# Tools Guide

> Friendly, fact-checked reviews, comparisons and tool stacks for solo entrepreneurs and side hustlers.

Tools Guide covers software, AI and gear for one-person businesses and side hustles (about 80% digital, 20% physical). Every review states how it was evaluated (hands-on or research-based) and lists its sources. Ratings have two dimensions: usefulness from 1 to 10 (how much value the tool creates), shown in an ease-of-use colour: green = super user-friendly, blue = needs some skill, gray = difficult to use. Prices are in US dollars.

Every page has a Markdown version: add `.md` to its URL, or request it with `Accept: text/markdown`. Structured data is available from the public JSON API.

## Guides

- [AI Tools Guide](https://toolsguide.net/ai-automation.md): Hand the busywork to tools that think. AI assistants, agents and no-code automations that take repetitive work off your plate, so your side hustle keeps moving while you sleep.
- [Creator Tools Guide](https://toolsguide.net/create-publish.md): Make the thing. Ship the thing. Video, design, audio and writing tools that let one person create like a whole studio.
- [E-commerce Tools Guide](https://toolsguide.net/sell-online.md): Open shop in an afternoon. Storefronts, digital products, print-on-demand and payments for selling to the world without a warehouse.
- [Marketing Tools Guide](https://toolsguide.net/grow-market.md): Get found. Get followed. Get paid. Email, social, SEO, ads and analytics tools that bring the right people to your work.
- [Business Tools Guide](https://toolsguide.net/run-business.md): Admin, handled. Invoicing, bookkeeping, banking, contracts and booking tools that keep the boring stuff quick and painless.
- [Productivity Tools Guide](https://toolsguide.net/focus-organize.md): Less chaos, more done. Notes, tasks, calendars and focus tools for a calmer, more organized you.
- [Hardware Tools Guide](https://toolsguide.net/workspace-gear.md): Gear that earns its desk space. Desks, computers, cameras, mics and travel kit that make long days easier and your content look great.
- [Smart Living Tools Guide](https://toolsguide.net/smart-living.md): Tech that gives you time back. Smart home, health and sleep tech, everyday gadgets and life admin apps that simplify the rest of your day.

## About

- [About Tools Guide](https://toolsguide.net/about.md): Tools Guide helps solo entrepreneurs and side hustlers find the tools that make work, business and life simpler.
- [How we review](https://toolsguide.net/how-we-review.md): How Tools Guide researches, tests, rates and fact-checks every review, and how we use AI to do it.
- [Affiliate disclosure](https://toolsguide.net/disclosure.md): How Tools Guide earns money from affiliate links, and why it never affects our ratings.
- [Privacy](https://toolsguide.net/privacy.md): What Tools Guide collects when you visit, and what it does not.

## Optional

- [Full site content](https://toolsguide.net/llms-full.txt): every guide, review and page in one Markdown file
- [Public API docs](https://toolsguide.net/api/docs): read-only JSON API for categories, products, reviews and search
- [OpenAPI spec](https://toolsguide.net/api/openapi.json)
- [Reviews feed](https://toolsguide.net/feed.json): JSON Feed of the latest reviews