A solo consultant can cover the essentials with 8 tools for about $59.48 a month on annual billing, plus a $19 one-time e-signature purchase. The 8 slots are business email and docs, scheduling, notes and projects, proposals and e-signatures, invoicing and accounting, a client portal, a password manager, and a newsletter. That leaves about $40 a month of room under a $100 budget for anything specific to your practice.
Prices below come from vendor pricing pages and AppSumo, checked on 20 October 2026. Two figures (Kit and PandaDoc) come from third-party trackers because the vendor pages blocked our check, and they're marked as such. This is a planning model built from published pricing, not a stack we've run ourselves.
What do the 8 tools cost?
| # | Job | Our pick | Monthly cost | Budget alternative | Premium alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Business email, docs, video calls | Google Workspace Business Starter | $7.00 | Same: $7.00 | Business Standard: $14.00 |
| 2 | Scheduling | Calendly Standard | $10.00 | Cal.com Individual (free) or TidyCal $29 one-time: $0.00 | Calendly Teams: $16.00 |
| 3 | Notes, projects, client wiki | Notion Plus | $10.00 | Notion Free: $0.00 | Notion Business: $20.00 |
| 4 | Proposals and e-signatures | BreezeDoc Individual ($19 one-time) | $0.00 | BreezeDoc Free: $0.00 | PandaDoc Starter: ~$19.00* |
| 5 | Invoicing and accounting | Wave Pro | $15.83 | Wave Starter: $0.00 | FreshBooks Lite: $23.00 |
| 6 | Client portal | SuiteDash Start | $15.00 | FuseBase Free plan (1 portal): $0.00 | SuiteDash Thrive: $40.00 |
| 7 | Passwords | Bitwarden Premium | $1.65 | Bitwarden Free: $0.00 | Bitwarden Families: $3.99 |
| 8 | Newsletter | Kit Newsletter (free) | $0.00* | Same: $0.00 | Kit Creator: ~$33.00* |
| Total per month | $59.48 | $7.00 | ~$168.99 | ||
| One-time purchases | $19 | $0 (or $29 for TidyCal) | $0 |
*Third-party figures. See the slot notes.
Check the main total: 7.00 + 10.00 + 10.00 + 0 + 15.83 + 15.00 + 1.65 + 0 = $59.48. Spread the $19 BreezeDoc purchase over 12 months ($1.58 a month) and year one averages $61.06 a month. That's $38.94 under $100.
What changes if you pay month to month?
Four slots have confirmed monthly prices that are higher than the annual rate:
- Google Workspace: $7.00 → $8.40 (+$1.40)
- Calendly Standard: $10.00 → $12.00 (+$2.00)
- Wave Pro: $15.83 → $19.00 (+$3.17)
- SuiteDash Start: $15.00 → $19.00 (+$4.00)
That's $10.57 more, so $70.05 a month before Notion. Notion's page says yearly billing saves "up to 20%", so its monthly rate is higher than $10 too. You still land well under $100 either way. That's why, for a solo consultant, we'd stay monthly for the first quarter and only commit to annual plans once the tools have earned their place.
Why these 8 slots?
We plan consultant stacks around the client lifecycle: get booked, scope the work, sign, deliver, get paid. Then we add two pieces of infrastructure (passwords and your own audience). Anything that doesn't serve one of those steps is optional. Each slot below has one job.
1. Business email, docs and calls: Google Workspace
Google's help centre lists Business Starter at $7 per user per month on the annual plan and $8.40 on Flexible, with Business Standard at $14 annual (Google Workspace editions). You get email on your own domain, Drive, Docs and Meet. Meet covers client calls, so you don't need a separate video tool at this stage.
2. Scheduling: Calendly Standard
Calendly's pricing data shows Standard at $10 per seat per month annually ($12 monthly). The free plan is limited to one event type and one calendar connection (Calendly pricing). Consultants usually need at least two event types, such as a discovery call and a client session, which is why we budget for Standard. Budget swaps: Cal.com's Individual plan is listed as "free forever" (Cal.com pricing), and TidyCal is $29 one-time on AppSumo, rated 4.33 from 934 reviews (TidyCal on AppSumo).
3. Notes, projects and client wiki: Notion Plus
Notion lists Plus at $10 per member per month and Business at $20, billed yearly (Notion pricing). Plus adds custom forms and sites and unlimited file uploads. The free plan works well for one person, so this is the first slot to cut if money is tight.
