The MAD Monkey Recommends List
We get asked every week: “What software should I be using for X?” So we built this page. Every tool below is one we use ourselves, deploy for clients, or have personally vetted with our own money.
No pay-to-play. No filler. Just the top 3 picks per category.
36 hand-picked tools
0 we wouldn’t use ourselves
01.Listings Management
Get found everywhere customers look — Google, Apple, Bing, Yelp, Facebook, voice search and 70+ data aggregators.
Top Pick
Yext
$199–$999/mo
The enterprise gold standard — direct API integrations with 200+ networks means edits go live in minutes, not weeks.
- Direct API sync to Google, Apple, Bing, Alexa
- AI-powered review response & analytics
- Knowledge graph & schema generator
#2
Vendasta Listing Builder
$49–$199/mo
What we use ourselves. Best-in-class for agencies and SMBs — flat-rate pricing and a killer dashboard.
- Real-time sync across 70+ directories
- Listing accuracy scan & auto-correct
- Bundles with reputation & social tools
#3
Uberall (formerly MomentFeed)
Custom
The pick for multi-location brands — deep store-locator, near-me-search optimization, and CoreX AI.
- Hyper-local search ranking control
- In-platform store locator widgets
- EU/global directory coverage strength
MAD Monkey Media — Listings & Local SEO
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. Sync your business across 70+ directories with one dashboard — managed monthly by our team.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
02.Reputation Management
Reviews are the new word-of-mouth. These tools generate them, monitor them, and respond at scale.
Top Pick
Birdeye
$299–$599/mo
The category leader in 2026 — Generative AI replies, sentiment analysis, and webchat-to-review conversion are unmatched.
- BirdAI auto-responses tuned to your tone
- SMS/email review request automation
- 200+ review-site monitoring & alerts
#2
Podium
$399–$899/mo
If your team lives on text messages, Podium is the conversion machine — review-by-text drives 4x response rates.
- SMS-first review invitations
- Unified inbox: SMS, web, social
- Payments & phone services bundled
#3
NiceJob
$75–$200/mo
The SMB sweet-spot — flat pricing, beautiful Stories pages, and the simplest onboarding in the category.
- Set-it-and-forget-it review campaigns
- SEO-friendly review-rich landing pages
- Direct Google & Facebook syndication
MAD Monkey Media — Reputation Management
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. We solicit, monitor and respond to reviews on every platform — while you run your business.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
04.Ecommerce Platforms
Whether you’re selling 5 SKUs or 50,000, these are the platforms we trust to power online stores.
Top Pick
Shopify
$39–$2,300/mo
Still the king. Fastest checkout on the internet (Shop Pay), 13,000+ apps, and a road-tested infrastructure.
- Shop Pay one-tap checkout (best CVR)
- Headless & Hydrogen for custom builds
- POS, B2B, and global tax built-in
#2
WooCommerce
Free + hosting
What we build on. Total ownership, zero per-transaction fees, and the WordPress ecosystem behind it.
- 100% data ownership, no platform lock-in
- Unlimited custom checkout flows
- Massive plugin economy (subs, bookings, B2B)
#3
BigCommerce
$39–$400+/mo
The B2B and headless choice — native multi-storefront and no transaction fees on any tier.
- Built-in B2B Edition with quoting
- Multi-storefront from one dashboard
- Open APIs & headless-ready stack
MAD Monkey Media — Ecommerce Builds
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. WooCommerce + Shopify storefronts, conversion-tuned and built to print.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
05.SEO Tools & Companies
The platforms our team lives in daily — keyword research, technical audits, backlink analysis, AI search tracking.
Top Pick
Ahrefs
$129–$1,499/mo
Our daily driver. Largest live backlink index on the planet plus the new Brand Radar for AI-search visibility.
- Brand Radar — track ChatGPT/Perplexity citations
- Site Audit with 170+ technical checks
- Keywords Explorer with parent-topic clustering
#2
Semrush
$140–$500/mo
The Swiss-army-knife — SEO + PPC + social + content + AI Toolkit in one ecosystem.
- AI Overviews tracking & optimization
- Position Tracking with SERP-feature deltas
- Content Marketing Toolkit (briefs & topics)
#3
Screaming Frog SEO Spider
£199/yr
No site audit is complete without it. The crawler every serious technical SEO opens before anything else.
