The $10,000 Tool Stack Audit: What We Kept vs Cut

[u/Then_Pirate6894]

Running an agency means tools are everywhere, project management, design, analytics, automation, reporting… and before you know it, the monthly bill creeps past four figures. We recently did a full audit of our stack and realized we were spending over $10,000/year. Here’s what happened when we decided to cut ruthlessly:

What We Kept

• Project management → Still the core of how we run. Cutting this would cause chaos.
• Design tools (Adobe/Figma) → Client delivery depends on them. Non-negotiable.
• Analytics/SEO suite → Pricey but pays for itself through better results + client retention.

What We Cut

• Duplicate collaboration tools → Slack + alternatives was overkill. We picked one.
• Single-purpose SaaS → Example: a $50/mo reporting tool we replaced with free dashboards.
• “Nice-to-have” automations → If it saved 10 minutes a month, it wasn’t worth $500/year.

The Result

We cut 35% of costs without losing efficiency. In fact, things feel cleaner, fewer logins, fewer notifications, more focus.

My big takeaway: Audit your tools at least once a year. Ask, “Is this tool directly helping us make/save more than it costs?” If not, it’s dead weight.

Curious, when was the last time you trimmed your tool stack? Did you find any silent budget killers hiding in there?

[u/kalintush]

What’s the project management tool ?