15 Best Work From Home Productivity Apps (Categorized)

A study by Apollo Technical found that on average, those who work from home spend 10 minutes less a day being unproductive, work one more day a week, and are 47% more productive.

But…

The comfort of working in pajamas can quickly turn into the pain of wasted hours as distractions lurk behind every click.

When working from home, maintaining focus and efficiency can be a constant battle against:

• The temptation to do laundry
• Catch up on your favorite anime
• Or scroll endlessly through social media.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The right productivity apps can help remote workers stay laser-focused by minimizing digital disruptions.

You can’t go wrong with this guide if you’re a remote worker looking for better tools for maximum productivity.

This Is Why You Should Trust Squeeze Growth

Squeeze Growth approaches remote work topics thoughtfully.

While many blogs give generic productivity advice, we provide strategic insights tailored specifically to a particular target audience.

We offer thoughtful suggestions backed by psychological research—not just surface-level tips. Additionally, we provide in-depth software recommendations based on real-world testing.

Finally, members of Squeeze Growth bring personalized advice to the table because of their experience working remotely in different parts of the world.

Task & Project Management Apps

1. Zoho Projects

(10-day trial, paid plan starts at $5/month)

Zoho Projects is a project management tool that helps you manage multiple projects with ease. It lets you structure tasks, set dependencies, and assign due dates and owners.

Zoho Projects’ intuitive work breakdown structure makes breaking down tasks and subtasks simple.

A key highlight is customization.

You can tailor tasks, projects, and workflows to match your process. You can even set up custom fields, views, forms, and automation through the easy-to-use builder.

For instance, build a view to track website redesign tasks or automate notifications when certain conditions are met.

Speaking of notifications, Zoho Projects makes team communication efficient.

@mention colleagues in comments or chat with them via threaded conversations. Set up forums for topic-based discussions. Share files and co-edit documents for real-time collaboration.

The possibilities are endless!

Key Features

• Work breakdown structure for tasks, milestones, subtasks
• Multiple task views like Classic, Plain, Kanban
• Task automation through dependencies, recurrence, reminders
• Dashboards and reports for tasks, issues, timesheets, budgets
• Collaboration through chats, forums, and document sharing
• 3rd party integrations with tools like Zapier, Slack, Microsoft 365
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android

2. Motion

(7-day trial, paid plan starts at $5/month)

Motion is an AI-enhanced productivity app that enables you to manage your tasks, projects, and meetings in copilot mode.

The heart of Motion is its calendar view—think of it as mission control for your day.

You can view your schedule daily, weekly, or monthly to plan your attack. But it’s not just a regular calendar. This bad boy lets you color-code events, set reminders, and even create recurring tasks.

Motion combines task management with your calendar.

You can create tasks right from the calendar view, assign due dates, and categorize them with tags.

It supports subtasks, breaking down complex projects into manageable chunks. The task list view is like your personal To-Do commander, sorting tasks by priority or due dates.

If you’re a note-taking freak like me, Motion’s got your back. You can create rich-text notes, attach files, and even link them to specific tasks or events.

For team players, Motion brings the squad together with shared calendars, task assignments, comments, and mentions. Real-time syncing ensures everyone’s on the same wavelength, even when working remotely.

Key Features

• Intuitive calendar view with daily, weekly, and monthly scheduling
• Task management with due dates, tags, and subtasks
• Integrated note-taking with rich formatting, file attachments, and task/event linking
• Team collaboration tools like shared calendars, task assignments, comments, and mentions
• Real-time synchronization for remote collaboration
• Integrations with popular tools like Slack, Google Drive, and Zoom

3. Akiflow

(7-day trial, paid plan starts at $24.99/month)

Akiflow is this complete digital planner and calendar to optimize productivity. Akiflow brings together all your tasks and schedules in one place to help enhance efficiency.

With Akiflow’s handy universal inbox, you can pull in responsibilities from your other go-to apps.

Their time-blocking expertise lets you allot certain blocks of time to focus on important projects or deep work.

You simply drag and drop tasks right onto your calendar to create events and safeguard those precious hours.

Akiflow also makes it simple to share availability with others so they can book slots that work for both of your schedules.

