Best document scanning apps of 2019

Despite the fact that we live in an increasingly digital world, many organizations still print out important documents on paper - whether it be a letter, contract, bank statement, invoice, receipt or educational handout.

Some people still rely heavily on paper, too, because they don’t have access to the internet. But this is only a minority of folks, with estimates suggesting that just 10% of British homes and 11% of American homes aren’t connected to the internet.

At any rate, there is still a lot of paper around, and managing it all can be challenging. Most of us end up misplacing important physical documents at one time or another. 

But technology, as it often does, can save the day in the form of document scanning apps. With these, it’s possible to scan paper-based items such as letters, receipts and contracts using the camera of your mobile device.

You can then keep them safe and stored on the cloud for future use. The other benefit of this sort of software is that it lets you send documents quickly. Here are the best document scanning solutions out there right now.

Image Credit: Adobe

When it comes to scanning documents for digital file storage, chances are you are going to want to save in a portable document format-a PDF file. Adobe Scan is a dedicated scanning app from Adobe, the creators of the PDF file, so expectations are high that this should deliver on most user needs.

Adobe Scan runs as an app on your mobile device, whether it is running Android or iOS, and uses your camera to catch a copy of a document to convert into a PDF file. There is a preview option to optimize the file dimensions, and you can rotate, crop, and edit the colour as required.

The biggest advantage of using Adobe Scan is probably its close integration with Adobe's other apps, not least Adobe Acrobat, and Adobe Fill & Sign. This means you can not only scan into PDF document format, but also edit, annotate, sign and work collaboratively with the documents that you do scan. 

Even better, Adobe Scan is a free app to download and use, though there is an in-app subscription available if you want additional features. Cost for this is a monthly subscription of $9.99 per month or $89.99 a year

Image Credit: Abbyy 

If you’re looking for something a little more advanced, it’s worth checking out Abbyy’s FineScanner. The software uses optical character recognition to scan text in 193 languages.    

Compatible with Android and iOS, the app lets you scan both printed and handwritten text with your mobile device. FineScanner works with 12 file formats, including DOCX, PDF and TXT. The great thing about the app is that it preserves the original document formatting.   

What’s more, you can access a set of easy-to-use annotation tools to add signatures and notes to text. And the iOS version of the software sports a feature called BookScan, which lets you digitize books with ease. It turns facing book pages into separate images, removing any defects. 

Once you’ve conducted a scan, you can share it with anyone over email or save it to cloud storage lockers such as Dropbox, Evernote and iCloud Drive. Currently, FineScanner is free to download on Android and iOS devices, but it offers in-app purchases if you’d like to get more storage and capabilities.   

Image Credit: The Grizzly Labs

Genius Scan is yet another popular mobile scanning app, with its developers claiming that the software has digitized more than half a billion documents to date. Described as a “scanner in your pocket”, it lets you turn paper-based documents into JPG and PDF files.   

Headline features include smart page detection, perspective correction and image enhancement. And with patch scanning, you can create digital copies of dozens of pages within seconds. The app also enhances the legibility of documents, ensuring they’re readable, and you can keep your files organized with titles, tags and a search function. 

Just like FineScanner, you can upload scanned documents to a range of cloud storage platforms, including Dropbox, Evernote, Expensify, Facebook, Google Drive, OneDrive (and OneDrive for Business), OneNote, FTP, SugarSync and WebDAV.

If you’re scanning sensitive documents, you can protect them with built-in encryption and passwords (or Touch ID on iOS). It’s free to download on Android and iOS, but offers in-app purchases.   

The app is free and comes with a lot of features. For the more advanced integrations and security and MDM settings, there's a one-time fee of $7.99. For unlimited cloud storage, plus synchronization and web access through Genius Cloud, there's a monthly fee of $2.99 per month.

Image Credit: Scanbot

Scanbot is positioned as an easy and fast way to create high-quality scans on iPhone, iPad and Android devices. According to the developer behind the app, it is capable of making “hundreds of decisions to capture the document perfectly”. 

With the software, you can scan documents, receipts, sketches, whiteboards, business cards, labels, QR codes and barcodes. Once you’ve scanned an item, you can choose from five color modes to make it look perfect. There are also tools to crop and optimize scanned documents, all of which are automatically captured in 200+ dpi.   

You’re able to save documents as PDF or JPG files, and you can upload these to a range of major cloud services. The software supports iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, Amazon Drive, Slack, Todolist, OneDrive, OneNote and Box.

If you plan on using Scanbot for business purposes, you can easily fax documents directly from your mobile device in 50 supported countries. As is the case with most of these apps, Scanbot is free to download on Android and iOS, with the option of in-app purchases. 

Image Credit: CamScanner

As the name suggests, CamScanner is an app that turns the camera of your mobile device into a document scanner. With it, you’re able to scan a range of documents, from invoices to receipts. The software turns scanned documents into PDF files, which are automatically uploaded to cloud services such as Box, Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote and OneDrive.

Targeted specifically at business users, the app lets you invite colleagues to view and comment on scans. However, they must have a user account to do so. There’s also an advanced editing feature, which lets you add annotations and watermarks to documents, making them look more professional. For improved security, you can add passcodes to documents.   

The app is free to download on Android and iOS, but you can upgrade to a premium plan to get 10GB of storage, send document links with password protection, batch download documents, and more besides. 

For the Premium Account you have the option to pay either $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. For the business version, which provides better options for team collaboration, it costs $6.99 per user per month, or $69.99 a year.

More document scanning apps

In addition to the document scanning apps listed above, there are plenty of others to consider. Here we'll feature some of the best of the rest available for Android phones:

Clear Scan is a free PDF scanning app, which allows you to quickly scan any text or image into a PDF file. The app includes an edge detection feature to prevent your images looking skewed, and scanned files can be easily saved to cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Google Drive. While the app is free it does contain advertising, though this is generally unobstrusive.

TapScanner is another free PDF scanner that easily handles images and documents, with an autodetect feature to ensure that any images is properly aligned. In addition to saving as PDF or PNG files, TapScanner also contains an OCR function to covert images to text, and supports over 100 languages. Although the free version contains ads, you can remove these for $4.99 a month, or $19.99 a year.

Microsoft Office Lens is specifically targeted at taking images of whitebaords, notes, and documents, which can then be saved to PDF, Word, or Powerpoint files. These can then be saved to the cloud via OneNote or OneDrive. Office Lens is free to use and comes with no ads, though more properly integrates with the paid-for Office 365 office suite.

Tiny Scanner turns your Android phone into a portable document scanner, allowing you to scan documents, receipts, reports, or anything else, and save the files as either a PDF or image file. Files can then be saved in DropBox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and even Evernote, and the scanned files can be directly sent to your PC via wifi. The app is free, and is supported by ads.

Fast Scan is yet another app that turns your smartphone into a document scanner, and allows files to be saved to PDF and stored in the cloud. It also includes an OCR feature as well as PDF editing. While the app is free to use, it is supported by ads, though you can purchase an upgrade to remove these.

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Best PDF reader for Mac of 2019

While it's easy to open PDF's these days, with most browsers and even office suites offering some form of built-in PDF reader, often it's not enough to simply be able to read a PDF.

The Portable Document Forum (PDF) was originally developed by Adobe in the early 1990's, as a way to share documents between users with different operating systems. Additionally, because it couldn't be edited, that meant the document's integrity could be preserved.

The problem for users nowadays is that PDF's now commonly form user agreements which require signing. On top of this, collaborative working means that having to convert PDF files into native documents for editing and then back again just isn't practical.

Therefore it helps to have a PDF reader that has extended features for editing and e-signing. 

However, the prevalence of Windows PCs means that sometimes Apple Macs can seem left behind, especially with the continued development of macOS as an app platform.

We've therefore highlighted the best in PDF readers for the Mac, not least where additional features will allow macOS users to do more with the PDF files they have.