- Crawl up to 500 URLs free, unlimited paid
- GSC, GA4, PSI & Ahrefs API integrations
- JavaScript rendering & custom extraction
MAD Monkey Media — Dallas SEO Services
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. Aggressive technical + content + link strategy. Top 5% Lighthouse, top of Maps.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
06.Ad Companies & PPC Tools
Tools that squeeze more revenue out of every Google, Meta, TikTok and Microsoft ad dollar.
Top Pick
Optmyzr
$249–$999/mo
The PPC manager’s power-tool — smart rules, scripts and one-click optimizations across Google, Microsoft, Meta & Amazon.
- Rule-based bid & budget automation
- Performance Max insights & placement control
- Cross-platform unified reporting
#2
AdEspresso (by Hootsuite)
$49–$259/mo
The fastest way to A/B test Meta & Google creative — built for marketers, not ad ops engineers.
- Auto-generated A/B/C/D ad variants
- Centralized FB, IG & Google dashboard
- Lead-sync to HubSpot, Mailchimp, Salesforce
#3
Madgicx
$55–$280/mo
Meta-Ads superpowers in 2026 — AI Marketer agent that audits, creates and optimizes campaigns autonomously.
- AI Marketer autonomous campaign manager
- Creative Insights for top-performing assets
- Cross-account audience clustering
MAD Monkey Media — PPC & Paid Ads
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. Google, Meta and TikTok ads managed with a fanatical eye on ROAS.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
07.Email Marketing Platforms
Email still drives the highest ROI of any channel. These are the platforms we plug clients into.
Sendlane
–9/mo
Built for ecom by ecom operators. Unified email + SMS, deep Shopify/WooCommerce attribution, and deliverability that beats the legacy guys.
- Unified email + SMS in one inbox
- Multi-store revenue attribution baked in
- White-glove migrations from Klaviyo/Mailchimp
#2
ConvertKit (Kit)
Free – $166+/mo
The creator’s favorite — tag-based subscribers, visual automation builder, and stellar deliverability.
- Visual Automations builder (no spaghetti)
- Creator Network for cross-promotion
- Built-in landing pages & tip jars
#3
ActiveCampaign
$15–$259+/mo
The marketer’s automation playground — the deepest if-this-then-that logic short of HubSpot Enterprise.
- Conditional content & site/event tracking
- Built-in CRM with deal pipelines
- 1-click integrations with 900+ apps
MAD Monkey Media — Email Marketing
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. Done-for-you flows, broadcasts and segmentation that recover carts and re-engage.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
08.Project Management & CRM
Where work gets organized. Whether you’re a 2-person shop or a 200-person agency.
Top Pick
ClickUp
Free – $19/seat/mo
One app to replace them all — tasks, docs, whiteboards, chat, sprints, AND a CRM module under one login.
- ClickUp Brain AI assistant across all data
- 15+ views (Gantt, board, list, calendar…)
- Native time tracking & reporting
#2
monday.com
$9–$24/seat/mo
The most visually intuitive PM tool — teams adopt it without training because the boards just make sense.
- Customizable workflows for any team
- monday CRM, Dev & Service products
- AI Blocks for in-board automation
#3
HubSpot CRM
Free – $1,500+/mo
The free tier alone beats most paid CRMs — and you grow into Sales, Marketing & Service hubs without migration.
- Free CRM with unlimited contacts
- Email tracking, meeting links & quotes
- Breeze AI agents for prospecting
MAD Monkey Media — Vendasta CRM Concierge
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. We set up and run the CRM, automation and reporting so your team can just sell.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
09.Design Tools
As a print + design agency, these are the tools on every screen at MAD Monkey HQ.
Top Pick
Adobe Creative Cloud
$60–$90/mo
Non-negotiable for print. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Firefly generative AI — the industry default for 35 years.
- Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere
- Firefly generative AI (commercially safe)
- Adobe Express for quick on-brand assets
#2
Figma
Free – $75/seat/mo
How modern web/UI design happens. Real-time multiplayer, Dev Mode, FigJam, and now Figma Sites for live publishing.
- Real-time collaborative design
- Figma Make AI prompt-to-prototype
- Dev Mode with code & CSS handoff
#3
Canva Pro
$15–$30/mo
The democratizer. We use it for client-self-serve content templates and quick social assets — no learning curve required.
