How much we spend on software every year

Here’s what our tech stack looks like in 2026

Did you know there’s an audio of this newsletter? Listen here. (I’m funny sometimes, and this was one of them.)

It’s 4:42pm as I write this. 

Sandra says the official company schedule should not reflect that I often finish at 7pm on Wednesdays, so it doesn’t. The hours between 5pm-7pm represent my sneaky “off book” time, and I know I’ll need those hours today.

I’m dreaming up a quick + easy email you might like, and remembered someone in class the other day asked me about our tech stack, so let’s do that. 

We spent $17,346 USD on software last year. 

Sandra keeps it all in a spreadsheet but I’m the one who reads the credit card statements every month and sends crabby messages to my team like, “Do we really need premium Trello?” Usually the answer is yes, but once or twice a year we find something we can downgrade or get rid of, which never fails to delight me, even if it’s only $100/year in savings. 

But I never ever feel wasteful or resentful about our software expenses. 

The number of human labour hours all those apps save us is astronomical. Not like, say, our Stripe fees, which make me feel like I’m in the wrong industry. In a parallel universe I’m the CEO of Wealthsimple (affiliate link). Parallel Universe Tarzan thinks digital course businesses are “cute.” But she’s also been through two divorces and is estranged from her children, so what does she know?

Back to our tech stack. 

Here are a few of our faves that power this business. I’m using affiliate links but, unless otherwise noted, every one of these are providers we’ve been using for years. 

Inbox Management: Superhuman (affiliate link)

Everyone on the team checks email in Superhuman. It helps us collaborate on emails, easily filter out notifications no one needs to see, and see the most important emails (i.e. your replies and customer service requests) sooner. I could talk about this software alllll day, truly. IT IS THE BEST. Thirty bucks a month was hard to swallow but after my one month trial I knew I was never going back. 

Apparently 70% of email users have never created a single folder. WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE?!? I’m stressed out thinking about their single-tab inboxes with 3928 unread messages. If you're that person, Superhuman will save your sanity and they said I could gift you $80 if you sign up before January 31.

Email Service Provider: Kit (affiliate link)

I was an early adopter of Kit, left for another ESP that had more features, but came back two years later because Kit kept getting better and more affordable, while the other one was getting more expensive and less functional, plus I hated logging in due to its ugliness. I log into Kit all the time now, and even do my own automations now and then (with Sandra’s permission). The whole team at Kit still treats me like their #1 customer, and no one ever mentions my little dalliance with Active Campaign. 

Course Platform: Membership.io (affiliate link)

I started with Teachable, switched to Kajabi, and finally landed on Membership.io, which we internally call “the hub” to save syllables. We love its searchability, and I’m constantly saying to students, “Just search your own name and it’ll take you straight to the right video, at the exact moment where I answered your question.”

Checkout Pages: SamCart (affiliate link)

Sandra uses ThriveCart, which is a “one-time payment” software as opposed to subscription-based. It seems to work just fine. But we’ve been using SamCart for so long we’re like that old married couple that relies too much on each other to get divorced. I will be paying $888/year for the rest of my life, probably. But it handles our dunning emails (those “please update your credit card” emails), links up with all our other software, and is easy to use.  

Project Management + Team Communication: ClickUp (affiliate link)

Last year we replaced Asana and Slack with ClickUp. Now nearly all team communication is neatly attached to the relevant task or project. That means we’re not bouncing back and forth between software, which saves time and keeps us organized, and organization is our love language over her at TKG. Our PM tool means no one is holding a to-do list in their head, or checking with each other to see what’s been done. We even splurged on their AI add-on, which I’m constantly asking, “What did we decide about…?” or “Don’t we have a document somewhere about…?”

Website and Landing Pages: Showit (affiliate link)

Major stan for Showit! I’ve had lots of websites over the years and this platform is the most intuitive for non-designers like me. Our design is done by professionals, but the team and I log in often to make simple edits.

We got rid of Leadpages when we moved to Showit in 2023, and rebuilt all of our landing pages too (read: $$$$). Leadpages lets you hide/show certain sections of landing pages based on a timer, which is the only feature I miss but we all miss it a LOT. I’m hearing the voice of Sandra in my head, telling me to submit a feature request to Showit, which apparently is something SaaS companies pay attention to. 

Please Don’t Make Me Explain This: Zapier 

I am so glad I have Sandra, if only so I never ever have to log into Zapier. What even is this, anyway? Sandra assures me the whole system would collapse without it and we will be paying them $1000/year in perpetuity . What does it do? It connects stuff to other stuff. They should totally use that for their headline.

Everything else:

This email would be a mile long if I kept going. Those are the major ones. I also use Acuity for scheduling(affiliate link), HelloAudio for private podcast feeds(affiliate link), Loom for screenshare videos (membership.io has this feature but it’s glitchy AF), Plooto for payroll and Typeform for forms(affiliate link).

We recently added Rootabl for affiliate management on The Girlboss Apology Tour(affiliate link). Rootabl had a Black Friday sale, so we bought it a bit early even though we won’t start using it immediately. I’m excited to use this more. It’s created by my friend Laura Sprinkle, who is probably the #1 authority on affiliate marketing in this industry. It’s rare that women start SaaS companies. Sprinkle is so rad and I’m proud to be her friend and customer. 

A few tips:

→ Most software companies will refund you when you cancel an annual plan. Not always, and you usually have to ask. But just because you’ve been charged for something doesn’t mean you’re locked in for another 11 months.

→ Some companies love to cut deals with people like us! We have a free Opt-in Monster account that a former employee negotiated for use back in 2019. 

→ We don’t buy software just because it’s on sale and we might need it eventually. Fuhgettaboutit.  

→ Switching providers is a total pain, especially for any of the big ones (ESP, checkout pages, etc.) We talk at length as a team before making a decision like that, sometimes for months or even years! Often the labour involved in switching just isn’t worth it. By the time you're done, something even better has come along and you’re back where you started. 

OH MY GOD, ONE MORE THING

I am a password manager evangelist. We use 1Password. This is one of the first things I purchased when I started my business. It’s like the wallet of the modern human. Don’t even tell me your password has your dog’s name in it, with an “@” instead of an “a”, and a “1” at the end. As your friend and confidant, I need you to change that password immediately. 

Okay, it’s Thursday now and I have to teach a class. I quit work at 6:24pm last night, went grocery shopping and then tried to figure out how to watch Heated Rivalry for free—I may have spent $17K on software but I can also be a frugal bitch!! 

I can’t wait to tell my students I wrote a 1300-word essay to answer one simple question!

See you next week!

Actually wait – what is your favourite software that you use in your business or personal life? 

I truly madly deeply desire to know. 

~ Tarzan

Tarzan Kalryzian [she/they]
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