I tried every productivity tool out there—here are the best in 2026

It's easy to feel like you're just one productivity tool away from finally getting organized and ahead of schedule. I hate to break it to you, but that tool doesn't exist—at least not as a single app you can download and call it a day.

The truth is, productivity is personal. The productivity apps that transform how your coworker works might feel like digital clutter to you. Some people swear by time blocking, others live and die by their to-do list, and a few genuinely productive humans I know don't use a task manager at all. (I don't understand them, but I respect it.) 

That said, the best productivity tools consistently make work faster and less painful across different work styles and industries. After hundreds of hours of testing—both solo and with the Zapier team—I've rounded up the best productivity tools that actually deliver. Not because they're trendy or because they promise to revolutionize your morning routine, but because they solve real problems without creating new ones.

The best productivity apps at a glance 

The best productivity app for organizing to-do lists

Todoist

Todoist pros:

• Feature-rich while still feeling minimal

• Flexible enough to accommodate almost any productivity workflow

Todoist cons:

• Feels like a web app even on the desktop apps

The worst place you could store that never-ending list of everything you need to do, in my opinion, is in your mind. It's just stressful: you'll remember, at random moments, that there's something you were supposed to be doing, and that memory will result in panic. 

A to-do list app gives you a place to jot down everything you need to do so you can fill your brain with other important things—like what your dog's voice would sound like if he could talk. 

Todoist isn't the most powerful to-do list website out there. It's also not the simplest. But that's kind of the point: this app balances power with simplicity, and it does so while running on basically every platform that exists. That's a strong selling point—which is also why Todoist tops Zapier's list of the best to-do list apps. 

Todoist also integrates with Zapier, which means you can automatically do things like create Todoist tasks from Slack messages, emails, or any other app you use. Learn more about how to automate Todoist, or get started with a pre-made workflow.

Todoist pricing: Free plan includes up to 5 personal projects and 3 filter views; Pro plan for $5/month includes hundreds more projects, 150 filter views, and an AI assistant. 

Read more: The best to-do list apps and to-do list apps if you have ADHD

The best productivity tool for managing your calendar

Google Calendar

Google Calendar pros:

• Free and widely available to anyone with a Google account 

• Integrates nicely with almost any other calendar service you care to use 

Google Calendar cons:

• No desktop apps, but it integrates with lots of them 

There are only so many hours in a day, which means you have to budget them. A calendar is how you do that. You could use a paper wall calendar, sure, but a calendar app lets you invite others to an event. And in a world with arguably too many meetings, calendar apps give you a useful place to store the link to your Zoom call or meeting location. 

Google Calendar does all of this while being extremely convenient to use, particularly for people who already use Gmail. I could go on and on about Google Calendar features (and I have), but here are the key selling points: it's easy to load on any device, lets you see your calendar in several different views, and offers features to help you ruthlessly defend your time—all while being easy to use. 

Plus, Google Calendar integrates with Zapier, which means you can set all of your calendar-related workflows on autopilot. For example, you can automatically cross-post events across calendars and create calendar appointments from spreadsheets. Learn more about how to automate Google Calendar, or get started with a pre-made workflow.

Google Calendar pricing: Free with a Google account; Business Starter for Google Workspace, which includes all Google apps, starts at $6/user/month with a one-year commitment.

Read more: The best calendar apps

The best productivity app for scheduling meetings 

Calendly

Calendly pros:

• It's a trusted name—which can matter when trying to get people to book with you

• Connects to a lot of calendars

Calendly cons:

• Free plan only supports one meeting type

If the real time-suck of your day isn't being in meetings themselves, but scheduling them, you need a meeting scheduling app. 

Year after year, Calendly tops Zapier's list of the best meeting scheduler apps because it's reliable, easy to use on both sides, and the free plan is robust enough to get the job done. Once you set up your booking page, you can take a hands-off approach to the rest of your scheduling workflows. Invitees can choose from a selection of meeting types, see your availability, and book a meeting with you. No more back-and-forth "Are you available tomorrow at 11 a.m.?" And "How about next Monday instead?" 

