The best apps for digital nomads and entrepreneurs 2021 — Street Designed
By: Georgina Borneman-Street
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Digital Nomads, Freelance, Business, Apps

Being a digital nomad is undeniably great. We get the freedom to work when and where we want, we get to say goodbye to commuting and boring office work, and we get to travel the world and make amazing memories while still having an income.

It’s a great life. But, despite what it looks like on social media, there are still some downsides to being a truly remote worker, right?.

It’s tough to balance work flow with your personal life — walking that tightrope of making sure you have enough work coming in, but not so much that you’re snowed under. Plus the admin side is a nightmare. Keeping track of invoices, payments and receipts gets exhausting fast.

Luckily, technology is on our side.

There are so many amazing apps and programs out there that can really help you streamline your business. And in turn, that gives you more time to actually enjoy the benefits of being a digital nomad. It’s win, win!

Here are our favorite apps to help you travel, keep track of payments, manage your mental health, grow your business, and everything in between.

The best finance apps for digital nomads

This app is a godsend for anyone who makes and receives payments internationally. It has no transfer fees, excellent exchange rates, and is great if you’re a freelancer who invoices in different currencies.

It’s always hard to trust a new company with your money. But TransferWise has got 200 million users and is loved by remote workers around the world.

Keeping track of different currencies in your head is hard, especially if you’re constantly on the move. As soon as you get used to one exchange rate, you find yourself in a new country and the learning process starts all over again.

There are a ton of currency converter apps out there, but GlobeConvert is one of the best — it also helps you calculate tips!

Tracking your expenses is an essential, but extremely dull, part of being a digital nomad.

It’s great to be able to claim stuff back at tax time, but you’ve got to put the work in to keep track of it all. Expensify is a great app that lets you scan receipts and log purchases, and it uses your phone’s GPS to track mileage if you’re on a road trip, too.

The best apps for running your business as a digital nomad

We all know about how useful Squarespace is for building professional websites, but did you know they’ve also got an app? It’s a handy and very user-friendly tool for making quick changes and updates to your site while you’re on the go.

You can write and publish new blog posts with ease, track your analytics and traffic, and update your “office” hours as you move through time zones.

If you’re just using the Notes app on your phone to keep track of things, it’s time to upgrade to Evernote.

This app allows you to take notes and make lists, as well as attach web pages and insert images, all organized meticulously within folders and labels. The Scannable feature can come in hand when on the road; you can scan travel documents and passports, so they’re always on-hand when you need them.

When working collaboratively with other people, Trello is a great way to keep things organized. Create different columns for different projects, then add tasks which can be assigned out among your team. It’s a visual way to make sure everyone’s on the same page when it comes to a project

Even if you’re working independently, Trello’s a good tool for keeping track of your workflow and maximizing productivity, especially if you have multiple clients.

If you do a lot of writing for your job, but find that you get easily distracted, this app for both mobile and desktop is a lifesaver. Its minimal interface lets you type away without losing focus, and has some great features to boost your productivity and improve your writing style.

Working as a digital nomad means that your “office” is never the same from one day to the next — it’s not uncommon to work in a crowded cafe, a McDonald’s, or a local mall just for the free WiFi.

You’ve probably gotten pretty used to working from anywhere, but this app will really help you tune out any excess background noise. It asks you a few questions then determines the best kind of music for you, paired with white noise that’s been proven to increase productivity.

The best travel apps for digital nomads

Curating reviews and recommendations from locals, this app should be your absolute go-to for things to do, places to see, and what to eat while you’re traveling around.

There are Spotted By Locals guides for most major European cities, and the app has recently expanded to North America. It’s a good way to find hidden gems to explore, or just a cute coffee shop to work from for a day.

Best Coffee is similar to Spotted By Locals, but just focused on coffee — perfect for anyone who can’t go a day without getting their caffeine fix (like me).

This app helps you find the best cafes near you, read reviews for each spot, learn about their current blend, and see photos of what the space looks like. Hanging out in local coffee shops is a great way to get the vibe of a new city, and Best Coffee will help you avoid any duds. And yes, it also avoids you popping in to each coffee store asking, “Do you have WiFi?”.

Sticking to a budget isn’t fun, but it’s essential if you want to maintain your nomadic lifestyle.

TrailWallet is an excellent budgeting app, created by DNs who know exactly what it’s like to live and work on the go. Set a daily budget and log your expenses to see where your money is going and where you can make cutbacks.

It’s only on iOS, but Trabee is a good Android-friendly alternative with an inbuilt currency converter, too.

In any given month your calendar is probably full of flights, trains, and/or bus journeys, accommodation bookings, and other travel arrangements you need to keep on top of.

Tripit lets you collect them all into one central place, making it a lot easier to pull up reference numbers and bookings with a single tap.

The best apps for managing social media as a digital nomad

Whether you love it or hate it, the key to running a successful business in the digital age is having a strong social media presence.

If you’re not super savvy when it comes to all the different social platforms, or just don’t have enough time to focus on them, Later is the key. It’ll help you plan and schedule content, identify which hashtags to use and when to post, and track your engagement to boot.

Ever wondered how other DNs get their Insta uploads looking so good? VSCO is a super-simple editing tool, designed to spruce up your Instagram photos, and is a micro influencer’s best-kept secret.

For a cohesive-looking grid, it’s a good idea to use the same filter on all your uploads. VSCO lets you batch-import photos, apply the same filter to them all, and see how they’ll look next to one another. Edit like the pros!

To create engaging and visually-exciting Instagram stories, Unfold is the best way to do it. You can add filters and effects, borders and designs, and even animation. It’s a great way to make your content stand out — and that’s essential when users tend to just flick through stories mindlessly.

The best apps for work/life balance as a digital nomad

While it’s important to keep track of everything in your business life, you also need to stay on top of your mental health as well.

It’s fun to be on the move and experience new things every day, but being away from a regular schedule and the grounding presence of loved ones can wreak havoc on your mental stability.

Calm is a great app that has a ton of different relaxation tracks to listen to. If you’re new to mindfulness, just commit to doing a 5-minute guided meditation each day and you’ll see the benefit within a month, I promise!

Even if you love reading books, it doesn’t make sense to lug paperbacks with you as you’re traveling around.

The alternative? See if your local library back home is connected with Libby or a similar book app. It lets you access thousands of ebooks and audiobooks for free, so you can still keep up with your To-Read list no matter where you are in the world.

This handy little bookmarking app can be used across your business and personal life, and can be synced between your phone and desktop.

As you’re scrolling through social media or browsing the web, you can save articles or interesting tidbits to your Pocket to come back to later. This is helpful if you find something work-related after clocking off for the day — you simply come back to it the next time you’re at your “desk”. Or if you come across a funny video while on the clock for a client, you can save it to watch later on. It works both ways!

Success as a digital nomad and entrepreneur — it’s at your fingertips!

Technology has enabled a whole movement of DNs, like you and me, to embrace a working life on the road. So no surprises then that apps and software solutions can make that life happier and healthier, too.

Are there any must-have apps I haven’t come across yet? Let me know! Us digital nomads gotta look out for each other.