHP, originally developed for Wikipedia. It serves as the underlying engine for Wikipedia, almost all other Wikimedia projects, and many other wikis worldwide.

Designed for power and scalability, MediaWiki can handle projects of all sizes, from small internal knowledge bases to massive public-facing websites with millions of pages and thousands of active users. Its robust feature set includes revision control, easy tracking of changes and revisions, a sophisticated templating system for consistent formatting, and extensive multilingual support.

The software's flexibility is further enhanced by its vast extensions, allowing administrators to add new functionalities, customize the interface, and integrate with other systems. These extensions cater to various needs, from advanced editing tools and discussion forums to specialized content displays and administrative utilities. MediaWiki also boasts a strong and active community of developers and users, contributing to its ongoing development, providing support, and creating a rich ecosystem of resources and documentation. Its commitment to open standards and collaborative principles makes it a powerful and accessible platform for building and managing knowledge repositories.

There are various ways to install MediaWiki on a server, either at your location or through a web-based hosting service. The traditional way is to download the necessary files from MediaWiki and install them using the online directions.

At the time of this writing, MediaWiki requires PHP 8.1.0+, a web server software, and either MariaDB 10.3.0+, MySQL 5.7.0+, SQLite 3.24.0+, or PostgreSQL 10.0+. Using MariaDB or MySQL is recommended, as Wikipedia uses MariaDB. Any other database servers are less tested, and you may encounter some bugs.

As a Hostinger customer, I was thrilled that MediaWiki is installable through the company’s auto-installer solution.

What is Hostinger?

Hostinger is a widely recognized web hosting provider known for its affordable pricing, performance-optimized infrastructure, and user-friendly features. They offer various hosting services, including shared hosting, cloud hosting, VPS hosting, and specialized WordPress hosting, catering to different user needs from beginners to advanced developers. Hostinger utilizes its custom-built control panel, hPanel, which is designed for ease of use. It also incorporates technologies like LiteSpeed web servers and SSD storage for faster website loading times and improved performance. Beyond hosting, Hostinger provides services such as domain registration, email hosting, and a drag-and-drop website builder, including AI-powered tools for website creation.

Hostinger’s auto-installer feature can significantly benefit users, especially those with limited technical knowledge or who want to save time. This built-in tool simplifies installing popular content management systems (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, as well as various e-commerce platforms and other applications, with just a few clicks. Instead of manually uploading files, configuring databases, and dealing with complex settings, the auto-installer automates the entire setup, minimizing the chances of errors. This means users can have a functional website or online store up and running in minutes, allowing them to focus more on content creation, business development, or personal projects rather than the technical intricacies of website deployment.

Installing MediaWiki on Hosting

To install MediaWiki using Hostinger’s Auto Installer tool, follow these instructions:

• Log in to your Hostinger account on the official Hostinger website.
• From the left-hand menu, click on Websites.
• Next to your account name, click Dashboard.
• In the left-hand menu, go to Websites again and select Auto Installer.
• Under the "Other" section, click Select.
• From the dropdown menu, choose MediaWiki.
• Click Select.

A pop-up window will appear to configure your MediaWiki installation. To keep it separate from your main site, it’s recommended that you install it in a subdirectory of your website (e.g., `yourdomain.com/wiki`).

During these next steps, you must assign a Website Title, Administrator Email, Administrator Username, and Administrator Password at the top of the pop-up window.

Next, click Advanced, then:

In the Enter Subdirectory box, type the name you want for your subdirectory (e.g., `mediawiki`, `wiki`, `wikiworld`).

Ensure "Create new database" is selected, and then assign a strong password for this new database.

Final steps

Once this is complete, you’ll want to visit the webpage you just created. For example, if your website name is “abcdefg.com” and you made a subdirectory called “wiki,” the address would be http://abcdefg.com/wiki.

You can begin using your new MediaWiki page on this page.

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Small businesses often juggle numerous tasks, from managing sales leads and marketing campaigns to providing exceptional customer support. The key to navigating this complexity and fostering sustainable growth lies in effective customer relationship management (CRM). While many CRM solutions exist, one stands out as a particularly robust and adaptable choice for smaller enterprises: Vtiger.

This article will explore how Vtiger, with its comprehensive suite of features and flexible deployment options, can be an invaluable tool, empowering small businesses to streamline operations, enhance customer interactions, and ultimately, achieve their growth ambitions.

What is Vtiger

Small businesses find Vtiger an extremely valuable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool because it matches their fast-paced business requirements. The full range of Vtiger features enables small businesses to automate operations and unite customer information, leading to better client relationships.

Small sales teams can use Vtiger sales automation tools to score leads, manage pipelines, and automate follow-ups, enabling them to focus on essential leads while minimizing administrative work. Vtiger's automation tools allow companies to develop and execute precise advertising campaigns through email and SMS platforms, which remain crucial to customer relationship development despite scarce resources.

The powerful help desk system allows small businesses to offer prompt and organized customer support. The system provides businesses with tools to handle inquiries while tracking issues and building customer loyalty by delivering efficient service. Combining existing tool integration with customizable workflows and real-time analytics enables small businesses to monitor growth while adapting without needing advanced IT skills or significant financial investment.

Installing Vtiger on your server begins with establishing a suitable web server environment. The setup requires users to configure a LAMP stack consisting of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, or a WAMP stack consisting of Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP when using a Windows server.

Vtiger's first requirement for server readiness involves verifying that your server meets Vtiger's required PHP and MySQL/MariaDB versions, alongside sufficient memory and storage capacity. Preparing your server environment ends with downloading the Vtiger open-source package from its official source and extracting it into your web server's appropriate directory.

The process requires you to create a MySQL database and user account specifically for Vtiger. The following step involves configuring your web server (Apache or Nginx) to serve the Vtiger application correctly. Virtual hosts must be set up, and the rewrite module must be enabled during this process.

When you access your server through its domain address or IP address in a web browser, you will see the Vtiger installation wizard. The installation wizard will direct you through the rest of the setup process to establish database connections and set admin credentials before choosing which modules to activate for your online Vtiger CRM deployment.

Self-hosted Vtiger deployments follow identical core requirements despite minor variations in server operating system and web server selection for configuration commands.

I installed Vtiger on my Hostinger web hosting account because it was the easiest way. However, you can also install Vtiger manually by following the steps above.

What is Hostinger?

Hostinger is a popular web hosting provider offering various services to help individuals and businesses access their websites online. They provide the space and technology on their servers where websites "live" so people worldwide can access them.

Beyond hosting, Hostinger also offers related tools and services to make building and managing a website easier. These include website builders, domain name registration, email hosting, and customer support.

Installing Vtiger on Hostinger

The company’s auto-install feature is the easiest way to install Vtiger on your Hostinger-hosted server. As its name suggests, this tool makes setting up a third-party software installation, such as Vtiger, relatively pain-free.

At the time of this writing, these are the steps to follow:

• First, log in to your Hostinger account.
• On the menu to the left, choose Websites > Website List, then choose Dashboard next to the name of your website.
• On the left menu, choose PHP Configuration, then select the PHP Options tab.
• Remove “shell_exec” from the disableFunctions page, then scroll down and select Save.
• Next, choose the Website option on the left menu, then Auto Install.
• Under the "Other" section, click Select.
• From the dropdown menu, choose Vtiger.
• Click Select.

A pop-up window will appear to configure your Vtiger installation. To keep it separate from your main site, it’s recommended that you install Vtiger in a subdirectory of your website (e.g., `yourdomain.com/Vtiger`).

During these next steps, you must assign a Website Title, Administrator Email, Administrator Username, and Administrator Password at the top of the pop-up window.

Next, click Advanced, then:

In the Enter Subdirectory box, type the name you want for your subdirectory (e.g., `Vtiger`, `tiger`, `Vtigerinstall`).

Ensure "Create new database" is selected, then assign a strong password for this new database.

Final steps

Now that Vtiger is installed on your server, it’s time to set it up for your business. To get started, visit the location of your website where Vtiger was installed. For example, if you created a subdirectory called “vtiger,” the address would be: http://yourwebsite.com/vtiger.

Next, log in to Vtiger using the credentials you established above. On the main page, you must decide which modules to install. These include Contact Management (the default), Sales Automation, Marketing, Support, Invoice & Inventory Management, and Project Management.

After the initial setup, it's time for post-installation configuration and customization. Start by updating your company details and logo in the Settings, as this information will appear in various system communications. Next, focus on user management by creating accounts for other users and defining their permissions through roles and profiles, which helps secure data and manage collaboration. If you have existing customer or sales data, you'll want to import it into Vtiger using CSV files.

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Adobe After Effects is the juggernaut of motion design and visual effects software. You’d think a tool that’s been around for 33 years couldn’t possibly bring new and exciting features to the table, right?

Well version 26 certainly proves you can teach an old dog some impressive new tricks.

What does After Effects do, I hear you ask? Well, as our pick for best VFX software around, any visual effects you can apply to video, such as animated text, graphics and illustrations, fancy overlays, and so much more, you can create inside After Effects and apply to your film project.

Your creative options are staggeringly vast, and I found go even further with this latest version.

Adobe After Effects: Pricing & plans

• Professional software at a professional price
• Subscriptions aren't cheap but there are two options here
• Free 14-day trial

If you know Adobe, you’ll know you can’t purchase their pro apps: you can only rent them, although you do have a few subscription options available to you.

First off, you could just subscribe to After Effects on its own. This would cost you, as an individual, $38 per month, or $456 for the year (other companies give you a discount when paying for the year upfront, but there’s no such benefit here).

Alternatively, you could invest in the Creative Cloud Pro plan, which includes over 20 of Adobe’s professional software, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and a host of others, and of course, After Effects.

This bundle of powerful tools will set you back $100 a month per user, or $1,200 for the year in advance. Again, no advantage to giving them all your money in one go.

This isn’t cheap, but then again, this is advanced software you’ll be using (students can get it for much less).

If you like the idea of trying before buying, you can get yourself a free 14-day trial, which will automatically enrol you into the monthly or yearly subscription upon completion (your choice), so make sure you cancel before that happens should you decide this isn’t for you.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at what I feel are some of the most important new features in After Effects 26.

Adobe After Effects: Features

• Seamless VFX creations
• Steep learning curve
• New, useful and long requested featured added, including variable fonts support and native SVG import

By default, After Effects 26 greatly improves playback performance thanks to support for ‘lossless compressed frames’. Behind the scenes, it compresses your clips without losing quality so they take up less space in your disk cache. This means your previews can be longer or you can have more of them before your cache runs full.

Of course, you have complete control over this. Should you wish to disable that feature, you’ll find the relevant tick box in the Disk Settings (look for ‘Enable Compressed Frames (Lossless)’)

After Effects (finally!) fully supports Illustrator files, enabling you to animate your graphic designs. This includes support for Illustrator gradients.

One feature I found particularly useful is the ability to crop your composition based on a selected asset. Associated with that is a feature I really liked: being able to work with SVG files natively, and even have access to, and being able to, manipulate every vector path that make up the selected illustration. The only downside is the mess that is the naming of the various paths and groups. Still, being able to modify each path over time is a fantastic feature for After Effects to have.

Another cool addition is support for variable fonts. These are fantastic for creating complex animations with ease, as they allow you to make changes to the font’s weight, width, and more, all keyframeable, and you can transform individual letters that way too. These parameters are accessed through an icon to the right of the font’s name in the Text panel.

Variable fonts are a special type of font with various modifiable ‘axes’ - the more a font has the more parameters you’re able to alter. If you don’t have any such fonts in your collection, don’t worry: Adobe has a large collection of them here, and do does Google here.

If you’ve ever needed to work with a flame effect, but have struggled to key out the white or black backdrop, you’ll love the new ‘Unmult’ effect. Just drag it onto the clip’s layer in your composition, and as if by magic, the background’s gone, and the fire has a perfect blend of vibrancy and transparency. You do have some parameters you can control (the most notable one being able to choose between keying out a black or white backdrop) but I found the default options worked fantastically well as is.

There are also additional audio controls with 26, such as gate, compressor, and distortion effects, and you’ll notice the Preferences window has been completely reorganised. OCD people might not like that, but the new layout should make it easier to find what you’re after quicker - once you’ve got used to it.

All this is good, really good in fact, but the biggest tentpole feature has got to be the native inclusion of 3D shape creation…

Adobe After Effects: 3D Shape Creation

• Create, control, alter, and manipulate 3D shapes natively
• All happens within After Effects
• A fantastic and most welcome addition

This is a big one: there’s a 3D shape creation tool (conveniently located to the right of the shape creation icon in the top toolbar). With it, you gain access to 6 basic shapes: cube, sphere, plain, doughnut, cone, and cylinder, but that’s far from the end of it; you also have parameters that allow you to change many aspects of those shapes, the most versatile one seems to be the cone in my experience.

I found the bevel tool to be quite useful - it rounds the edges of your cube for instance, and it affects the cone in interesting ways. Slices is another good parameter - you could use it to add ridges to the donut shape for instance, or turn the cone into a multi-wedged cylinder. The variety and options are generous. You can of course animate these shapes over time, and even light them all natively inside After Effects.

But that’s not all: since Adobe owns Substance3D, you can use that service straight from After Effects. Well.. kind of: it’s certainly not as seamless as it could be, but it’s a fantastic way to apply different and interesting skins to your shapes. Scroll down the properties sidebar until you find the Material section. You’ll find a drop down menu there with the ‘Get Substance Community Assets’ command.

You’ll then be taken out of After Effects for the next part, which is far from user friendly, to a webpage from which you can browse all available materials - and there’s thousands of them - although not all are compatible with After Effects.

Do a search for ‘.sbsar’ and it should filter out those that aren’t. You then download the skins you’re interested in, and drag those into your project. Only then will they appear in the sidebar’s Material drop down menu.

The whole acquiring process feels clunky, but once they’re in your project, all you need to do is select a shape, then choose the right material from that menu, and you’re done. I mean, not quite: you have parameters you can alter to help you get the look you’re after, but at the end of the day, clunkiness aside, it’s a simple enough process to add a skin to a 3D shape.

All in all, it’s an amazing and very welcome addition to an already incredibly powerful application.

Should I buy?

Buy it if...
You need to design and animate graphic design assets - let’s face it, After Effect is the go-to app for such work, and the new features will make this software even more useful.

Don't buy it if...
You don't want another expensive subscription model, and your needs are much simpler than the gargantuan options available with After Effects.

We tested the best video editing apps- and here are our top picks

Any online venture requires selecting the appropriate Content Management System (CMS) for success. Concrete CMS emerges as a strong, flexible platform that provides distinctive website creation and management capabilities among numerous competing platforms.

This article examines Concrete CMS by explaining its appealing features for different users, determining its target audience, and providing step-by-step installation methods. Understanding Concrete CMS provides digital presence opportunities to both developers who need detailed control and business owners who want user-friendly editing capabilities.

