Key Takeaways:
- The best remote work tools solve a problem without creating a new one. If an app takes more work to manage than the problem it fixes, it probably isn’t helping.
- Not every new app deserves a permanent place in your workflow. Test tools selectively, and don’t force one that adds more friction than it removes just because it’s shiny and new — or stars beans that knit.
- Employees should check their company’s policies before connecting a new tool to a work account or device. Productivity gains aren’t worth an awkward conversation with IT.
Remote work comes with plenty of perks: no commute, more flexibility, and greater control over how work fits into everyday life.
But anyone who works remotely knows that flexibility comes with a few trade-offs. There’s the blurred line between work and home when the laptop is always right there, lawn mowers firing up at the worst possible time, household distractions, and a steady stream of pings from coworkers trying to stay connected from afar.
In fact, Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index found that the most-pinged 20% of Microsoft 365 users were interrupted by a meeting, email, or chat about every two minutes during the workday.
Plenty of remote work tools exist that can reduce these everyday frictions. Many you probably already know, like Slack, Zoom, and Asana. But here are eight lesser-known apps that tackle the small problems remote workers regularly run into.
What Makes a Remote Work Tool Worth Using?
There are plenty of remote worker productivity tools on the market. The most useful ones solve a concrete problem without piling on unnecessary features. They should fit into existing workflows, be easy to set up, and have a manageable learning curve.
There’s also one practical consideration: company policy. Before connecting new software to a work account or installing it on a company-managed device, employees should check company policies. Some companies allow individual productivity apps, while others have stricter requirements around what can access company devices, accounts, or data.
With that in mind, these eight apps caught our attention for the everyday frustrations they help solve.
8 Remote Work Tools Worth Trying
1. Reclaim.ai
Reclaim.ai is a scheduling tool that uses AI to help protect time for focused work when meetings and commitments keep taking over your calendar.
Reclaim automatically finds and schedules work around existing commitments, then reshuffles them as new meetings get added.
It’s most useful for people on distributed teams or in meeting-heavy roles with lots of back-and-forth scheduling for client calls, team syncs, or one-on-ones.
Key features:
- Protects blocks of open calendar time automatically with AI Focus Time
- Schedules recurring routines, like a workout or admin time, flexibly around existing meetings with AI Habits
- Schedules and syncs tasks from tools like Asana, ClickUp, and Jira
- Finds and reschedules the best meeting times for everyone with Smart Meetings
- Creates scheduling links that automatically reflect changes to calendar availability
Pricing: A free Lite plan is available, and the Starter plan is USD 10 per seat/month. Business and Enterprise plans are also available.
Platform availability: Primarily web-based and mobile-friendly.
2. Espanso
Typing the same information over and over is a small annoyance that adds up fast. Espanso is a free, open-source text expander that solves this by letting people create short commands that automatically turn into longer canned responses, links, sentences, or blocks of text anywhere they type.
It’s especially useful for customer support teams, recruiters, writers, developers, and anyone who regularly re-types the same information over and over in email, chat, or online forms.
Key features:
- Expands short commands into full blocks of pre-written text across different applications with keyword triggers
- Inserts the date, time, or emojis into a snippet automatically with dynamic content
- Prompts users to fill in form details, like a name or date, before completing a more complex template
- Offers scripting and customization options for more technical users
- Lets people browse and install snippet sets shared by other users with Espanso Hub, a package ecosystem
Pricing: Completely free and open source, with no subscription required
Platform availability: Windows, Mac, and Linux
3. LocalSend
Moving files between a laptop and phone is often painful, especially across different operating systems.
LocalSend makes it easy to transfer files directly between nearby devices connected to the same local network, even across different operating systems. Files never need to be uploaded to the internet, so there’s no need for cloud storage, an account, or an active internet connection.
It’s a good fit for people who regularly switch between a laptop and phone or use devices across different operating systems and want a quick way to move files without email or cloud storage.
Key features:
- Transfers files directly between devices on the same local network
- Requires no user account or cloud storage service
- Works across multiple operating systems and offers fully offline functionality
- Supports files, photos, and other content
- Protects transfers with HTTPS encryption and an optional PIN for extra verification
Pricing: Free and open source, with no ads or hidden costs.
Platform availability: Platform availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
4. one sec
Checking distracting apps can become almost automatic, which is exactly the habit one sec is designed to interrupt. The app adds a brief pause before opening selected social media platforms, apps, or websites, giving people a moment to intentionally decide whether or not to continue.
It’s useful for workers who want to cut back on mindless scrolling and improve their focus.