By connecting Calendly to Zapier, you can also do things like create new Zoom calls whenever a new meeting is scheduled or add new meeting attendees to your email marketing list. Learn more about how to automate Calendly, or get started with a pre-made workflow.

Calendly pricing: Free for one event type and one connected calendar; paid plans from $10/month for unlimited event types, multiple connected calendars, and integrations. 

Read more: The best meeting scheduler apps

The best productivity app for AI-powered scheduling

Reclaim

Reclaim pros:

• Manages recurring events well

• Quickly reschedules and adjusts your calendar when it detects a conflict

Reclaim cons:

• Native task management is clunky

At one point in my career, I had everything scheduled in my calendar: sign on, do task A, coffee break, do task B, lunch—you got the idea. I spent an unreasonable number of hours each week just making sure my calendar was up to date, color-coordinating events, and tweaking the allotted time for each task. It was a nightmare of my own making. 

If I had an AI calendar assistant, I could've saved myself the organization headache. 

Reclaim is one of the best options. You can enter all the tasks you have to tackle manually, and Reclaim will start dropping them on your schedule on its own. Better yet, you can integrate a wide range of task management apps and turn on sync, automating the whole process. As it populates your near future, it'll keep an eye out for deadlines, defending the time needed to complete critical tasks from an out-of-the-blue 1:1.

Speaking of 1:1s, Reclaim empowers your weekly catch-ups by rescheduling any recurring meetings if someone has to cancel, finding the best time slot for both, and sending the appropriate notifications.

Reclaim.ai pricing: Free plan available for unlimited tasks, 1 habit, and a 1-week scheduling range; paid plans start at $10/user/month for unlimited calendars, unlimited habits, more integrations, and more advanced features.

Read more: The best AI scheduling assistants

The best productivity app for automation

Zapier 

Zapier pros:

• Connects 8,000+ apps with workflows, agents, tables, forms, chatbots, and more—all in one platform

• AI built into every layer, from individual steps to autonomous agents

Zapier cons:

• Free plan is limited to two-step automations

Yes, you're on the Zapier blog, but bias aside, Zapier is the ultimate productivity tool: it allows you to connect all your existing productivity tools—and automates your workflows to make you (and your tools) more efficient.

With Zapier, you can build a productivity system tailored to your needs, connecting the apps you rely on every day and using Zapier's built-in tools to support you.

Here's an example: Let's say you're building a client database. You can use Zapier Forms to create your landing page and forms, store all your data in Zapier Tables, then trigger Zapier Agents to qualify leads, route them to the right team member, and update your CRM. Add a custom chatbot to answer client questions in real time, grounded in your help docs and business logic. And if you want to see how it all connects, Zapier Canvas lets you map, debug, and optimize your entire system visually.

And that's just scratching the surface of what's possible with Zapier. With over 8,000 app integrations and AI built in to every part of the platform, Zapier can be your productivity command center that turns disconnected tools into coordinated systems. Learn more about how to automate your entire workflow using Zapier. 

Zapier pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $19.99/month for multi-step Zaps, unlimited Premium apps, and webhooks.

The best productivity app for taking notes

Apple Notes

Apple Notes pros:

• Free and integrates seamlessly between your Apple devices 

• Consistently improving; it used to be incredibly basic, but now it's a competent notes app 

Apple Notes cons:

• Getting it to play nice with Android or Windows is a fool's errand

I'm constantly scribbling down notes: during dog walks, while I'm watching a movie, even while showering (I wouldn't recommend it). For the most part, none of these random thoughts warrant taking up space in a formal document. 

This, to me, is what note-taking apps are for: quickly writing things down so you can reference them later on. I treat my note-taking app as a personal journal, but you can also use it to store notes related to a particular project. Apple Notes has really powered up in recent years, with features like Markdown support, sharing, tags, and a powerful search function. You can also record audio, scan documents, and draw or handwrite entries.

If you're firmly entrenched in Apple's ecosystem, which I am, it only makes sense to use the free note-taking app that's built into all macOS and iOS devices: Apple Notes (also called Notes or iCloud Notes, depending on how you're accessing it). You can also use it through your browser. Head to icloud.com/notes, and you get an online version of the app with all your synced notes—even if you're on a PC or Chromebook. It's a nice bonus that keeps your notes from being totally locked into your Apple devices.

