A 5-person marketing agency can run a complete tech stack for about $257 a month on annual billing, plus one $49 one-time purchase. That covers email and docs, project management, a client portal with CRM and invoicing, e-signatures, social scheduling, design, reporting, automation, passwords, scheduling and accounting. The catch is annual billing: on monthly plans, the same stack costs about $323 a month.
Below is the stack slot by slot, with a budget and a premium alternative for each. Prices come from vendor pricing pages and AppSumo, checked on 20 October 2026. Where a vendor's page wouldn't load for us, we say so and name the source we used. This is a planning model built from published pricing, not a stack we've run ourselves.
What does the $300 stack cost, slot by slot?
| # | Job | Our pick | Monthly cost | Budget alternative | Premium alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Email, docs, video calls | Google Workspace Business Starter, 5 users | $35.00 | Same plan, staff seats only: $35.00 | Business Standard, 5 users: $70.00 |
| 2 | Team chat | Google Chat (included in Workspace) | $0.00 | Same: $0.00 | Slack Pro, 5 users: ~$36.25* |
| 3 | Project management | ClickUp Core, 5 users | $45.00 | ClickUp Free Forever: $0.00 | ClickUp Business, 5 users: $85.00 |
| 4 | Client portal, CRM, proposals, invoicing | SuiteDash Thrive | $40.00 | SuiteDash Start: $15.00 | SuiteDash Pinnacle: $80.00 |
| 5 | E-signatures | BreezeDoc Agency ($49 one-time) | $0.00 | BreezeDoc Free: $0.00 | PandaDoc Business, 2 seats: ~$98.00* |
| 6 | Social scheduling | SocialBu Growth | $59.25 | SocialBu Starter: $21.75 | Buffer Team, 20 channels: $200.00 |
| 7 | Design | Canva Pro, 1 seat for the designer | ~$12.00* | Canva Free: $0.00 | Canva Business, 5 people: ~$104.17* |
| 8 | Client reporting | Google Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) | $0.00 | Same: $0.00 | AgencyAnalytics, 10 clients: $200.00 |
| 9 | Automation | Zapier Professional | $19.99 | Zapier Free: $0.00 | Zapier Team: $69.00 |
| 10 | Passwords | Bitwarden Teams, 5 users | $20.00 | Same: $20.00 | Bitwarden Enterprise, 5 users: $30.00 |
| 11 | Sales-call scheduling | Calendly Standard, 1 seat | $10.00 | TidyCal ($29 one-time): $0.00 | Calendly Teams, 2 seats: $32.00 |
| 12 | Invoicing backup and accounting | Wave Pro | $15.83 | Wave Starter: $0.00 | FreshBooks Plus: $43.00 |
| Total per month | $257.07 | $91.75 | ~$1,047.42 | ||
| One-time purchases | $49 | $29 | $0 |
*Prices marked ~ come from third-party trackers because the vendor page wouldn't load for us or showed only regional pricing. See the notes under each slot.
Let's check the main total: 35.00 + 0 + 45.00 + 40.00 + 0 + 59.25 + 12.00 + 0 + 19.99 + 20.00 + 10.00 + 15.83 = $257.07. That leaves $42.93 of headroom under $300. If you spread the $49 BreezeDoc purchase over 12 months ($4.08 a month), year one averages $261.15 a month.
Why does annual billing decide whether this fits?
For seven slots we could confirm both annual and monthly prices. On monthly billing they cost more:
- Google Workspace: $35.00 → $42.00 (+$7.00)
- ClickUp Core: $45.00 → $60.00 (+$15.00)
- SuiteDash Thrive: $40.00 → $49.00 (+$9.00)
- SocialBu Growth: $59.25 → $79.00 (+$19.75)
- Zapier Professional: $19.99 → $29.99 (+$10.00)
- Calendly Standard: $10.00 → $12.00 (+$2.00)
- Wave Pro: $15.83 → $19.00 (+$3.17)
That's $65.92 more, so the same stack becomes $257.07 + $65.92 = $322.99 a month, over budget. Our usual advice: pay monthly for the first 60 to 90 days while you confirm the team actually uses each tool, then switch the keepers to annual billing. Our lifetime deals vs subscriptions framework explains the trade-off.
What does each slot cover, and why this pick?
1. Email, docs and video calls: Google Workspace
Google's own help centre lists Business Starter at $7 per user per month on the annual plan and $8.40 on the Flexible plan (Google Workspace editions). Five users is $35. Business Standard ($14 annual, $16.80 flexible) is the premium pick if you need more storage and Google's built-in booking pages. Budget move: pay only for staff. Freelancers can usually work in shared files as external collaborators.
2. Team chat: Google Chat, with Slack as the upgrade
Chat comes with Workspace, so it costs nothing extra. Slack's pricing page showed us only Indian-rupee prices, so we couldn't confirm USD directly. Third-party trackers report Slack Pro at $7.25 per user per month annually (CostBench), which would be $36.25 for five. Upgrade if you run shared channels with clients.
3. Project management: ClickUp Core
ClickUp's pricing page lists Core at $9 per user per month billed yearly ($12 monthly) and Business at $17 for new workspaces (ClickUp pricing). Some older workspaces still see the previous Unlimited ($7) and Business ($12) plans. Five Core seats is $45. Free Forever works for very light use but caps storage at 60 MB.
