Remote work makes it possible to stay connected from anywhere — but it also introduces new challenges. Teams need simple ways to communicate, collaborate and deliver results in a digital environment filled with distractions.
For leaders, the responsibility is clear. You need tools to help employees stay engaged and effective without creating gaps in security, privacy or trust.
This guide walks through 21 of the most popular remote work tools shaping today’s digital workplace. Use it to find the right mix of technology, apps and platforms for your organization.
Key takeaways for choosing remote work tools
- Prioritize integration over volume. Focus on tools that integrate seamlessly with each other to reduce duplication and context switching.
- Balance employee experience with security. Choose solutions designed to safeguard company data without creating friction for employees.
- Build for agility and scalability. Future-proof your investments by selecting tools that make it simple to adapt processes as priorities shift.
Find out which of the most popular remote work tools are right for your organization in this comprehensive list.
Benefits of effective remote work tools
Investing in effective technology for remote employees is key to ensuring a functional remote work environment. Equipping your remote team with the right tools empowers productivity, connectedness and employee engagement.
Some benefits of effective remote work tools include:
- Better employee productivity: Employees who work remotely report they’re more productive, and the data backs them up — remote workers are up to 40% more productive than their in-office counterparts, thanks to fewer distractions and more control over work environments. The right tools make it easy to harness this productivity.
- Saved time: A study by Qatalog and Cornell University’s Ellis Ideas Lab found employees waste an hour a day trying to find information across multiple tools or duplicating work because of fragmentation. Streamlining and integrating your tech stack with intention gives your employees up to five hours back each week. Automation and AI tools also reduce how much time employees spend on repetitive tasks, giving them even more time for creative, important work.
- Improved employee well-being: Remote work benefits employees’ physical and mental health thanks to greater flexibility and personal time management. Effective remote tools increase this benefit further by removing the stress that comes from using inadequate applications. When implemented correctly, these tools also increase employee connectivity and reduce isolation — a major challenge of remote work.
- Reduced spending: Remote work tools saves companies and employees money by removing duplicate apps or unused licenses and ensuring employees use technology to its fullest capabilities.
- Enhanced organizational agility: By embracing new technologies and training employees on them, organizations prepare themselves to adapt to future demands.
Types of remote work tools
Remote work tools come in several types for different purposes. To choose the right tools for your workforce, it’s important to distinguish between them.
Productivity and time management tools
Managers want to ensure employees stay on task, while employees want to work as efficiently as possible. Productivity and time management tools provide insight into how employees work to help improve productivity for everyone. Monitoring tools like ActivTrak show managers where slowdowns happen and where employees need help managing their time to hit their targets. Beyond time tracking, modern tools measure employee productivity and engagement so leaders spot issues like burnout and overwhelm before they become major problems.
Communication and collaboration platforms
Staying connected when everyone works remotely is a key challenge for remote teams. Remote workers often report feeling isolated as their number one concern. It’s essential to find the right tools to support communication, keep employees connected, build trust and encourage remote collaboration. At the same time, effective communication tools reduce the urge to overcommunicate, which causes just as many problems.
Security and privacy solutions
Remote teams face security and privacy issues as IT teams struggle to maintain firewalls or implement security features across disparate networks. Employees may leave equipment in less secure locations or access unsecured Wi-Fi networks, which puts both company data and their private information at risk. Security and privacy solutions help ensure company data remains protected.
Project management software
Project management tools streamline workflows and improve communication so everyone is on the same page. The right tools help teams set deadlines, assign tasks and track progress across remote teams. These tools also reduce the need for project leaders to constantly ping employees to check on project status, freeing up more focus time for employees.
Cloud storage and file-sharing applications
Quick, seamless access to files is an essential part of effective remote work. Team members need to store and share documents online, from anywhere. Look for solutions that offer plenty of storage and security controls to ensure fast, easy access while keeping sensitive data secure.
Design tools
Even in a remote environment, creative tasks require the right technology. Remote teams need access to design software and other collaborative tools to execute projects. The right design tools ensure creative work remains consistent and streamlined, making it easier for teams to collaborate efficiently, regardless of location.