The one drawback is that Apple Notes isn't accessible on Android. If you regularly take notes on the go, you're better off using Microsoft OneNote. It's free and works across all platforms, including iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and the web.

Apple Notes pricing: Free for 5GB of storage across all iCloud services; starts at $0.99/month for 50GB. 

Read more: The best note-taking apps, the best journaling apps, and the best AI notes apps 

Best productivity app for dictation

Wispr Flow

Wispr Flow pros:

• Context-aware automatic editing and formatting

• HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II compliance available

Wispr Flow cons:

• Long stretches of continuous dictation can be inaccurate

Working across a Mac at home, a Windows PC at work, and an iPhone everywhere else shouldn't mean you're stuck juggling three different dictation apps. Wispr Flow is the connective tissue that keeps your voice-to-text experience consistent no matter which device you're on, right down to your custom vocabulary.

Wispr Flow works differently than traditional dictation apps. Instead of just converting speech to words, it detects which app you're using and automatically adapts your formatting to match the context. You can set it up to use formal punctuation when you're drafting emails, switch to casual formatting in Slack, or go full lowercase in your notes app. That means you'll sound professional when you need to and approachable when that's more your speed—without manually toggling settings every time you switch apps.

Wispr Flow can occasionally trip on transcribing internal company jargon. Just delete the wrong word, type the correct one, and the tool automatically saves it as custom vocabulary. Even better, if you're on a team plan, that vocabulary is shared with everyone. The same goes for snippets: pre-written text blocks you can call up with a single word. Say "Calendly," and your entire booking link paragraph drops right into place.

Wispr Flow leans into AI in ways that feel genuinely useful rather than gimmicky. For example, if you make a mistake, just correct yourself out loud as you speak, and Flow will clean it up and paste what you actually meant. Got a transcription that landed as one giant paragraph when you needed a list? Hit the command mode shortcut and speak a prompt to rewrite or reformat on the fly. And if you're feeling ambitious, you can try the tool's vibe-coding setting that lets you literally speak your app into existence.

Wispr Flow pricing: Free for limited words per week, custom dictionary and snippets, support for 100+ languages, and HIPAA-readiness; Flow Pro is $12/user/month (billed annually) for unlimited words per week and team collaboration features.

Read more: The best dictation and speech-to-text software

The best productivity tool for summarizing meetings 

Granola

Granola pros:

• Captures audio directly from your device—no meeting bot joining your calls

• Enhances notes you take manually with AI-generated context from the transcript

Granola cons:

• No audio or video playback (transcript only)

• Free plan limited to 25 meetings total (lifetime, not monthly)

If you're someone who likes being an active participant in meetings but keeps missing the details because you're too busy scribbling notes, this is the tool that'll change how you show up. Granola automatically transcribes, summarizes, and analyzes your meetings while also acting as a live notepad. 

You can jot down your own notes during the call, and afterward, Granola enhances them by weaving in context pulled straight from the transcript. It's like having a coworker who pays perfect attention and fills in all the gaps you missed.

Say you're heading into a sprint retrospective. You might type out a rough agenda in Granola before the meeting starts—just a few bullet points to keep things on track. During the call, Granola transcribes everything in the background. When it's over, you click one button, and Granola plugs in the relevant details from the transcript right into your notes. The result is a meeting summary that feels both human and complete—your voice mixed with the full context of what actually happened.

Instead of joining your calls as a visible bot (which can make some people weirdly self-conscious), Granola captures audio directly from your device. That means it works with any video conferencing tool without announcing itself (although you should still let people know you're using an AI assistant at the start of the meeting). 

Granola includes a few native integrations, and it also integrates with Zapier, so you can save Granola notes to your Google Drive automatically, route action items to your task manager, or even use an AI step to analyze call transcripts to flag high-intent prospects in your CRM. Learn more about how to automate Granola, or get started with a pre-made workflow.