Recurring tasks can be set to repeat daily, monthly, or however often you need.

Moreover, labels and shortcuts even display each city’s time zone alongside yours so you know when people are available.

Key Features

• Universal Inbox to centralize tasks from many apps
• Time-blocking functionality to schedule focused work sessions
• Beautiful calendar view to visualize an organized schedule
• Advanced task management with priorities and recurrence
• The smart organization with time zones and offline access
• Command bar to quickly create & categorize tasks

Time Management Apps

4. Rize

(Free plan, paid plan starts at $16.99/month, 7-day trial)

Rize is an AI-powered time-tracking software to boost productivity and enhance focus for remote workers.

As your personal “productivity coach,” Rize revolves around the philosophy of deep, distraction-free work.

It automatically tracks computer usage without manual input, providing insights to build better habits.

With Rize, you can expect detailed daily and weekly productivity reports delivered to your inbox, highlighting your activity across customizable categories.

It intelligently notifies you when it’s time for a break or if you’re at risk of overworking – preventing burnout.

For calendar users, Rize integrates with Google and Outlook to auto-tag meetings. It also allows manual session tracking for focused work blocks.

Key Features

• Automatic time tracking
• Daily & weekly reports on your inbox
• Break & overworking notification
• Google & Outlook calendar integrations
• Desktop widget for convenience

5. Sunsama

(14-day trial, paid plan starts at $20/month)

Sunsama is a digital daily planner that helps you build better work habits by enabling realistic goal-setting, efficient time management, and effective prioritization.

Its unified dashboard integrates your tasks, emails, and calendar events so you can schedule your day hour-by-hour.

Sunsama makes it simple to timebox your tasks, set durations, and drag and drop them onto your calendar.

Sunsama also syncs task lists from platforms like Trello, Asana, and Jira so you have one centralized view of your obligations.

With Sunsama, you can organize your communications by converting Slack messages and emails into trackable tasks.

Its Focus Mode minimizes distractions for deep work while keyboard shortcuts hurry your progress.

You’ll gain valuable insights with weekly reviews of goals and time analytics.

Key Features

• Guided daily planning routine
• Unified dashboard integrating tasks, emails, calendar
• Realistic goal-setting and time management
• Drag-and-drop tasks from other platforms
• Slack integration turning messages into tasks

6. Calendar

(Free plan, paid plan starts at $25/month, 14-day trial)

Calendar is an online scheduling assistant that takes the migraine out of coordinating meetings and managing your calendar.

As a remote worker, Calendar makes it effortless to set up appointments on the fly and stay on top of your schedule.

What’s neat is that Calendar works great across all your devices so your calendar follows you wherever you go.

They also have a browser extension to access your schedule while browsing quickly.

The interface is super intuitive too. We like how easy it is to aggregate personal and work calendars in one place.

And if you’re collaborating with a team, Calendar simplifies booking meetings and preventing conflicts.

But it gets even better…

Calendar learns your preferences and habits over time. It uses AI to personalize scheduling based on how YOU work.

Key Features

• User-friendly and intuitive interface
• Cross-platform availability on mobile and desktop
• Aggregates multiple calendars into one place
• Customizable scheduling links to automate meeting requests
• “Find a Time” tool to easily coordinate schedules
• Unified smart calendar powered by AI/machine learning

Health and Wellness Apps

7. Headspace

(Upto 14-day trial, paid plan at $69.99/year)

Headspace is your personal mindfulness guide that makes meditation accessible to first-timers and veterans alike with sessions designed for any mood and any lifestyle.

Headspace helps you stress less and sleep better through research-backed mindfulness techniques, bedtime stories, soothing music, and sleep sounds.

They have a library of 500+ guided meditations, relaxing tunes, fitness flow exercises, focus activities, wake-up routines, and more.

Discover what mindfulness can do for you with stories from Headspace users worldwide.

As a work-from-home professional, it is essential to stay sane.

Headspace helps you enhance your self-awareness, which according to Robert Greene (multiple times best-selling author), is one of the most important things.

