A fisherman has a tackle box. A remote worker needs a virtual toolkit.
To ace virtual collaboration, it’s vital that remote teams have access to the right tools. Every company should build a remote work toolkit that includes best-in-class resources to boost teaming and productivity.
To help you out, our experts at NoHQ have chosen five top remote work tools that your teams could benefit from. Here you’ll get an in-depth look at each tool to create the ideal virtual toolkit for your company.
What are remote work tools?
Remote work tools are virtually-accessible apps, platforms or programs that support anywhere working. Remote employees and companies can take advantage of these tools to boost collaboration, increase productivity and achieve company KPIs.
Why are remote work tools important?
Remote work tools can create exciting efficiencies in your virtual workflows. In our modern workplace, they’re essential for creating:
- More effective remote strategy – Get expert advice and resources for remote best practices.
- Boosted productivity – Streamline your team’s work by cutting out inefficiencies.
- Maximized collaboration – Bring together your remote workers with cutting-edge collaboration tools.
- 100% compliance – Leverage local experts to stay compliant with laws across the world.
- Tighter company security – Ensure your work and browsing is safe from unwanted scrutiny.
- Better employee wellbeing – Keep your employees happy with great teaming.
Criteria for top remote work tools
To select top tools, we looked carefully at the following areas. Top remote work tools should always aim to include these features:
- Easy-to-use virtually
- Effective results
- Integrates with other tools
- Aligns with company values
- Not redundant with other tools
- Affordable pricing
5 must-have remote work tools
Key takeaways
- For honing your remote work strategy through expert advice – #1 NoHQ.
- For paying remote workers everywhere with 100% compliance – #2 Deel.
- For maximizing collaboration in a virtual office space – #3 Tandem.
- For private and secure remote collaboration – #4 Remote HQ.
- For seamless remote communication – #5 Slack.
#1. NoHQ
Key takeaway: Ideal for honing your remote work strategy through expert advice.
NoHQ is your all-in-one hub for expert advice on remote work. Here you’ll get guides and toolkits to hit the ground running with remote work. This industry-leading platform is beloved by remote-first companies such as GitLab, JetBrains and Deel.
Relevant features
- Central hub for remote best practices
- Toolkits and checklists for remote work
- Comprehensive hiring guide by country
- Curated reading lists about remote work
- Strong remote community with top companies
- Remote work newsletter
Pricing
Free
Pros
- Industry leader in remote work best practices
- Lots of resources to take advantage of
- Excellent remote-first community
Cons
- You have to request an invite to access the community site and forum
#2. Deel
Key takeaway: #1 platform for paying remote workers everywhere with 100% compliance.
Deel is a global payroll and compliance platform for hiring anyone, anywhere. It’s great for taking advantage of global talent without the headache of local compliance.
Relevant features
- Hire contractors and employees in 150 countries
- Use a network of 200+ local experts to handle tax and labor rules
- Create custom contracts compliant with local laws
- Get country-specific documents for compliance measures
- Manage onboarding and HR tasks in-platform
- Automatically calculate local taxes for each employee
- Pay your whole team in their preferred currencies in one click
- Build local benefits package and manage them in-platform
Pricing
- Hiring contractors is $49/month per contractor
- Hiring employees is $499/month per employee
Pros
- All-in-one global payroll solution
- Network of local experts gives you peace of mind
- Streamline international payroll in local currencies
Cons
- May be expensive for startups and small businesses
#3. Tandem
Key takeaway: Great for maximizing collaboration in a virtual office space.
Tandem is a virtual office that encourages real-time collaboration across all teaming tools. It’s especially focused on bringing together employees for spontaneous co-working.
Relevant features
- Visualize who’s working on what in real-time
- Find out who’s connected and join spontaneous chats
- Connect through in-platform video chats, including with Listening Mode
- 120+ tool integrations
Pricing
- Starter – free (up to 10 members)
- Professional – $8/month per user (unlimited members)
- Enterprise – custom quote (advanced security and servers)
Pros
- Central hub for collaboration
- No links for video calls
Cons
- Focused on virtual teaming only, so no project management tools or other features
#4. Remote HQ
Key takeaway: Perfect for ensuring private and secure remote collaboration.
Remote HQ tightens your company security by offering private browsing and secure screen sharing tools for the modern virtual office.
Relevant features
- Private browsing using single-use Remote Browser feature
- Replace screen share with seamless co-browsing feature
- Get fast browsing experience
- Integrated with top tools
- Collaboration extras such as whiteboard, recording, notes, etc.
- No download necessary
Pricing
- Professional – $15/month per user (10 rooms, 2GB storage, 90 day logs, limited integrations)
- Business – $30/month per user (Unlimited rooms, 5GB storage, indefinite logs, full integrations)
- Enterprise – custom quote
Pros
- Secure your company browsing for good
- Collaborate easier with co-browsing tools
- Take advantage of extra collaboration features
Cons
- Pricing per month per user could be more expensive than an annual VPN service
#5. Slack
Key takeaway: Ideal for seamless remote communication.
Slack is an industry-leading collaboration platform that replaces your endless email inbox with a channel-style communication tool.
Relevant features
- Slack channels to organize communication by topic or project
- Document processes and share files in-platform
- Use personal notifications for real-time or async communication
- Get a simplified channel format instead of an inbox
- Integrated with top tools
Pricing
- Free – $0 (10,000 messages, 10 integrations and 1:1 video calls)
- Pro – $6.67/month per user (Unlimited integrations, video calls up to 15 people and more)
- Business – $12.50/month per user (Advanced security and customer service)
Pros
- Streamlined communication by topic
- All-in-one for daily collaboration
- Integrated with top tools
Cons
- Expensive for medium- or large-sized businesses
Boost your remote teams with tools
Your virtual teams deserve the best remote work tools. Set up your workers for success by crafting the ideal toolkit using these hand-picked choices above.
There are endless remote work tools out there. You can get even more possibilities from NoHQ’s comprehensive remote work toolkit. Don’t forget to check out the guides and forums as well!
