Free guide / 10 tools / PDF + web
The Side Hustle AI Starter Kit
10 AI tools to run a one-person business
One tool for each job a solo business needs done, from your website to your books. For each pick: what it's for, who it's best for, a practical way to use it in your first week, and how it's priced.
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Download the PDF ↓You don't need fifty apps to run a side business. You need one tool for each job that keeps eating your evenings: a website, content, design, the books, email, automation, a thinking partner, video, sales and support. Here are ten picks from the getawip directory, one per job, with a simple way to put each to work in your first week.
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01
Website
Durable
Pricing: Free plan + paid- What it's for
- AI website builder that generates a complete small-business site, plus CRM and invoicing tools.
- Best for
- A local service business site in minutes
- Your first week
- Describe your business in a sentence or two and let it generate a first draft of your site. Rewrite the headline and services in your own words, add your real contact details and one clear call to action, then publish. A simple live site beats a perfect one you haven't launched.
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02
AI assistant
ChatGPT
Pricing: Free plan + paid- What it's for
- OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for writing, brainstorming, analysis and everyday business questions.
- Best for
- Drafting anything, fast answers, first-pass research
- Your first week
- Use it as your thinking partner. Ask it to stress-test your offer, draft a one-paragraph pitch, and list the questions a first customer might ask. Keep the prompts that worked in a note so you can reuse them, and fact-check anything you plan to publish.
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03
Design
Canva Magic Studio
Pricing: Free plan + paid- What it's for
- Canva's suite of AI design tools for generating images, resizing designs, writing copy and editing photos.
- Best for
- Social graphics, flyers and everyday design
- Your first week
- Pick your logo, two or three colors and one font, then make three reusable templates: a social post, a story and a one-page flyer. Use the AI tools to draft images and copy, and resize each design for every channel you post on.
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04
Content & social
Buffer
Pricing: Free plan + paid- What it's for
- Social media scheduling tool with a built-in AI assistant to draft and repurpose posts.
- Best for
- Solo creators scheduling across many networks
- Your first week
- Connect the one or two networks where your customers actually spend time. Batch-write a week of posts in one sitting, use the AI assistant to draft variations, and schedule them so you're not posting on the fly every day.
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05
Video
Descript
Pricing: Free plan + paid- What it's for
- Edit video and podcasts by editing the transcript, with AI tools for filler-word removal and studio sound.
- Best for
- Podcasts, tutorials and talking-head videos
- Your first week
- Record a short talking-head video explaining what you do and who it's for. Edit it by deleting words from the transcript, clean up filler words and audio, then export a version for your site and one for social.
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06
Email marketing
Mailchimp
Pricing: Free plan + paid- What it's for
- Email marketing platform with AI-assisted content generation, send-time optimization and segmentation.
- Best for
- Your first email list and newsletters
- Your first week
- Create your list and put a signup form on your website. Write a short welcome email that says who you are and what subscribers can expect, then set it to send automatically to everyone who joins.
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07
Sales & CRM
HubSpot
Pricing: Free plan + paid- What it's for
- CRM platform with Breeze AI for content, prospecting, customer agents and data enrichment.
- Best for
- An all-in-one CRM that grows with you
- Your first week
- Import your existing contacts (past clients, warm leads, people who have asked about your work) and create a simple pipeline with three or four stages. Log every conversation there from now on instead of in your head.
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08
Customer support
Tidio
Pricing: Free plan + paid- What it's for
- Live chat and AI chatbot (Lyro) for small online businesses and stores.
- Best for
- Small e-commerce stores adding chat
- Your first week
- Add the chat widget to your site and write answers to the five questions you get asked most (pricing, timing, delivery, refunds, how to book). Let the chatbot handle those repeats so you only step in for real conversations.
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09
Bookkeeping & invoicing
FreshBooks
Pricing: Paid- What it's for
- Invoicing and accounting software for service businesses and freelancers.
- Best for
- Freelancers and agencies billing clients
- Your first week
- Set up your business details and a branded invoice template, add your services with your rates, and send your next invoice from it. Start recording expenses as they happen so tax time isn't a weekend-long scramble.
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10
Automation
Zapier
Pricing: Free plan + paid- What it's for
- Automation platform connecting thousands of apps, with AI to build workflows, agents and chatbots.
- Best for
- Connecting your apps so busywork runs itself
- Your first week
- Pick the one copy-paste task you repeat most and automate it. A good first one: when someone fills in your website form, add them to your CRM or email list and send yourself a notification. Start with one workflow and get it working before adding more.
A note on pricing
Pricing labels show each tool's model as listed on getawip ("Free plan + paid" means there's a free tier with paid upgrades). Plans, limits and prices change often, and some features mentioned above may only be on paid plans, so check each tool's site before you commit. No sponsored placements in this guide. Last updated October 16, 2026.