Key Features

• Guided mindfulness meditations for any mood or lifestyle
• Bedtime stories, relaxing music, soothing sounds for better sleep
• Comprehensive library of 500+ sessions including yoga, focus music
• Stories from real Headspace users on the impacts of mindfulness
• Latest articles and perspectives on meditation and wellness

8. Mindvalley

(7-day trial, paid plan starts at $59/month)

Mindvalley is a personal growth and learning platform that helps you unlock your full potential while working from home.

With Mindvalley, you get access to a huge library of online courses led by world-class experts on topics like productivity, mindfulness, health, careers, parenting, and more.

We’re talking big names like Vishen Lakhiani, the founder of Mindvalley himself.

The key thing about Mindvalley is that the courses go beyond just informational content.

They take you on deeply experiential “Quests” designed to create real transformations in your life.

For example, in the Lifebook Quest with Jon Butcher, you spend 8 weeks crafting your ideal vision for your life.

Or the Productivity Masterclass with Ali Abdaal that gives science-backed frameworks to structure your days and weeks around deep focus work.

This means Mindvalley isn’t just about picking up new productivity hacks and tools.

It fundamentally changes how you approach your personal growth through habit creation, mindset shifts, and community support.

The Quest format makes Mindvalley perfect for busy work-from-home professionals.

Courses only require as little as 10-15 minutes per day but are designed to have an outsized impact on your life.

Key Features

• An experiential approach with a “Quest” learning journey format
• Courses taught by world-renowned experts
• Daily micro-lessons for bite-sized learning and inspiration
• Over 500 guided meditations catering to different needs
• Private coaching program for personalized guidance

Communication Apps

9. Zoom

(Free plan, $14.99/month, 30-day trial)

Zoom Meetings is the video calling app that took the world by storm during the pandemic.

With its smooth performance and easy setup, it’s easy to see why Zoom has become so popular for both personal and professional video calls.

One of the best things about Zoom is the background noise-canceling features that ensure everyone can hear the conversation.

The free basic account supports up to 100 participants per meeting.

Additionally, the ability to customize virtual backgrounds is something cool, especially for a pajama worker.

Simply upload an image or video, and it displays behind you instead of your actual background.

This keeps the focus on you instead of your messy room.

Participants can have fun with themed images or make it look like they’re calling from the beach.

Key Features

• Easy-to-use interface accessible for all users
• Stellar performance with seamless video calling
• Generous free plan supporting 100 participants
• Audio and video testing and enhancing features
• Participation feature for better coordination

10. Slack

(Free plan, $8.75/month)

Slack is a powerful team messaging platform to boost productivity and collaboration.

Slack stands out for its rich features, customizability, and seamless integration with popular work tools.

Its real-time messaging fosters productive workflows, while options like scheduled sending enable asynchronous communication.

Moreover, customizable alerts and notifications help you stay on top of key conversations and information.

Slack also offers audio and video calling capabilities, albeit with some stability issues currently.

Slack is a WhatsApp for business, but all the more customizable.

Key Features

• Robust real-time messaging and communication platform
• Support for both synchronous and asynchronous team collaboration
• File sharing and search capabilities to manage information
• Custom branding, theming, and interface options for a unique experience
• Hierarchies of conversations via channels, groups, and direct messages

11. Connecteam

(Free plan, paid plan starts at $35/month, 14-day trial)

Connecteam is an all-in-one employee management platform to bring non-desk workers and managers onto the same page.

Connecteam gives remote teams superpowers.

Its features allow leaders to distribute tasks, employees to clock hours, and everyone to chat under one user-friendly roof.

With custom roles and permissions, it promotes organization-wide transparency.

Its scheduling systems centralize shift planning while GPS-integrated time clocks eliminate buddy punching.

Custom checklists and mobile forms also simplify reporting.

Employees benefit too.

Connecteam’s mobile app facilitates team-wide or 1-on-1 chats for questions, comments, or kudos.

Key Features

• Integrated time clocks with GPS mapping
• Customizable shift scheduling system
• Mobile forms, checklists, and requests to simplify workflows
• Task delegation and updates to reduce back-and-forth conversations
• Tools to streamline HR, training, and employee engagement

Focus and Concentration

12. Brain.fm

(3-day trial, paid plan starts at $9.99/month)

Brain.fm is a focus app providing personalized, neuroscientist-designed music to boost your productivity, relaxation, or sleep.

