You start your business, and very quickly, it’s an avalanche. One tool for your tasks, another for your emails, a third for your invoices, a fourth for your social media… The result: you spend more time juggling between your tabs than actually getting work done. I know this chaos well — putting an end to it has even become my job.
So today, I’m laying my cards on the table: here are all the tools I work with. The ones I use every day and what I do with them, the ones I eventually left behind, and a few extra gems. Not to look good, but to help you make informed choices for YOUR setup.
My current toolbox
Transparency first: some of the links in this article are affiliate links. In practice, if you sign up through them, it doesn’t change your price (sometimes you even get a bonus or a discount), and on my end it supports my content creation work. I only recommend tools I genuinely believe in.
Notion — my central brain
Let’s be honest: Notion is the backbone of my entire business. CRM, task and project management, note-taking, documentation, knowledge base… everything lives in one place. It’s the tool I build for my clients and the one my own business runs on. If you only remember one tool from this article, this is the one.
Notion Calendar — my calendar
I run my schedule with Notion Calendar, connected to Google Calendar and my Notion databases. One single place to see my client appointments, my work blocks and my project deadlines. No more forgetting, no more double entry.
Notion Mail + Gmail — my emails
I manage my inboxes (work and personal) with Notion Mail, connected to Gmail. The benefit: staying in the same universe as the rest of my setup, without jumping from one app to another.
NB: Notion Mail is shutting down on September 22. I’m currently exploring a few options to replace it, and I’ll update this article as soon as I’ve made my choice!
Notion AI — my copilot
Notion AI helps me with writing, structuring and searching within my workspace. I occasionally use Gemini as an ad-hoc complement when I need a second opinion. And my meeting minutes? Automatically generated with Notion’s AI meeting notes, from my Google Meet calls.
Google Workspace — my Google foundation
A good part of my setup relies on Google Workspace: Gmail for my emails (which I manage from Notion Mail), Google Calendar synced with Notion Calendar, Google Drive for my files and Google Meet for my video calls. It’s the Google foundation that several of my other tools plug into.
Make — my automations
My rule: automate as much as possible directly within Notion (buttons + database automations). When I need to connect Notion to an external tool, I go through Make (1 month free on the pro plan via this link).
Cal.com — my scheduling
Most of my appointments (coaching sessions, follow-ups, networking meetings…) are booked online via Cal.com (20% off for 12 months via this link). My slots are synced with my calendar: zero back-and-forth by email to find a date.
Fillout — my forms
My contact and qualification forms go through Fillout (50% extra credits on sign-up via this link), which plugs directly into Notion: responses land in the right database, no re-typing.
Mailerlite — my newsletter
My emails and sequences go out from Mailerlite: simple, visual, and more than enough for a solo business.
Scheduled — my social media
I schedule my LinkedIn and Instagram posts with Scheduled (20% on all plans with the code mariegautron20), straight from Notion. Bonus: it reports my statistics back to me.
Canva & GIMP — my visuals
For my illustrations and design, it’s Canva first, GIMP for more advanced retouching locally on my Mac, and Notion AI to generate images on the fly.
Qonto — banking & invoicing
My business banking and electronic invoicing go through Qonto (€80 offered after signing up via this link once you’ve spent €50). Everything is centralized, clean, and ready for my accounting.
NB: For electronic invoicing, Qonto also offers a free version with no obligation to open a bank account with them.
WordPress, Divi & o2switch — my websites
My sites run on WordPress with the Divi builder, all hosted with o2switch. A reliable combo that I also deploy for my web clients.
Payhip + Notion Marketplace — selling my templates
I sell my Notion templates on my website via Payhip and the official Notion Marketplace.
The extra essentials
- Docusign: electronic signature for my contracts and quotes.
- Whimsical: my mindmaps and diagrams.
- Wemet: my unique NFC business card (reach out to me directly if you’d like a 20% discount)
- Cleanshot: my advanced screenshot tool that I use a ton every day and for my content creation
The tools I’ve left behind
My stack wasn’t always this one. I tested, adopted, then dropped quite a few tools along the way. And that’s normal: a tool is only good if it fits YOUR way of working at a given moment.
- Brevo — emailing and marketing automation platform. What it did: manage newsletters and campaigns. Used before switching to Mailerlite, which fit my current needs better.
- Tally — online form builder. What it did: create quick, free forms. Used before moving to Fillout, which goes further; and for simple forms, I now use Notion’s native forms.
- tl;dv — automatic recording and summary of meetings and calls. What it did: record, transcribe and summarize meetings. Replaced by Notion’s AI meeting notes with Google Meet recordings.
- Spoke — capturing and organizing meeting notes. What it did: record, transcribe and summarize meetings. Replaced by tl;dv, then by Notion’s AI meeting notes with Google Meet recordings.
Other tools I recommend
These aren’t (or are no longer) at the heart of my daily routine, but I know them, I recommend them, and they can save you a ton of time — especially if you build your setup around Notion.
- WP Connect — to connect Notion to WordPress.
- 2sync — to sync Notion with Google Calendar, Outlook or your tasks.
- Softr — to build a website or app from your Notion data.
- NotionApps — to turn a Notion space into a mobile app.
- PeopleToNotion — to import your contacts directly into Notion.
- WP Rocket — to speed up a WordPress site.
- Bonjoro — to send personalized videos to your clients.
So, where do you start?
The truth is, there’s no perfect, universal stack. The best tool is the one you open with pleasure and actually use. My job is to help you build a system that looks like YOU, without drowning you under 15 subscriptions.
Want to bring clarity to your setup?
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