Key features:
- Adds a brief delay before it opens apps you’ve flagged as distracting
- Offers app alternatives to take a mental break, such as breathing exercises or typing a short phrase
- Blocks selected apps entirely during scheduled times of day
- Lets users set limits and interrupt extended scrolling sessions with its “doomscroll emergency brake”
- Keeps usage data private rather than selling or analyzing it
Pricing: The free version lets you use it with one selected app or website, while One Sec Pro supports unlimited apps and additional features.
Platform availability: iOS and Android, with browser extensions for Windows, macOS, and Linux
5. Raycast
Raycast is a keyboard-driven tool that gives users quick access to apps, files, links, and common tasks without clicking through folders and menus.
It’s especially useful for people comfortable with keyboard shortcuts who want to spend less time clicking and switching between windows.
Key features:
- Opens apps, files, commands, and other frequently used resources from a single search bar
- Keeps a searchable history of previously copied text and other clipboard content
- Handles calculations and conversions using natural-language queries
- Saves reusable text with Snippets and creates shortcuts to frequently visited files, links, and actions with Quicklinks
- Supports extensions that connect Raycast with third-party apps and add new workflows
Pricing: Free for personal use, with paid plans starting at USD 8/month for Pro and USD 12 per user/month for teams. Enterprise pricing is also available.
Platform availability: macOS, Windows, iOS, and iPadOS.
6. Krisp
Every remote worker knows the stress of taking a call in a noisy household or shared space. Krisp uses AI-powered noise cancellation to filter background sounds in both directions: coworkers hear less noise around the user, while the user hears less noise from everyone else’s environment. That includes distractions like conversations, traffic, household noise, and barking dogs.
It’s useful for anyone who doesn’t have a perfectly quiet place to work. The platform has also expanded beyond noise cancellation to include meeting notes and transcription tools.
Key features:
- Removes background noise and cross-talk from both the user’s microphone and incoming audio
- Reduces unwanted echoes during calls
- Transcribes calls and uses AI meeting notes to generate summaries and action items
- Includes AI accent conversion and multilingual transcription
- Works with existing meeting platforms rather than requiring a separate calling system
Pricing: A seven-day free trial is available. The Core plan costs USD 8 per user/month when billed annually, while Advanced costs USD 15 per user/month. Enterprise plans use custom pricing.
Platform availability: Windows and macOS desktop apps, plus iOS and Android apps for most features. Web extensions are also available.
7. Readwise and Reader
The next solution is for anyone with a graveyard of open browser tabs, bookmarks, and things saved to read later scattered across the internet. Readwise and Reader give users one place to organize, revisit, and actually use those resources.
It’s especially useful for writers, researchers, analysts, strategists, and anyone who needs to keep up with a large amount of work-related information.
Key features:
- Saves articles, PDFs, newsletters, RSS feeds, and other content in a universal reading inbox
- Lets users highlight images, tables, rich text, and more, then export those highlights to tools like Notion and Obsidian
- Resurfaces saved highlights and annotations through the app and a daily email to help with recall
- Uses Ghostreader, a GPT-powered copilot, to answer questions about saved resources
- Makes previously read or highlighted content easier to find with search and tagging
Pricing: A 30-day free trial is available. The full plan, which includes Reader, starts at USD 9.99/month when billed annually, with other plans available as well.
Platform availability: Web, desktop, iOS, and Android.
8. Focus Friend
For remote workers who struggle to stay on task, Focus Friend turns concentration into a game. Created by author and longtime educational creator Hank Green, the app pairs each work session with a small animated “bean” that knits while the user works. Completing focus sessions earns socks and scarves that users can trade for decorations for the bean’s room.
It’s a good fit for people who find conventional timers easy to ignore or who respond better to gamification and gentle accountability.
Key features:
- Lets users choose focus sessions of different lengths
- Gives the Bean Friend its own task to complete while the timer runs
- Blocks distracting apps during sessions with Deep Focus Mode
- Includes break timers for a Pomodoro-style routine
- Displays the running timer on the phone’s lock screen with Live Activity support
- Rewards completed sessions with new looks and decorations for the bean
Pricing: Free to download, with optional in-app purchases for bean skins and a subscription for additional features.
Platform availability: iPhone, iPad, and Android, with Windows and macOS versions coming soon.
How to Build a Stack That Works for You
Remote work comes with its share of little annoyances. The right tools won’t eliminate all of them, but they can quiet a noisy workspace, cut down on repetitive tasks, curb distractions, or bring some order to that graveyard of saved articles.
No one needs every tool on this list — a few that make the workday easier are plenty.
Looking for another way to save time? Learn how remote workers can use AI to save time without over-automating their jobs.