Granola pricing: Free for AI meeting notes and 30 days of notes; Business plan starts at $14/user/month for unlimited note history, advanced AI models, and integrations

Read more: The best AI meeting assistants

The best productivity app for blocking distractions

Freedom

Freedom pros:

• Support for multiple blocklists

• Optional focus sounds

Freedom cons:

• Setup takes a little time and can be confusing

Every distraction you could possibly imagine is available at your fingertips. And it's all delivered by brilliant engineers who are doing everything they can to keep you looking at more and more and more of it. It's understandable if you have trouble getting stuff done in that context, which is why focus apps that block distractions are so helpful.

Freedom is a great tool for the job. It runs on every platform and can block distractions—both websites and apps—on all of your devices. That means you can't, for example, block TikTok on your computer only to pick up your phone and look at it there. With Freedom, you can set up multiple block lists, and then start timers for any of them. 

The downside: there's no long-term free version, just a free trial. But if you don't want to pay, you're not out of luck: Freedom offers a few free Chrome extensions. There's Pause, which will delay distracting sites from opening; Limit, which will cap how much time you can spend on distracting sites; Insight, which tells you how much time you're spending online; and Focus, which is built for students and blocks all non-educational websites.

Freedom pricing: $3.33/month billed annually or $8.99/month billed monthly; $199 for a lifetime subscription. 

Read more: The best focus apps

The best productivity app for time blocking 

Sunsama

Sunsama pros:

• Simple, intuitive interface

• Seamless integration with popular project managers

Sunsama cons:

• No free plan

When there's no time to waste and you have to nail down your priorities, adding structure and consistency becomes a necessity. That's where time blocking apps are an excellent way to manage your schedule: they force you to plan out every minute of your day.

Sunsama was designed with simplicity and functionality in mind, with a clean, intuitive interface that makes planning your day less of a chore and more of a ritual. Sign on in the morning, and you'll be asked which tasks you have to work on, how long you think they are, and when you want to do them all. 

At the end of the day, Sunsama gently nudges you to review what you accomplished and what can roll over, leaving you with a sense of closure and readiness for tomorrow. Sunsama can also sync updates across your apps automatically—for instance, moving a Trello card to a new column once you've completed it. 

You can do even more to streamline your time blocking process when you connect Sunsama with Zapier. For example, you can automatically turn starred emails or activity in your CRM into a Sunsama task. 

Sunsama pricing: No free version, though there is a 14-day free trial; starts at $20/month (or $16/month on an annual plan). 

Read more: The best time blocking software

The best productivity app for tracking time 

Toggl Track 

Toggl Track pros: 

• Generous free tier 

• Easily accessible from anywhere—mobile, desktop, and via browser extensions

Toggl Track cons: 

• Task management and planning features available only on paid plans

Unlike time blocking apps that proactively carve out dedicated periods of time to work on certain tasks, time tracking apps retroactively give you insight into how you're spending your time. This way, you can identify inefficiencies in your current workflow and streamline processes. Or, if you're a freelancer, record billable hours. 

If you're looking for a time tracker that's both free and powerful, Toggl Track is a great choice. It offers a generous free plan for freelancers and anyone who needs to track their time efficiently. And unlike many time tracking apps, Toggl doesn't require you to fill out a client, project, or task before you can start tracking. Just start the timer, and if you need to sort out the details later, you can.

Toggl also offers handy features like a Pomodoro timer, upgraded dashboards and reporting features, and plenty of integrations. You can use Toggl Track's Zapier integrations to do things like adding new time entries to a spreadsheet, starting new timers when calendar events start, and creating clients based on a database. Learn more about how to automate Toggl Track, or get started with a pre-made workflow.

Toggl Track pricing: Free for up to 5 users; $9/user/month (billed annually) for the Starter plan, which includes time rounding, billable rates, and customized reports. 

Read more: The best time tracking apps

The best productivity app for setting Pomodoro timers

Pomodor

Pomodor pros:

• Easy-to-use app 

• Available on the web 

Pomodor cons:

• Not much more advanced than a stopwatch

If you use the Pomodoro Technique to structure your day, there's only one thing you need: a timer. Sure, you could use the timer app on your smartphone—if you have the mental fortitude to ignore the temptations that come with using your phone. But if you, like me, have no such strength, then a Pomodoro timer is a much safer solution. 

