We’ve been remote-first since 2020. Tried everything. Wasted money on tools that didn’t stick.

Here’s what actually works after five years of iteration.

Communication

Slack ($12.50/user/month)

Still the center of work communication. Nothing has replaced it.

What works: Channels for topics, threads for discussions, search that works.

What doesn’t: Notification overload. Set aggressive DND rules.

Alternative considered: Discord. Too gaming-focused for professional work.

Loom ($15/user/month)

Async video is essential for remote. Quick walkthroughs instead of meetings.

Our rule: If it’s informational (not discussion), record a Loom instead of scheduling.

Results: 40% fewer meetings.

Zoom ($15/user/month)

Meetings that must happen. Video quality is best. Reliability is critical.

We tried Google Meet, Teams, Around. Kept coming back to Zoom.

Project Management

Linear ($8/user/month)

Engineering tasks live here. Fast, opinionated, stays out of the way.

The speed difference versus Jira is noticeable. Engineers actually use it.

Notion ($10/user/month)

Everything else. Specs, docs, meeting notes, company wiki.

Replaced Confluence, Google Docs, and half our other tools.

Reclaim (Free-$18/user/month)

AI scheduling that protects focus time and schedules habits.

Game-changer for calendar management. Automatically finds time for one-on-ones, focus blocks, and recurring tasks.

Documentation

Notion

Yes, again. It’s our source of truth for everything written.

Structure that works:

• Team spaces for each department
• Central wiki for company-wide info
• Project docs linked from Linear

What we stopped doing: Creating docs that nobody reads. Now we link to source material instead.

Scribe ($23/user/month)

Auto-generates how-to documentation from screen recordings.

We use it for onboarding docs and process documentation. Captures steps as you do them.

Saves hours of documentation writing.

Development

GitHub ($4/user/month for Teams)

Code, reviews, issues, actions. The ecosystem is unbeatable.

We considered GitLab for all-in-one. GitHub + other tools worked better.

Cursor ($20/user/month)

AI coding assistant. Covered elsewhere, but it’s part of the essential stack.

Tuple ($30/user/month)

Remote pair programming that doesn’t suck. Better than screenshare.

Low latency, good control sharing, designed for coding specifically.

Worth it for teams that pair program.

Design

Figma ($15/user/month)

Design collaboration standard. Dev mode makes handoff smooth.

Our designers live in Figma. Developers can inspect and export what they need.

Whimsical (Free-$10/user/month)

Quick diagrams, flowcharts, wireframes. Faster than Figma for rough work.

When you need to communicate an idea visually but don’t need high fidelity.

Security & IT

1Password ($8/user/month)

Password management for teams. Non-negotiable for security.

Vaults for shared credentials. Individual vaults for personal.

Vanta ($10K+/year)

Compliance automation. We got SOC 2 certified with minimal pain.

Expensive but saves consulting costs and automates evidence collection.

Only worth it if you need compliance certifications.

What We Stopped Paying For

Basecamp

Tried it for project management simplicity. Too simple for engineering work.

Miro

Used it for workshops. Use frequency didn’t justify cost. Whimsical handles most cases.

Grammarly Business

Nice to have. Not essential. Individual subscriptions for those who want it.

Lattice

Performance management platform. Overkill for a small team. Notion templates replaced it.

Tandem

“Virtual office” concept. Team didn’t like being on video all day. Dropped it.

The Total Cost

For a 15-person company:

Tool	Monthly Cost
Slack	$187.50
Loom	$225
Zoom	$225
Linear	$120
Notion	$150
Reclaim	$150
GitHub	$60
Cursor	$300
Tuple	$450
Figma	$225
1Password	$120

Total: ~$2,200/month or ~$26K/year

Seems like a lot. Compare to: Office lease in Sydney ($50K+/year), plus commute costs, plus time lost to commuting.

Remote work stack pays for itself.

The Principles

After five years, our remote tool philosophy:

1. Fewer tools, used well. Every tool is cognitive overhead. Consolidate ruthlessly.

2. Async first. Meetings are expensive. Tools that enable async work get priority.

3. Pay for quality. Free tools with friction cost more in lost time than premium tools.

4. Evaluate annually. Tools that seemed essential become unused. Cut them.

5. Document the stack. New hires need to know what tools we use and why.

Remote work is now just work. The tools are mature. Pick a stack and optimize your use of it.