17 Productivity Tool Success Stories [2024]

Updated: November 19th, 2023
Start A Productivity Tool

In today’s fast-paced world, where time is money, productivity tools have become indispensable. These software solutions are designed to help individuals and businesses streamline and enhance work efficiency.

If you are interested in starting a business in this field, you need to identify a specific productivity challenge faced by your target audience. It could be anything from project management to time tracking.

Once you have identified the challenge, you need to develop a user-friendly software solution that addresses this challenge, focusing on simplicity and effectiveness. It is essential to keep the user experience in mind while designing the software.

Once your solution is ready, you need to market it effectively by highlighting its benefits and offering a free trial to attract potential users. By following these steps, you can be successful in the productivity software market.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a productivity tool:

1. Hubstaff ($6M/year)

Jared Brown, co-founder of Hubstaff, came up with the idea for the time tracking tool while addressing the issue of non-developer owners and managers not knowing how long development tasks should take. Realizing that there were very few software tools providing proof of work for freelancers, he saw a strong need for his product and started building a solution. Now, Hubstaff has grown to 10,000 paying customers and $6 million in annual recurring revenue.

How much they make: $6M/year
Current team size: 54

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How We Grew Our Time Tracking App To 10,000 Paying Customers

Hubstaff grew its time tracking app to 10,000 paying customers and $6 million in annual recurring revenue by solving a real problem in the market without any big incumbents, using SEO tactics and a differentiated product with proof of work features that answered the need for owners and managers to know how long development tasks should take, manage back-office tasks, and track remote team or freelancers' work.

About
Jared started Hubstaff over 10 years ago
Revenue
Jared grew the business to $500K/month
Read by 6,216 founders

2. WritePhobia ($360/year)

After struggling with his own discipline in writing, software engineer Burak Kanber built WritePhobia, an app that punishes writers for not meeting their daily word count goals. With a few dozen users already on the app, Burak has done zero marketing and is gaining traction through word-of-mouth and social efforts.

How much they make: $360/year
How much did it cost to start: $50
Current team size: 0

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I Built An App That Punishes Writers If They Don't Write

Burak Kanber created WritePhobia, an app that motivates writers to write regularly by punishing them for not meeting their word count goals, which has gained a usership of a few dozen users in public beta and has found success through word-of-mouth marketing.

About
Burak started WritePhobia almost 3 years ago
Revenue
Burak grew the business to $30/month
Costs
It cost Burak $50 to start the business
Read by 2,442 founders

So... can you actually make money with a productivity tool?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

3. Qwaiting ($792K/year)

Rohit Garg, co-founder of QWaiting, came up with the idea for his business after experiencing long waits and frustrations at restaurants. Recognizing the common problem of excessive customer wait times, Garg developed QWaiting to help businesses manage queues and improve customer experiences. With a team of over 50 members and an average monthly revenue of $66k, QWaiting has gained traction in industries such as banks, hospitals, retail stores, airports, and public sector enterprises.

How much they make: $792K/year
Current team size: 50

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Launching A $790K/Year Queue Management System [From Singapore]

Singapore-based Qwaiting's cloud-based queue management software helps businesses manage customer queues, reduce wait times, increase productivity and improve visitor experience. With average monthly revenue of $66k, Qwaiting has attracted 500+ clients and specialises in data analytics reporting, customer feedback support and centralised management.

About
Rohit started Qwaiting about 5 years ago
Revenue
Rohit grew the business to $66K/month
Read by 3,009 founders

4. DisplayBuddy ($18K/year)

Siddharth, an iOS engineer based in Singapore, came up with the idea for his indie app DisplayBuddy when he noticed his colleague struggling with switching between his work laptop and gaming PC on his monitor. Remembering a software he used in the past to control monitor settings, Siddharth developed a Mac app that allows users to control external displays directly from their menu bar. After launching the app in February 2021, Siddharth has gained 900 happy customers and crossed $5,000 in revenue.