What is Concrete CMS?

In addition to its versatility, Concrete CMS stands out due to its strong emphasis on security and performance. The platform is regularly updated with the latest security patches and improvements, ensuring that user data remains protected against potential threats. Security features such as user permissions, password hashing, and a robust permission management system allow administrators to customize access levels for team members, providing peace of mind for businesses handling sensitive information. This commitment to security, combined with performance optimization tools, enables websites built on Concrete CMS to load quickly and operate efficiently, enhancing the user experience.

Another significant advantage of Concrete CMS is its SEO-friendly features. The platform includes built-in tools that enable users to optimize their website content for search engines easily. Users can create clean, customizable URLs, manage meta tags, and generate sitemaps without needing extensive technical knowledge. Such features empower marketers to drive organic traffic to their websites without relying heavily on technical support, allowing them to implement SEO strategies effectively and adapt quickly to changes in search engine algorithms.

Community support plays a pivotal role in the overall experience of using Concrete CMS. With a vibrant community of developers and users, individuals can access a wealth of resources, including forums, documentation, and tutorials. This supportive ecosystem fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing, making it easier for new users to learn the platform and for seasoned developers to share their insights. Additionally, third-party add-ons and themes contribute to the platform's extensibility, enabling users to enhance their websites with specialized functionality that meets their unique business needs.

The user interface of Concrete CMS deserves special mention as it prioritizes user experience. The drag-and-drop functionality makes it intuitive for users to arrange content blocks and images on the page with ease. For more advanced users, the ability to use custom templates and blocks allows for deeper customization and creativity in design. This flexibility ensures that no matter the skill level, users can create stunning websites that convey their brand's identity effectively.

Finally, Concrete CMS caters well to the growing trend of mobile-first design. The platform ensures that websites are responsive, meaning they function seamlessly across devices of all sizes. As more users shift to mobile browsing, having a CMS that inherently supports mobile optimization is crucial. Concrete CMS allows developers to create mobile-friendly layouts that adapt to user interactions, ensuring that visitors have an excellent experience whether they access the site on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone.

Overall, Concrete CMS offers a powerful, community-backed framework that caters to a diverse range of users, from small business owners to seasoned developers, making it a compelling choice for anyone looking to create and manage a website effectively.

The easiest way to install Concrete CMS

Yes, you can manually install Concrete CMS on your company’s server. However, I’ve found that the easiest method is to use a web-based solution like Hostinger, which I use. With Hostinger, you can install Concrete CMS using an auto-install feature. As the name suggests, the installation process is relatively easy and hassle-free.

To install Concrete CMS on Hostinger:

• Log in to your Hostinger account on the official Hostinger website.
• From the left-hand menu, click on Websites.
• Next to your account name, click Dashboard.
• In the left-hand menu, go to Websites again and select Auto Installer.
• Under the "Other" section, click Select.
• From the dropdown menu, choose Concrete CMS.
• Click Select.

A pop-up window will appear to configure your Concrete CMS installation. To keep it separate from your main site, it’s recommended that you install Concrete CMS in a subdirectory of your website (e.g., `yourdomain.com/cms`).

During these next steps, you must assign a Website Title, Administrator Email, Administrator Username, and Administrator Password at the top of the pop-up window.

Next, click Advanced, then:

In the Enter Subdirectory box, type the name you want for your subdirectory (e.g., `cms`, `concrete`, `concretecms`).

Ensure "Create new database" is selected, and then assign a strong password for this new database.

Final steps

Once Concrete CMS is installed on your server, it’s time to set it up for your company.

Go to the administrator web page for the subdirectory you created. Based on the directions above, it should be located at an address like http://yourwebsite.com/concrete/index.php/login.

Multiple administrative steps exist to configure and maintain your website after a successful Concrete CMS installation. Begin by inspecting all settings in the "System & Settings" area of the Concrete CMS dashboard while you customize the site name and email preferences according to your needs. Your website requires proper management of user accounts and groups, so you must create new users for specific roles like editors, publishers, and administrators to control their access permissions.

The Concrete CMS Marketplace lets you find themes and add-ons that enhance your site's appearance and functionality. Afterward, you can manage your website’s appearance by installing themes and add-ons in the Concrete CMS Marketplace. Installing themes and add-ons to your website must be performed after setting up the system and settings. The first step requires reviewing and adjusting all settings in the "System & Settings" area of the Concrete CMS dashboard. Use this opportunity to customize your website's site name along with email preferences to suit your preferences. Your website needs proper alignment with your brand identity and operational needs through this foundational step.

The management of user accounts and groups is essential. Create new users according to need and establish their appropriate group roles (editors, publishers, administrators) while defining precise permissions to determine their site access and functionality. Concrete CMS’s permission system includes detailed access controls for managing pages, blocks, and files. You must inspect all permissions on your site to maintain proper access control for your users.

Explore and install themes and add-ons from the Concrete CMS Marketplace to enhance your site’s appearance and functionality. Such features add value to your audience and significantly improve the user experience.

To maximize website performance while enabling essential background operations, including content reindexing and sitemap generation, you should establish recurring tasks known as cron jobs on your server. This method efficiently functions without requiring human interaction.

The final essential task involves maintaining security as the top priority. To ensure the security of your website, you need to maintain regular updates for Concrete CMS core files as well as its themes and add-ons. Site security depends on vigorous password enforcement, database and file backups, and additional security protocols like firewalls. Basic SEO configurations in Concrete CMS and Google Analytics integration will provide performance tracking capabilities to help you decide on better website improvement strategies. The final security priority requires regularly updating Concrete CMS core files, themes, and add-ons while enforcing strong passwords and deploying additional security solutions like firewalls and backing up your site database and files. The basic SEO setup in Concrete CMS and Google Analytics integration will help monitor your website performance and visibility to make better future improvement decisions.

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Several Content Management Systems (CMS) are available for businesses, requiring extensive technical knowledge and significant server resources. WonderCMS is an underappreciated alternative. It’s a free, open-source platform that prioritizes speed, simplicity, and efficiency above everything else.

This article examines WonderCMS’s distinctive position in the CMS market through its basic approach and unexpected features. It will show you how to install WonderCMS easily while demonstrating the fast website setup process. The article will also show you why WonderCMS is a robust, small solution that suits experienced developers and new users who want an easy online presence.

What is WonderCMS?

WonderCMS operates through a "flat-file" architectural structure. Unlike WordPress and Drupal platforms, which need MySQL databases, WonderCMS uses simple text files in JSON format to store website content and configuration. The difference between WonderCMS and other systems makes it lightweight because it eliminates database setup, configuration, and maintenance requirements, simplifying website management.

One of the best features of WonderCMS is its lightning-fast deployment process and ability to transfer easily between different environments. A WonderCMS website installation process starts with unzipping a file, which you can then upload to your web server. The system does not require a drawn-out installation process; users do not need to enter database credentials or handle complicated configurations. Developers find the "plug-and-play" system easy to use and efficient, while beginners appreciate its straightforward deployment process. A WonderCMS site backup and migration process becomes as simple as performing file copy and paste operations since the entire site data exists in its file structure. The built-in portability of this system provides both adaptability and comfort for users.

WonderCMS presents a minimalistic design yet still delivers high usability levels. Users can edit content directly through inline editing, which enables them to modify their website front-end without needing to access the backend dashboard. The intuitive "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) editing system provides a simple interface for content updates so users can make changes easily without using the backend dashboard. WonderCMS provides theme support and plugin functionality through its clean interface, showing how developers can maintain both simplicity and expandability in their system.

WonderCMS delivers advantages that reach further than user-friendly operation. The minimal size of WonderCMS (under 50KB zipped) alongside its flat-file architecture leads to outstanding website performance. The use of WonderCMS as a website platform results in fast page loading and efficient performance even when running on constrained shared hosting resources. The speed-focused approach of this system leads to a better user experience and improved search engine optimization (SEO) results. The developers of WonderCMS integrated privacy protection into their system by excluding tracking features and ads, along with unwanted “powered by” links, so users maintain complete control of their website data and external dependencies.

The main use case for WonderCMS applies to basic web projects that require simple websites with fast performance and easy maintenance. The system proves most effective for creating personal blogs, small business websites, and portfolios that require simple CMS functionality. The system provides an excellent solution for the content management needs of users who require fast and secure websites with easy deployment. Still, it does not support complex e-commerce platforms or dynamic applications.

Ways to install WonderCMS

One way to install WonderCMS on your web server is through FTP. However, if you are a Hostinger user, you can use the company’s auto-install feature. As a Hostinger customer, I wondered which way was easier.

Installing WonderCMS through FTP

The traditional or “manual” way to install WonderCMS is to download the necessary files from the WonderCMS website and upload them to your server through FTP. To get started, download the latest WonderCMS installation package and unzip it. It will create a file called “wonderCMS.”

Put these files directly under your “public_html” folder. After you do this, you can find the installation at http://yourwebsite.com/wonderCMS.

After this process, the system automatically creates a database.js configuration, admin password (displayed on the home page), and the default pages and structure.

Installing WonderCMS with Hostinger

Hostinger offers an auto-installer feature that simplifies the installation of a web application, such as WonderCMS. The feature is part of the company’s hPanel.

To get started using the Auto Installer:

• Log in to your Hostinger account on the official Hostinger website.
• From the left-hand menu, click on Websites.
• Next to your account name, click Dashboard.
• In the left-hand menu, go to Websites again and select Auto Installer.
• Under the "Other" section, click Select.
• From the dropdown menu, choose WonderCMS.
• Click Select.

A pop-up window will appear to configure your WonderCMS installation. To keep it separate from your main site, it’s recommended that you install WonderCMS in a subdirectory of your website (e.g., `yourdomain.com/wonderCMS`).

During these next steps, you must assign a Website Title, Administrator Email, Administrator Username, and Administrator Password at the top of the pop-up window.

Next, click Advanced, then:

In the Enter Subdirectory box, type the name you want for your subdirectory (e.g., `wonderCMS`, `CMS`, `wonder`).

Ensure "Create new database" is selected, then assign a strong password for this new database.

Unlike other software applications, WonderCMS doesn’t require a database. However, you still need to establish a subdirectory to separate WonderCMS from your main website content.

You can begin setting it up once WonderCMS is installed through the Hostinger auto-install feature. These steps are slightly different than the ones for a manual installation.

To get started, go into the WonderCMS folder when you install your Hostinger. Open the “database.js” in the data folder under WonderCMS. Make note of the information after “login:” That’s where your admin menu will be for your WonderCMS installation.

For example, if the login is "41badb90a5704676/“, the address would be http://yourwebsite.com/wondercms/41badb90a5704676. From here, you can begin configuring the CMS.

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The majority of users recognize WordPress as one of their website management options. ClassicPress has established itself as a reliable and stable website management system. The developers created ClassicPress to preserve classic editing features and achieve long-term stability and performance. The community-driven fork of WordPress operates with backward compatibility and reduced release frequency to provide users with a dependable and organized platform.

I used ClassicPress as a tool and discovered its value as a straightforward platform. The experience with ClassicPress exceeded my expectations because it maintained the WordPress features I enjoyed during my previous use.

The following guide explains how to install ClassicPress and its available features.

What is ClassicPress?

The development of ClassicPress occurred primarily because of WordPress 5.0's significant changes, especially the introduction of the Gutenberg block editor. Users and developers who preferred the TinyMCE classic editor felt that WordPress forced the new block editor upon them without sufficient community input. ClassicPress emerged as a stable alternative to provide long-term support for the classic editing experience.

ClassicPress is working to establish itself as a lightweight CMS that delivers fast performance and customization options through core code optimization, feature elimination, and security and performance enhancement updates. The platform uses feature petitions to encourage community-driven development, while users gain more control over direction. WordPress faced criticism for its top-down decision-making approach.

Installing ClassicPress is a straightforward process similar to installing WordPress, making it accessible even for those with limited technical expertise. The first step involves downloading the ClassicPress installation files from the official ClassicPress website. Once you have the files, you'll need to upload them to your web server, typically using an FTP client, and put them into the desired directory for your website. Concurrently, you must create a MySQL database and a corresponding user through your web hosting control panel (e.g., cPanel, Plesk). This database will store all your website's content, settings, and user information.

After the files are uploaded and the database is ready, navigate to your website's URL in your browser. This will initiate the ClassicPress installation wizard, which will guide you through entering your database credentials and creating an administrative user account for your new ClassicPress site. Follow the on-screen prompts, and within minutes, your ClassicPress website will be ready to go, providing a stable and reliable foundation for your online presence.

Installing ClassPress on Hostinger

When researching ClassicPress, I noticed it was installable on a Hostinger web-based server through the company’s Auto Installer. As the name suggests, this tool is slightly easier to install than the manual method mentioned above. You will want to check with your web-based server provider to see if they offer a similar tool.

To use the Auto Installer on Hostinger to install ClassicPress, follow these steps:

• Log in to your Hostinger account on the official Hostinger website.
• From the left-hand menu, click on Websites.
• Next to your account name, click Dashboard.
• In the left-hand menu, go to Websites again and select Auto Installer.
• Under the "Other" section, click Select.
• From the dropdown menu, choose ClassicPress.
• Click Select.

A pop-up window will appear to configure your ClassicPress installation. To keep it separate from your main site, it’s recommended that you install ClassicPress in a subdirectory of your website (e.g., `yourdomain.com/ClassicPress`). I

f your main site isn’t yet activated, you can install ClassicPress at the root of your website.

During these next steps, you must assign a Website Title, Administrator Email, Administrator Username, and Administrator Password at the top of the pop-up window.

Next, click Advanced, then:

In the Enter Subdirectory box, type the name you want for your subdirectory (e.g., `classicpress`, `CP`, `classic`).

Ensure "Create new database" is selected, then assign a strong password for this new database.

Final steps

One final and familiar step is to get ClassicPress up and running on your website. Once the above steps are completed, go to this page: yourwebsite.com/classic/wp-admin, but include your website address and subdirectory for ClassicPress. From there, you’ll see the familiar WordPress login page, and you can begin creating your website.

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Creating robust and professional online surveys is a cornerstone of effective data collection for researchers, businesses, and educators. While numerous online survey platforms exist, hosting your survey software offers unparalleled control over data privacy, customization, and branding.

LimeSurvey is a powerful, open-source solution that empowers users to easily design, deploy, and analyze complex surveys. This article will help you through integrating LimeSurvey onto your web-hosted site, specifically showing how to achieve this seamlessly with Hostinger, a popular and user-friendly hosting provider.

What is LimeSurvey?

LimeSurvey is an open-source online survey app that allows users to execute different survey operations. The open-source nature of the software will enable users and developers to access its code freely, while they can modify and distribute it.

