With web startups giving away free applications with hopes of getting uses hooked, there are a lot of great tools out there that small businesses can use. Add to that open source apps and a plethora of already existing desktop tools and you have a free bonanza for companies. Granted some of these applications are less than perfect, and others fall short of their peers in terms of usefulness and features. But many of them are true gems, and for a cost conscious freelancer or entrepreneur they make life easier and help conserve cash.

We will be featuring one really useful app every week that is free (or has a free offering), saves money, makes money, or solves a real problem for a small business. Other apps in the space with slightly different uses will also be listed.

But first to get started here is a list of lists – websites that feature free apps. Please comment about others that you know and the list will be promptly updated.

Freewaregenius – A list of mostly windows applications, and others from pdf converters to time trackers.
Mashup – Has a list of useful apps for everything including twitter, business help, blogging, and money & finance to name a few.

Manage Money – Accounting and Bookkeeping
Invoice –
Expense Reports –
Bookkeeping –
Data Entry –
Payroll –

Create a Product or Service
Create a Website -
Design an Application -
Hire Talent –
Shopping Cart –
Online Billing –

Manage Customers – Marketing and Sales
Get Beta Users –
Survey Users –
Manage contacts -
Manage website analytics –
Blog –
Newsletters –
Do PR
Twitter – Twellow – Twitter yellow pages, Bit.ly – URL shortening and twitter analytics
Customer Forum –

Manage Partners

Legal