How much they make: $18K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
Current team size: 2

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I Launched A Mac App With Zero Advertising [800+ Customers In First 8 Months]

An iOS engineer based in Singapore created DisplayBuddy, a Mac app that allows users to control external displays from their menu bar, which has now reached an average MRR of $600 and garnered 900 happy customers and 6,000+ users on SetApp.

About
Siddharth started DisplayBuddy about 3 years ago
Revenue
Siddharth grew the business to $1.5K/month
Costs
It cost Siddharth $100 to start the business
Read by 2,326 founders

So... can you actually make money with a productivity tool?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

5. Pull Reminders: Pull request reminders for Slack & GitHub ($120K/year)

How much they make: $120K/year
Current team size:

Bootstrapping a Side Project into GitHub Marketplace

Founder grows SaaS product Pull Reminders by communicating with developers, resulting in improved code review process for dev teams.

Revenue
They grew the business to $10K/month
Read by 651 founders

6. Rize ($300K/year)

How much they make: $300K/year
Current team size:

Shutting Down a VC-Backed Startup to Build an $11k/mo Business

Case study of a bootstrapped productivity tool, Rize, which generated over $11k in sales in one month with only a two-person team.

Revenue
Macgill grew the business to $25K/month
Read by 588 founders

So... can you actually make money with a productivity tool?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

  1. Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
  2. Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
  3. Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

7. Bloomy Lab ($480K/year)

Alex, the founder of Bloomy Lab, came up with the idea for his business after facing difficulties with outsourcing companies while developing websites for his previous companies, Hasten and Tantify. This inspired him to build a team of creative professionals who could develop their own products, leading to the creation of Bloomy Lab and their focus on developing health, fitness, productivity, and life quality improvement apps. With a team of talented individuals, they have already created 20 apps in just six months and are showing impressive growth potential.

How much they make: $480K/year
Current team size: 19

article

On Starting A Web And App Development Studio Coming From The Real Estate Industry

Bloomy Lab, a web and app development studio, shares insights on how they developed their virtual staging platform Tantify and their process of launching new products without any ads, resulting in 40,000 downloads and $1,000 monthly revenue, as well as their plans for future expansion.

About
Aleksandr started Bloomy Lab over 4 years ago
Revenue
Aleksandr grew the business to $40K/month
Read by 6,166 founders

8. Finale To Do ($48K/year)

Grant Oganyan, founder of Finale To Do, came up with the idea after struggling to find a task management app that suited his needs. Inspired by his success with his first app, Finale: Daily Habit Tracker, Grant wanted to create a customizable and aesthetically pleasing task management app without the need for monthly subscriptions. After experiencing displacement due to the war in Russia, Grant fully invested himself in running his own business and has seen promising growth, with a 500% increase in users in the first month and monthly revenue of $4,000.

How much they make: $48K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
Current team size: 2

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How We Achieved 500% User Growth In Our First Month [Task Management App]

Finale To Do is a mobile task management app that offers a highly customizable and aesthetically pleasing experience, boasting a $4,000/month net and gaining a 500% increase in users in its first month.

About
Grant started Finale To Do almost 2 years ago
Revenue
Grant grew the business to $4K/month
Read by 1,994 founders

9. eWebinar ($600K/year)

Melissa Kwan, co-founder and CEO of eWebinar, came up with the idea for the business after experiencing the pain of having to run the same webinar over and over again for her previous enterprise SaaS startup. Recognizing the need for a scalable webinar automation solution, Melissa decided to create eWebinar, a platform that turns any video into an interactive webinar that can be set on a recurring schedule or made available on demand. With customers ranging from solopreneurs to publicly traded companies, eWebinar has achieved an MRR of around $50k and continues to focus on delivering the best product and customer experience.

How much they make: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500K
Current team size: 0

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How A Non-Technical Founder Bootstrapped A $50K/Month Automated Webinar Platform

Melissa Kwan, CEO of eWebinar, discusses how she identified the pain point of running the same webinar over and over again, leading her to build an automated webinar solution, with a current MRR of $50k and a focus on word-of-mouth marketing.