Users have two options: self-hosting the Community Edition on their company servers for maximum control or using the LimeSurvey Cloud service, which handles hosting and updates. The platform provides more than 30 different question types, advanced conditional logic for survey flow control, and customizable templates for branding consistency. It also supports extensive multilingual capabilities extending to more than 80 languages.

The platform provides complete participant management tools that allow users to distribute invitations and track participant progress. It also provides built-in data analysis tools with export functions that support Excel, SPSS, and R formats to simplify data management. The platform demonstrates strong GDPR compliance dedication, which strengthens its reliability and credibility.

LimeSurvey functions as a flexible tool that serves various users, including individuals, businesses, academic institutions, and non-profits, for customer satisfaction research, market studies, academic data collection, and general data collection.

What about Hostinger?

There are various options for creating online surveys for your company, including SurveyMonkey and Typeform.

Hostinger is a major web hosting service that enables businesses and individuals to create an online presence. The company provides complete hosting solutions, including WordPress and VPS services.

Hostinger was established in 2004 to provide affordable hosting solutions backed by a 99.9% uptime guarantee and multiple management tools for website administration. The company’s hPanel control panel offers an easy-to-use interface for managing hosting accounts, websites, and associated services.

The Auto-Installer tool is a primary usability feature of Hostinger. The tool enables users to establish popular web apps easily. Users can deploy multiple Content Management Systems (CMS) through a simple click-based interface, including WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and PrestaShop, along with e-commerce platforms, CRM software, and billing apps.

The Auto Installer tool eliminates the need for manual database creation and file uploads through automated technical procedures. This benefits both new users and those who want fast setup processes. Users can choose their desired app from a list before providing it.

Installing LimeSurvey on your Hostinger website

The quickest way to get LimeSurvey up and running is by using Hostinger’s Auto Installer tool. You can install it manually if your hosting platform doesn’t offer something like this. These steps are available on the LimeSurvey website.

To get started using the Auto Installer:

• Log in to your Hostinger account on the official Hostinger website.
• From the left-hand menu, click on Websites.
• Next to your account name, click Dashboard.
• In the left-hand menu, go to Websites again and select Auto Installer.
• Under the "Other" section, click Select.
• From the dropdown menu, choose LimeSurvey.
• Click Select.

A pop-up window will appear to configure your LimeSurvey installation. To keep it separate from your main site, it’s recommended that you install LimeSurvey in a subdirectory of your website (e.g., `yourdomain.com/surveys`).

During these next steps, you must assign a Website Title, Administrator Email, Administrator Username, and Administrator Password at the top of the pop-up window.

Next, click Advanced, then:

In the Enter Subdirectory box, type the name you want for your subdirectory (e.g., `ls`, `surveys`, `limesurveys`).

Important: Make sure "Create new database" is selected, and then assign a strong password for this new database.

Final steps

To complete the setup process, you will need to go back to the Auto Installer page in Hostinger. Next to the LimeSurvey, tap the icon on the right. From there, choose Manage.

On the next page, you can log into LimeSurvey using the credentials you created above.

Upon initial login using the default credentials (usually `admin` and `password`), the system immediately prompts you to change the default administrator password for security reasons.

Following this, you'll delve into the Global Settings, a central hub for customizing the behavior of your entire LimeSurvey installation. Here, you'll configure essential aspects such as email settings for sending invitations and notifications, security settings like enabling HTTPS, and various interface settings to tailor the administrative look and feel.

Beyond global configurations, user management is another key area to address. This involves creating and managing additional administrator accounts, assigning specific permissions based on user roles, and organizing them into user groups for streamlined control.

Once these foundational elements are in place, you can create your first survey. This process begins with defining basic survey details such as the title, primary language, welcome and end messages, and general presentation options. With the established survey shell, you’ll then focus on designing the survey content by structuring questions into logical groups, adding diverse question types, and applying conditions using relevance equations to control question visibility. Finally, before launching, it's imperative to thoroughly preview your survey to ensure everything functions as intended before activating it to make it accessible to your target audience.

Want to know more? We tested, reviewed, and rated all the best web hosting services.

• Tim Cook said he regretted the shaky launch of Apple Maps in 2012
• The Apple CEO said the company learned from its mistakes
• Yet it comes as Apple’s Siri revamp looks to be delayed by over two years

Tim Cook is stepping down as Apple CEO after 15 years at the helm, and after all that time you’d imagine there might be a moment or two that he looks back on with regret. As it turns out, there is, as he recently revealed to Apple employees in a leaked town hall meeting — but I’m wondering if he might have made a different choice.

Speaking to Apple employees, Cook picked the disastrous Apple Maps launch in 2012 as his “first really big mistake,” according to reporting from Bloomberg. And it’s not without good reason: in many places around the world, Apple Maps’ initial release was so bad — with incorrect directions, mislabeled places, inaccurate satellite imagery, and much more — that Cook was forced into a contrite and very rare public apology. Scott Forstall, the Apple exec in charge of Maps, was pushed out of the company entirely.

According to Bloomberg, Cook summed up Maps’ calamitous opening salvo this way: “The product wasn’t ready, and we thought it was because we were testing more of local kind of stuff.” In other words, it seems as though Apple couldn’t see the forest for the trees — it was so focused on getting details right in areas local to the company that it neglected to see the bigger picture and the broader problems that affected the service.

That said, like any good mistake, Cook said that the Apple Maps roll-out proved to be a “valuable experience” for the company. “We apologized for it, and we said, ‘Go use these other [mapping] apps. They’re better than ours.’ And that was some humble pie,” he added, before continuing: “But it was the right thing for our users. And so it’s an example of keeping the user at the center of the decisions that we made… Now we’ve got the best map app on the planet. We learned about persistence, and we did exactly the right thing having made the mistake.”

Cook said that other missteps, like the abandoned AirPower charger and the scrapped self-driving car project, were on his list of regrets. Yet he added that Apple had mostly avoided the product recalls and cancelations that have dogged other firms in recent history.

Analysis: Has Apple actually learned it lesson?

While Cook may cite Maps’ bumpy start when the product “wasn’t ready” as being a “valuable experience,” it’s not the case that Apple has managed to avoid repeating the same error. In fact, we got a reminder of that just this week when Google revealed that the revamped version of Siri — powered at least in part by Google Gemini — would be arriving later in 2026.

Why is that a problem? Well, Apple initially revealed the new version of Siri in June 2024, whereupon the company promised that Apple Intelligence would enable Siri to understand your personal context, work within apps, and more. Yet we won’t be getting any of that for many more months. Even when those features do arrive, they’ll be over two years later than promised.

If you say that releasing a product too early was a serious mistake but claim that it taught you valuable lessons, you have to actually prove that in practice. The Siri debacle — where Apple was clearly caught flat-footed by the emergence of ChatGPT and panicked, passing off something that was evidently nothing more than a set of flashy mockups as the real deal — suggests that Apple hasn’t entirely taken the Maps fiasco on board.

Of course, that’s not to say that this is a common problem for Apple. The company has been remarkably consistent when it comes to announcing a product or feature and then actually following through with it. But it’s frustrating to see Tim Cook discuss a clear example of a half-baked product that was rushed out of the door during the exact same week that we get a timely reminder about an overhyped Siri overhaul that was nowhere near ready when it was shunted out into the world.

No tech leader is perfect, and compared to some of his ghoulish contemporaries, Tim Cook looks close to angelic. But as both Apple Maps and Siri go to show, if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk too.

Web-based accounting and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems come in various forms. One such system, FrontAccounting (FA), is open-source and well-suited for small and medium-sized businesses. Additionally, it is compatible with many reputable hosting companies.

As a Hostinger user, I was curious to see how well FA performed with this service. I had a positive experience, and I believe others could benefit from learning more about it.

What is FrontAccounting (FA)?

FrontAccounting (FA) is a free and open-source, web-based accounting and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system designed for small to medium-sized businesses. It provides a comprehensive suite of features.

At its core, FA handles all essential accounting functions, including a General Ledger for managing accounts, recording journal entries, and generating budgets, with support for multi-currency transactions and multiple companies. It also effectively manages Accounts Payable by tracking vendor bills, processing purchase orders, and handling payments.

Accounts Receivable for managing customer accounts, issuing quotes, creating sales orders, and generating invoices. Cash and bank management is streamlined through the ability to handle multiple bank and petty cash accounts, record transactions, and perform bank reconciliations, all while supporting various currencies and historical rates.

Beyond core accounting, FrontAccounting excels in Inventory and Stock Management. It allows users to record items, define categories and locations, manage transfers, and set re-order levels. It also calculates average material costs and supports foreign codes for barcode scanning.

The system facilitates both Sales and Purchases processes, enabling the creation of sales orders, customer invoices, credit notes, purchase orders, goods received notes, and supplier invoices. For businesses involved in production, FA offers Manufacturing capabilities, including bills of materials and work order entries. It also includes a Fixed Assets module for tracking purchases, transfers, disposals, and depreciations.

To provide deeper insights, FA supports up to two levels of Dimensions, such as projects or cost centers, for detailed tracking and reporting. Users benefit from a wide array of pre-configured financial reports like income statements and balance sheets, with the added flexibility of custom reports that can be printed, emailed, converted to PDF, or exported to Excel. Its multi-currency and multi-language support makes it a practical choice for businesses operating globally.

While it doesn't feature a traditional plugin system, FA's built-in options and customizable report and document layouts offer significant flexibility.

The primary advantages of FA lie in its cost-effectiveness, as it eliminates licensing fees, and its flexibility and scalability, owing to its open-source nature. Its web-based accessibility allows users to manage their finances from any location with an internet connection. Overall, FA presents a powerful, free, and customizable accounting and ERP solution for small to medium-sized businesses, particularly those with the technical capacity to manage a web-based application.

What is Hostinger?

Hostinger is a prominent web hosting company that helps companies and individuals establish an online presence. Its offerings include everything from WordPress to VPS.

Founded in 2004, Hostinger offers competitive pricing, reliable performance with a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and various tools designed to simplify website management. The company's user-friendly hPanel control panel provides an intuitive interface for managing hosting accounts, websites, and associated services.

One of Hostinger's key offerings for ease of use is its Auto Installer tool. This tool simplifies the process of setting up popular web apps. Users can install a wide variety of Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and PrestaShop, as well as e-commerce platforms, CRM software, billing applications, and more, with just a few clicks.

Instead of requiring manual database creation and file uploads, the Auto Installer automates these technical steps, making it much easier for beginners and those who prefer a quicker setup. Users select the desired application from a list and provide.

Installing FrontAccounting to Hostinger

Installing FA on Hostinger typically involves two main approaches: using Hostinger's Auto Installer or a manual installation process, which is the more common and reliable method given FrontAccounting's open-source nature. For my use, I installed FrontAccounting using the Auto Installer feature.

To do so:

• Log in to your Hostinger account on the company website.
• Next, in the directory on the left, choose Websites.
• Choose Dashboard next to the name of your account.
• Once again in the directory on the left, choose Websites followed by Auto Install.
• Under Other, choose Select.
• In the pulldown menu, choose FrontAccount.
• Choose Select.

The next steps involve setting up a database for FA. I suggest installing FrontAccounting on a subdirectory of your website. As such:

• On the popup menu, add a Website title, administrator email, administrator username, and administrator password.
• Select Advanced.
• Type in a name for your subdirectory in the Enter Subdirectory box.
• Be sure to create a new database and assign it a password.

Once the database is installed, you can set up FA by going to the main page of the FA installation. This is location at http://(yourdomain)/(the subdirectory you created.)

On that menu, you'll need to add the username and password you choose above.

Final steps

After the initial installation of FrontAccounting, a thorough setup is crucial to align the system with your business operations. This involves configuring core Company Setup details like your business name, address, fiscal year, primary currency, and uploading your company logo.

The General Ledger (GL) Setup is fundamental. It requires you to define your Chart of Accounts by setting up account classes and specific GL accounts, managing fiscal years, and inputting opening balances if migrating from another system. For businesses dealing with multiple currencies, currency rates must also be established.

Beyond financial accounts, you'll need to configure settings for Sales and Accounts Receivable, including sales types, customer categories, and payment terms, as well as Purchases and Accounts Payable with supplier categories and purchase terms. Inventory and Stock Setup involves defining item categories, units of measure, and storage locations.

Finally, Tax Setup is crucial to define various tax types, groups, and authorities for compliance. Additional Bank Accounts beyond the primary one should be added and linked to their respective GL accounts. Dimensions can be optionally set up for detailed analytical reporting to track data by projects or departments. Finally, managing Users and Roles is vital for security, allowing you to create user accounts and assign specific permissions. Regularly backing up your data through the Maintenance and Utilities section is a key ongoing task to ensure data integrity.

UK-based freelancers, sole traders, and landlords are required from April 2026 to adhere to new tax submission requirements. Making Tax Digital (MTD) requires self-employed UK residents to submit quarterly records, with record-keeping maintained using HMRC-approved software.

Conceived as a means to improve accuracy and efficiency, MTD does not apply to freelancers operating a limited company, but does apply to any freelancer, sole trader, or landlord with a turnover exceeding £50,000. This reduces to £30,000 in 2027.

Making quarterly submissions is expected to reduce errors and track tax liabilities throughout the year, ahead of the final annual declaration, which is required by January 31 each year.

To deal with these new tax requirements, MTD-compatible software is required. His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued certification for suitable tools. Many existing accountancy applications are compatible with MTD, along with a collection of free tools, many of which are published by recognizable names within the financial software market.

7 free MTD tools for sole-traders, landlords, and freelancers

Sage Sole Trader Free

Sage is probably the biggest name in UK accounting software over the past 4 decades, created in 1981 in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, by David Goldman, Graham Wylie, and Paul Muller. Initially released as a disk-based financial application, Sage has more recently switched to a cloud-based provision.

Various versions of Sage are available, and it now covers everything from accounting and payroll to HR. This pedigree makes it an ideal choice for anyone looking for an MTD solution, and Sage Sole Trader Free is designed to fit the bill.

With the tool, you can prepare your MTD submission in advance, connect a bank account, and there is also a free mobile app. Sole Trader Free will give you 5 sales invoices per month and 25 AI-supported, automatically categorized transactions, all of which should keep everything streamlined and ready for MTD. But if you need more invoices, more AI-assisted transaction categorization, more bank accounts, or support, there is the Sole Trader paid tier.

This is relatively affordable compared with other premium accounting tools, costing just £7/month (plus VAT), but there is the option to get the first 3 months for free, which might suit your pocket in the lead up to the first MTD submission on August 7 2026.

Where Sage Sole Trader Free might disappoint is in its lack of reports. Beyond the SA103 Short report, nothing is available, again leaving you with the only choice but to upgrade from Sole Trader Free to Sole Trader.