What makes Brain.fm’s approach unique is the scientific research behind it. The result is a supportive sonic environment for whatever you need to accomplish.

As the melodies ebb and flow around you, Brain.fm stimulates your brain to enter deeper focus, tranquility, or sleep.

After selecting your goal, you can customize the auto-generated tunes to your taste with options like intensity levels, genres, nature sounds, and more.

And with built-in timers, Brain.fm gives you the flexibility to structure sessions your way.

Key Features

• Personalized focus/relaxation/sleep/meditation music generated by AI
• Customization options: intensity, genre, nature sounds
• Music created with neuroscientists using brain imaging and EEG data
• Built-in timer options: infinite, Pomodoro, custom, quotes

Other

13. NordVPN

(30-day trial, paid plan starts at $12.99/month)

NordVPN is a virtual private network service providing robust privacy, security, and access tools.

It routes internet traffic through encrypted tunnels, hiding browsing activities and online identities.

NordVPN offers over 5,900 servers located across 60 countries to choose from.

Only essential user information is tracked, like billing details. Shared IP addresses add another layer of anonymity.

Its Panama headquarters reinforces the no-logging policy governing user data.

A kill switch blocks internet access when NordVPN disconnects unexpectedly to prevent IP address leaks.

NordVPN uses efficient protocols like WireGuard for faster speeds on mobile.

Furthermore, primary features like Double VPN or onion routing provide enhanced privacy ideal for travel and public Wi-Fi use.

Key Features

• Over 5,900 servers across 60 countries for global access
• No-logging policy to minimize tracking of user data
• Kill switch blocks internet if VPN disconnects suddenly
• Unlimited bandwidth for unrestricted browsing and streaming
• Double VPN feature for enhanced privacy while traveling

14. LastPass

(Free plan, paid plan starts at $3/month, 30-day trial)

LastPass is an intuitive password manager that helps you securely store, generate, and fill passwords across devices.

It offers user-friendly features like automated logins through browser extensions, multi-factor authentication for added security, and a cloud-based encrypted vault protecting sensitive data.

With LastPass, creating strong, unique passwords for every online account is effortless.

An easy-to-use web interface and cross-platform consistency provide on-the-go convenience for accessing saved passwords.

LastPass also simplifies password sharing with trusted contacts through fully encrypted folders.

For further peace of mind, premium plans expand multi-factor authentication flexibility beyond the basic options and include dark web monitoring for exposed passwords.

Key Features

• Encrypted cloud-based password vault
• Password generator for creating strong, unique passphrases
• Auto logins and forms filling through browser extensions
• Supports two-factor and multi-factor authentication
• Password sharing with encrypted folders
• Dark web monitoring for compromised credentials

15. SaneBox

(14-day trial, paid plan starts at $3.49/month)

SaneBox helps you take back control of your inboxes through smart filtering that identifies and separates important and unimportant emails.

It learns from user feedback, allowing you to train it over time. Custom folders let you organize messages just how you like.

One handy feature is Snooze – it lets you set emails aside to deal with later when it’s more convenient for you.

With SaneBox, it’s not now or never. It’s now, never, or later.

SaneBox also has a phenomenal reminder capability that lets you schedule follow-ups by adding due times right in the message header when CC’ing or BCC’ing yourself.

Something else SaneBox offers that’s kind of cool is the automated saving of attachments to cloud storage services like Dropbox.

Key Features

• Intelligent priority filtering to categorize emails
• Custom email folders for the organization
• Snooze option to deal with emails at a more convenient time
• Reminders capability to schedule email follow-ups
• Auto-saving of attachments to cloud storage services
• Deep Clean feature to declutter and free up storage space

Make Work From Home Great Again

The right tools can make all the difference for remote workers.

Now, I don’t expect you to grab every single one!

This is more of a toolkit to mix and match from based on what would serve you best.

Choose your fighters wisely here…and please go easy on social media. We all know how those endless feeds swallow us into black holes!

The future of working is flexible.

So what will you integrate first: a mindfulness ritual, a digital assistant, or smarter communication, The options await.

Let’s get to work.