Knowledge Hub
save money 7 min read
The Real Cost of SaaS Tools for Freelancers
Figma, Notion, Adobe, Slack, GitHub, ChatGPT — freelancer tool subscriptions add up fast. Here's how to audit them.
Freelancers are among the heaviest subscription users. Design tools, project management, communication, storage, AI tools — it's easy to spend $200-400/month on software without realising it.
Common Freelancer Subscriptions - Design: Figma ($15), Adobe CC ($60), Canva ($13) - Productivity: Notion ($8), Obsidian ($8), Todoist ($4) - Dev: GitHub ($4), Vercel ($20), Linear ($8) - Communication: Slack ($8), Zoom ($15) - AI: ChatGPT Plus ($20), Claude Pro ($20), Perplexity ($20) - Storage: Dropbox ($12), Google One ($3)
That's already $218/month — $2,616/year — and that's a conservative list.
The Freelancer Audit 1. List every tool subscription 2. Ask: is there a free alternative that's 80% as good? 3. Are there tools you pay for but rarely use? 4. Can any be shared with clients and billed back?
SubTracker makes this audit easy — and keeps you from forgetting a renewal.