There are plenty of timer websites out there, but Pomodor stands out for a couple of reasons. The most important: you can customize the length of the work and break periods as well as the number of Pomodoros you do before a long break, so you can fit it into how you like to work. 

Pomodor's countdown also displays in the URL title bar, meaning you can quickly tell how much time you have left in your working period while working in another tab. There's also a Dark Mode. It's not the most fully-featured timer on the market, but it offers just enough to help you stay productive.  

Pomodor pricing: Free (but donations to the site designer are recommended). 

Read more: The best Pomodoro apps

The best productivity app for building habits

Habitica

Habitica pros:

• The RPG conceit successfully gamifies habit building

• Essentially free to use

Habitica cons:

• More bells and whistles than you might need for simple habit tracking

I've been practicing my French using Duolingo for years now. And the primary reason I keep going back for more lessons is because of the gamification of it all. A daily gold star for putting in one minute of learning? Yes, please. 

No matter what habit you're trying to build (or break), a habit tracker can help you meet your goals by gamifying the process. Habitica is a habit tracking app that turns the whole process into a role-playing game (RPG). You can add tasks, daily activities, and habits to a list—but you can also battle monsters with your friends. It also works on iOS, Android, and the web, allowing you to easily track your habits on any device. 

While Habitica is more complicated to use than simpler habit-tracking apps, it's far and away the most fun—at least if a pseudo-retro, gamified experience appeals to you. It's especially motivating if you get your friends to use it too. You can all form a party, go on quests, and fight bosses. 

Habitica pricing: Free plan with most features; from $4.99/month for bonus items, the ability to buy gems with gold, and more. Group plans for $9/month plus $3/month per additional member. 

Read more: The best habit tracker apps

The best productivity tool for bookmarking articles to read later

Instapaper

Instapaper pros:

• Extremely simple

• Can send articles to Kindle devices

Instapaper cons:

• The free version doesn't have a search feature

Instapaper lets you build your own little library of things you actually want to read—minus the clutter. No pop-ups, autoplay videos, or cookie banners yelling at you. Just clean, readable text you can come back to anytime, even offline.

You can save content from pretty much anywhere using browser extensions or a bookmarklet, then read it later on the web or in the mobile app. You can also customize your reading experience by changing the font, background color, or text size to fit your preferences.

If you're a scribbles-in-the-margin kind of reader, Instapaper lets you add notes alongside your highlights so you can quickly scan back through what stood out to you without reopening the original articles. There are also some niche but surprisingly useful extras, like speed reading (a mode that flashes one word at a time to help you move through articles faster), a Kindle integration, and the ability to export your entire collection as an EPUB file. 

And Instapaper's Zapier integrations let you automate your reading workflows. Do things like automatically sending articles from an RSS feed or social media directly to your Instapaper reading list. Get started with a pre-built workflow, and customize it to use your favorite apps.

Instapaper pricing: Free; Instapaper Premium for $5.99/month (or $59.99/year) offers full-text search for all of your articles, unlimited notes, and text-to-speech.

Read more: The best read-it-later apps and the best bookmarking apps

The best productivity app for email 

Microsoft Outlook 

Outlook pros: 

• Useful built-in calendar

• Feature-rich app 

Outlook cons: 

• Really corporate feel for a personal email app 

If you're looking for a robust email client, Microsoft Outlook is surprisingly your best option.

Outlook works with not just Microsoft accounts but also Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo! Mail, and standard IMAP/POP3 email addresses. It's a full-featured email client that can handle everything from managing multiple accounts to organizing your inbox with Focused Inbox, which helps prioritize important emails. You can also create personalized profiles to separate your work, school, and personal emails, which makes it easier to stay organized.

Outlook also brings several productivity-boosting features to the table. The ability to @mention people within emails (automatically adding them to the To: field) is incredibly handy for team communication. It also includes modern email tools like follow-up reminders, delayed sending, and email scheduling. The best part: you get all of this for free. 

