5 Open Source Tools I'm Using For My Business In 2024

Almost every business needs these five tools:

• Team Communication (Slack, $8.75/month/user)
• Project Management (Trello, $6/month/user)
• Invoicing (FreshBooks, $24/month)
• Shared Inbox (HelpScout, $20/month/user)
• Sales Pipeline (Pipedrive, $50/month/user)

Not only are these apps expensive, they remove your data from your control. For example, as Austen Allred (BloomTech CEO) found out, it would cost $78K just to export his company data off of Slack.

This is completely unnecessary. These tools are now commodities, and there are dozens if not hundreds of viable replacements. Many of them are available nearly for free if you bring your own hosting.

Here are the replacements for these apps that I'm utilizing for my team in 2024.

Mattermost (Slack Alternative)

I was excited for 37Signals & Once.com to unveil their first product, but when they did... and it was Campfire... I was underwhelmed.

Yes, Slack is an overpriced and not as great these days. But we already have an amazing alternative and it's free.

Enter Mattermost. Mattermost is everything I want from a Slack style tool. The UI is great. When you visit the Mattermost site, you might get turned off. Their site is pretty terrible. This is common for open source tools.

Despite being billed as 'for technical teams', I've thrown VAs from the Philippines into our Mattermost with a simple link to sign up and no one has struggled to operate the tool (from designers to assistants).

There are more tricks up Mattermost sleeve, as they also have a feature called Playbooks which is basically a bot that can walk your staff through an SOP. Totally amazing.

Focalboard (Trello Replacement)

Focalboard is actually available as a plug-in for Mattermost, and that's how we're using it at Client Amp, but you can self-host it as a standalone tool or even just run it as a desktop app.

In its most basic form, you can just leave it in Kanban board mode. But much like Notion or Airtable, there are alternative views like lists (spreadsheet) and calendars.

Invoice Ninja

If you're sending out quotes or invoices, you could just use Stripe, but they're going to force you to upgrade and you'll end up paying even more in fees.

Did you know that if you're using Stripe for subscriptions, they charge you more per transaction than a regular transaction? Madness.

Invoice Ninja is wonderful. It has a desktop and mobile app (if those are your thing) or you can use it on the web. We chose to white label Invoice Ninja as it's only $30 a year, but otherwise the app is totally free to self host.

FreeScout (HelpScout Alternative)

A shared inbox or helpdesk is critical if you are a team of more than one. FreeScout is a very mature platform. The core tool is totally free, and they have paid add-ons that you can choose to pimp out your installation with features that make sense to your business.

I ended up spending about $130 on modules for our Client Amp FreeScout instance. This allowed us to add features like canned replies, a web-based front-end for client submissions, and satisfaction ratings.

It's running perfectly and our clients love being able to email us support tasks vs. having to log-in to a portal.

EspoCRM (Pipedrive Alternative)

Using a dedicated sales pipeline can transform how you manage leads. As we know, what gets measured gets managed, and if you're dealing with prospects via your email inbox, chances are you aren't measuring much.

EspoCRM is a wonderful alternative to the sea of expensive (and difficult to manage) SaaS Sales CRMs. As with all of the apps in this list, it is completely free to get started. You may have to use some of their paid add-ons to get everything you need, like Gmail support or automations. I use regular SMTP for email and don't need to automate just yet, so we aren't paying a dime.

Not Just About Money

We're running all of these tools on a single server. Nothing is being hit by tons of traffic at once, so everything is lightening fast. This is undoubtedly saving us hundreds of dollars a month. For a bigger team it could easily be in the tens of thousands.

But it's not just about the money. It's about the fact that our data is ours and we aren't being held hostage by a SaaS provider. We have backups on different providers so we don't have to be worried about losing access to some of the most valuable data in our company.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for why I'm going deep into FOSS (Free & Open Source Software) in 2024.

What Is Most Interesting To You?

Give me your feedback on this list. Which ones would you like to add to your business? Which ones did I miss that you're already using?

I plan to create training material around many of these tools, because I think they are under utilized. Your feedback helps me decide where to devote my time.

And, as I mentioned before, I'm also available to set it up and manage software like this for you. Just hit reply for details.

Final Verdict

Open source tools have reached a point where they can genuinely replace paid software for most business needs. The five tools covered here save real money while giving you full control over your data and infrastructure.

The tradeoff is setup time and maintenance. If you are comfortable with self-hosting or willing to learn, FOSS tools can eliminate thousands in annual subscription costs. For everyone else, the managed versions of these tools still cost far less than their proprietary competitors.

Frequently Asked Questions

What open source tools can replace paid business software?

Open source alternatives exist for most business categories including project management, CRM, email marketing, analytics, and automation. Tools like Mautic, ActivePieces, and Nextcloud offer viable free alternatives.

Are open source business tools reliable enough for production use?

Many open source tools are used by large organizations in production. Reliability depends on the specific project maturity, community size, and whether you have the technical ability to maintain them.

What are the downsides of using open source for business?

Open source tools often require self-hosting, technical maintenance, and troubleshooting without dedicated support. The time spent on setup and maintenance should be factored into the total cost comparison.

Can you self-host open source tools easily?

Platforms like Cloudron and Coolify simplify self-hosting by providing one-click installs for popular open source apps. However, you still need a server and basic system administration knowledge.

When should you choose open source over paid software?

Choose open source when you have technical skills, want full data control, need to avoid recurring costs, or when the open source option genuinely matches your feature requirements.