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Image Credit: Kdan

Available to download directly from the Mac App Store, PDF Reader Premium from Kdan Software is one of the most powerful and popular PDF management tools for Apple computers. It functions as a file manager, file converter and page editor.

With the software, you can easily edit PDF files by adding freehand writing, text boxes, sticky notes, hyperlinks and annotations. And to ensure that important documents don’t get mixed up, you’re able to label them by adding tags and color-coding. What’s more, to keep track of all your saved files, you can make use of an import history feature.

The app works with iCloud, too, meaning you can back up and access saved documents on an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. There’s even compatibility with Dropbox, so you can easily import documents from devices that run on other operating systems.

Overall, you should find the app smooth and quick to use. It’s powered by a proprietary rendering engine, which aims to ensure that large files are processed and loaded without any lag. Currently, the app costs $59.99 (£42), although there is a free version that you can try before you purchase.

Image Credit: Apple

Apple Books is more than just an app for reading novels-at the heart of Apple Books is the ability to read and organize PDF files. The only stipulations is that they must be DRM-free, which makes it somewhat limited by comparison to some of the more dedicated readers featured here.

However, as a simple PDF reader Apple Books-formerly iBooks-does the job exactly as it needs to. Better still, it's bundled for free with iOS 12 so if you're already up to date with the upgrade cycle then the chances are you already have it but perhaps didn't know it can be used to read PDFs as well as novels and a range of document formats.

The one limitation Apple Books has that some of the other apps here don't have is that it can't be used for editing, anotating, or creating PDF files. However, as we're only focused on PDF readers in this piece Apple Books is still a wworthy and necessary inclusion. Even still, there are other apps available in the App Store that can provide expanded functions for manipulating PDF files, if required.

Image Credit: Adobe

Adobe not only invented the trusty PDF document in the first place, but the company has also created some top-notch apps to manage them. Acrobat Pro DC is a great example, and it supports both Windows and Mac devices. The software allows you to create, edit and convert PDF files with ease.

Whether you happen to be using a desktop PC, laptop or tablet, Acrobat lets you turn any paper document into a PDF file. You just have to snap a photo of the piece of paper and upload it to Adobe’s platform, then you can subsequently edit it. Acrobat also lets you convert PDFs into any Microsoft Office file format, preserving all fonts and formatting.

Thanks to integration with Excel, you can even edit data in scanned tables, making it easier to edit and analyze financial data. Just like Kdan Software’s PDF Reader Premium, you can keep track of the changes you and your colleagues make to PDF documents.

Acrobat is capable of detecting the differences between two versions of the same PDF, too. You can sign up for a business plan for £15.17 a month, which gives you the option to add more team members in the future. 

Image Credit: Readdle

PDF Expert is a robust and easy-to-use solution for managing business documents. And with a four-and-a-half star rating in the Mac App Store, it seems to be one of the most popular options out there for Mac users. The software gives you the ability to read, edit and annotate PDF documents from a central dashboard.

One of the great things about PDF Expert is that it’s fast and slick to use. Thanks to smooth scrolling and a fast search function, you can quickly find what you’re looking for across multiple PDF files.

This app lets you edit images, text and links, plus the software can automatically detect fonts, size and opacity of writing. Plus, if you happen to own an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, you can add annotations and notes to documents on-the-go. Like most PDF apps out there, PDF Expert comes with a free download option, but the app for iPad/iPhone costs $9.99 and includes in-app purchases, while the version for Mac costs around $100 for 3 Macs.

Image Credit: WonderShare

Wondershare has developed a Mac version of the popular PDFelement app, which is positioned as an easy way to edit PDF documents. It gives you the tools to add text, images, links, backgrounds, watermarks, headers and footers to PDF documents.

The software provides an extensive selection of PDF editing options. Not only can you add text to documents, but you can also tweak the font type, size and style. There’s the ability to rotate, extract, replace and crop images too.

PDFelement is a great option for teams in particular, with powerful collaborative capabilities, letting you add sticky notes, comments, text boxes and more. And you can use the tool to fill out business documents such as contracts and tax forms. PDFelement retails at $49.95 for the standard package, but for all features you will need the Professional package priced at $79.99.

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Best task management apps of 2019

Whether you're running your own business, a department, or a team, or even just working for yourself, it can be difficult to manage all of the tasks on your to-do list.

This is especially the case where you might have multiple deadlines to work with, and managing the priorities for these tasks can become a challenge as your workload increases.

Luckily there are a number of software packages available that are dedicated toward task management, making it easy to prioritize, organize deadlines, and generally ensure a much smoother workflow.

The result is the improved ability to manage complex tasks, especially for individual projects with multiple needs and requirements, as well as for dealing with multiple projects that each have their own demands.

Here we'll therefore look at the best in task management apps and software, to help make it easier to manage your workload.

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Image Credit: Centrallo

If you’ve got lots of things happening in your work and personal life at the same time, you should definitely check out Centrallo. Described as a simple and elegant organization app, its main aim is to ‘catch everything life throws at you’.

That may sound like an ambitious goal, but the software certainly has a good crack at achieving this. With Centrallo, you can create as many notes and checklists as you want, and share these private or publicly.

You can also add photos, videos links and voice notes to the lists you create and store in the app, as well as due dates so you never miss a deadline. There’s also the ability to collaborate with team members on tasks within the app. What’s more, you can edit lists from a smartphone or tablet while on-the-go. That way, you should never fall behind with your work (hopefully).

Centrallo offers a free version of the app, but it comes with restrictions: you’re limited to a maximum of 100 notes, small attachments, and only a relatively small amount of cloud storage. That said, you may find 1GB of storage is enough – at least for personal usage. However, if you plan on using this throughout your company, it’s likely you’ll need the premium option. It costs $4.99 monthly or $44.99 annually.

Image Credit: Easynote

Easynote is another easy-to-use task management tool which is nicely affordable. It provides you with the tools to create, assign and track tasks. Targeted at both everyday users and businesses, the app can be used to organize everything from shopping lists to multi-platform projects.

In terms of features, the software allows you to collaborate on tasks, and share files. You can also set deadlines, task dependencies, alarms and reminders, as well as providing feedback to colleagues, and asking for amendments on tasks. What’s more, if you plan on using the software in your business, you don’t need any training. It works straight out-of-the-box.

Easynote claims that the app is used by tens of thousands of people and companies across the globe, including the likes of Samsung, Yamaha, Siemens, Barclays, Unicef and Pfizer.

Just like Centrallo, there’s a free option of the app available, but you only get 1GB of storage and a limit of 10MB when it comes to file uploads. To expand both of these limits, and get better customer support, you can upgrade to the Business plan which offers 5GB of storage and 50MB of file upload for $5 per month, or the Extended product which gives you 10GB/100MB for $10 monthly.

Image Credit: Trello

When it comes to business productivity software, Trello is no doubt one of the most popular and widely known offerings on the market. Available on both desktop and mobile devices, the app lets you organize personal and professional tasks. The company lists homework, shopping lists and work projects as a few examples.

The user interface is very friendly and based largely on boards that you create to organize the things you’re working on. You can categorize these based on different topics and tasks, and invite co-workers, friends and family members to collaborate on tasks. Similarly to Centrallo, the app makes use of checklists and to-do cards.

Once you’ve created a board, you can create tasks and assign them to different people. From here, you can comment or receive feedback to ensure you’re on-track with everything. You also have the option to add photos, videos and files to cards, and to look at your lists in a calendar view to monitor deadlines.

Trello is a cloud-based platform that works across a range of platforms and devices, including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. The app is free to use, and you can create as many boards and lists as you’d like with the free version. However, there are premium products with more features and the ability to attach bigger files, with a Business Class plan costing $9.99 per month and an Enterprise offering running to $20.83 monthly.

Image Credit: Monday.com

Should you want a task management tool that’s geared more towards business teams, Monday.com is vying for your attention. It’s a more visually-oriented piece of productivity software that lets project managers delegate tasks and keep an eye on the steps their team members are taking to complete tasks successfully.

