Solo – Keeping Freelancers Organized

More than 84 million people worldwide work as creative freelancers, in what has become a $900 billion industry. Solo is a business management application designed to meet the needs of these professionals, with project planning, time tracking, and automated invoicing tools that help solve the most problematic pain points in most freelancers’ careers.

Start your Solo experience by visiting the dashboard. This is where you’ll find important metrics, an overview of your active projects, and a heads up about any deadlines that you have on the horizon. Use the application’s Planner to manage milestones, meetings, and tasks, and create client quotes that are auto-populated with details based on the past information you’ve entered into Solo. Solo keeps track of all your client contact information within its Contacts and Clients sections. It also offers flexible time-tracking tools and one-click invoicing to quickly generate professional-looking bills to send to clients.

While Solo’s primary features may not seem innovative on their own, it’s the combination of these tools within a unified cloud-based platform that makes Solo such a useful resource for creative freelancers. The solution’s automated solutions help freelancers set accurate rates and get paid more quickly by clients. Ultimately, Solo frees up time for its users, so they can focus on doing whatever it is that they do best.

Practical Uses:

• Track how much time you spend working on a client’s project
• Store all client contact information in a centralized place
• Send invoices to clients as soon as the project is complete
• Keep track of all upcoming deadlines

Insider Tips:

• Start the timer directly from the Solo dashboard
• The Solo Mac app allows users to use the solution without an Internet connection
• Use the Message Area as your own personal billboard
• For the best experience, use the latest version of Safari, Chrome or Firefox

What we liked:

• Solo can be used by all different types of freelancers
• Bills are automatically filled out with all the necessary information
• Users can review metrics, meetings, and messages in the dashboard
• Projects are color-coded based on their current state and type of job

What we didn’t like:

• Solo is only useful for freelancers who work independently, as opposed to those who work in teams

Alternatives:

• Bunker – http://www.bunkerapp.com
• Duet– https://duetapp.com
• Planscope – https://planscope.io

Company Info:

• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Newcastle, United Kingdom
• Founded by: Jerome Iveson
• Web site: http://www.thrivesolo.com

Costs:

• Monthly plan is $14
• Annual plan is $140