About
Melissa started eWebinar almost 5 years ago
Revenue
Melissa grew the business to $50K/month
Costs
It cost Melissa $500000 to start the business
Read by 2,866 founders

10. Planndu ($8.4K/year)

Yarik and Kate, a Software Engineer and a Product Designer, came up with the idea for Planndu after realizing that existing productivity apps were difficult to operate and didn't effectively manage tasks. They decided to create a single app that combined all the necessary features for effective time management. Since launching in April 2022, Planndu has seen consistent growth in signups and subscriptions, with 851 new users joining last month and a 24% MoM growth in revenue from subscriptions. The founders have big plans for the future, including expanding to iOS and desktop platforms.

How much they make: $8.4K/year
How much did it cost to start: $300
Current team size: 2

article

62 Days And $300: How We Built An App That Helps Increase Productivity

Planndu is a productivity app that offers a focus timer, task prioritization, and note-taking features to help users manage their time; the company's revenue from subscriptions has grown by a commendable 24% month-over-month with 851 new users joining last month, proving its success.

About
Yarik started Planndu over 1 year ago
Revenue
Yarik grew the business to $700/month
Costs
It cost Yarik $300 to start the business
Read by 1,962 founders

11. TIMEFLIP ($600K/year)

In the Summer of 2016, Pavel Cheshev and his partner Dmitry launched TimeFlip, an IoT solution for personal time management and productivity control. After experiencing the fragmented market of time tracking software, they were inspired to create a "physical" solution that would be easy to use and adapt to. With over 5,000 units sold to date and plans to expand into major retailers like Walmart and Best Buy, TimeFlip has proven to be a simple and user-friendly tool for tracking time.

How much they make: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $130K
Current team size: 5

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Inventing A Gadget To Help You Track Your Time

TimeFlip, an IoT device that assists with personal time management and productivity control, has sold over 5,000 units globally, with half of the sales coming from North America, and has plans to expand into Walmart, Best Buy, and Home Depot in the near future.

About
Pavel started TIMEFLIP over 7 years ago
Revenue
Pavel grew the business to $50K/month
Costs
It cost Pavel $130000 to start the business
Read by 5,291 founders

12. QQ Labs ($120K/year)

Martin Morávek, the developer and founder of minimalist phone, came up with the idea when he noticed how people were overusing social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to mental health issues. Utilizing his background in psychology and machine learning, he designed the minimalist phone app to discourage excessive screen time by customizing the user interface to be monochrome and less visually stimulating. With an initial investment of only $3,100, the app now generates an impressive average monthly revenue of $20,000 and is on track to reach 500,000 downloads on Google Play.

How much they make: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
Current team size: 1

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I Created An App To Reduce Screen Time & It Just Hit $20K MRR

Minimalist Phone, a phone app that helps people prioritize their mental health by discouraging screen time, generated $20,000 monthly revenue from an initial investment of $3,100, with an estimated total of 500,000 downloads on Google Play soon.

About
Martin started QQ Labs about 3 years ago
Revenue
Martin grew the business to $10K/month
Costs
It cost Martin $100 to start the business
Read by 4,788 founders

13. KTool ($12K/year)

Inspired by a visually impaired engineer's Hacker News post, and suffering himself from blindness on his right eye, he decided to create a tool that sends reading materials from around the web to Kindle devices.

How much they make: $12K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
Current team size: 1

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Building A $1K MRR Kindle Productivity Tool To Limit Screen Times

"Read about the journey of KTool, a productivity tool for Kindle owners, as its founder Daniel Nguyen shares how he built the business, reached $1,000 in monthly recurring revenue, and utilized various strategies such as building in public, ASO, and engineering as marketing to attract and retain customers."

About
Daniel started KTool about 2 years ago
Revenue
Daniel grew the business to $1K/month
Costs
It cost Daniel $500 to start the business
Read by 1,251 founders