Using the app, you can generate comprehensive task and to-do lists, share files and communicate with colleagues. The software provides a great deal of insight into projects, letting you add details such as owner status, prioritization and timelines. What’s more, there’s a built-in chat function which allows you to discuss tasks and updates with individual team members and groups.

Taking design cues from Trello, this tool comes with a calendar function as well. This puts all your tasks and deadlines into one place. And to ensure crucial business information doesn’t get into the wrong hands, all data stored in the app is encrypted. Other security features include two-factor authentication, single sign-on and audit logs. For a five-member team and 5GB of storage, you’ll need to pay $25 monthly.

Image Credit: Accelo

Marketed as an automation system for businesses, Accelo is a cloud-based platform that lets you manage all your client work from one place. It combines all aspects of a business – such as sales and project management – within a single piece of software.

You can make use of drag-and-drop charts to manage projects, and there’s a project tracking feature that considers outcomes, resources and budgets. You also get a team scheduling tool to delegate tasks among appropriately skilled employees, along with mobile timers and automated timesheets.

Other goodies include an invoicing function that automatically syncs to Xero and QuickBooks, and automated notifications. Accelo offers a free trial so you can test out the service, and the base plan starts from $34 per month billed annually.

Other task management apps to consider

We've only featured five platforms for task management, but there are plenty of other options to consider. This is not least because different software will do things differently and you need to find the one that does this right for your team. Below we'll suggest some alternatives to the ones above, to see if they can help you manage your tasks better instead:

Slack is probably the first to add to this list. Built primarily as a collaboration hub for work, Slack works as a general communication platform. A particular advantage is that as a web app it's accessible from any device regardless of operating system, and its especially geared to use on mobile platforms. This means if organizing your team and bringing them together better can help you get the job done better, then Slack is a definite contender. 

Xenforo is a messageboard platform, which may initially seem a little old hat by comparison to more modern apps. However, Xenforo comes with a lot of features installed by default, not least Push Notifications, plus the ability to create separate areas viewable only by staff with the relevant permissions. There are also a wide range of customizations available in terms of looks and functionality, so it's easy to create a center for task management.

Samepage is another good option to consider if you're looking at collaboration to improve efficiency and task management. Centralizing communications in one place, it aims to bring all chat, comments, and coworkers together into manageable teams for whatever projects you need to handle. You can also invite guests into the discussions, as well have walled private areas.

Basecamp aims to go even further than that, providing a range of additional tools such as communications, task schedules, documents & file storage. The aim is to keep everything not just in one place but streamlined as well. By highlighting due dates, upcoming deadlines are easier to find and manage to ensure that multiple projects are completed on time. 

Asana is another platform that aims to bring all workflows together in a simple and easy manner to get tasks done. This is helped by the really simple and easy to use GUI which makes it easy to see what needs doing and organize it. As a work management platform it works very well with teams, and allows for the easy scheduling of goals and projects.

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Best app for forex trading of 2019

In today’s interconnected world, the foreign exchange market plays an important role in daily business. It’s a global, decentralized environment where financial institutions and businesses can trade currencies.

According to research from the Bank for International Settlements, foreign exchange trading generates an estimated $5.3 trillion daily - making it larger than other financial markets. Often, it’s dominated by large international banks and corporations, which work around the clock to trade and convert international currencies.   

Forex trading also underpins international trade and investments. For instance, if American companies want to import goods from a country in Europe, they’ll most likely need to complete transactions in euros. Through forex, these firms can exchange dollars for euros quickly and easily. 

As well as enabling trade between countries, forex trading is a lucrative investment opportunity. Every day, companies and investors make billions by purchasing and trading currencies. However, it does take a significant amount of experience and skills to make lucrative forex trades.

That’s where forex trading software comes into the picture, automating this common business practice. Essentially, it ploughs through the market for the best currency trading opportunities. And in this article, we’ve picked out the best forex trading apps around.

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Image Credit: FXTM

When choosing any financial management platform, it’s important to look for trustworthy providers. Used by traders in more than 180 countries and fully regulated, ForexTime's FXTM software is a safe bet for foreign exchange trading. It’s positioned as an automated currency broker. 

The great thing about this platform is that it’s designed for professionals and beginners. For example, flexible leverage lets you increase your earning potential, but this is only offered to you based on your knowledge and experience. If you do intend on becoming an expert in this area, you can access a range of educational resources. 

Currently, you can operate with both fixed and variable spreads, and when you’ve completed a trade, the company processes withdrawal requests within just a few minutes. You shouldn’t have any issues using the software, either. All you have to do is sign up for an account, upload your verification documents and transfer funds before trading. 

What’s more, the software can make trades with millisecond execution rates. In other features, you can get daily commentaries from the firm’s market research team and make use of a series of free trading tools to make more informed decisions.

You can access the software on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices, and the company states that it covers 100% of your deposits up to $1,000.

Image Credit: Netdania

When it comes to making profitable forex trades, it’s important to get an understanding of the current market. Netdania aims to do just that by providing you with trading ideas and strategies. The app also compiles data from more than 20,000 financial instruments and thousands of real-time stocks. 

Positioned as a personal trading assistant, Netdania will tell you when you should enter or exit the market. Not only is the app easy-to-use, but it also provides you with real-time market news and updates within a economic calendar, and lets you share strategies with fellow traders. That way, you can learn from others. 

Netdania provides real-time stock indices covering the Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, TSX, Nikkei 225, ASX200, Hong Kong Hang Seng, Nifty 50, MICEX, EuroSTOXX50, FTSE100, DAX 30, CAC40, IBEX35, MIB40 and SMI20, along with statistics from industries such as oil, gold, silver and platinum.

Because the software is underpinned by cloud technology, you can easily share and sync data across a range of devices. And to ensure you never miss a potentially lucrative trade, you can sign up to receive push notifications about major economic events. Netdania is available in 18 languages and is free to download from the App Store and Google Play Store, although there are various in-app purchases.   

Image Credit: Trade Interceptor

If you’re looking for an advanced forex trading and analysis tool, it’s worth checking out Trade Interceptor. Through the software, you can quickly find and track the best currencies and stocks to put your money in. It offers 14 advanced chart types, as well as 160 intelligence indicators and drawing tools. 

The software was previously only available on desktops, but it’s finally made its way to mobile devices. There’s a touch-enabled trade management functionality, as well as split-screen and quad-screen modes so you can can keep your eyes peeled on several markets at the same time.

Like Netdania, the app is powered by the cloud, letting you access analysis tools, trade data and price alerts from any device. It provides streaming quotes for all major forex trading, cryptocurrencies, indices, precious metals and commodities. Plus you can can access professionally curated news covering Asian, European and American markets.

There are plethora of built-in trading tools too, including an economic calendar, data release alerts, a trading simulator, intelligence reports and a risk scanner. These have been authorized and regulated by the FCA in the UK and ASIC in Australia, which helps to boost customer trust. The app is free to download on Android and iOS. 

Image Credit: MetaTrader

MetaTrader is one of the most popular trading apps for retail investors using Android devices, and allows for the trading of stocks, forex, futures, options, and other financial instruments from your mobile device.

The app supplies general analysis of the financial markets using a range of real-time charts which includes historical information, in order to monitor prices and quotes.

You can also easily switch between different financial instruments as well as both SL and TP values on charts, along with visualization of trading information. Charts are also interractive, with pinch and zoom options. 

There are also a number of analytical instruments included, such as Gann, Fibonacci and Elliott tools, as well as up to date financial news.

MetaTrader has recently upgraded its apps from MetaTrader 4 to MetaTrader 5.

Image Credit: TD

TD Ameritrade is one of America's biggest and more established trading platforms, and offers a wide range of investment vehicles for trading, not just forex. 

However, where it really excels is through its focus on trying to educate forex traders to help reduce the chances of them losing money. It does this through its thinkorswim platform, which provides introductory materials from the 

National Futures Association, which regulate futures brokers. The information is presented in a clear and easy-to-read way, and it really does underline the risks that need to be considered.