GoFile

Founded in 2017 and now used by over 50,000 businesses (according to 2024 figures), GoFile started life as “1 Click Accounts”, gaining a name change in 2021 following its support for MTD for VAT, with the rollout of MTD for Income.

Another factor to note is that apart from Sage Sole Trader Free, GoFile offers far more in terms of depth and complexity than any of the alternatives listed here. As such, you may find the wealth of options – reports, advanced sales and purchasing tools – to offer more than you need. Tax Self Assessment, GoFile has a friendly user interface with clear objectives.

All of this is accessible via a Google account or a standard email and offers perhaps the simplest setup of all tools in this list. However, while it is suitable for sole traders, freelancers, landlords, and even limited companies, GoFile’s free tier extends as far as submission day. Once you hit the MTD filing, you’re looking at a £49.99 annual bill (or £4.99/month).

Free MTD software doesn’t necessarily mean free submission, and GoFile is the same. The software provides everything you need to set up your business, update income and expenditure, and calculate taxes. But that’s where “free” ends, although there is a 30-day free trial of the software’s higher tier.

But perhaps the best aspect of GoFile is its sandbox mode. This is available from the moment you sign in, and lets you play around with figures and fake filings, with no connection to HMRC. It’s a useful feature that lets you get a better grip on concepts like capital gains and reliefs and losses, so it's worth spending time with.

TaxHeaven

With an aim of “making tax heavenly for UK sole traders and landlords,” TaxHeaven offers a pair of options. Angel, the free option, is fully MTD compliant, and along with a few AI enhancements (which are extended with the premium Archangel plan for £49/year), gives you automated bookkeeping and submissions for a single business. Additional businesses require manual entry.

TaxHeaven was built by Raunaq Bose and founded in 2025 with the primary aim of simplifying Making Tax Digital for sole traders, landlords, and freelancers. In early 2026, TaxHeaven partnered with the Yapily banking platform to bring automation to syncing transactions with bank accounts.

Getting started with TaxHeaven requires either a Google login or your own email address, which takes you straight into a clear and modern user interface. Banking data can be imported, income and expenses input and saved, and the app is at pains to highlight that nothing is shared with HMRC until you hit the submit button. I found the import tool required a bit of messing around with the source data before needing to match fields, however, so be prepared.

Furthermore, data can be easily exported as PDF reports or CSV data, should you require its use in another accounting tool. Once authorized with HMRC (via a registration feature within the TaxHeaven cloud app), you can submit quarterly MTD returns. However, actual submission tools were not available at the time of writing – instead, the app states that “quarterly submission tools will be ready ahead of the 5 August deadline.” As such, the app encourages the recording of income and expenses, rather than the distraction of submitting.

ANNA Self Assessment

Requiring a simple Google authorization registration and login, ANNA Self Assessment is a handy, clearly laid out accounting tool that runs in the cloud.

Standing for “Absolutely No Nonsense Admin,” ANNA was founded in 2017 and offers several financial tools.

It is important to be clear on how free this software is, however. You’ll get basic accounting tools (bank connection, profit/loss, etc.) and, as a sole trader or landlord, will receive access to free MTD submissions. However, ANNA’s chatbot explains that this is related to the +Taxes add-on, which is a paid service for limited companies; additionally, there is no clear MTD functionality within ANNA Self Assessment at the time of writing.

Instead, this seems to be something that will be added to the free tier at some point between now and the first submission date (August 7, 2026). You can still input your incomings and outgoings, and connect to your bank account, but with this slow roll-out in mind, you might prefer to opt for one of the alternatives.

But for a free tool, ANNA Self Assessment has a lot to offer. It gives you invoicing and photographic receipt upload tools, integration with other software like Xero, and supports SWIFT and CHAPS transfers and payments.

The very useful Terrapin tax chatbot is another excellent feature of the free plan, and can clarify everything tax-related. If you need to upgrade for more functionality as your business expands, the basic Business plan is £22.90/month, although note that expansion might also require you to pay for the +Taxes add-on.

Clear Books Free

A UK-based accounting software publisher, Clear Books has been running since 2008, and aims to publish “clear & simple ​cloud accounting and payroll software” for UK-based small businesses. Recently, it has added “AI automated accounting” as its website tagline (or slogan), and according to its LinkedIn page, serves around 15,000 businesses across the UK. This comprises “accountants, bookkeepers, and small businesses.”

Signing up to Clear Books is straightforward, requiring only your email address. There is no facility to use Google, Apple, or Facebook to register, which at least means you can keep control over your own data. The AI element of Clear Books appears to be assisted, rather than autonomous, so it may suggest account codes, for example, but the user can override everything if necessary.

Clear Books Free has limited features, but includes everything you need to get your MTD submission completed and sent online each quarter. It has an export tool, too, and custom account codes, if required. On the downside, however, the interface is pretty drab, with the feel of a 2000s Microsoft app. But as it is a free-to-use cloud accounting tool, you may feel able to overlook that.

Entering income is straightforward, but limited by manual input of everything; with the Clear Books Free package, there is no automation of bank feeds or invoicing. As well as taking care to accurately enter data, it’s important to remember to click Save. The relatively basic interface of Clear Books doesn’t position the Save button in an intuitive way.

Beyond this, Clear Books Free is a useful way to get started with some no-nonsense software and polish your MTD submissions ahead of sending to HMRC at the end of each quarter.

If you need additional features from Clear Books, it also offers a “sole trader” subscription for just £5 a month. This includes support for unlimited bank feeds, as well as PDF and photographed receipt uploads, along with customizable sales invoices and telephone support.

!Coconut Free

Founded in 2016 and launching its first app in 2018, !Coconut is a British company that entered the financial software market by targeting sole traders before progressing to limited companies. Its software – mobile and cloud apps – have proven popular, and the company was acquired by GoSimpleTax in 2023 to offer a more complete option for sole traders, landlords, and the self-employed facing MTD rules.

!Coconut Free gives you tools to manage your MTD submission, enabling bank connection so transactions can be recorded, bulk receipt upload, invoice generation, and reports. Overall, everything is straightforward, and the interface guides you through setup with a handy checklist. This covers linking your bank account, adding contacts for invoices, and concludes with checking items in your bank account to ensure they’re correctly attributed to the correct category code. You’re also encouraged to use the mobile app. This features some easy “glanceable” screens, where important information is usefully highlighted – things like the current month’s profit/loss, and the current tax situation.

However, while we’re impressed with !Coconut Free, it isn’t quite ready for MTD at this time. The MTD ITSA screen within the web app states, “MTD ITSA is coming in April 2026 for the 2026/27 tax year. This will apply for those who earn (income, not profit) over £50,000 of self-employed or property per year.” However, there is not yet any functionality for this feature. Instead, reference is made to the 2025/26 beta program, which implies testing has been ongoing but hasn’t yet moved to providing the MTD portal for users.

But as we’re still close to the end of the 2025/26 tax year, this is probably something that will be implemented soon – certainly in readiness for the August 7 deadline.

Note that !Coconut Free isn’t entirely free. With a Zempler business bank account, you get the software free for 2 years, but for everyone else, a 14-day trial is available ahead of a £129.99 annual payment (or £21.99/month).

FreeAgent

FreeAgent has been supporting MTD for VAT since its implementation in 2022, and is now rolling out support for MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment ahead of the first submission date on August 7 2026.

Launched in 2007, FreeAgent was acquired by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (now known as the NatWest Group) in 2018. This has had an impact on its availability.

Like !Coconut, FreeAgent offers the software for free only to business bank account holders. The choice is wider, however. If you have a NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank, or Mettle business account, you can enjoy FreeAgent and its MTD submissions for free. Otherwise, as a sole trader, you’re looking at £190/year or £19/month, although these prices are often discounted and come with a 30-day trial.

Setup and day-to-day use of FreeAgent is frictionless, with the opportunity to create invoices, sync business bank accounts (third-party banks are supported), and record expenses. Financial data is clearly presented in the main screen, and there is a section for taxes. This is where the connection with HMRC is established, ready for the quarterly MTD submissions and annual declarations under the new tax rules.

This is straightforward accounting software, and if you have the appropriate prerequisite bank account, it’s a great free option for Making Tax Digital.

Alternative MTD tools with free options

As the accounting software industry races towards August 7, an increasing number of free MTD submission apps are either being released or optimizing their existing features to attract new businesses.

If you’re caught in the MTD bracket, then the solutions listed above should work out well for you. However, we’ve also looked at some other tools:

• My Tax Digital is a self-described “a tax portal that allows businesses, sole traders, landlords, tax agents and accountants to meet HMRC's Making Tax Digital (MTD) requirements,” and is designed to enable easy MTD submission.
• Acxite: Features everything you need to get your submission ready, but you only get full functionality with Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers.
• Monzo: Much like its domestic bank accounts, Monzo Business offers useful additional tools to help you better control your finances. One such tool is Sage-powered HMRC-recognised MTD software, available free if you have a Monzo Business account.
• QuickFile: Straightforward invoicing, although it offers far more in terms of depth and complexity than any of the alternatives listed here.

Free MTD software FAQs

CorelDRAW has long been one of our favorite creative apps, and it's especially notable that unlike so many similar software services, it's still - even in 2026 - offering a one-time fee instead of being subscription-only (although that is available too).

The tools here blend together graphic design software, drawing tools, and even a photo editor into a well-rounded alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

Well, time waits for no successful software package. It's got a new iteration and a bunch of new features for the new year, so, I’ve come to check out what’s changed in Corel’s flagship bundle of applications since I last explored it last year.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2026: Pricing & plans

• One-time fee option
• Monthly and annual subscriptions also available
• Works across PC and Mac

The CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2026 is available to download or try free for 15 days by clicking here.

When it comes to prices, the trend is increasingly moving towards renting your software, and here the monthly subscription cost is $22.42 / £26.58, or $269 / £319 for the year. This allows you to take advantage of any future major updates, but as always, once you stop paying, you have nothing to show for it.

Which is why I’m glad they also offer the option to actually purchase the software, for a one-time fee of $549 / £659, which is about two years’ worth of rental and you own it for good.

On top of that, Corel allows you to have a 15-day trial of their software to make sure it’s exactly what you’re after. The cherry on top? It’s compatible with Windows and Macs.

I found the specs are quite generous. For instance, PCs need Windows 10 or 11, at least an Intel Core i3 processor, or an AMD Ryzen 3, while Macs have to run Monterey (version 12) or above, and either be powered by an Intel multiprocessor or any of Apple’s own CPUs (M1 or better).

When it comes to RAM and storage space, you should never base your decision on a manufacturer’s minimum requirements, especially for a graphics application. Cram your computer with as much RAM as you can afford - you’ll never regret it.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2026: The suite

• A portfolio of applications including DRAW for vector and page layout work, and PHOTO-PAINT for pixel manipulation
• Frustratingly, Macs don’t have access to CAPTURE yet pay the same price as PC users

The main tool in this suite of apps lends its name to the suite itself: CorelDRAW. Its focus is on vector-based illustration and layout design, so if you think about it in Adobe terms, it’s a mix of Illustrator and InDesign.

On top of that, PowerTRACE is built inside CorelDRAW, which is an AI-based tool designed to improve image quality during the tracing process, for instance.

Next, is Corel PHOTO-PAINT, which is Corel’s Photoshop: pixel-based photo editing and digital painting tool.

There’s also the Corel Font Manager, which is software designed to help you manage and organise your fonts, kind of like Apple’s own Font Book.

And finally, there’s CAPTURE, which is a screen capture tool - although there’s a big caveat with that one: it’s only available for Windows users. Mac users are left out in the cold.

Still, Apple does have built-in ways to take screenshots and recordings of their screen, so it’s not that big a loss. However, paying the same price and not getting all the same tools as PC users is somewhat of a disappointment.

That’s quite a lot to include in a single suite. With it, you should have all the tools you need to create any kind of graphics work. There is however one additional tool I should briefly mention…

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2026: CorelDRAW Go & Web

• Corel provides two services to work online from a web browser:
• CorelDRAW Go is for beginners and intermediates
• CorelDRAW Web for advanced users, and included in the Suite’s subscription

CorelDRAW Go is a very clever service: it allows you to work in CorelDRAW inside a web browser. It’s like you’re drawing with Corel...on the go (get it?).

The service is truly excellent and it’s amazing to think how far we’ve come in terms of online technology, that you can create art inside a webpage and forget the tools you’re using aren’t actually installed on your machine. This means you can use it from any computer, just about anywhere. Just login to your account and you’re good to go.

It’s definitely worth checking out, especially since, just like the main suite, Corel offers you a free 15-day trial. The service itself would cost you $10 a month or $100 for the year. Think of it more as an entry level beginner’s design tool.

The reason I thought I’d mention it, is to casually highlight an advantage to the Suite’s subscription package.

No, CorelDRAW Go isn’t included, but CorelDRAW Web is. Web comes with more advanced tools, including vector illustration and page layout design - all from a web page.

Crazy, right? Companies will do anything to get you to subscribe to their services, including creating really impressive tools, like CorelDRAW Go, and especially CorelDRAW Web.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2026: What’s new

• Improved interface
• New AI tools like background removal and generative AI art

As you’d expect, the CorelDRAW Suite comes with a mighty large collection of tools, and if you’d like an idea of what software such as DRAW and PHOTO-PAINT are like to work with, I’d recommend you check out my review of the Suite’s previous version, since it’s still relevant today, as I’ll be focussing the rest of this current review on what’s new in 2026.

Right out the gate, you’ll notice the interface has been upgraded. The look feels cleaner, with more condensed icons and menus, that allow more tools to be seen in a smaller footprint. The effect can be subtle in parts, but you definitely end up having more screen real-estate for your artwork, which is a very positive thing.

The blurb states that performance has been improved compared to previous versions, but that can be a very subjective thing, as performance greatly depends on your computer’s own specs. Personally, I didn’t notice much difference, but I have a fairly beefy machine. If you’ve got a powerful processor and oodles of RAM, you should be able to power through any project with CorelDRAW Suite 2026 with ease.

But the biggest draw is all the AI tools they’re peppering throughout the interface. Now I know there can be a lot of issues surrounding AI, and Corel is aware of that too. In fact, their spiel is that their AI tools focus more on empowering the artist rather than replacing them, and for some tools, I can certainly see that. Take ‘Remove Background’ as an example. In one word, the results are impressive.

It does something that was totally possible to do manually, but depending on the complexity of the background, such a process could take minutes to hours to achieve. Here, in seconds, the background disappears, leaving you with the foreground object, with clean sharp edges. That’s certainly empowering, and the results are definitely on par with its competitors, such as Adobe Photoshop and Pixelmator Pro.

What’s more contentious is ‘Generative AI’, and like it or not, it’s now available directly from within Corel’s software interface, with its own dedicated button, top right of the window. Through it, you get to either let the software create an image for you, or remix an existing one.