21 must-have remote work tools
Based on industry insights and user feedback, here are the top remote work tools every organization should consider:
1. ActivTrak
If you’re looking for a total view of your remote team’s productivity, ActivTrak is your first stop. From tracking time spent in apps to identifying inefficient workflows, this remote workforce management software shows you how employees work — and how to help them work better. The platform provides remote managers with much-needed visibility on everything from workload distribution to how employees spend their time, and provides dashboards that make it easy to put the data to use.
2. Trello
As one of the most popular project management tools, Trello is a simple (and usually affordable) way for remote teams to track projects. Trello allows you to assign tasks to team members through cards, called kanban. The tool provides additional opportunities for file sharing and collaboration on assignments and deadlines. A drag-and-drop functionality and visual-based organization make it easy to use for most project managers and teams. Plus, the paid plan offers a lot of helpful features and provides productivity templates to help teams manage time more efficiently.
3. Notion
Notion combines project management and collaboration with note-taking to provide structured collections of information in a variety of visualizations. Its powerful database functionality lets your team collaborate in customized ways, plus templates help organize information or projects easily. Notion also offers AI to summarize notes or help create content to further streamline workflows.
4. Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a great option for remote teams looking to share and manage schedules across geographic locations or time zones. Use it to schedule video calls with Google Meet, sync with other calendars and even automatically add event details from email. The app integrates with a lot of other technology, making it easy for remote teams to stay connected and organized.
5. Todoist
Todoist is a task management tool with a user-friendly interface that’s made it a popular option for remote teams. More than a simple way to track your to-do list, Todoist’s reminders, due dates, priorities, labels and integrations make it ideal for remote project management too. It includes a Smart Schedule feature that automatically tells you the best time to tackle each project, based on priorities and due dates.
6. Asana
Asana is a popular kanban-based remote team management platform to help teams organize, track and manage work. Similar to Trello, Asana lets you assign tasks to colleagues and upload files. However, Asana offers more flexibility in terms of visualization, with lists, timelines, calendars, Gantt charts and workflows. For this reason, many remote teams rely on it to keep projects on track — and to ensure everyone on the team has full visibility.
7. Smartsheet
If your organization lives in spreadsheets, Smartsheet is an easy step up for managing projects. The tool provides a spreadsheet-style interface with multiple moving parts, making it great for remote teams. Shared sheets, comments and integration facilitate team collaboration, while automation helps streamline workflows.
8. Monday.com
Another project management tool, Monday.com offers similar features to Asana and Trello but is even more customizable. The platform provides more file-sharing options and space for uploads, plus form creation and automation options. It’s also cloud-based, making it simple for remote employees to access from anywhere. The interface is intuitive, with different viewing options to suit the various needs of individual remote workers.
9. Jira
Extremely popular among software development teams, Jira is a project tracking tool that also lets you track issues. Based on the Agile system, Jira lets you create tasks, set deadlines, track progress and log issues in iterative and collaborative ways. The tool includes analytics features and reporting to fine-tune workflows, and integrates with many other tools.
10. Slack
As a chat client, Slack is an extremely popular app for remote team communication. But the tool also allows for collaboration, including integrations with file sharing programs and project management tools. Beyond just sending each other messages, team members use it to hold meetings, share calendars and even work on projects within the app. As an added bonus, Slack allows users to log into multiple accounts in one app — ideal for remote teams that include contractors or freelancers who may be members of multiple organizations, or for agencies with multiple clients.
11. Zoom
The king of video calls is Zoom, which took off during the COVID-19 pandemic and is still a popular tool for remote workers. The app provides calendar syncing to make it easier to schedule meetings — even across time zones — as well as screen sharing and other video call tools. Zoom is also a great tool for virtual conferences or webinars, although the free version limits call times to 45 minutes and a set number of participants.
12. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a full-blown communication platform used by major corporations, government organizations and schools. It’s also a great option for remote teams looking to improve collaboration. The tool allows for video conferencing, chat and collaboration on documents and spreadsheets — making it a central hub for remote teams to stay connected and productive.
