The best business apps help you solve your day-to-day tasks, whether business or personal. They are easy to access from any device, fast, and constantly upgraded. We got used to them so much that going without a software tool seems inefficient.
Indeed, there is a web app for everything. Do you need to keep track of your marketing efforts? Take Google Analytics or Hotjar. Do your employees spend too much time working on a task? Jira or Basecamp will keep all the tasks in one place and simplify performance monitoring.
Unsurprisingly, Google has a billion results for the request “business web apps”. The topic is popular and will be for as long as people want to do things faster with fewer mistakes.
This post will present you with the list of the top 10 web apps used by our clients running businesses in different niches. You’ll see that these solutions are powerful though not perfect. If you find that your business needs have outgrown the capabilities of your tool, web app development services will come in handy.
Benefits of custom app development
The business web apps you can find online are intended for general use. That means they provide a specific set of features you can choose from to solve your tasks, and this set is the same regardless of your industry, market, or company size.
Some off-the-shelf business apps allow customization by adding integrations, adjusting the app’s appearance, or choosing what information it should collect from a standard list of options. However, if you need your app to treat your customers uniquely, it’s only possible with a custom solution.
Unlike pre-made apps, custom software is:
Goal-specific
Custom business apps are built with your requirements in mind. They are tailored for your working style, have a familiar look, and don’t take much time to master. Moreover, they perform the functions you need them to and thus can negate the need of having multiple general-purpose apps.
Better-scaling
If you plan to expand your business, you can communicate it to developers so they will build features accordingly. Thus, you will invest in an application once, and it will serve you for years even if your business scope gets wider.
More secure
You can choose to store data on-premises or use the cloud. You can also define various authentication levels to control employees’ accessibility and configure those settings as you need. This is only possible with a custom on-demand application.
This is one of the most popular web analytics services offered by Google. This business web app tracks and reports website traffic and can identify poorly performing pages. Using it, you can see where your website visitors come from, what devices they use, identify behavior patterns, and more.
The tool also has advanced features like custom visitor segmentation and funnel visualization, allowing you to analyze your website’s user journey visually. Google Analytics’ approach is to show high-level, dashboard-type data for the casual user and more in-depth data into the report set.
Key features:
Reporting and visualization
Funnel analysis
Smart goals
Tag manager
Data activation
Integrations with other Google products
Pricing: Freemium with a paid version for more data volume capacity and custom metrics. You can talk to sales to find out about the pricing plan for your business.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Universal All website info in one place Free learning resources Free of charge
Not entirely independent (it’s Google reporting about Google) Complex Incorrect reporting sometimes
HubSpot is an inbound marketing and sales platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close sales. It provides tools for social media marketing, content management, web analytics, and search engine optimization. HubSpot can also be integrated with other business web apps to enhance its functionality.
Key features:
Automated CRM database
List segmentation
Automated workflows
Email analytics
Paid ad tracking
Content A/B testing
Pricing: Freemium with paid plans for more tools starting at $45/month.
Advantages
Disadvantages
All-in-one platform for sales, marketing, and customer support Can be used as a CMS Free tools
Voluum is an affiliate marketing software tool to manage all your campaigns from a single place. You can track, optimize, and automate your advertising regardless of whether it’s native, display, pop, email, search, push, paid, or organic.
Moreover, this business app uses a traffic distribution AI that finds the most profitable combinations of ads and landing pages for your offers and audiences. In addition, Voluum detects bot traffic with its anti-fraud kit to protect your advertising investment.
Key features:
Direct Pixel tracking
Impression tracking
Custom conversion tracking
Real-time reporting
A/B testing
Auto-optimization feature
Traffic distribution AI
Automation tool
Integrations
Pricing: business plans start at $499/month.
Advantages
Disadvantages
High data security due to several data centers All marketing resources in one place Very fast Scalable
Steep price Limited data retention No customer support for lower-tier plans
Slack combined the best technical tools and consumer chat apps’ features into an effective business app for project management. It allows you to discuss important issues within your team and with external parties and set private discussions. There are also options for channels, quick calls, and custom Slack bots to pull in data from your apps automatically. All these features are available in the desktop, web, and mobile business applications.