So if you're new to currency trading, you could feel better prepared and eased into managing not just trades but risk with more confidence, rather than rushing into dangerous leverages that can lose you money fast.

But while that's a big plus for TD Ameritrade, it is a wide platform that covers a comprehensive range of trading products, not least stocks, futures, and options. So if you're looking to focus only on forex you may find the platform sometimes clunky by comparison to dedicated forex trading platforms, especially when it comes to comparing currency pairs. 

Even still, the introductory and supporting materials are worth getting to grips with, and if you want to get involved with more than currency trading you're in an ideal place to expand your investment strategy into other products.

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Best property management software of 2019

Managing a property portfolio can be a headache without the right software in place to help with that. 

Money and maintenance may seem like core concerns with real estate, but additional ones will probably include processing and screening rental applications, inventory tracking, advertising and marketing, ticketing fault reports, as well as communicating directly with tenants.

If that sounds like a tall order already, that's before the issue becomes complicated by the range of real estate types. For example, commercial property will require different management to private rental, and housing associations to property investments.

On top of that there's the number of properties involved, as someone managing a handful of real estate units will likely have different needs to a group controlling thousands.

Luckily there are a number of very comprehensive solutions on the market, that aim to satisfy all of these needs and concerns, and more. Even better is that many are cloud-base, which means you can access what you need from anywhere, not least on the go from a smart mobile device.

Here then are the best in property management software, for anyone managing real estate of any type and portfolio.

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Image Credit: Appfolio

Described as a real-time property management solution, Appfolio provides a range of cloud tools for apartment, residential, commercial, council and student property managers. The software helps real-estate professionals manage assets and financial data, but also attract new renters and clients. 

Aimed at streamlining processes in the real-estate and property management sector, the platform lets users access business metrics, track maintenance, and communicate with renters, owners and vendors. There’s also a dedicated owner’s portal, which offers access to reports and statements. 

Other features include the ability to accept online rental applications, and to screen potential renters, distribute vacancy adverts across the internet, collect rent online and perform mobile inspections. What’s more, tenants are able to submit maintenance requests through the software, meaning property managers can quickly resolve faults. 

Depending on the type of properties you’re looking to rent or sell, there are several monthly plans available. The residential and student plans cost $1.25 per unit, while the commercial option costs $1.50 per unit. Community associations looking to use the software only need to pay $0.80 per unit. However, note that there is a minimum monthly fee of $250, so it's priced more toward people managing hundreds rather than dozens of property units.

Image Credit: Buildium

Positioned as a network of property management services, Buildium is another popular platform for real-estate specialists. It provides a plethora of property management, accounting, business operations and leasing tools. 

Whether you own three properties or three thousand, Buildium gives you a quick and easy way to manage and expand your real-estate portfolio. Not only can you use the software to manage maintenance requests and finances, but you can also market properties and find tenants online.

Just like Appfolio, you can accept online applications and screen tenants before drawing up contracts. There are also portals for property owners, home owners, residents and board members, letting you communicate with stakeholders easily.

The software covers community associations, student housing, affordable housing and residential properties. Currently, price plans start at $150, although there is a free trial available.   

Image Credit: RentManager

Capable of handling properties of any size, Rent Manager is a flexible and easy-to-use property management platform. It comes packed with an asset management database, integrated accounting, contact management, and work ordering capabilities plus marketing solutions.  

From the platform, you’re able to track, manage and resolve service issues, and you can keep an eye on your finances by downloading detailed reports. If you’re looking to find new tenants or buyers for a property, you can create a professional and interactive website that’s integrated with Rent Manager.  

Another great thing about the platform is that it’s mobile-friendly. Whenever you’re on-the-go, you can accept payments, organize service inspections, enter work orders and take photos from a mobile app.

However, this software isn’t just handy for property managers - tenants can also access real-time information and transaction records, as well as sign leases and pay their rent, from any device. To get an idea of pricing, you’ll need to get in touch with the company, but there is a free trial available if you’d like to check the software out.

Image Credit: Re-Leased

Re-Leased allows you to lease residential and commercial properties, co-working spaces, student accommodation, office units and mixed family housing.   

The software functions as a central hub where you can view upcoming tasks and automated workflows. From one simple dashboard, you’re able to view and manage properties, collaborate and delegate tasks across your team, and communicate with tenants via email and text messages. You can also get reminders on important tasks, and resolve issues. There’s integration with Google Calendar, Outlook and Microsoft 365, as well.   

If you’re interested in the software, you can request a pricing quote from the company’s website. Whatever the case, every user can access customer support, add as many properties as they like, connect to Xero accounting software, and use the platform from computers, tablets and smartphones via the cloud.

And to ensure that important business data never ends up in the wrong hands, the app is protected by enterprise-level security. 

Image Credit: MRI

Founded in 1969 as Qube Global Software, and now rebranded as MRI Real Estate Software has been delivering tech solutions for almost half a century. It has also created a sophisticated property management solution, which is used by over 10,000 folks across the world.

Targeted at investors and managers, the software is suitable for a range of real-estate businesses, including commercial, residential, mixed-use and student properties.

Features include billing and invoicing, contact management, maintenance tracking, expense management, insurance management, lease management, tax management, a landlord and tenant database, rent tracking and late fee calculation.

However, due to the fact that this software is aimed predominantly at corporate users, you’ll need to get in touch with the company to get an idea of pricing. At the same time, you can demo the platform to see if it suits your needs. Currently, it’s used by real-estate firms such as Hammerson, Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Other property management software to consider

While we've highlighted some of the bigger names in real estate management software, there a number of others which all have their own selling points. Some might be better orientated toward smaller portfolios, others might cover a niche such as holiday lettings, and others might offer special pricing or features. We'll provide a few more to consider and highlight the reasons for adding them here:

FantasticStay provides a centralized cloud-based platform for managing real estate, especially where there's a holiday lettings angle. You can manage listings and advertisements from your account, and run them directly on providers such as AirBnB. You can clone properties, have child listings under a parent property, and a lot of features can be automated. It also serves as a communications platform with clients, to ensure you know everything that's going on and can manage bookings. As an all-in-one platform it even has it's own in-built website builder, so you don't need to worry about running the software through another application for the internet.

Rentec Direct offers one of the best value platforms, with pricing starting at $35 per month for less than ten properties. Cost rises with increasing number of units, but is ideally placed for the landloard with dozens rather than thousands of properties they need to manage. However, the Rentec Direct platform remains full-featured and comprehensive: it includes tenant screening, accounting, online payments, document organization, and advertising, all run from an online system.

LiveTour by iStaging specializes in providing virtual tours of your properties. They can provide 360 degree, augmented, and virtual reality experiences to help put potential clients into your home using the power of the internet. You don't even need any special technology to use it, and can just use your cell phone camera to capture the images required. You can then use their online tour builder to put the tours together for your property before embedding it on your website. Potential clients can then view them online or even with a Virtual Reality headset.

Condo Control Central really takes real estate management to the next level in terms of attention to detail. Not only does it offer a dedicated management panel for all the routine tasks, such as billing, letting, and communications, it can even take care of logging deliveries to your properties, it can even monitor resident parking permits and their use. It also has security features for accessing incident report, key records, and entry requests. There are even Push Notifications available for management staff, contractors, and clients.

Building Engines is more focused on the management of commercial real estate, which means a bigger and more responsive platform filled with additional features. It's web and mobile platform aims to provide core metrics that go beyond just booking and paying for space as much as managing client expectations and satisfaction. You can also set targets for sales and/or service delivery, and track performance according to your designated business benchmarks. It's no wonder then that it's used by some of the bigger private management firms and leading public REITs across North America.

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Best note-taking apps for Android in 2019

Smartphones provide incredible flexibility for the home consumer or business user, not least with the profusion of apps available to use. It doesn't matter whether you're just looking to write a shopping list, make creative notes, or take business minutes and reminders, there are a lot of options available.