But Outlook isn't just an email client—it also includes a calendar, task manager, chat, and even note-taking features. You can also use Outlook's Zapier integration to connect to thousands of popular apps and streamline your productivity even more. Do things like copy events across calendars, send emails automatically, and get notifications for important emails. Learn how to automate Outlook, or get started with a popular template.

Outlook pricing: Free

Read more: The best email apps, the best AI email assistants, and  the best email clients for Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android. 

The best productivity app for all-in-one messaging

Beeper

Beeper pros: 

• Free

• Mobile versions available 

Beeper cons: 

• Still new and things could change a lot

You might consider messaging to be more of a distraction from productivity than a part of it. But if you spend a lot of time communicating across multiple platforms, it makes sense to consolidate and simplify that process into one streamlined app. 

Beeper is still relatively new, but it nails a lot of the features you want in a universal messaging app. There's a unified inbox for all your messages, you can search all your chats on every service at once, and you have granular control over muting and notifications. The app is also fast, modern, and easy to use, with a secure backup system that syncs your messages across devices. 

While it has yet to get iMessage working on Android smartphones, it still supports a wide range of services, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Telegram, Signal, and Discord. 

Beeper pricing: Free (for now) 

Read more: The best all-in-one messaging apps

The best clipboard manager app 

Windows logo key + V

Win + V pros: 

• A real clipboard manager built into Windows 

Win + V cons: 

• Lacks advanced features 

Copying and pasting text is one of those things that you probably do dozens or even hundreds of times a day without really thinking about it. Which means there's a good chance you've also accidentally copied one thing, got distracted, copied another thing, and then lost that initial copy. 

Clipboard managers allow you to copy a bunch of different things, store them in a super clipboard, and paste them later on. 

If you're a Windows user, your system already has a built-in clipboard manager. It even syncs your clipboard history across multiple PCs. Just copy text as normal, and then when you want to paste it, press Win+V. The first time you do it, you'll get a pop-up asking if you want to enable the clipboard manager. Click Yes, and you're good to go. 

Of course, the Windows clipboard manager is more basic than a dedicated app. It's limited to 25 items, and you can't copy large images or files—though you can pin things to the clipboard if you frequently need the same clips. It also gives you quick access to special symbols, emojis, and GIFs. So if you have a PC and just need something that allows you to copy and paste a few items at a time, it's a great option.

Win + V pricing: Free and included with Windows. 

Read more: Maccy is another solid option for macOS and is free(ish). For more feature-rich options, check out Zapier's list of the best clipboard managers.

The best productivity app for reading RSS feeds

Feedly

Feedly pros:

• Free plan is sufficient for most people's RSS needs 

• Great mobile apps for reading on the go—plus it integrates with almost every feed reading app you could want 

Feedly cons:

• Sponsored ads can be frustrating 

If you want to follow a publication, writer, or something else online and see everything they publish—not just what your social media algorithm throws your way—the best way to do it is with an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) reader. 

Feedly is the industry standard for web-based RSS readers, and it's easy to see why. It offers a clean and simple user interface—enough for casual readers who want to see all of their websites in one place. 

But you're not limited to only curating and aggregating content. Upgrade to the Pro or Pro+ plan to search your feeds, add notes to content, and highlight important passages. You can even use Feedly's built-in, AI-powered features to pull in or exclude content that matches a particular criterion from your feeds, summarize articles, and suggest related articles. 

You can also use Zapier's Feedly integration to connect it with thousands of other apps. This way, you can do things like share articles on Slack or save tagged articles to a Google Sheet. 

Feedly pricing: Free plan lets you follow up to 100 sources and use the web, Android, and iOS apps; Pro plan starts at $6/month and includes up to 1,000 sources, search, and third-party integrations. 

Read more: The best RSS reader apps

The best productivity app for creating and sharing screen recordings

Loom

Loom pros:

• Super easy to use and works across devices

• Generous free plan

Loom cons:

• The mobile apps aren't perfect

Whether it's for a presentation or troubleshooting a problem, screen recording tools make it easy to record what's on your screen and share it.  