Key features:
Limited-access channels
Reminders
Configurable notifications
Voice and video calls
Integrations
Pricing: Freemium with paid plans for more collaboration features starting at $6.67/month.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Instant communication Searchable history Public and private channels Shared files
Messages get disorganized and chaotic Limited functions for the mobile version Addictive nature
Basecamp is a well-known business app for project management with a streamlined and intuitive interface. It’s easy to invite collaborators, chat within projects, attach files, create checklists, and track your progress with this tool. You can also create helpful workflow calendars to keep everyone on track.
Key features:
To-do lists
Real-time communication
Team productivity reporting
Project progress tracking
Pricing: Freemium with paid plans for collaboration tools and integrations starting at $99/month.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Universal search Auto back-up Separate inbox for notifications
No way to prioritize tasks No time tracking tool Limited functionality on mobile
Trello is another famous web-based project management application for business. The main strength of this small business app is that it’s highly visual: on any given board, you can create several lists and move cards between them as the status of certain projectschanges. You can attach files, create checklists, and assign members to each card, so they’re updated on the task status change. Team members can also chat on each card directly.
Key features:
Preset templates
Automation feature
Cards and boards
Integrations
Pricing: Freemium with paid options for more boards and collaboration tools starting at $5/monthly per user.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Well-suited for Agile workflows Universal Helps keep conversations relevant
No time tracking tool No Linux app Comments can take a long time to get a reply
This application was designed to help teams track their work. It’s more text-heavy than Trello, and this app is for you if you love checklists.
You can easily prioritize tasks and monitor progress with visual dashboard charts. You can chat with team members, assign due dates, attach documents or other files, and configure notifications.
The business web app integrates with many other services, including Evernote, Google Drive, Box, Slack, MailChimp, WordPress, ZenDesk, and more.
Key features:
Workflow builder
Automated reports
Customizable dashboards
Custom calendar
Group discussions
Automation tools
Pricing: Freemium with paid plans for bigger teams and more customization starting at $10.99/month.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Enhanced collaboration Tons of integrations Better work organization
No time tracking tool Can’t assign multiple people to a task Limited exporting and importing functionality
The well-known Microsoft continues its evolution to web applications. This is the online version of Microsoft Office with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint. With this online business app, you don’t need to install the software package on your device. Just register and use.
Key features:
Accessible from all devices
Real-time co-authoring
Team chat
External user access
Workflow management with Microsoft Planner
Pricing: Starts at $6/month per user.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Team collaboration Automatic updates Data loss prevention Enhanced data security with mobile device management
Compatibility issues Difficult to use on mobile Most features are never used
From its original release on the Macintosh in 1985 to its brand new business web app edition, Excel continues to be one of the most popular spreadsheet tools. You can now crunch and chart numbers collaboratively with your team, pull in data from your apps, and use new add-ons to bring in the features you need. It even includes a survey and form tool for a quick way to gather data directly into a spreadsheet.
Key features:
Paste special
Absolute references
Extend formula
Flash fill
Filters
PivotTables
Print optimization
Pricing: $159.99 for a one-time purchase or $6.00/month per user as a part of the Microsoft 365 package.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Organization of large amounts of data Simple computations due to formulas Many other apps support data import from Excel
High cost Limited system compatibility Long learning curve
Yes, you read it right. Linkedin is an employment-oriented social networking service and a business app that can help you find an employee or set up a new business contact. LinkedIn allows members (workers and employers) to “connect” with each other in an online social network resembling real-world professional relationships.
Key features:
Skill management
Business showcase pages
Anonymous profile browsing
Connections export
Advanced search
Save search option
Pricing: Freemium with paid options for advanced lead and company search starting at $79.99/month per user.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Helps build visibility Helps stay up-to-date with industry trends Free information about audience/competitors
Spam Limited interactions Skill endorsements can be fake
There you have it—the top 10 web applications used worldwide. Some do a spectacular job of constantly polishing out their UI/UX and adding new features to meet their customers’ needs. And some have been used more out of habit than the lack of a better alternative.
Conclusion
But there is one thing to remember about all these business apps: they are meant to be universal and serve businesses of various types in various industries. Hence, there will always be a compromise between what you want your app to do and a reasonable investment.
However, you can avoid compromising with business web application development. Experienced and creative engineers at Syndicode will help you implement your web application ideas and ensure the solution aligns perfectly with your business goals and strategy. Check out our case studies to see what we can do!