4. Client portal, CRM, proposals and invoicing: SuiteDash Thrive
SuiteDash charges a flat price with unlimited staff, clients and portals: Thrive is $480 a year ($40 a month), Start $180 a year ($15) and Pinnacle $960 a year ($80) (SuiteDash pricing). Thrive adds the proposals toolkit and deal pipelines that a sales-led agency uses. It's the slot that replaces the most other tools. Our SuiteDash vs FuseBase comparison works through the per-client maths.
5. E-signatures: BreezeDoc Agency
BreezeDoc lists Agency at $49 one-time through AppSumo (unlimited documents, up to 10 team members, your logo) and a free plan with 10 documents a month (BreezeDoc pricing). Read our BreezeDoc breakdown first, because its review profile is mixed. PandaDoc's page blocked our check. Third-party trackers report Business at $49 per seat per month annually (usecarly).
6. Social scheduling: SocialBu Growth
SocialBu lists Growth at $711 a year ($59.25 a month) for 20 social accounts, 5 team members and 3,000 posts a month, and Starter at $261 a year ($21.75) for 8 accounts with no team members (SocialBu pricing). Buffer charges per channel. Team is $10 per channel per month, or $120 a year, so 20 channels is $200 (Buffer pricing). If you're thinking about the lifetime route, see SocialBu lifetime vs monthly.
7. Design: Canva
Canva's pricing pages blocked our automated check. Third-party trackers report Pro at $144 a year (about $12 a month) and Business at $250 per person per year (CostBench). We budget one Pro seat for whoever owns design and leave everyone else on Free. Confirm current prices on Canva before you budget.
8. Client reporting: Google Data Studio
Google's dashboard tool, renamed from Looker Studio back to Data Studio, says it's "easy and free" (Data Studio). The premium pick, AgencyAnalytics, is $20 per client per month billed annually, with unlimited staff and client logins (AgencyAnalytics pricing). At 10 clients that's $200, a sensible upgrade once reporting eats more than a few hours a week.
9. Automation: Zapier Professional
Zapier lists Professional at $19.99 a month billed yearly ($29.99 monthly) with 750 tasks, Free at 100 tasks, and Team at $69 a month yearly with 2,000 tasks and 25 seats (Zapier pricing). Make's page blocked our check. Third-party trackers report Make Core at $9 a month yearly for 10,000 credits, a strong budget option if you can work with its builder.
10. Passwords: Bitwarden Teams
Bitwarden lists Teams at $4 per user per month and Enterprise at $6, both billed annually (Bitwarden business pricing). An agency holds client ad accounts and social logins. Don't skip this slot to save $20.
11. Sales-call scheduling: Calendly Standard
Calendly's pricing data lists Standard at $10 per seat per month annually ($12 monthly) and Teams at $16 annually (Calendly pricing). One seat for whoever takes sales calls is usually enough. TidyCal is $29 one-time on AppSumo, rated 4.33 from 934 reviews (TidyCal on AppSumo).
12. Accounting: Wave Pro
Wave lists Pro at $190 a year ($15.83 a month), or $19 monthly, with Starter free for unlimited invoices and estimates (Wave pricing). SuiteDash handles client invoices, while Wave covers bookkeeping. FreshBooks lists Plus at $43 a month at its regular rate after an introductory discount (FreshBooks pricing).
How should you use this table for your own agency?
- Start from jobs, not tools. The 12 rows are jobs. Cross off any your agency doesn't do.
- Check overlap. SuiteDash Thrive can send proposals, so you may not need slot 5. Workspace Standard includes booking pages, so you may not need slot 11.
- Price your real seat counts. Only slots 1, 3, 10 and the premium options grow per person.
- Use the headroom on purpose. About $43 a month is left over. Good uses are email verification before outreach, or an AgencyAnalytics trial when reporting gets heavy.
Our stack-audit checklist is the worksheet version of this process.
FAQ
What software does a small marketing agency need?
Most agencies need tools for about 10 to 12 jobs: email and docs, chat, project management, a client portal or CRM, e-signatures, social scheduling, design, reporting, automation, passwords, scheduling and accounting. Some of these can be one tool. SuiteDash, for example, covers the portal, CRM, proposals and invoicing.
How much should a 5-person agency spend on software?
On published pricing checked 20 October 2026, a complete stack costs about $257 a month on annual billing, or $323 on monthly billing. A bare-bones version costs about $92 a month. Premium picks in every slot cost over $1,000 a month.
Is Slack worth paying for in a small agency?
Not always. Google Chat is included in Google Workspace at no extra cost. Slack is worth it mainly when you run shared channels with clients or rely on its integrations. Budget roughly $36 a month for five users on Pro, based on third-party reports.
Should an agency buy lifetime deals instead of subscriptions?
Sometimes, for low-risk tools like e-signatures or scheduling, where the one-time price is small and switching is easy. Be more careful with client-facing systems such as portals, where a vendor shutting down would affect every client. Our lifetime-deal posts cover how to weigh this.
Did Stackwise use this exact stack?
No. This is a planning model built from published pricing and our stack-planning method, not a stack we have run ourselves. Trial each tool with your own team before committing to annual billing.
Want us to plan yours around your clients, team and current subscriptions? Have a look at our services.