What I really like was that you’re given a choice of which generative algorithm you’d like to use; ‘Nano Banana’ is the one selected by default, and it produces excellent results for not too many credits (more on those in a bit), but you’ve got the option of six other algorithms for you to try out.

The same goes for one of 6 styles on offer, from photorealistic, to line art, 3D render and pop art, and you can even control the colour palette, if that’s your thing. As always, there’s a text prompt field where your own creativity gets slotted in, but even that can be taken care of by an algorithm if you’re stuck with writer’s block: simply click on the ‘inspire me’ button, and the interface will also create a prompt for you.

I particularly liked the Remix option. I took the image this AI created for me, fed it into Remix and asked it to turn the autumn setting into a summer one, and the results was astonishing. The exact same image, from the exact same angle, nothing’s changed, except it’s now a beautiful sunny day. Turn the scenery to winter, and the outcome was just as good.

Now there’s no doubt that all of this is impressive, and the results are astonishing, but how does a machine creating an image for you from nothing equate to empowering the artist, as no artist was actually involved in that particular ‘creation’ process?

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2026: AI costs

• You get some credits when you purchase the software
• Monthly credits available when subscribing but don't roll-over
• Extra credits can be bought

It’s obvious a lot of fun can be had with generative AI, but you need to be aware that each image will cost you. Nano Banana eats 16 credits a pop. The most expensive algorithm is Nano Banana Pro, with 86 credits per image.

If you subscribe to the Suite, you get to play with 2,000 credits each month. Those who purchase the software outright, only get 2,000 credits in total (another push to incentivise the subscription model).

Now if you love generative AI, you have other purchase options open to you, starting at $20 for 2,000 credits, to $200 for 35,000. There’s even another subscription model, costing you $100 a year to get 2,500 each month, or $10 a month for 2,000.

There’s no doubt the subscription model is yet again, better value. Although there is a drawback: the credits you purchase last forever, those you rent, reset on the first of each month (so make sure you don’t start your agreement on the 30th!)

Should I buy CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2026

Buy it if...

If you’re looking for a powerful image editor, vector illustrator and page layout suite, with numerous tools that are easy to learn and use, and include generous lashings of AI.

Don't buy it if...

You’re not a fan that most of the new features are AI-based, and you feel scared moving away from the Adobe hegemony.

• Adobe Acrobat and Express are coming to the Microsoft 365 Agent Store soon
• Users can make changes to files without opening Adobe's software
• The plugins make creativity more accessible

Adobe has confirmed it will be bringing Express and Acrobat to Microsoft 365 Copilot, putting its powerful productivity tools in the hands of more workers.

The integration means users won't need to open the respective apps to make some of the most common changes, which reduces some of the barriers associated with Adobe's software, often considered to have a steep learning curve.

"The apps will be available in the Microsoft 365 Agent Store in the coming weeks," Adobe Express SVP and GM Govind Balakrishnan said in a LinkedIn post.

Adobe Express and Acrobat are coming to M365 Copilot Chat

Within Copilot, users will be able to browse Adobe Express design templates, adjust text and copy, swap or generate images with AI, add animations and motions, and more. Though Copilot serves as a simplified interface in the first instance, the files will also exist within the Express app if users want to go off and make deeper changes.

On the Acrobat front, users will be able to create, organize and edit PDFs from within the chat interface.

More broadly, Adobe has been going big on AI in two ways – the company has been integrating generative tools into its own apps to make advanced editing more accessible, but it's also been integrating its own apps with third-party AI ecosystems to meet users where they already are.

Balakrishnan said the move is is part of Adobe's plan to "[make] creativity more accessible to everyone."

An earlier integration brought Acrobat, Express and Photoshop to ChatGPT, for example.

While tools like ChatGPT and M365 Copilot have been able to generate image versions of user prompts, they haven't always been that easy to refine without further AI prompts. Adding Express and Acrobat into the mix allows AI to generate a human-editable file format from the get-go.

• Microsoft and Anthropic reveal Copilot Cowork
• Anthropic AI platform gives Copilot the ability to really dig deep into work tasks
• Tool will be able to cover the entire Microsoft 365 platform

Microsoft has revealed a major update to Copilot which it says will allow the AI assistant to really get involved with your work tasks for the first time, thanks to its combination with Anthropic's Claude Cowork platform.

The company has unveiled Copilot Cowork, an upgraded platform integrated with Anthropic's work automation service aimed at turning AI from an interested observer into a full-on helper.

Or as the company puts it in a new blog post, "completing tasks, running workflows, and doing work on your behalf...Copilot Cowork is built for that: it helps Copilot take action, not just chat."

Copilot Cowork

"If you have used Copilot, you have seen how quickly it can help you find an answer or draft an email," the company's blog post added. "The next step is just as important: turning that intent into real actions across Microsoft 365."

Microsoft says users will be able to describe the outcome they want, with Cowork searching across your Microsoft 365 office software suite, including Outlook, Teams, Excel and more to learn about the task in hand.

It will then turn this learning into a plan of action, which will run in the background as you go about your working day, but offering a series of checkpoints so you can check its progress, make changes, or pause action at any point.

"Copilot works independently without you giving up control," Microsoft says, giving a host of examples of where Cowork might be useful, such as tidying up a packed work calendar to reschedule meetings and create focus time, or creating a launch plan for a new project, creating a pitch deck, comparing competition in Excel, or managing workloads across a team.

It could also be helpful in researching a new client or customer, looking across the web for news and reports with key information, before summarizing the results, and then preparing for your meeting with the customer by creating a slide deck with information pulled from your emails, meetings and files

Microsoft says Cowork operates within Microsoft 365’s security and governance boundaries, so your identity and compliance policies will apply by default. Cowork will also run in a protected, sandboxed cloud environment, meaning that tasks can keep progressing safely even if you move across devices.

Copilot Cowork is currently being tested with a limited set of customers in Research Preview, with Microsoft saying it will be more broadly available in the Frontier program in late March 2026.

It’s been a while since I last reviewed Adobe Lightroom, and as always with Adobe, many features have been added and a host of others have been improved, so let’s take a look at Lightroom 9.2 and see what it’s all about.

But before we do, I need to point out that there are two versions of Lightroom: Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic.

Lightroom is a simpler, more user friendly version, whereas Classic is aimed at the professional user or someone demanding a higher degree of control, who prefers to store their media on their local hard drives. I’ll be primarily covering the Classic side of things here.

Adobe Lightroom Classic: Pricing & plans

• Three subscription options
• No perpetual license
• Additional AI credits available

As with most of Adobe's professional software, Lightroom Classic is subscription-only - and here, there are three options available.

Grab Adobe’s entire portfolio with Creative Cloud Pro for US$70 a month. Alongside Lightroom, this unlocks other popular apps such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, the works.

For a less expensive, photo-focused subscription plan, there's the Photography bundle. This brings together both versions of Lightroom as well as Photoshop for $20 a month. Alternatively, you could just limit yourself to Lightroom and Lightroom Classic for $12 a month.

These are monthly costs, based on a year-long contract. They also come with Generative Credits, from 250 a month for the cheapest option to 4,000 for the high end plan. Those credits don’t roll on: if you don’t use them in a month, they don’t get added to your next allotment the following month.

If you’re really into generative AI creation, Adobe has add-on plans to suit your appetite, from an additional 2,000 credits for $10 a month, to 50,000 for $200 a month.

• Pricing & plans: 3.5/5

Adobe Lightroom Classic: What is it?

• Very well designed app
• Easy to organize, alter, and share your work

Let’s start with the basics: what is Lightroom Classic?

Quite simply, it has the dual purpose of storing and cataloging your photos, while also allowing you to make alterations to them and prepare them to share with others. Any change is non-destructive, so the original photos are never altered, and you can go back to the source to make additional tweaks without ever suffering from quality degradation.

I feel the interface is very well designed - and interacting with interfaces is what I do most of the time! You have seven different sections, all accessible through a large menu bar, top right. By default, you’re in ‘Library’, which is where you can see all the photos you’ve imported and worked on.

You can actually do a fair amount of work there, such as rotating an image, adding tags, a star rating, keywords, and even perform some light colour correction. But if you want to get fully immersed in image manipulation, then ‘Develop’ is the place to be.

This is where you get to apply in-depth colour correction, cropping, remove red-eye, correct for lens distortion, completely remove an object from a scene, and mask specific sections to fine tune which part of an image to alter - among many others. You’ll find the tools at your disposal are quite extensive.

But Lightroom Classic goes beyond that. You have the ‘Map’ section where you can see all the photos you took in a specific location (and alter a shot’s metadata should you need to), there’s a section dedicated to designing a ‘Book’, or creating a ‘Slideshow’, ‘Print’ selected photos, or upload them to the ‘Web’. Although, truth be told, this is something consumer software like Apple’s Photos offers too.

All in all, Lightroom Classic makes it easy to organise your shots, make them look their best with a wide range of tools, and share them in numerous ways. But what does its latest release bring to the table? Let’s find out.

• Score: 4.5/5

Adobe Lightroom Classic: What’s new?

• New AI features can save time
• But I found results vary in quality
• And it’s not like you get your credits back if you’re not happy

While the general workflow remains unchanged from previous versions, the big new features are primarily AI-based. This will delight some, and send shivers down the backs of others.

The most useful application of AI is ‘Assisted Culling’. Currently in Beta (Adobe calls it ‘Early Access’), it’s designed to accelerate the photo selection process upon import, by automatically filtering out blurry, closed-eye, misfired images, and more. You’re given a few sliders to determine the intensity of the cull, and can choose which options to filter for. After a few seconds (depending on how many images you’re importing and your computer’s capabilities), the results are ready to be reviewed.

I found the process works very well, identifying with ease any issues it’s designed to look for, and if it made a mistake, you can alter the decision shot by shot. This makes looking through a series of very similar photos a much quicker process (and if you don’t like a machine doing that kind of work for you, you can always disable the feature). As an added bonus, this AI tool is free… Unlike Lightroom Classic’s new ‘Generate using Firefly’ options.

Now why would we want Generative AI in Lightroom? Well, if you’re not well-versed in Photoshop, then it’s a quick way for somewhat clever algorithms to perform relatively complex actions for you… but I admit having a few issues with such technology.

As an example, I asked AI to colorize a black and white photo of my brother and I when I was just a baby. It should’ve been a simple process, and indeed the colours used do look good. However, it added an object on top of a chest of drawers, and changed my brother’s face. In another shot, it cleaned up a tray. Although I can appreciate the virtual maid having tidied up, it’s not what I had asked for. Plus if you’re not satisfied, you don’t get your generated credits back.

To be fair, other results were better, and Firefly didn’t alter the faces of other ancient family members of mine - even my great great grandmother was faithfully updated. The resolution of the resulting version can be set up to a maximum of 2K. Great for older images that have lower resolutions, but not so good for more modern shots.

If you have credits to burn, you can bring a photo to life by turning it into a video. I found this a bit disturbing, although others around me loved it. And it must be said, Firefly did an impressive job of bringing my long-gone relative to life (Dr Frankenstein would be proud).

• Score: 4/5

Adobe Lightroom Classic: Classic vs Lightroom

• Lightroom is much simpler
• Generative Upscale tool is better than Classic’s gen AI features

Before finishing up, I wanted to quickly dip into the simpler Lightroom, as there’s a feature there that’s worth mentioning: ‘Generative Upscale’.

It’s worth mentioning as this AI-based upscaling isn’t actually done by Adobe but in partnership with Topaz Gigapixel instead, and unlike the Firefly option we explored above, you don’t leave Lightroom when using it, which is a definite plus.

The feature not only tells you how many credits you’ll need, but also how many you have left - a useful addition which is sorely missed in Classic’s Firefly. The downside though is, as with Firefly, you have no control over the process. You get what you get, whether you’re happy with it or not.

Overall, Lightroom Classic is a very good image management and manipulation tool, and its new AI-based additions will no doubt please some, but aside from the useful Assisted Culling feature, you have next to no control over the output of AI.

• Score: 4/5

Should I buy?

Buy it if...

You’re looking for a high-end, easy to use and feature rich image management tool, and appreciate the growing proliferation of AI tools within it.

Don't buy it if...

You don’t like subscriptions, and having more and more AI in your software irks you, not to mention that you have to pay extra for those tools.

We tested out the best photo editing PCs and the best laptops for photo editing and these are our top picks.

Print-on-demand offers an easy way to add a revenue stream by monetizing your branded merchandise. You can turn your designs into physical products like t-shirts, mugs, and posters without holding any inventory or managing shipping logistics.

The best part? You only pay for products after customers place orders, eliminating upfront costs and storage needs.

We'll explain how easy it is to set up with integrated features offered by website builders. With the right platform, you can have your merchandise store running in minutes rather than weeks.

How to add print-on-demand services to your website

Print-on-demand (POD) platforms automatically work with local vendors to help you ship custom-printed merchandise to your online audience. When a customer orders from your store, the platform routes the job to a nearby production partner who prints, packages, and ships the item directly to your customer. You never touch inventory or handle fulfillment. The entire process runs on autopilot.

The print-on-demand market was valued at $10.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to surpass $100 billion by 2034, making it one of the fastest-growing segments in ecommerce. This explosive growth is driven by creators, small businesses, and entrepreneurs looking for low-risk ways to monetize their brands without capital-intensive inventory investments.

Here are the leading print-on-demand platforms you can integrate with your website:

• Printful: Offers 461+ customizable products and handles everything in-house for consistent quality control. The platform provides a free Design Maker tool and global fulfillment centers to ensure faster delivery. Printful works with major ecommerce platforms and charges no setup fees. You only pay when you make a sale.
• Printify: Features over 1,300 products and connects you with a network of different print providers, giving you more options and often lower prices than competitors. The free plan includes unlimited product designs, while the Premium plan costs $29 per month and offers up to 20% discounts on product costs.
• Gelato: Specializes in local production with 140+ production hubs in 32 countries, reducing shipping times and carbon footprint. The free plan includes basic integrations and product creation tools, while Gelato+ costs $19.99-23.99 per month with subscriber discounts up to 35%. The platform is particularly strong for EU and UK sellers who prioritize fast regional delivery.
• CustomCat: A US-based provider known for fast fulfillment that ships most orders within 3 business days. CustomCat offers a free plan with access to all features, plus a Pro plan for $25-30 per month that provides 20-40% off all products. The platform specializes in high-resolution printing technology and phone support, which is rare among print-on-demand providers.

Print-on-demand integration makes monetization simpler

If your website builder integrates natively with a print-on-demand solution like Printful or Printify, that can make monetization a lot easier by cutting down on the time spent setting up your business.

Hostinger launched its print-on-demand integration with Printful in September 2025, letting you offer custom merchandise directly through your website with zero hassle. Wix also offers an integration with Printful through its App Market, giving you a complete solution for marketing and selling prints online.