This is not least with Android being the most widely-used operating system for smartphones, with over 85% market share which makes it an especially important platform to have the tools you need and want to use. 

Whether you're just typing text, writing with a stylus, or scribbling with your finger, there are a lot of different note-taking apps for Android out there. Some are focused more on just taking simple notes, while others come with more features and functionality that can turn your smartphone into a digital notebook, or workbook.

We'll therefore take a look at what we think are the best in note-taking apps for Android, according to a range of different features and use options.

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Image Credit: Google

For decades, Microsoft has dominated the software scene, and things haven’t changed today. Offered as part of the Office family of productivity apps, OneNote is one of the most popular and capable note-taking apps you can get. This app is capable of a great deal, whether you want to capture information from emails or embed Excel tables.

This app is a multi-platform affair which is hooked up to the cloud, meaning that if you’ve written some notes on your laptop, you can pull these up in a meeting via your smartphone. OneNote works across Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices.

The Android app is easy to use and works as a flexible canvas, letting you type, handwrite, draw and clip things you find on the web. What’s more, you can even scan notes made on paper and make them searchable through OneNote. To organize your notes, you can create tags, labels, to-do lists and follow-up items. It’s also possible to categorize notes based on their importance.

OneNote allows for collaboration, letting you share your virtual notebooks with anyone. People can leave comments and follow-up questions on your notes as well. The best thing about OneNote, though, is that it’s completely free to download while offering a plethora of premium capabilities.

Image Credit: Google

Evernote is a well-respected and powerful productivity app. It’s described as an organization and planning app that lets you take both typed and handwritten notes, create to-do lists, scan documents using your camera, and collaborate on content with others.

The great thing about Evernote is that it makes use of a variety of media. For instance, you can create notes in text form, or as sketches, photos, audio, video, PDFs or web clippings.

Just like Microsoft’s OneNote, this app is underpinned by cloud technology. That means you can sync content across all your devices from computers through to tablets and phones. In other words, if you start a task on one device, you can complete it on another.

With Evernote, you can create, share and discuss content with your colleagues as well. The app is currently free to download, but the business package – which gives you most of the collaborative tools – costs $14.99 per user per month.

Image Credit: Google

Material Notes is a streamlined app that allows you to create notes, to-do lists and reminders. These are all color-coded and stored within a card-style interface to keep things better organised, and to make it easy to find relevant information. You also get the ability to mark important notes with stars, and these are saved within a category based on the urgency of projects.

To ensure you never misplace an important note or list, you can easily locate anything by making use of the app’s search function. Plus you can create and place widgets on your home screen, which give you quick access to your notes.

In terms of security, you can create a four-digit pin for all your notes, ensuring that sensitive information doesn’t get into the wrong hands. And the app allows you to easily and swiftly import content stored on other devices. Material Notes is free to download, with premium plans costing up to $9.29 (£6.70). You can access these as in-app purchases.

Image Credit: Google

Google offers a highly capable note-taking app in the form of Keep, which allows you to create as many notes and lists as you want. And you don’t need to stick to mere text – you can also add images and audio to your notes.

In fact, there’s even the ability to record memos for the app to automatically transcribe. That’s particularly handy if you’ve had a light bulb moment and want to get it noted down somewhere quickly. Similarly to OneNote, you can scan handwritten notes, receipts, invoices and other documents through your camera.

Google Keep is a pretty decent productivity app for teams, too. You can easily share notes and collaborate with others. Other features include color-coded labels, reminders and the benefit of multi-platform support. The app is free to download from the Play Store.

Image Credit: Google

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when an app is weighed down with tons of features, many of which you might never use. Simplenote is designed for people who just want a quick, easy-to-use piece of software to jot down spontaneous ideas.

Just open up the app, and right away you can create notes and lists. As you continue to use the software and amass more notes, you’re able to organize them with tags and pins. Every time you create a new note, it’s stored in the cloud and can be accessed through other devices. The app is completely free to download and use.

Keep My Notes

Image credit: Keep My Notes

Keep My Notes is a note-taking app for Android that comes with a number of neat features. For starters, you can create handwritten notes using a finger or stylus, plus there's also the option to create notes using a built-in text-to-speech feature.

There are also various formatting options available to bold, underline, or italicize - among other things - plus the ability to add audio to your notes. Even better, for added security, you can password protect notes.

Notes can be set up like sticky notes on your home screen, and notes can even shared with other apps.

There are different light or dark themes available, and the display can be changed to portrait for phones and landscape for tablets. 

Additionally, you can also change the text size and color when inputting text for your notes in the first place, which can be very handy.

Altogether, Keep My Notes is a handy little package that backs up to the cloud. You can run the app for free with ads, but there are in-app purchases, not least to run ad-free. 

Other note-taking apps for Android to consider

The above are only a small selection of the number of note-taking apps available for Google's Android operating system. There are plenty more available at the Google Play store and we'll cover some of the most popular alternatives below:  
  
Notepad is a simple but colorful way of working with taking and presenting different notes. It doesn't run like a notepad, more like a notice board where you can organize your notes, such as checklists, shopping lists, writing notes, or business comments. You can organize notes according to color, label, or category, which makes it really easy to use. It's also free, but includes ads.

Samsung Notes is Samsung's replacement for S Notes and Memo, and is a general notepad for organizing text, images, and audio. Where it differs from others are the extra features for scribbling or sketching, with various color editor options that make it as much as an all-purpose sketchbook as a notepad, depending on what you want to get from it.

Notes is another general notepad app which allows you to organize text, images, and audio. It has a simple but clean look that makes it easy to work with. Notes also allows for password-protected areas, and is free to use when running ads, which can be switched-off using an in-app purchase of about two dollars.

Classic Notes is one of the simplest apps listed, and this is probably one of its selling points. While it allows for taking basic notes, it doesn't do much more, so people not so use to smartphones and apps should be able to get a lot of use from it without becoming so confused by features and options present in other apps. It's free to use, but contains ads.  

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Best speech to text app of 2020

While speech-to-text used to be specifically only for desktops, the development of mobile devices and the explosion of easily accessible apps means that transcription can now be carried out on a smartphone or tablet. 

This has made speech-to-text applications increasingly valuable to users in a range of different environments, from education to business. This is not least because the technology has matured to the level where mistakes in transcriptions are relatively rare, with some services rightly boasting a 99.9% success rate from clear audio.

Even still, this applies mainly to ordinary situations and circumstances, and precludes the use of technical terminology such as required in legal or medical professions. Despite this, digital transcription can still service needs such as basic note-taking which can still be easily done using a phone app, simplifying the dictation process.

However, different speech-to-text programs have different levels of ability and complexity, with some using advanced machine learning to constantly correct errors flagged up by users so that they are not repeated. Others are downloadable software which is only as good as its latest update.

Here then are the best in speech-to-text recognition programs, which should be more than capable for most situations and circumstances.

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Best paid for speech to text apps

  1. Dragon Professional
  2. Otter
  3. Verbit
  4. Speechmatics
  5. Amazon Transcribe


Should you be looking for a business-grade dictation application, your best bet is Dragon Professional. Aimed at pro users, the software provides you with the tools to dictate and edit documents, create spreadsheets, and browse the web using your voice.   

According to Nuance, the solution is capable of taking dictation at an equivalent typing speed of 160 words per minute, with a 99% accuracy rate – and that’s out-of-the-box, before any training is done (whereby the app adapts to your voice and words you commonly use).

As well as creating documents using your voice, you can also import custom word lists. There’s also an additional mobile app that lets you transcribe audio files and send them back to your computer.   

This is a powerful, flexible, and hugely useful tool that is especially good for individuals, such as professionals and freelancers, allowing for typing and document management to be done much more flexibly and easily.

Overall, the interface is easy to use, and if you get stuck at all, you can access a series of help tutorials. And while the software can seem expensive at $300, that's a one-time fee and competitive with paid-for subscription transcription services.

Otter is a cloud-based speech to text program especially aimed for mobile use, such as on a laptop or smartphone. The app provides real-time transcription, allowing you to search, edit, play, and organize as required.