- Magic Studio AI suite (write, image, video)
- Brand Kit + locked Brand Templates
- One-click resize across 100+ formats
MAD Monkey Media — Brand & Design Studio
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. Logos, brand systems and ad creative built by a team that ships, not pitches.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
10.Analytics & Heatmaps
You can’t fix what you can’t see. These are the lenses we use to read user behavior.
Top Pick
Microsoft Clarity
Free, forever
Free unlimited heatmaps, session recordings & AI insights. Genuinely the best free product Microsoft has ever shipped.
- Unlimited recordings & heatmaps (free)
- AI-generated session summaries
- GA4 + Google Ads integration
#2
Hotjar
Free – $213+/mo
The OG of UX recording — deeper survey/feedback widgets, Engage user-interview scheduling, and tighter funnel reports.
- Heatmaps, recordings & conversion funnels
- On-page surveys & feedback polls
- Hotjar Engage for live user interviews
#3
Plausible Analytics
$9–$59/mo
GA4 too heavy? Cookie-less, GDPR-native, <1KB script and a dashboard you can read in 10 seconds. EU-hosted.
- No cookies, no consent banners needed
- Lightweight script (45x smaller than GA)
- Goal & revenue tracking with UTM tags
MAD Monkey Media — Analytics & Reporting
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. GA4, Search Console, attribution and exec dashboards in one place.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
11.Customer Support & Chat
Live chat, helpdesk, AI agents — closing the loop between visitor and buyer.
Top Pick
Intercom
$39–$139/seat/mo
Fin AI Agent resolves 50%+ of tickets autonomously in 2026. Best-in-class for SaaS & ecom support.
- Fin AI Agent — pay only per resolution
- Unified inbox: chat, email, WhatsApp, IG
- In-app product tours & onboarding flows
#2
Tidio
Free – $749/mo
The ecom-friendly pick — Lyro AI handles 70% of common questions, with a free plan that genuinely works.
- Lyro AI chatbot trained on your content
- Shopify, Woo & BigCommerce native
- Visual chatbot flow builder
#3
HelpScout
$22–$65/seat/mo
The shared-inbox done right — feels like email to customers, but a real helpdesk to your team. Zero learning curve.
- Email-style threads (no ticket numbers)
- Beacon — embedded help center + chat
- Docs knowledge base with reporting
MAD Monkey Media — AI Chat & Support Agents
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. Custom AI agents that answer, qualify and route 24/7 in your brand voice.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
12.Loyalty & Rewards
Repeat buyers cost 5x less than new ones. These platforms turn one-time customers into evangelists.
Top Pick
Gratisfaction
Free – $99/mo
What we use ourselves. Gamified referrals, contests, social-share rewards, and sweepstakes — the ROI is silly good.
- Referral, sweepstakes & contest engines
- Social-share & review-leave rewards
- Shopify, Woo, BigCommerce native
#2
Smile.io
Free – $999/mo
The simplest points-and-VIP-tiers loyalty program on Shopify. Set up in 30 minutes, drives lifetime value from day one.
- Points, referrals & VIP-tier programs
- Branded on-site loyalty launcher
- Klaviyo & Mailchimp integrations
#3
Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals
$199–$799+/mo
When you outgrow Smile, you graduate to Yotpo — loyalty + reviews + SMS + subscriptions in one connected stack.
- Bundled with Yotpo Reviews & SMS
- Advanced segmentation by VIP tier
- Custom on-site widgets & APIs
MAD Monkey Media — Loyalty & Retention
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. Programs, automations and triggers that turn one-time buyers into regulars.
- One team, one invoice, one point of contact
- Stack-aware — we already use the tools above
- Month-to-month — we earn the renewal
03.Social Marketing & Scheduling
Plan, schedule, post and analyze across every social channel without 47 browser tabs.
Top Pick
Sprout Social
$249–$499/seat/mo
The Cadillac of social platforms — reporting and team workflow that justifies every penny for serious brands.
Get the Deal
#2
Metricool
$22–$199/mo
The 2026 underdog champion — covers TikTok, Threads, Bluesky, GBP, ad platforms AND web analytics under one roof.
Get the Deal
#3
Buffer
$6–$120/mo
Cleanest UI in the game and the best free tier — perfect for solopreneurs and lean teams.
Get the Deal
MAD Monkey Media — Social Marketing
Done-for-you
Keep it all under one banana hut. Done-for-you posting, ads, and reporting across every channel that moves the needle.
See Our Social Marketing