4. Proposals and e-signatures: BreezeDoc Individual
BreezeDoc lists Individual at $19 one-time through AppSumo (20 documents a month, reminders, custom emails, API access) and a free plan with 10 documents a month (BreezeDoc pricing). Most consultants send far fewer than 20 contracts a month. The review profile is mixed, so read our BreezeDoc breakdown first and keep copies of signed contracts somewhere you control. PandaDoc's page blocked our check. Third-party trackers report Starter at $19 per seat per month annually (usecarly).
5. Invoicing and accounting: Wave Pro
Wave lists Pro at $190 a year ($15.83 a month), or $19 monthly. Starter is free with unlimited invoices, estimates and bookkeeping records. Card payments cost 2.9% + $0.60 on Starter, and Pro waives the $0.60 on the first 10 transactions a month (Wave pricing). Pro adds bank imports, receipt capture and automatic late-payment reminders, which save the most time. FreshBooks Lite is $23 a month at its regular rate after an introductory discount (FreshBooks pricing).
6. Client portal: SuiteDash Start
SuiteDash lists Start at $180 a year ($15 a month) or $19 monthly, with unlimited clients and portals, white labelling and 100 GB of storage (SuiteDash pricing). A portal gives every client one place for files, updates and invoices, instead of a long email thread. Budget swap: FuseBase's free plan includes one client portal (FuseBase pricing). For how the two compare as you grow, see SuiteDash vs FuseBase.
7. Passwords: Bitwarden Premium
Bitwarden lists Premium at $1.65 a month, billed annually at $19.80, and Families at $3.99 a month for six accounts. There's also a free account that includes unlimited devices (Bitwarden pricing). Consultants often hold client logins, and $1.65 a month is cheap insurance.
8. Newsletter: Kit Newsletter
Kit's pricing page blocked our check. Third-party trackers report the free Newsletter plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers, with Creator from $39 a month, or $33 a month billed annually, at 1,000 subscribers (passivekit). A small list of past clients and prospects is the cheapest pipeline a consultant can build. Confirm current limits on Kit's site.
Is there an all-in-one alternative?
Yes. Bonsai combines scheduling, forms, a client portal, project tracking and invoicing. It lists Essentials at $19 per user per month billed annually ($25 monthly) (Bonsai pricing). Swap it in for slots 2, 5 and 6 (Calendly $10, Wave Pro $15.83 and SuiteDash Start $15, which together cost $40.83) and you save $21.83 a month. You'd also have one fewer login, but all your client operations would depend on one vendor. Some consultants like that simplicity. Others prefer to keep the parts separate so they can swap one out.
How do you adapt this stack to your practice?
- List your client lifecycle steps and mark which slot covers each one.
- Delete slots you don't use. If you don't sell to a list, slot 8 goes.
- Use the headroom for your specialism. That might be an SEO tool, a design tool or a research subscription. That's what the remaining ~$40 is for.
- Re-check prices every six months. Several prices here changed during 2026.
If you're considering lifetime deals for any slot, run our stack-audit checklist first, and see lifetime deals vs subscriptions for the cost model.
FAQ
What software does a solo consultant need?
Most solo consultants need eight things: business email and docs, scheduling, a notes or project tool, proposals and e-signatures, invoicing and accounting, a client portal, a password manager and a newsletter tool. On pricing checked 20 October 2026, that costs about $59.48 a month on annual plans.
Can a consultant run their business on free tools?
Mostly, yes. Calendly's free plan is limited to one event type, but Cal.com's Individual plan is free, as are Notion Free, BreezeDoc's free plan (10 documents a month), Wave Starter, FuseBase's free portal and Bitwarden Free. The one thing worth paying for from day one is email on your own domain, which is $7 a month with Google Workspace Business Starter on the annual plan.
Is Bonsai cheaper than separate tools?
For scheduling, invoicing and a client portal, yes, slightly. Bonsai Essentials is $19 a month billed annually, compared with $40.83 for Calendly Standard, Wave Pro and SuiteDash Start together. Separate tools give you more choice and less dependence on one vendor.
Should a consultant buy lifetime deals?
They can make sense for low-risk tools such as e-signatures or scheduling, where the price is small (BreezeDoc $19, TidyCal $29) and moving away later is easy. Be more cautious with anything that holds client data you couldn't easily recreate.
Did Stackwise test this stack?
No. It's a planning model built from published pricing and our stack-planning method. Use free plans and trials to check each tool against your own workflow before paying annually.
Want us to plan yours, including the tools specific to your field? See our stack-planning services.