Otter is marketed as an app specifically for meetings, interviews, and lectures, to make it easier to take rich notes. However, it is also built to work with collaboration between teams, and different speakers are assigned different speaker IDs to make it easier to understand transcriptions.

There are three different payment plans, with the basic one being free to use and aside from the features mentioned above also includes keyword summaries and a wordcloud to make it easier to find specific topic mentions. You can also organize and share, import audio and video for transcription, and provides 600 minutes of free service.

The Premium plan comes in at $8.33 per month when paid annually, and on top of existing features also includes advanced and bulk export options, the ability to sync audio from Dropbox, additional playback speeds including the ability to skip silent pauses. The Premium plan also allows for up to 6,000 minutes of speech to text.

The Teams plan comes in at $12.50 per user for a minimum of three users, and also adds two-factor authentication, user management and centralized billing, as well as user statistics, voiceprints, and live captioning.

Verbit aims to offer a smarter speech to text service, using AI for transcription and captioning. The service is specifically targeted at enterprise and educational establishments.

Verbit uses a mix of speech models, using neural networks and algorithms to reduce background noise, focus on terms as well as differentiate between speakers regardless of accent, as well as incorporate contextual events such as news and company information into recordings.

Although Verbit does offer a live version for transcription and captioning, aiming for a high degree of accuracy, other plans offer human editors to ensure transcriptions are fully accurate, and advertise a four hour turnaround time.

Altogether, while Verbit does offer a direct speech to text service, it’s possibly better thought of as a transcription service, but the focus on enterprise and education, as well as team use, means it earns a place here as an option to consider.

Speechmatics offers a machine learning solution to converting speech to text, with its automatic speech recognition solution available to use on existing audio and video files as well as for live use.

Unlike some automated transcription software which can struggle with accents or charge more for them, Speechmatics advertises itself as being able to support all major British accents, regardless of nationality. That way it aims to cope with not just different American and British English accents, but also South African and Jamaican accents.

Speechmatics offers a wider number of speech to text transcription uses than many other providers. Examples include taking call center phone recordings and converting them into searchable text or Word documents. The software also works with video and other media for captioning as well as using keyword triggers for management.

Overall, Speechmatics aims to offer a more flexible and comprehensive speech to text service than a lot of other providers, and the use of automation should keep them price competitive.

Amazon Transcribe is as big cloud-based automatic speech recognition platform developed specifically to convert audio to text for apps. It especially aims to provide a more accurate and comprehensive service than traditional providers, such as being able to cope with low-fi and noisy recordings, such as you might get in a contact center.

Amazon Transcribe uses a deep learning process that automatically adds punctuation and formatting, as well as process with a secure livestream or otherwise transcribe speech to text with batch processing.

As well as offering time stamping for individual words for easy search, it can also identify different speaks and different channels and annotate documents accordingly to account for this.

There are also some nice features for editing and managing transcribed texts, such as vocabulary filtering and replacement words which can be used to keep product names consistent and therefore any following transcription easier to analyze.

Overall, Amazon Transcribe is one of the most powerful platforms out there, though it’s aimed more for the business and enterprise user rather than the individual.

Best free speech to text apps

  1. Google Gboard
  2. Just Press Record
  3. Speechnotes
  4. Transcribe


If you already have an Android mobile device, then if it's not already installed then download Google Keyboard from the Google Play store and you'll have an instant text-to-speech app. Although it's primarily designed as a keyboard for physical input, it also has a speech input option which is directly available. And because all the power of Google's hardware is behind it, it's a powerful and responsive tool.

If that's not enough then there are additional features. Aside from physical input ones such as swiping, you can also trigger images in your text using voice commands. Additionally, it can also work with Google Translate, and is advertised as providing support for over 60 languages.

Even though Google Keyboard isn't a dedicated transcription tool, as there are no shortcut commands or text editing directly integrated, it does everything you need from a basic transcription tool. And as it's a keyboard, it means should be able to work with any software you can run on your Android smartphone, so you can text edit, save, and export using that. Even better, it's free and there are no adverts to get in the way of you using it.


If you want a dedicated dictation app, it’s worth checking out Just Press Record. It’s a mobile audio recorder that comes with features such as one tap recording, transcription and iCloud syncing across devices. The great thing is that it’s aimed at pretty much anyone and is extremely easy to use. 

When it comes to recording notes, all you have to do is press one button, and you get unlimited recording time. However, the really great thing about this app is that it also offers a powerful transcription service. 

Through it, you can quickly and easily turn speech into searchable text. Once you’ve transcribed a file, you can then edit it from within the app. There’s support for more than 30 languages as well, making it the perfect app if you’re working abroad or with an international team. Another nice feature is punctuation command recognition, ensuring that your transcriptions are free from typos.   

This app is underpinned by cloud technology, meaning you can access notes from any device (which is online). You’re able to share audio and text files to other iOS apps too, and when it comes to organizing them, you can view recordings in a comprehensive file. The app is available on iOS devices for $4.99.   


Speechnotes is yet another easy to use dictation app. A useful touch here is that you don’t need to create an account or anything like that; you just open up the app and press on the microphone icon, and you’re off.   

The app is powered by Google voice recognition tech. When you’re recording a note, you can easily dictate punctuation marks through voice commands, or by using the built-in punctuation keyboard. 

To make things even easier, you can quickly add names, signatures, greetings and other frequently used text by using a set of custom keys on the built-in keyboard. There’s automatic capitalization as well, and every change made to a note is saved to the cloud.

When it comes to customizing notes, you can access a plethora of fonts and text sizes. The app is free to download from the Google Play Store, but you can make in-app purchases to access premium features (there's also a browser version for Chrome).   

Image Credit: Apple

Marketed as a personal assistant for turning videos and voice memos into text files, Transcribe is a popular dictation app that’s powered by AI. It lets you make high quality transcriptions by just hitting a button.   

The app can transcribe any video or voice memo automatically, while supporting over 80 languages from across the world. While you can easily create notes with Transcribe, you can also import files from services such as Dropbox.

Once you’ve transcribed a file, you can export the raw text to a word processor to edit. The app is free to download, but you’ll have to make an in-app purchase if you want to make the most of these features in the long-term. There is a trial available, but it’s basically just 15 minutes of free transcription time. Transcribe is only available on iOS, though.   

Image Credit: Google

Other speech to text apps to consider

There are an increasing number of apps available across all mobile devices for working with speech to text, not least because Google's speech recognition technology is available for use. 

SpeechTexter is another speech-to-text app that aims to do more than just record your voice to a text file. This app is built specifically to work with social media, so that rather than sending messages, emails, Tweets, and similar, you can record your voice directly to the social media sites and send. There are also a number of language packs you can download for offline working if you want to use more than just English, which is handy.

Voice Notes is a simple app that aims to convert speech to text for making notes. This is refreshing, as it mixes Google's speech recognition technology with a simple note-taking app, so there are more features to play with here. You can categorize notes, set reminders, and import/export text accordingly.

ListNote Speech-to-Text Notes is another speech-to-text app that uses Google's speech recognition software, but this time does a more comprehensive job of integrating it with a note-taking program than many other apps. The text notes you record are searchable, and you can import/export with other text applications. Additionally there is a password protection option, which encrypts notes after the first 20 characters so that the beginning of the notes are searchable by you. There's also an organizer feature for your notes, using category or assigned color. The app is free on Android, but includes ads.

iTranslate Translator is a speech-to-text app for iOS with a difference, in that it focuses on translating voice languages. Not only does it aim to translate different languages you hear into text for your own language, it also works to translate images such as photos you might take of signs in a foreign country and get a translation for them. In that way, iTranslate is a very different app, that takes the idea of speech-to-text in a novel direction, and by all accounts, does it well. Working with over 100 languages, the basic version is free to use, but the pro version costs $4.99 for a month, or you can subscribe annually for $39.99.

