What Tools and Software Does Justin Welsh Use? (His Solopreneur Stack)
June 25, 2026 in Creator · 5 min read
_Disclosure: this article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only list tools Justin Welsh has actually used or recommended._
Justin Welsh runs one of the most-studied solopreneur businesses on the internet — a multi-million-dollar, one-person operation with no full-time employees. A huge part of his appeal is how openly he shares the lean, no-code tech stack that makes it possible; he's published it on his own site and tweeted versions of it many times. This is an in-depth breakdown of the tools he uses, what each is for, and the cheaper alternatives. (His stack has evolved over the years and tools change, so treat this as a current snapshot, accurate as of mid-2026.)
Justin's guiding principle is worth stating up front: keep it lean. He's famous for showing that a tiny monthly tool budget can run a business doing seven figures a year. The point isn't the specific apps — it's resisting the urge to over-tool before your business justifies it.
Before the tools, the bigger picture is the system. If you want the full playbook Justin teaches for building a one-person business, you can get our full summary of his Creator MBA here for the core method without the price tag.
The stack at a glance
| Tool | What it's for | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Kajabi | Courses + website | Teachable or Podia |
| Kit / Beehiiv | Email + newsletter | Any starter email tool |
| Notion | CRM + project management | Airtable or a notes app |
| Hypefury / Taplio | Social scheduling | Buffer or native scheduling |
| Zapier | No-code automation | Make (Integromat) |
| Fathom | Privacy-first analytics | Plausible or GA |
Website and courses
What it is: Justin runs his courses and much of his web presence on Kajabi, an all-in-one platform for selling online courses, hosting content, and handling payments. Why he uses it: it consolidates course hosting, payments, and pages in one place, which suits a solo operator. Who it's right for: creators selling courses who want one platform over a stack of plugins. The alternative: when he started, he used Carrd — a website builder that cost him about $19 — which he cites as proof you don't need expensive infrastructure to begin. Teachable and Podia are other course-platform options.
Email and newsletter
What it is: his newsletter, The Saturday Solopreneur, reaches a very large audience and is the engine of his business. He's used Kit (formerly ConvertKit) as a core email platform and Beehiiv for newsletter publishing. Why he uses them: creator-focused features for list growth and monetization. Who it's right for: anyone building a newsletter as a business asset. The throughline of his advice: own your email list, because it's the one audience asset no platform can take from you.
Owning the audience is the heart of his model — and the full system is in our summary of Creator MBA if you want the step-by-step.
Social scheduling and publishing
What it is: Justin built his audience on LinkedIn and X, and leans on scheduling tools to do it without living in the apps. He's used Hypefury for scheduling and recycling posts, and Taplio for LinkedIn scheduling and analytics. Why he uses them: batching content and staying consistent is the real driver of audience growth, and these remove the need to be permanently online. Who it's right for: creators growing on X or LinkedIn who want to batch. The alternative: Buffer or each platform's native scheduler covers the basics for free.
CRM, automation, and analytics
What it is: the back office of Justin's business is deliberately simple. He uses Notion as a personal CRM and for project management, Airtable for structured data, and Zapier to wire his tools together with no-code automations. For analytics he's used Fathom Analytics, a privacy-focused alternative to Google Analytics. Why he uses them: lightweight, no-code tools a single person can manage. Who it's right for: solo operators who want function without complexity. The alternative: a notes app and free analytics work to start; add automation only when a task is genuinely repetitive.
Want the full solopreneur playbook behind the stack? Get 80% of Justin Welsh's Creator MBA in a summary you can read in an afternoon. Summary of Justin Welsh's Creator MBA.
Build his setup by budget
| Budget level | What you get | Roughly what it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Carrd site, free email tool, one scheduler, Notion | About the cost of a coffee/month |
| Mid-tier | Kit or Beehiiv, Hypefury/Taplio, Notion, Zapier | A modest monthly stack |
| Full | Kajabi, paid email at scale, scheduling, analytics, automation | A pro solo stack |
The honest takeaway is Justin's own: start far smaller than you think you need. A Carrd site, a free email tool, one scheduling app, and Notion to keep yourself organized is enough to begin — that's close to how he started. Add tools only when a specific one will clearly save time or make money. The leanness isn't a constraint; it's the strategy.
Frequently asked questions
What does Justin Welsh use to host his courses?
He uses Kajabi, an all-in-one platform for courses, content, and payments. When he started, he used a simple Carrd site costing around $19.
What email tool does Justin Welsh use?
He's used Kit (formerly ConvertKit) and Beehiiv for his newsletter, The Saturday Solopreneur. His core advice is to own your email list.
What does Justin Welsh use to schedule social posts?
He's used Hypefury for X and Taplio for LinkedIn, which let him batch and recycle content rather than posting manually every day.
How much does Justin Welsh's tech stack cost?
Famously little — he's shown that a lean monthly tool budget can run a seven-figure solo business. He started on a roughly $19 Carrd site and added paid tools only as the business justified them.
How to copy his setup
Start tiny: a simple site (Carrd), a free email tool, one scheduler, and Notion to stay organized — close to how Justin began. Add Kajabi, paid email, and automation only when they'll clearly save time or make money. Lean is the strategy, not a limitation.
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