Whichever provider you choose, the setup process ultimately boils down to these simple steps:

• First, choose your website builder (Wix, Hostinger, Squarespace, etc.) and your POD supplier (Printful, Printify, etc.).
• Next, use your website builder’s add-on marketplace (e.g. Wix App Market or Shopify App Store) to set up an integration with your print-on-demand vendor.
• Once your accounts are linked, set up payment and shipping options, and synchronize your product offerings across both platforms.
• Now, whenever a customer places an order for a POD product on your website, it’ll automatically be routed to your print-on-demand vendor for fulfillment.

POD integrations automate fulfillment by sending orders placed on your site straight to your print-on-demand service for production and shipping. You avoid upfront costs by only paying for products after customers purchase them.

Of course, even if your website builder doesn’t integrate natively with a print-on-demand vendor, you can set up your own POD integration using API keys that connect them together. But it costs development time and requires sufficient proficiency with programming website interfaces and backends.

Wrapping up

Print-on-demand removes the biggest barriers to selling merchandise online. You don't need to invest thousands in inventory, rent warehouse space, or handle shipping logistics. Instead, you can focus on what you do best: creating designs and marketing your brand. Automated fulfillment partners handle the rest.

Website builders, such as Hostinger and Wix, offer integrations that make the setup process particularly straightforward for beginners. But regardless of which platform you choose, the core benefit remains the same: you can start selling custom products today with minimal risk and maximum flexibility.

For more ways to generate income from your online presence, check out our guide to alternative revenue streams for websites to discover additional monetization strategies for your brand.

So you've set up print-on-demand on your ecommerce platform of choice, and you're ready to start selling. Great!

Now comes the fun part: choosing which products to sell.

Not all merchandise converts equally, and picking the right mix can make the difference between a side hustle and a serious revenue stream. We're going to share proven print-on-demand products that influencers and brands use to monetize their following with minimal effort and maximum return.

7 print-on-demand products to add to your site

The right product selection can dramatically impact your conversion rates and profit margins. Based on market data and seller performance across major platforms, these seven items consistently deliver the best results for print-on-demand businesses.

1. T-shirts

The undisputed champion of print-on-demand products.

T-shirts are wardrobe staples that appeal to all ages and demographics, making them easy sells for any brand. The global custom t-shirt printing market is expected to grow by 11% annually through 2030, and they typically offer retail prices between $20-30 with base costs around $7-10. Black remains the most popular color choice, though offering variety helps you reach more customers.

2. Tote bags

Eco-conscious shoppers love reusable tote bags, and they're affordable enough to be impulse purchases at around $14.99 retail.

They're practical accessories that people use daily for groceries, gym gear, or everyday carry items. Tote bags also serve double duty as walking advertisements for your brand whenever someone carries them in public.

3. Mugs

Personalized mugs rank among the top-selling print-on-demand items worldwide because they make perfect gifts for any occasion.

Their popularity spikes during holidays, but they sell consistently year-round thanks to their practical daily use. Designs featuring quotes, humor, or minimalist aesthetics perform particularly well in this product category.

4. Hats and caps

Caps and beanies offer impressive profit margins, with some sellers reporting 79% net margins on hats.

They're fashion-forward accessories that work for both casual streetwear and outdoor activities. Bold statements, logo-style graphics, and minimalist designs all sell well depending on your brand aesthetic.

5. Wall art and posters

Wall decor presents a low-cost entry point into the home goods space.

The wall art market is expected to reach $70.9 billion by 2027, driven by advances in printing technology. Canvas prints, metal prints, and traditional posters all offer creative freedom for artists and designers. These items appeal to customers looking to personalize their living spaces without major investments.

6. Journals and notebooks

Custom journals and notebooks appeal to self-care buyers and make thoughtful gifts.

Everyone needs somewhere to jot down thoughts, track goals, or sketch ideas. You can offer lined, blank, or dot-grid options with inspiring covers featuring your unique artwork. These items have strong gift potential for occasions like graduations, new jobs, or New Year resolutions.

7. Stickers

Don't underestimate stickers for their small size.

They offer profit margins between 50-90%, higher than many other print-on-demand products. They're cheap to produce (base costs around $0.30-2 per piece) and sell well as impulse buys or order add-ons. People use stickers to personalize laptops, water bottles, planners, phone cases, and notebooks, creating consistent year-round demand.

Bonus: Niche specialty items

Beyond these core products, consider testing niche items that align with your specific audience.

Gaming communities might love custom dice sets or plushies featuring mascot characters. Fitness brands could explore custom yoga mats or gym towels. Pet owners represent another lucrative niche with products like custom pet bowls or pet-themed home decor. The key is matching specialty products to your audience's specific interests rather than trying to appeal to everyone.

What is print-on-demand?

Print-on-demand is a business model where products are created only after customers place orders. Instead of holding inventory or managing warehouses, you design custom items and partner with printing companies that handle production and shipping automatically.

Here's how the process works from ordering to shipping:

• Customer places an order: Someone visits your website and purchases a product featuring your custom design.
• Order routes to production: The platform automatically sends order details to the nearest production partner.
• Product gets printed: Your design is printed on the selected item using techniques like direct-to-garment printing or sublimation.
• Fulfillment and shipping: The production partner packages and ships the item directly to your customer under your brand.
• You collect profit: You pay only for the base product cost and shipping, keeping the rest as profit.

Who can benefit from print-on-demand?

Print-on-demand works best for creators and brands with established audiences who already show strong engagement. Content creators, YouTubers, podcasters, and social media influencers with loyal followings are ideal candidates because their fans actively want to support them and show brand loyalty through merchandise.

Small businesses and startups benefit enormously from print-on-demand because it eliminates the risk of unsold inventory. You can test different designs and products without committing thousands of dollars upfront. If something doesn't sell, you simply remove it from your store and try something else.

Print-on-demand services integrate directly into some of the best website builders. For example, Printful has a dedicated integration on both Wix and Hostinger that can make selling print-on-demand products through your website an absolute breeze.

Even established brands use print-on-demand to expand their product lines without the overhead of traditional manufacturing. The print-on-demand market was valued at $6.18 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25.8% through 2030, showing just how many businesses are embracing this model. Whether you're a gaming streamer with 10,000 followers or a lifestyle brand with a dedicated community, print-on-demand offers an accessible way to monetize your audience's enthusiasm.

Your website can be more than just an online brochure. Whether you're a content creator, influencer, or small business owner, there are countless ways to turn your digital presence into revenue.

The best part? Many of the best website builders now come with built-in monetization tools that make earning money easier than ever.

We're talking about everything from advertising revenue to selling products, memberships, and educational content. You don't need advanced technical skills or a massive audience to get started. With the right approach, you can create multiple income streams that work together to build a sustainable online business.

How can I make money through my website?

Think of your website as online real estate. Just like physical property, the value comes from how you use it. Influencers, professionals, and business owners all leverage their websites to create revenue channels that work around the clock.

The key is diversification. Successful websites rarely rely on a single income source. Instead, they combine ad revenue, membership fees, product sales, and sponsorships to create a stable financial foundation. This protects you from market fluctuations and algorithm changes that could impact any single revenue stream.

What makes this even more exciting is how accessible these tools have become. Modern website builders like Wix, Hostinger, and Squarespace offer integrated solutions that handle the technical heavy lifting. You can focus on creating great content while the platform manages payments, hosting, and security. It's a far cry from the days when monetizing a website required custom coding and expensive third-party integrations.

5 income streams to start monetizing your website

Ready to start earning? Here are five proven monetization strategies you can implement on your website, complete with platform recommendations and real-world examples.

#1 Advertisements

Display advertising remains one of the simplest ways to monetize your website traffic. With Google AdSense, you can display relevant ads to your visitors and earn revenue from clicks or impressions. Google matches ads to your content and audience, so you don't need to negotiate with individual advertisers.

Popular platforms like Wix and Squarespace make AdSense integration straightforward. Wix offers the Monetize with AdSense app, which streamlines the connection process and helps you start earning faster by enabling you to sign up for Google AdSense without leaving your Wix Dashboard. Squarespace users can add AdSense through code injection in their site settings. Both approaches require a custom domain and approval from Google, which typically takes a few days to a few weeks.

#2 Print-on-demand services

Want to sell merchandise without holding inventory? Print-on-demand services let you create custom products that are only manufactured after someone orders them. This eliminates upfront costs and storage headaches while giving you access to hundreds of product options.

Hostinger recently partnered with Printful to offer print-on-demand integration, giving users access to over 461 customizable products. The setup is remarkably simple: create your designs using Printful's free Design Maker, add them to your Hostinger store, and Printful handles everything from printing to shipping when orders come in. You set your own prices and keep the profit margin between the base cost and what you charge customers.

#3 Memberships and subscriptions

Recurring revenue is the holy grail of online business. By offering membership or subscription access to premium content, you create a predictable income that compounds over time. This model works particularly well for content creators, coaches, and industry experts who can provide ongoing value to their audience.

WordPress users can leverage plugins like MemberPress to create membership sites with subscription management, paywalls, and course functionality, with plans starting at $399 per year for the Launch plan. For writers and newsletter creators, Substack offers a free platform that takes a 10% commission on paid subscriptions plus Stripe processing fees (approximately 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction). Medium's Partner Program provides another option for content-focused creators looking to monetize their writing through reader engagement.

#4 Online commerce

If you're ready to sell physical or digital products, dedicated ecommerce platforms offer the most robust feature sets. Shopify leads the pack with powerful tools for inventory management, order processing, and multi-channel selling. It's the choice for serious online retailers who need scalability and advanced features.

For those seeking a more budget-friendly alternative, Hostinger's Ecommerce Website Builder offers a complete solution starting at $2.99/month on the Business plan. It supports up to 500-600 products with features like inventory management, secure payments, and shipping tools — great for small stores. The platform includes an AI store builder that can generate your entire site in minutes, plus drag-and-drop customization tools for fine-tuning.

#5 Courses, tutorials, and education programs

Educational content commands premium pricing because it delivers transformation. If you have expertise in your field, creating and selling online courses can become a substantial revenue stream. The e-learning market continues its explosive growth, with more people than ever willing to pay for quality instruction.

Dedicated platforms like Teachable and Podia provide course-hosting tools with features like video lessons, quizzes, student progress tracking, and certificates. Both platforms offer unlimited courses and students on their paid plans, making them scalable as your teaching business grows. For those already using Wix, the platform's Online Programs tool integrates course creation directly into your existing website, eliminating the need for separate software.

Where should I begin?

Now that you know the options, here's your action plan for getting started:

1. Start by picking your revenue stream. Do you want to teach online courses? Sell physical goods? Work with sponsors and display ads? Choose one or two methods that align with your strengths and audience. Don't try to implement everything at once.
2. Now pick a website builder. Your chosen monetization strategy should guide this decision. Need robust e-commerce? Consider Shopify or Hostinger's Business plan. Focused on content and memberships? Look at WordPress with MemberPress or platforms like Substack.
3. Design your content and landing pages. Create compelling pages that clearly communicate your value proposition. Whether you're selling products, courses, or premium content, your pages need to convert visitors into customers.
4. Set up a payment integration. PayPal and Stripe are the most common payment processors, offering secure transactions and support in most countries. Most modern website builders include these integrations by default, making setup straightforward.
5. Promote your business. Use your existing social media following to drive initial traffic. Join niche communities related to your industry, cross-promote with peers in your space, and invest time in SEO and GEO optimization. Build an email list from day one, it's your most valuable marketing asset.

It’s been a big year for digital creativity. As the creative software editor for TechRadar Pro, I’ve spent the last 12 months covering a seemingly relentless stream of updates, beta launches, platform overhauls, and the maturing of AI tools from nice-to-haves to essential for professional workflows. And these are the 8 most exciting updates I've seen in 2025.

From one of the best photo editors becoming completely free to the arrival of generative AI models that seamlessly integrate into existing pipelines, the creative apps space continues to dramatically shift. These new tools mean it's never been easier to ideate, generate, and collaborate on creative endeavours - whether you're a solo content creator or a creative professional working in a team.

The barrier to entry is dropping just as the ceiling for quality is rising. While I can't wait to see what 2026 brings. But for now, these are the stand-out updates for creative software that defined the year.

Affinity goes free

Probably the best news I covered all year - Affinity is now completely free for everyone (and if you're paying a Canva Pro subscription, you get a few more tools, too).

Rumors started long before the reveal, when the site blocked the ability to purchase its apps, followed by making all apps free for iPad users. Then came the news that, yes, all Affinity apps were being rolled into a single platform and that they'd be free for all.

Affinity Photo, Publisher, and Designer have long been one of my favorite alternatives to Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. It may not be quite as feature-rich as Adobe's own creative software, but it'll tick all the boxes for most creators.

Considering what's on offer - and what I expect to see coming in 2026 - I still can't quite believe it. But it's not one to be missed. Affinity CEO Ash Hewson explained to TechRadar Pro his reasoning for scrapping all lifetime licenses in this article.

Adobe Premiere comes to mobile

Adobe Premiere Pro is the king of the video editing world - and I was over the moon to see a near-fully-featured version hit the App Store, and the promise of an Android version coming soon.

Known as Adobe Premiere, it's easily one of the best video editing apps around, even more so because it's free to use (although, as usual with Adobe tools, a subscription unlocks even more tools). Despite being an app for iPhone and iPad, we found it delivered extensive editing experience that includes multi-track editing, color correction, and a host of audio tools in our review.

Adobe Premiere really does feel like the future of on-the-go video editing for creators, and I can't wait to see what else it delivers in 2026.

Nano Banana Pro arrives

No 2025 round-up would be complete without at least a passing reference to AI. And in the creative space, the stand-out for me this year was the release of Google's Nano Banana Pro. Built for Gemini 3 Pro users, it's leaps and bounds above what the competition does when it comes to AI image generation and editing.

Connecting to Google Search’s knowledge base for real-time information, Nano Banana Pro boasts context-rich visuals, text that's more accurate and legible than predecessors, improved consistency and blending, and studio-quality control over your images.

You can find out more in our article here.

Canva launches its Creative Operating System

Canva had a big year in the content creation space with its World Tour and the unveiling of its Creative Operating System - a space that seamlessly blends design, collaboration, and publishing on a single platform.

The core update saw a redesign of its Visual Suite, a superior video editing tool, and editable AI output trained to understand the complexity of design. When I spoke to Anna Wood, Product Marketing Lead at Canva in this article, she explained the thinking behind the Creative OS.

"This isn’t just a tool to make a single graphic anymore. We’re building something much bigger. We like to see it as this all-in-one platform that enables the entire creative journey, from your first idea all the way to publishing and tracking performance. Whether you're designing, collaborating with a team, running a campaign, teaching a class, or using AI to speed things up, it all happens in one place."