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Best text to speech software of 2019

The use of audio for commands has become popular for use with assistants such as Alexa and Siri, and audio is increasingly being used for search and other tools. It's also becoming much more common for audio to be used to convert text-to-speech for a number of reasons.

The traditional one is for helping people with additional sight needs. However, as with audio assistants, users commonly find that audio can be much easier to work with. This is especially the case where multitasking is required, with audio allowing the user to also direct their attention on some other physical task.

This is especially highlighted by the rise of audiobooks, which allow the user to drive, walk, or otherwise engage in a physical activity that would preclude using a text-version as impractical.

Therefore it's no wonder that text-to-speech and other voice software is becoming more commonly used, allowing the user to engage in other activities at the same time, whether it be walking, gardening, household chores, or similar. 

Text-to-speech software is also popular in business environments, with people utilizing it to boost productivity. Here then are the best in text-to-speech synthesis software and apps.

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Image Credit: Amazon

Alexa isn’t the only artificial intelligence tool created by tech giant Amazon; it also offers an intelligent text to speech system called Polly. Employing advanced deep learning techniques, the software turns text into lifelike speech. Developers can use the software to create speech-enabled products and apps. 

It sports an API that lets you easily integrate speech synthesis capabilities into ebooks, articles and other media. What’s great is that Polly is so easy to use. To get text converted into speech, you just have to send it through the API, and it’ll send an audio stream straight back to your application. 

You can also store audio streams as MP3, Vorbis and PCM file formats, and there’s support for a range of international languages and dialects. These include British English, American English, Australian English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish and Russian. 

Polly is available as an API on its own, as well as a feature of the AWS Management Console and command line interface. In terms of pricing, you’re charged based on the amount of text characters you convert into speech. The Free Tier allows for up to 5 millions characters per month for twelve months, but if you need more than that it costs $4 per million characters for speech. 

Image Credit: Linguatec

Based in Germany, Linguatec is another company that’s been creating text to speech applications for a number of years, and its flagship Voice Reader software can quickly convert text into audio files. 

With the standard edition costing €49 (£42/$57) per voice, it’s a little on the expensive side - but you’re able to convert text such as Word documents, emails, EPUBs and PDFs into audio streams quickly. You can then listen to them on a PC or mobile device. What’s more, you can choose from 67 different voices, and there’s support for up to 45 languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, Danish and Turkish.  

The aim of this software is to improve productivity. For instance, you can get the application to read out manuscripts for speeches, lectures or presentations to look out for incorrect word ordering or missed-out words. Overall, the user interface is sleek and easy to use. You can quickly adjust the speed, pitch or volume of audio files, and each export option is clearly listed.  

When it comes to technical requirements, the software works with Window Vista, Windows 7, 8 and 10. Each voice will take up to 1GB of disk space, and it works best if your device has at least 2GB of RAM.  
 

Image Credit: Capti

Speech synthesis applications are also popular in the education world, where they’re used to improve comprehension among other things. Capti Voice is one such effort, letting you listen to anything you want to read. With it, you can personalize learning and teaching, as well as overcome language barriers.   

Positioned as an offline and online reading support solution, Capti Voice is used by a range of schools, colleges, businesses and professionals across the world. Supporting more than 20 languages, the app can be used to improve vocabulary and as part of active reading strategies. It can narrate a range of content, including ebooks, articles and web pages. 

You can also use the software with cloud storage platforms such as Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox, and it’s universally accessible across a plethora of devices, content formats and age groups.

There's a free version for personal use, which allows for a lot of features but not the higher-end ones, such as higher-quality voice samples. You got those with the Pro version, which is billed at either $1.49 per month or $17.99 annually. The Educator level is advertised as from $0.50 per student per year, but for larger schools this means the software could become quite expensive to license.

Image Credit: NaturalReader

If you’re looking for a cloud-based speech synthesis application, you should definitely check out Natural Reader Online. Aimed more at personal use, the solution allows you to convert written text such as Word and PDF documents, ebooks and web pages into human-like speech.  

Because the software is underpinned by cloud technology, you’re able to access it from wherever you go via a smartphone, tablet or computer. And just like Capti Voice, you can upload documents from cloud storage lockers such as Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive.  

Currently, you can access 56 natural-sounding voices in 9 different languages, including American English, British English, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch. The software supports PDF, TXT, DOC(X), ODT, PNG, JPG, plus non-DRM EPUB files and much more, along with MP3 audio streams. 

There are three plans available, with the most basic Web Free allowing for unlimited use of basic voices, and up to 20 minutes use of Premium Voices. Web Premium unlocks these and up to one million characters of speech per month, priced at $9.99. Premium plus allows all features for $15.99 per month.

Image Credit: Voice Dream

There are also plenty of great text to speech applications available for mobile devices, and Voice Dream Reader is an excellent example. It can convert documents, web articles and ebooks into natural-sounding speech. 

The app comes with 186 built-in voices across 30 languages, including English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese and Korean. 

You can get the software to read a list of articles while you drive, work or exercise, and there are auto-scrolling, full-screen and distraction-free modes to help you focus. Voice Dream Reader can be used with cloud solutions like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Pocket, Instapaper and Evernote. 

Pricing for the app is $14.99 for the app for iOS, with further in-app purchases to unlock additional voices. For Android, the app costs $7.99, also with additional in-app purchases to unlock additional voices.

Image Credit: iSpeech

Other text to speech software to consider

There are a number of other software applications you can try or buy for converting text to speech (TTS), each one tending to focus on a different aspect. For example, some specialize in one area, such as providing speech for documents, or providing narration for ebooks. Then there are other software solutions that aim to be as comprehensive as possible. Each one has its own advantages and benefits, according to different user needs. We'll list some of the other speech-to-text options below:

iSpeech is especially good at providing text-to-speech in different audio formats. It can read text from most any document format and even chat apps, and save to Wav, MP3, ogg, wma, aiff, alaw, ulaw, vox, MP4 and other audio  formats. What's even better is that it provides mobile apps for use not just for Android or iOS devices, but also Blackberrys. 

Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader has a range of voice options available to read any text, and there's a free version in which you can access the basic synthesized voice. However, there are upgrade packages available to use more realistic-sounding voices, not least the Cerevoice and AT&T voice packages, both starting at $24.95 as a one-off purchase.

Audio Book Reader is one of the more simple offerings, intended to help read ebooks aloud on your existing device. While it's capabilities are more limited than offers, it's Freeware and therefore costs nothing to try and use. You can also customize how the voice sounds by changing pitch and speed to suit your personal tastes.

Read4Me TTS Clipboard Reader is another simple but surprisingly versatile text-to-speech application that uses a pre-installed SAPI5 TTS voice to read the contents of your clipboard when a hotkey is pressed. This is where Read4Me TTS comes into its own, as you can set different hotkeys for different voices, and even languages. It can even auto-detect which language is to be read from. Better still, it's free to download, install and use. 

T2S: Text to Voice is an Android app that uses Google's own text-to-speech software. You can open or import a text file to be read, and save the output as an MP3 file. It also has a feature called Type Speak, which will provide audio for text as you speak, which could be especially helpful for people with communication problems. It's free to use, but does contain ads.

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Best drawing and painting software of 2019

Digital art has become the norm, with a wide range of software programs available to allow drawing and painting on a virtual canvas. Often these programs will focus on a particular aspect, such as design, illustration, or photo-manipulation.

Design programs can be use for CAD, such as 3D structure for architecture, or else focus on graphic design such as shapes, banners, and logos. General design software will focus on one or the other. Illustration programs can often include elements of graphic design in their interface, but will also feature a number of additional options for working with color and shading.

Photo-manipulation software was originally for just manipulating images for digital photography, but often these also now incorporate elements key to illustration options. There are also dedicated programs that aim to emulate the experience of painting.

Different design, drawing, and paint programs have their different strengths and focus, and although all can be operated with a mouse, often it's better to work with a digital pen/design tablet such as a Wacom, in order to get fine details as accurate as possible.