13. Google Workspace
Google Workspace offers a full-service collaboration platform for teams, including email, instant messaging, video conferencing and more. The suite integrates calendars, file-sharing, note-taking and other tools with communication tools to ensure teams are in sync and can collaborate in real-time. Added AI functionality helps with content creation, note-taking and summaries as well.
14. LastPass
One of the biggest security risks for remote teams is weak passwords. LastPass solves this issue by equipping employees with a password vault that uses “military-grade encryption.” Simply have the tool generate and organize tough-to-crack passwords, then use it to automatically log into various apps and websites. LastPass offers two-factor authentication (2FA) and biometric logins to help ensure password safety, and even alerts employees when passwords may be at risk. You can use LastPass on any device or browser. All you have to do is remember your master password.
15. Dashlane
Dashlane Password Manager is another password vault that encrypts data to help remote teams keep hackers at bay. It uses 256-bit encryption, offers 2FA and provides biometric identification. It also offers business plans with additional support for remote teams, such as admin controls and threat detection to help prevent data breaches. Dashlane is a good option for organizations with large distributed teams, since it provides visibility into how employees use passwords as well as real-time security alerts.
16. NordVPN (or NordLayer for Enterprise)
A virtual private network is a smart way to manage remote employee access to sensitive information by hiding browser details. VPNs also make it harder for hackers to monitor activity — a big threat when remote employees use unsecure public Wi-Fi. NordVPN is a popular service that offers traffic routing, file sharing and built-in antivirus tools. While they don’t offer a free version, they work to make their somewhat pricey platform worth it for business users. The VPN helps IT and security professionals manage malware monitoring and block malicious sites so employees can work securely, no matter where they’re located.
17. Forcepoint DLP
If you work in a highly regulated industry such as healthcare, government contracting or financial services, data loss protection (DLP) should be one of your top priorities. Forcepoint DLP is a software solution that protects data and intellectual property for businesses, focusing on “human-centered” risks. The software identifies sensitive data, monitors your team for leaks and protects information as it’s transferred across platforms and used across teams.
18. Google Drive
Google Drive is a great option for simple, cloud-based file sharing. It integrates with other Google apps like Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Calendar for real-time collaboration and file tracking. Google is known for its short learning curve, and Google Drive’s drag-and-drop functionality is no different. The system makes it easier to keep track of documents, spreadsheets and other items, even with multiple collaborators spread across numerous locations. And it integrates with a number of other software tools to make it easier to get work done faster.
19. Dropbox
Another popular entry in the cloud-based storage tools category is Dropbox. The tool is particularly good for handling large file storage and syncing files across multiple devices. Strong security features allow you to control access to files and track who’s viewed, accessed or downloaded items. Team members can also create, edit and annotate PDFs through Dropbox.
20. Canva
Canva has democratized graphic design with its online platform. Thanks to easy-to-use templates and features, almost anyone can create professional-looking designs for presentations, social media, videos and more. Canva comes with a full library of fonts, graphics and stock photos, plus AI to help generate designs even faster. Because it’s cloud-based, teams work together on Canva, no matter where they’re located, and admins control access to files and editing permissions.
21. Figma
User experience (UX) design is extremely important in an online world, and Figma is a popular tool to design interfaces for websites, apps and more. Some teams use it to create their own brand systems and libraries to ensure consistency across designs. Others leverage prebuilt templates to get started quickly. The suite includes other collaboration tools for creating code, presentations, websites and more.
Streamline remote workforce management with ActivTrak
The right remote work tools do more than keep projects moving — they shape how your employees connect, collaborate and thrive. Choose technology that removes friction, strengthens trust and gives your teams the flexibility they need to perform at their best.
Still not sure where to start? ActivTrak is here to help. Our remote workforce management software tells you where employees spend their time and when they’re most productive, plus which tools help (or hinder) their work. More than 9,500 organizations use it to:
- Monitor employee engagement with AI-powered insights to surface patterns and burnout risks.
- Optimize the workforce by identifying skills gaps and unused employee capacity.
- Manage employee performance with tailored insights to guide coaching conversations.
Schedule a free demo today to see how ActivTrak can help you streamline remote workforce management.