Photoshop comes to ChatGPT

Adobe dominate the creative software space, so, I wasn't shocked to see the tools come to ChatGPT - it's a natural fit for apps already loaded with AI.

Crack open ChatGPT and you can now use Photoshop, Express, and the Acrobat PDF editor directly on the platform. What really struck me here was that you don't need to know the intricacies of using each app. Using natural language, simply describe what you want to achieve and await the results. The AI does all the work for you.

We watched a demo of Photoshop running inside ChatGPT and the results were impressive. Drag an image into the prompt bar, describe the edit you wish to make, and... that's it, job done. You can then use the built-in control sliders and options to further refine the output.

Edit YouTube shorts inside Adobe Premiere

Shortly after launching Adobe Premiere, the video editing app received its first big update - the inclusion of a space specifically for creating YouTube Shorts.

Better still, the update addresses one of the biggest issues we had with Premiere: the lack of transitions.

So, what can you expect with this update? Alongside those extra transitions, there are some exclusive effects, title presets, the option of creating and customizing your own templates, and the ability to easily share your videos direct to YouTube - all within the Premiere app.

You can read more in my article here.

Figma seriously expands its design tools

This year, I attended Figma's annual conference FigJam, where the company launched a series of major expansions to the popular design platform.

You can find out all the details in my coverage here, but key highlights include the inclusion of content ideation platform Figma Make, AI-powered website builder Figma Sites, Figma Draw - a spin on Adobe Illustrator - and Figma Buzz for social media asset creation.

On top of all that, at the end of 2025, in its bid to expand image, video, animation, motion design, and VFX creation and editing across the platform, Figma bought node-based AI editing tool Weavy and renamed it Figma Weave. Same powerful tool, now part of one of the best design tools around.

Freepik Spaces goes live

AI was the order of the day at this year's Freepik's Upscale Conference. it was everywhere I looked. But the big news was the launch of Freepik Spaces.

Rather than a never-ending slew of minor updates to AI models, this was a fully fledged product that lets users create and collaborate on a browser-based infinite canvas. Its node-based workflow is super-simple to use (anyone from creative professionals to non-designers can use the tools), letting everyone generate AI images and videos fit for business.

In an article, I rounded up the 5 key takeaways creative teams need to know about Freepik Spaces.

Constant Contact Lead Gen & CRM’s (formerly SharpSpring) is a powerful yet user-friendly marketing automation and CRM platform that caters to the needs of small to mid-sized businesses. As an all-in-one solution, it offers a solid set of features, including lead management, email marketing, social media management, and a built-in CRM at no extra cost.

Lead Gen & CRM’s key strength lies in its intuitive interface, which makes it easy to create complex automation workflows without requiring extensive technical knowledge. The visual campaign builder allows marketers to design multi-step campaigns with ease, while the opportunity management and task tracking features enable sales teams to stay on top of their pipeline.

However, Lead Gen & CRM is not without its drawbacks. Some users have reported occasional glitches and slower performance compared to other platforms. Additionally, while the feature set is comprehensive, it may not be as advanced as some enterprise-level solutions. Despite these minor shortcomings, Lead Gen & CRM remains a solid choice for businesses seeking an integrated marketing automation tool with CRM features.

Lead Gen & CRM core capabilties

Constant Contact Lead Gen & CRM marks a massive structural evolution for the software platform formerly known as SharpSpring. Following its acquisition by email marketing pioneer Constant Contact, the software dropped the legacy SharpSpring moniker to align completely with its parent company’s massive digital outreach ecosystem.

Lead Gen & CRM packs a powerful punch when it comes to its core CRM capabilities. At the heart of its CRM functionality is robust lead generation and management. The platform allows you to track, score, qualify, and convert leads, giving you a 360-degree view of your prospects' journey.

A standout feature is Lead Gen & CRM's ability to de-anonymize website visitors and track their behavior, enabling deep personalization. You can tailor experiences to each lead contextually based on their interests and actions.

The CRM also excels at email management, with tools to build custom emails and automate personalized outreach at scale. You can set up targeted campaigns triggered by specific lead behaviors or statuses.

For lead capture, Lead Gen & CRM provides flexible form and landing page builders. These allow you to craft custom assets that feed prospects' information directly into the CRM. Progressive profiling helps gradually build out lead profiles over time.

I'm impressed by how Lead Gen & CRM has seamlessly integrated core CRM functionality with its marketing automation capabilities. Having both in a single platform streamlines operations and aligns sales and marketing, which is great for tightly-knit startups.

However, some long-term users indicate that it may lack a few of the more advanced features you'd find in a standalone system. For many small or midsize companies, though, Lead Gen & CRM's CRM will be more than sufficient for their use case.

Overall, Lead Gen & CRM delivers on the CRM essentials — lead management, email outreach, and custom form capture — while surrounding them with strong marketing automation. This combination makes it a compelling central revenue platform for SMBs.

How easy is Lead Gen & CRM to use?

Lead Gen & CRM's user interface aims to simplify navigation and reduce the learning curve for new users. Key customization options allow the platform to adapt to various business needs and use cases.

I found Lead Gen & CRM's visual campaign builder to be very intuitive once you get oriented. However, for non-marketers or those new to marketing automation, the workflow may be a bit overwhelming at first. Lead Gen & CRM does provide an excellent knowledge base to help users get up to speed, though.

Lead Gen & CRM's onboarding is one of its standout features. You get paired with an Onboarding Specialist who guides you through training over your first 60 days. The process starts with goal-setting and expectation-setting calls. Then you move into the thick of it with platform setup, data and system integration, as well as instance configuration.

After that, Lead Gen & CRM offers a menu of 30-60 minute training sessions on key platform capabilities that can be mixed, matched, and ordered to your needs. Topics include the CRM, marketing campaigns, landing pages, forms, automation, analytics, and more.

So while the workflow UI might not be immediately intuitive for all, Lead Gen & CRM compensates with strong training and onboarding. With guidance from the onboarding team, most users seem to gain proficiency within the first couple of months.

A potential downside is the flip side of customization; it may take more time to configure the platform to your needs than a more standardized tool. But if you want that flexibility and are willing to invest some upfront effort, it pays off in the long run.

Overall, I give Lead Gen & CRM high marks for its user interface, training resources, and customization options to fit diverse business cases. With a bit of time to orient and personalized onboarding, new users can harness its power.

Lead Gen & CRM integrations

Lead Gen & CRM offers a robust set of integration options to connect it with other business applications and extend its functionality. The CRM integrates with a wide variety of popular apps out of the box through its App Marketplace. Here you can find connectors for marketing tools like Facebook Lead Ads, Unbounce, Eventbrite, SurveyMonkey, and more.

I found the integration with Unbounce particularly useful, as it allows marketing leads captured on Unbounce landing pages to automatically sync into Lead Gen & CRM for follow-up. The Facebook Lead Ads integration is also handy for pulling in leads generated from social media campaigns.

For more custom integrations, Lead Gen & CRM supports popular automation platforms Zapier and Make (formerly Integromat). With these iPaaS (integration platform as a service) tools, you can connect Lead Gen & CRM to over 1000 other apps without needing to write any code. I was able to use Zapier to set up an integration that sends new leads from my website's contact form directly into Lead Gen & CRM, then creates tasks for a hypothetical sales team to reach out to.

Lead Gen & CRM also provides a full-featured REST API that allows developers to integrate the CRM with any other system. The API documentation is comprehensive, and the platform uses standard OAuth 2.0 authentication. Advanced users suggest that the API is relatively straightforward to work with when building a custom integration.

One thing I would like to see is more granular user permissions around integrations. Currently, any user can set up an integration, which could potentially lead to data being unintentionally exposed. It would be nice to have admin-level controls over what integrations and connected apps each user can access.

But in the end, Lead Gen & CRM's integration capabilities are quite strong. The combination of pre-built app connectors, iPaaS support, and a robust API means the platform can fit into most any tech stack. And based on my experience, the integrations are stable, and the data syncing between systems is reliable. Lead Gen & CRM has clearly put a lot of thought into making its CRM as extensible as possible.

How good is Lead Gen & CRM customer support?

Lead Gen & CRM provides a robust customer support experience for its CRM users. They offer a variety of channels to get help, including phone, email, and live chat support. Live chat is especially responsive and helpful for getting quick answers to questions.

The company also has a well-organized knowledge base with tutorials, training resources, and FAQs to help users self-serve and troubleshoot issues on their own. The articles are clear and include helpful screenshots. There's a handy search feature to find relevant content quickly.

However, Lead Gen & CRM could improve a few areas of its support. First, the live support channels are not 24/7 - you can generally only get real-time help during extended business hours. Off hours, you have to rely on their ticket system and wait for a response.

But, while many customers rave about the quality and friendliness of the support, some reviews mention that the first response time can occasionally be a bit slow, and complex issues may require some back and forth to fully resolve. Lead Gen & CRM doesn't publish official response time averages that I could find.

Lead Gen & CRM pricing and plans

Following its corporate acquisition and transition into Constant Contact Lead Gen & CRM, the platform has fundamentally abandoned its old, prohibitively expensive entry pricing structure. Rather than forcing early-stage startups to commit to a massive $449 monthly baseline just to manage 1,000 contacts, the platform now operates on a sliding, feature-tiered scale that makes full-funnel marketing automation accessible to microscopic budgets.

The modern ecosystem is split into three core tracks: Lite, Standard, and Premium. The foundational Lite plan starts at just $12/month for up to 500 contacts, scaling up to $33/month at the 1,000-contact threshold. While highly economical, the Lite plan severely restricts collaborative teams, limiting access to a single user seat and locking out all advanced behavioral workflows in favor of simple, single-step welcome emails.

The Standard plan represents the optimal middle ground for mid-sized teams, starting at $35/month and adjusting to $55/month for 1,000 contacts. Upgrading to Standard unlocks up to 3 user seats, robust multi-step marketing automation trees, behavioral contact segmentation, and subject line A/B testing tools.

For corporate teams requiring deep telemetry, the Premium tier begins at $80/month ($110/month at 1,000 contacts), removing user seat caps entirely while unlocking custom visual automation paths, revenue attribution dashboards, and integrated SEO tools.

Buyers must keep an eye on their contact ceilings, however: crossing into a higher contact bracket mid-cycle triggers an automatic account upgrade, and exceeding your monthly tiered email delivery volume limits results in an overage fee of $0.002 per email. For massive databases scaling past 50,000 records or specialized white-label marketing setups, customized Agency and Enterprise quotes remain available upon request.

How we tested Lead Gen & CRM

At TechRadar Pro, our CRM testing methodology goes beyond vendor's advertised functionality. To properly evaluate Constant Contact Lead Gen & CRM and its core promise of delivering a unified sales-and-marketing environment, our testing analysts deployed the software in a live production environment configured for mid-market business demands.

We conducted a visual automation stress test, carried out visitor de-anonymization tracking, and assessed the dynamic content performance. Support was also a key feature for the review, and because Constant Contact locks real-time help desks behind extended regional business hours rather than offering global 24/7 coverage, we systematically verified their customer support turnaround. That way you can trust our review wherever you're based.

Lead Gen & CRM review: Summary

Lead Gen & CRM is a solid, intuitive, and easy-to-use CRM solution that provides good value for small to mid-sized businesses and marketing agencies. The platform offers a robust set of features, including lead management, email marketing, social media management, and a built-in CRM at an affordable price point compared to some competitors.

However, Lead Gen & CRM is not without some shortcomings. While the core feature set is solid, it may fall short for companies with very advanced sales automation needs. Some users have also reported occasional performance issues and bugs.

Salesmate is an increasingly popular CRM platform that aims to streamline and automate the sales process for businesses of all sizes. It offers an impressive array of features, with a particular focus on advanced sales automation capabilities.

A few standout features include a 360-degree contact management system to easily capture, enrich, and track leads, customizable sales pipelines and workflows, and robust email marketing tools. The automation journeys are especially powerful, allowing you to personalize customer experiences and almost completely automate the journey from lead to sale.

That said, Salesmate does have some drawbacks. It's not the most affordable CRM out there, with pricing that increases based on the number of contacts. The advanced features, while very capable, can also mean a steeper learning curve for new users. And customer support is limited on most plans. But overall, Salesmate is a compelling modern CRM for sales teams that want to leverage automation.

Salesmate core capabilties

Salesmate packs a punch when it comes to must-have CRM capabilities. At its core, it offers robust contact management that allows you to track all interactions and activities with leads and customers in one centralized database. You can easily import contacts from various sources, enrich the data, and segment them using smart views and filters for targeted outreach.

The visual sales pipeline builder is intuitive and flexible, letting you create multiple pipelines with customized stages to match your unique sales process. As deals progress through the stages, you gain visibility into the health of your pipeline.

Sales forecasting is especially good. Reps can predict their numbers based on the likelihood of deals closing, giving management more accurate revenue projections. The built-in performance analytics are also impressive, with the ability to slice and dice data using different filters to generate insightful reports and dashboards.

Salesmate doesn't skimp on productivity boosters either. You can automate routine tasks like sending follow-up emails, setting reminders, and updating fields. Plus, the mobile app with offline access keeps road warriors in the loop at all times.

Where Salesmate really shines is its AI assistant called Sandy. You can delegate admin work to Sandy via voice or chat commands - from scheduling meetings to logging notes and follow-ups. This frees up significant time for reps to focus on selling.

The platform also ventures beyond typical CRM functionality with its marketing automation tools. You can build email campaigns, design landing pages, and create multi-step journeys to nurture leads.

Other thoughtful features include website live chat, chatbots for 24/7 lead capture and support, and a drag-and-drop newsletter builder. All these allow businesses to engage customers across channels without relying on separate point solutions.

Salesmate is an extremely well-rounded CRM that can streamline sales operations for small and midsize companies. By bringing sales, marketing, and service into a single platform, it eliminates data silos and fosters seamless collaboration. While not as complex as enterprise systems, Salesmate offers just the right mix of core and innovative features to drive productivity and revenue growth.

How easy is Salesmate CRM to use?

Salesmate's clean and modern design makes navigating the platform a breeze, even for those new to CRMs. The customizable pipelines allow users to tailor their sales processes to their specific needs, ensuring efficient lead management and minimizing the learning curve.

Salesmate also offers robust accessibility features, such as built-in email tracking, which provides valuable insights into email interactions and enables prompt follow-up actions. The integration options are another highlight, allowing seamless connection with various third-party tools and applications, streamlining workflows, and enhancing productivity.

In my experience, Salesmate's onboarding process is smooth and straightforward, with a variety of helpful resources available, including video tutorials, webinars, and a comprehensive knowledge base. The company also provides excellent customer support, with responsive and knowledgeable representatives ready to assist users at any stage of their journey.