Loom is a great first tool to check out in this category. It's easy to set up, works on all major platforms, and makes it really simple to share recordings. You can record just your screen, your screen with webcam video, or just your webcam. You can also do some basic editing in the browser before sharing the final product with others. Loom also offers AI features, including automatic transcription and auto-generated titles, summaries, and chapters. There's even an option to remove filler words and silence. 

It's all very quick, which makes Loom an easy solution to recommend. 

Loom pricing: Free for 25 videos of up to 5 minutes; Business plans start at $18/month/user with unlimited videos and recording length.

Read more: The best screen recording tools and screen sharing apps

The best productivity app for managing your passwords

1Password

1Password pros:

• Easy to use across any device

• Transparent about its security

1Password cons:

• No free plan

Password managers fix a lot of the problems with passwords for you. All you have to do is remember a single master password, and the app takes care of the rest. And since data breaches are way more common than you'd think, password managers help protect you against unauthorized access and harmful attacks—and keep all your information private.

1Password is one of the biggest names in password management. It's the best option for most people looking for a password manager because it's easy to use, incredibly secure, and works on pretty much every browser, with all your passwords syncing across all your devices. With 1Password, you can also create "vaults" to keep more than just your passwords organized—you can also store credit card details, auto-fill information like addresses, and store up to 1GB of private notes and files.

1Password pricing: From $2.99/month (billed annually) for an Individual account; $4.49/month (billed annually) for Families with up to five accounts. 

Read more: The best password manager apps

The best productivity app for generative AI

ChatGPT

ChatGPT pros:

• Powerful

• Fun and easy to use

ChatGPT cons:

• Like any AI, it's prone to hallucinations

ChatGPT is the original AI chatbot—and it remains the go-to one. It's incredibly simple to use: start a conversation by writing your prompt at the bottom of the screen via the web, mobile, or desktop app. 

The desktop app also gives you the full power of ChatGPT's conversational abilities without needing to keep a browser tab open. Just hit option+space (Mac) or Alt+space (Windows) to open a dialog window and start a new conversation, search the web, or take a screenshot (and then ask a question about it). You can also use Advanced Voice Mode to have a real-time conversation with ChatGPT. 

ChatGPT lets you do everything from AI image generation to data analysis and creating custom chatbots—and it's impressively fast. It also remembers your conversation context, so it can give more accurate and relevant responses as you go along. Plus, with the latest models, the app is even faster and more reliable at handling complex queries. 

You can even integrate ChatGPT into your existing workflows with Zapier's ChatGPT integration. Do things like generate replies to Slack messages, draft email copy, and summarize data, straight from the apps you use most. Learn how to automate ChatGPT, or get started with a pre-made workflow.

ChatGPT pricing: Free plan available; $8/month for ChatGPT Go for more messages, uploads, and image creation; $20/month for ChatGPT Plus, which includes advanced features and access to newer models.

Read more: The best AI chatbots

Other productivity tools worth checking out

This article could go on forever, but I think the above apps are a great place to start. If you're feeling particularly motivated to add more productivity tools to your tech stack, here are a few other suggestions. 

• Mobile scanning apps, like Microsoft Lens, let you scan documents using your phone while also digitizing any text using optical character recognition (OCR). Check out Zapier's list of the best mobile scanning and OCR apps for more choices. 

• Text expansion tools, like PhraseExpress, let you create text snippets and templates for things you type regularly. Then, just type your custom shortcut, and let the app fill in the rest. 

• Mind mapping software, like Coggle, helps you map the connections between different ideas while you're brainstorming. Here are Zapier's picks for the best mind mapping software. Or take a look at the best brainstorming tools overall.

As you consider these productivity app suggestions, remember one thing: the specific app doesn't matter. The best productivity tools are the ones that work best for you. The most important thing is having a system.

Related reading: 

• The best productivity apps for iPhone

• The best Mac productivity apps

• The best productivity apps for Windows

• The best productivity extensions for Chrome

• Microproductivity: How to get mundane tasks done, finally

This post was originally published in September 2018 by Matthew Guay and has also had contributions from Justin Pot. The most recent update, with contributions from Nicole Replogle, was in March 2026.