One particularly impressive aspect of Salesmate is the ease with which users can set up web forms to capture lead information. The process is simple and intuitive, requiring no technical expertise. This feature alone can save businesses countless hours and help them focus on what matters most – engaging with prospects and closing deals.

While the platform offers a wide range of customization options, some users might find the level of granularity a bit overwhelming at first. However, the platform's well-organized settings and clear documentation make it easy to navigate these options and tailor the CRM to specific business requirements.

Overall, Salesmate's commitment to user experience shines through in its thoughtfully designed interface, accessible features, and comprehensive support resources. With a relatively short learning curve and powerful tools at their fingertips, users can quickly become proficient in leveraging Salesmate to streamline their sales processes and drive business growth.

Salesmate integrations

Salesmate CRM offers an impressive array of pre-built integrations and connectors that allow it to seamlessly integrate with many popular business applications. The platform has native integrations with Gmail, Google Drive, Google Meet, Microsoft 365, Slack, ActiveCampaign, AWeber, BigCommerce, DocuSign, Dialpad, QuickBooks, and over 700 other apps through Zapier.

I was pleased to see that Salesmate provides a clean and well-documented API that enables developers to build custom integrations. The API allows access to core CRM data and functions like accounts, contacts, deals, activities, and more. This opens up a lot of possibilities for businesses to connect Salesmate with their existing tech stack.

For non-developers, Salesmate's integration with Zapier is a big plus. Zapier acts as a bridge, letting you connect Salesmate with thousands of the most popular apps without writing any code. You can set up automated workflows to sync data, trigger notifications, and more. Having tested a couple of Zaps myself, I can say the process is quite intuitive.

Another standout integration is with Integrately, a no-code integration platform. Integrately provides a visual interface to create complex automated processes spanning multiple apps. So you can use it to deeply embed Salesmate into your workflows without relying on developers.

In my experience, the pre-built integrations work smoothly and reliably. I didn't encounter any issues with data syncing or app connectivity. Salesmate's UI for configuring integrations is also clean and user-friendly.

One minor drawback is that compared to some other CRMs, Salesmate has a smaller number of pre-built integrations. However, the critical ones for sales and marketing are well covered. And you can always build a custom integration using the API when needed.

How good is Salesmate customer support?

In terms of customer support, I found that Salesmate provides a few key channels for users to get help. They offer 24/5 email support for all plans, with live chat also available for those who prefer the written medium.

A ticketing system allows customers to track the real-time status and progress of their support issues via both live chat and email. This gives users more visibility into how their problems are being handled.

Salesmate also provides some self-service support options. They have a knowledge base with guides and tutorials. An official user community is also available, but with most posts over a year old, the forum sees little activity.

As for the quality and responsiveness of their support, user reviews are generally positive. Several reviewers praised the helpfulness of the support team. That said, the lack of twenty-four-hour availability on weekends, even on higher plans, is a bit disappointing.

Salesmate pricing and plans

When it comes to CRM pricing, Salesmate takes a straightforward approach with four tiers to choose from. The Basic plan at $23/user/month provides essential contact and deal management features. For more advanced functionality like automation and bulk emails, the Pro plan at $39/user/month is a good bet.

The Pro plan ($39/user/month billed annually) introduces Salesmate's true sales automation engines. This tier is optimized for expanding mid-sized sales operations, unlocking complex automated goal tracking, email scheduling, centralized team email inboxes, and highly customizable reporting dashboards to track individual sales representative metrics. Growing teams that need custom dashboards and reports can opt for the Business plan at $63/user/month. Enterprise-level pricing is also available for those needing a tailored solution.

One aspect of Salesmate's pricing that caught my attention is the built-in phone and SMS rates. You can get local or toll-free numbers starting at just $1.10 per month and purchase credits as needed for calls and texts. Having these communication tools integrated into the CRM at a reasonable cost is definitely a plus.

Before committing to a plan, Salesmate offers a 15-day free trial with full access to all features and no credit card required. I appreciate that they allow you to really put the system through its paces without limitations during the trial period. And if 15 days isn't quite enough, you can request an extension to keep evaluating.

While the pricing is generally competitive, it's worth noting a couple of things. Upgrading to a higher-tier plan will apply any unused prepaid fees to the new plan, but there are no refunds for unused accounts, partial use, or early termination. And only annual subscriptions over $500 are eligible for bank transfer payments; otherwise, it's credit card only.

But I feel Salesmate's pricing model is mostly fair and flexible enough to accommodate a variety of business needs. The monthly and annual billing options, affordable communication add-ons, and commitment-free trial are all points in its favor from a value perspective. Just be sure to carefully review the terms around upgrades and refunds to avoid any billing surprises down the line.

How we tested Salesmate

At TechRadar Pro, our CRM testing is driven by objective, real-world evaluation rather than potentially biased vendor viewpoints. To evaluate Salesmate CRM’s core promise of delivering an automated, communication-heavy workstation for outbound sales teams, our testing analysts subjected the platform to a rigorous testing methodology replicating high-volume inside sales environments.

We stress-tested Salesmate’s visual workflow builder. We set up behavioral automation trees based on real customer intent. And we monitored execution delivery rates to ensure background triggers fired smoothly without server-side lag or stuck logic queues. We monitor the metrics that matter so you don't have to before you commit to a CRM.

Salesmate CRM review: Summary

After testing SalesMate, reading its user reviews, and analyzing its pricing and documentation, I've found it to be a very capable and well-rounded CRM solution, particularly for small to midsize sales teams.

SalesMate really shines when it comes to sales automation. You can automate lead assignment, task creation, follow-up emails, and more based on triggers. The system also ventures beyond pure CRM with basic marketing tools like email campaigns and web forms. This can help small teams streamline their tech stack. Even considering a lack of more advanced marketing automation features, if your organization wants a modern, highly automated sales pipeline that avoids a steep technical learning curve, Salesmate represents fantastic value.

HoneyBook is a comprehensive client management platform that helps small businesses streamline their operations. It combines the functionality of a CRM with invoicing, contract management, scheduling, and more into one easy-to-use package.

The CRM platform is designed to handle the full client lifecycle, from initial contact through project completion and payment. You can manage all client communication, share files and proposals, get contracts signed, send invoices, and collect payments without leaving HoneyBook.

Where this CRM really shines is its powerful automation features. You can set up customized workflows to automatically move projects forward, send reminders, and follow up with clients. This allows small teams to operate efficiently and stay on top of all their client relationships.

HoneyBook CRM core capabilities

HoneyBook is an accounting tool with a basic CRM, designed to enhance business operations for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. It offers essential CRM functions like contact management, an intuitive sales pipeline, and automated workflows to reduce manual tasks.

HoneyBook also offers user-friendly contact forms, which effortlessly capture lead information and create new contacts and projects in your pipeline. Plus, it provides tools for important administrative tasks such as invoicing, contracts, and scheduling.

Its interactive smart files let you combine actions like service selection, contracts, and invoicing for a smooth client experience. Automated payment reminders help ensure timely payments. You can create professional invoices, set custom payment plans, and collect payments online through credit card or bank transfer - all within HoneyBook.

Legally vetted contract templates are customizable with project details, pricing, and e-signature options. Scheduling is managed through a personalized client portal that syncs with your Google or iCloud calendar, preventing double-bookings. All client communications are organized within the relevant project for easy reference.

While not as advanced as specialized solutions, HoneyBook offers basic tools for tracking performance insights. You can monitor key metrics like conversion rates, project value, and payment status. However, I hope that future updates will enhance the reporting functionality with more CRM-specific KPIs.

But, HoneyBook focuses primarily on client projects. It lacks traditional CRM features such as lead scoring, opportunity tracking, territory management, or sales forecasting. However, for service-based businesses, HoneyBook's workflow is ideal for managing client engagements from start to finish.

I’m also impressed by HoneyBook's mobile apps for iOS and Android, which provide full functionality for working on the go. You can send invoices, receive payments, and manage projects from anywhere. Desktop users will benefit from Gmail and Calendly integrations.

How easy is HoneyBook CRM to use?

HoneyBook provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it easy to get up and running quickly, even for those without prior experience using a CRM. The clean, modern design is simple to navigate, with features logically organized in the left sidebar and settings accessible from the top menu.

To help new users get started, HoneyBook offers a helpful 30-minute Quick Start onboarding session that covers the key areas to focus on for setting up your account. There are also on-demand video courses available with over 50 step-by-step lessons.

I really like how the drag-and-drop pipeline tool makes it a breeze to customize your sales stages and client flow. You can easily create custom contact fields, email templates, questionnaires and contracts to streamline your processes. The visual pipeline view provides a great snapshot of where each lead/client is at.

HoneyBook also provides strong accessibility options, including a high contrast mode and the ability to navigate most of the interface using just a keyboard. The forms and client portal are mobile-responsive and look great on smaller screens.

While the breadth of features may seem overwhelming at first, most users report feeling comfortable with the core functionality after just a few hours of exploring and watching tutorials. The average time to get fully up and running seems to be around 2-4 weeks, factoring in time to thoughtfully configure your account, import data, and test your workflows.

Overall, HoneyBook is one of the most user-friendly CRM options I've come across for small businesses and freelancers. The modern design, strong customization options, and well-produced help resources make it accessible to a wide range of tech comfort levels. While it may take a few weeks to fully optimize your account, the core features can be learned in a matter of days, enabling you to start seeing the benefits quickly.

HoneyBook CRM integrations

When it comes to integrations, HoneyBook offers a solid set of capabilities that allow it to connect with the other tools small businesses rely on.

The CRM provides several pre-built integrations out of the box, including ones for QuickBooks accounting, Gmail for email, Calendly for scheduling, Facebook, and the popular automation platform Zapier. These native integrations make it easy to sync data and automate workflows between HoneyBook and these key external systems.

For custom integrations, HoneyBook also provides a full-fledged API. Developers can use the API to build integrations that allow reading and writing data between HoneyBook and virtually any other application. The company provides comprehensive API documentation and code samples to help with the integration process.

In testing out some of HoneyBook's built-in integrations, I found the data syncing between apps to be fast and reliable overall. Connecting a new app is also a straightforward process from the integrations settings page.

One potential downside is that, while HoneyBook offers a Zapier integration, it does not appear to directly integrate with some other popular iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) vendors like Make. However, Zapier alone enables support for thousands of integrations.

HoneyBook also provides some nice features to make managing integrations easier for non-technical users. The ability to retrieve your API key and manage 3rd-party app connections from the integrations dashboard is convenient.

Overall, HoneyBook covers the bases well in terms of supporting integrations. The combination of key direct app integrations, Zapier support, and a full API provides ample options for connecting data and workflows with external tools. While a few more iPaaS integrations would be nice to see, HoneyBook still offers solid capabilities for most small business integration needs.

How good is HoneyBook CRM support?

When it comes to customer support, HoneyBook has received mixed reviews.

The company offers live chat and email support channels, but does not provide phone support, which some customers find frustrating. Response times can vary, with some users reporting prompt and helpful replies while others have experienced delays of hours or even days to hear back, especially on weekends.

On the plus side, many users praise the friendliness and attentiveness of HoneyBook's support team when they are able to connect. The live chat tends to be the quickest way to get answers. I also found out that HoneyBook provides a fairly robust library of self-service resources, including a searchable knowledge base, tutorials, and webinars to help users troubleshoot issues on their own.

However, the quality and consistency of live support seem to be hit or miss. In my research, I came across a number of complaints about "pass-the-buck" responses and difficulty getting timely help with urgent problems. One reviewer even called it the "worst customer experience ever." Yet others rave about how HoneyBook's excellent support has made their lives easier.

Overall, HoneyBook appears to be working to provide solid customer service, with a capable and caring support staff. But the lack of live phone support and inconsistent response times are definite drawbacks compared to some other CRMs. The company could improve by expanding real-time support options and ensuring more reliable follow-up.

For many satisfied HoneyBook users, the support is good enough, and the product's benefits outweigh any frustrations. But if reliable and always-available customer service is a top priority for your business, it's worth carefully evaluating the support limitations before committing to the platform.

HoneyBook CRM pricing and plans

HoneyBook offers three main pricing plans to fit the needs and budget of different types of businesses. The Starter plan at $29 per month, billed annually, provides the core CRM features like unlimited clients and projects, invoicing, contracts, and a client portal. This is a great entry-level option for solopreneurs just getting started with a CRM system. However, it's worth noting that HoneyBook heavily restricts the backend on this tier: it limits the system to a single user profile and completely disables native automated workflows and interactive scheduling widgets.

For growing businesses that need more advanced features, the Essentials plan at $49 per month (billed annually) adds a lot of valuable capabilities. Automated workflows, scheduling, QuickBooks integration, and support for up to 2 team members can really streamline operations. Plus you can remove HoneyBook branding and access more robust reporting.

Larger teams will appreciate the Premium plan at $109 per month annually. It supports unlimited team members for collaboration and introduces priority technical support, advanced profit-and-loss reporting frameworks, and multi-company account toggles, letting you run entirely distinct brands out of a single centralized administrative dashboard.

You can start with a 7-day free trial to test out if the platform is a good fit before committing. While this is still less than the industry standard, having a free trial at all is a welcome feature that new users will appreciate.

Across all plans, you'll pay less on a monthly basis by choosing annual billing, which effectively gets you two months free compared to the month-to-month prices. Keep in mind the listed prices don't include applicable sales tax. But overall, HoneyBook's pricing is very competitive and transparent, without a lot of confusing add-ons or upcharges that some other vendors tack on.

My take is that HoneyBook provides a lot of value for the cost, especially for small businesses and self-employed professionals looking for an intuitive all-in-one system to manage their clients and business. While it may lack some of the deeper customization of pricier CRMs, the thoughtful feature set and interface you get for the price make it a compelling option in my book.

How we tested HoneyBook

At TechRadar Pro, our business software assessments go significantly deeper than simply summarizing marketing spiel. To truly evaluate HoneyBook's capabilities as a unified client relationship and cash-flow engine, our analysts put the platform through a practical testing process designed to replicate the day-to-day operations of an independent, service-based business.

Our CRM testing methodology looks at the platform's end-to-end client lifecycle tracking, smart file architecture and document stitching, workflow automation, AI efficiency loops, and the mobile ecosystem. Altogether, we try to assess more than just the core capabilities - but niche features and new developments too.

HoneyBook CRM review: Final verdict

After thoroughly evaluating HoneyBook, I've found it to be an excellent all-in-one CRM solution for small service-based businesses, freelancers, and independent professionals. The platform shines in its ability to streamline the entire client lifecycle, from initial contact to invoicing and payment.

HoneyBook's intuitive interface and robust feature set make it accessible to entrepreneurs and small teams without extensive technical expertise. And while larger enterprises with complex sales cycles may require more advanced CRM capabilities, HoneyBook is perfectly suited for small service providers looking for an affordable, user-friendly system to nurture leads and manage client engagements from start to finish.