Whatever you're looking for in design, illustration, or photo-manipulation software, here we'll look at the best to help you make your choice.

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Image Credit: Adobe

When it comes to creative software, Adobe has dominated the scene for decades, and Photoshop CC (CC stands for Creative Cloud) is loved by artists and designers across the world. It provides creative types with a plethora of cloud-based tools to create and enhance photos, illustrations and 3D visuals.

This software isn’t just about editing photos. If you’re a professional designer, you can use it to create packaging, banners, websites, logos and icons. Not only can you come up with your own creations, but you’re also able to make use of intuitive templates if you’re more of a beginner, or you’re working to a tight deadline.

You can design your own illustrations and turn images into paintings as well, with the option of switching between animate and print-style options. When you’ve created a piece, you can enhance it with a range of built-in effects. 

There are multiple pricing tiers, depending on which other apps and features you'd like bundled with Photshop CC. The cheapest is the Photography level at $9.99 per month and also comes with Adobe Lightroom CC, as well as 20GB of cloud storage. Up from that is the Single App plan at $20.99 per month and comes with 100GB of cloud storage, as well as Adobe Portfolio, Adobe Fonts, and Adobe Spark. For the All-Apps plan you get access to all Adobe creative desktop and mobile apps as well, and that costs $52.99 per month.

Image Credit: Autodesk

Autodesk SketchBook is a drawing app targeted specifically at designers, architects, concept artists and other creative professionals. If you fit into any of these categories, the software will give you the tools to sketch and create stunning illustrations easily and quickly.

It sports a minimalist interface that works across Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices, as well as 140 pre-designed brushes. Should you not be able to find the brush you need amongst that lot, you have the option to tweak them and import your own. Another neat feature is the ability to add an unlimited amount of layers to your creations, all of which come with blending nodes and grouping abilities.

The software costs $16 monthly or $126 yearly, but whichever package you choose, there’s a lot of support on offer. For instance, you can schedule a call with Autodesk’s customer support team if you have any questions about the software, or indeed chat online or via email. You also get access to the company’s knowledgebase, which contains extensive documentation, tutorials and training videos.

Image Credit: Corel

Corel offers a host of creative software packages, one of which is a drawing app called Painter. Aimed at designers, artists and students, this cross-platform application provides you with the likes of ‘thick paint’ which you can daub onto your digital canvas, and then scrape around or blend to create some highly realistic looking masterpieces.

There’s a large selection of brushes, with the ability to create custom brushes and palettes – plus you can import these, too. Painter is a downloadable app which is available on both Windows and Mac. It’s compatible with third-party software like Photoshop and drawing tablets from companies such as Wacom, as well.

As for the price, for the latest version of Corel Painter is available for around $400, though there are special rates for an education edition for students and learning centers.

Image Credit: Escape Motions

Developed by artist Peter Blaskovic, Rebelle 3 is another highly versatile drawing and painting application. Described as “one-of-a-kind paint software”, it’s been designed for creatives working on watercolor, acrylic, wet and dry media artwork.

Blaskovic created the app as part of his experimental drawing projects and wanted an easy-to-use program to access natural painting tools on-the-go. The app uses realistic color blending, wet diffusion and drying techniques, and offers a plethora of watercolors, acrylics, inks and pastels.

There are also ‘dry’ tools like pencils, markers and erasers, so you don’t have to stick to paintbrushes. The app also boasts some interesting capabilities like the ability to tilt the canvas you’re working on. What’s more, Rebelle works with Photoshop, allowing you to tap into 23 additional blending nodes. It currently costs $89.99, but you can give the app a spin via a free trial.

Image Credit: Artweaver

Artweaver is one of the oldest painting tools out there, and the software is now on its sixth edition. The application provides you with a diverse set of predefined brushes and pencils that can be used to create amazing pieces of art.

Not only does Artweaver offer an intuitive and easy-to-use interface which makes it suitable for novices, but it also boasts an impressively configurable brush system. So while you can choose from a variety of predefined brushes, you can also tweak them to suit your exact needs.

Furthermore, Artweaver has another strong suit when it comes to working on joint art projects, because you can use the app to collaborate with other folks on the same document. Of course, you’ll need to be online to do so.

Want to get a better idea of your artistic process and exactly how it flows? Then you can get the application to record your work. That way, you can review, evaluate and improve your abilities (hopefully). Currently, Artweaver is only available on Windows, but it’s temptingly cheap at $47 – and there’s also a free version available though it has limited functionality compared to the paid version.

Other drawing and painting software to consider

While we've covered some of the big hitters when it comes to drawing and painting software, there are some good lower-level programs worth considering if you'd prefer for not to pay out for a big program. Here we'll look at some of the other alternatives you might want to consider, especially if looking for something more entry-level, or simply competent when it comes to art and design.

PaintShop Pro is a neat little art program. Although not as full-featured as some of the above it's still very competent software for many aspects of art and design. Whether it's photo editing, drawing, or creating/designing graphics, there are a lot of tools and additional plugins available to get the effect you want. Originally developed by Jasc, it's now part of the Corel stable of creative programs and is available for around $80. 

Adobe Illustrator can sometimes be thought of as being the little brother to the more powerful Photoshop, but don't overlook its possibilities. While Photoshop was originally built for photo editing, Adobe Illustrator has always been designed around illustration and drawing. You don't need to choose between one or the other, however, as if you subscribe to even the basic level Adobe creative apps plan, you can have both Photoshop and Illustrator together.

Sketchup is more focused on 3D design rather than general painting and drawing, but is worth considering if that's the main reason you need software for drawing. Even better is that there's a free version, but even the paid-for versions are relatively cheap by comparison to some of the above, with an annual cost of $119 or $299 according to how many features you want to unlock. 

GIMP is a dedicated art program specifically built to run on Linux operating systems. While it may not be as powerful as some of the software listed, it makes a big effort to do a lot of things, from photo editing to sketching to design. Anyone who already works with Linux has probably heard of it and even has a copy, but if you were thinking of moving to Linux but weren't sure what creative software was available, you could do a lot worse than try out GIMP.

Microsoft Paint is a basic art package that comes with every Windows install, and has done so since at least Windows 3.x. The release of Windows 10 has seen 3D editing tools added to it, but let's be fair-it's still a simple program that isn't going to rival anything else on this list. However, because of the easy availability of MS Paint it's worth mentioning - if nothing else because it does have a basic toolkit that is expanded on by other software.

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Best PDF readers for Windows of 2019

Adobe created the PDF (Portable Document File) in the early 1990's. The aim was to provide an easy way to send, receive, and read documents that could contain text, images, tables, charts, and other data - without being limited by the operating system being used, or even the device being used to read the files.

Since then Adobe have made their Acrobat reader for PDF files freely available, and these days this is often directly accommodated by web browsers for reading PDF files online. PDF files have now become the most commonly interchanged document type due to this versatility and accessibility.

And yet there can be so much more to PDF readers and software, not least the ability to annotate, edit, and digitally sign files. Additionally, there may be the ability to scan physical paper files using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) into PDF format, export or import data into PDF, and Amazon's Kindle publishing platform famously makes it a default option for authors to set up their paperbacks for sale.

Therefore while it's great to have a basic PDF reader, it can be even more useful to have PDF software that allows additional features, so you can get the most out of the PDF files you do use, especially on a regular basis.

Here then we'll share with you what we think are the best PDF readers for Windows.

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Image Credit: Adobe

Software giant Adobe not only pioneered the PDF, but it has also created a highly popular and comprehensive application that lets you manage such documents effectively. Acrobat DC provides you with the tools to download, convert and edit PDF files across computers, tablets and smartphones.

With the software, you can use your smartphone camera to capture and turn any document into a high-quality PDF. There’s also a new file comparison tool, which quickly and accurately analyzes two PDF files to find any differences. That could be handy if you’re looking to compare different drafts of the same piece of work.

What’s more, when you create a PDF document using Acrobat, you’re sent a smart file that you can edit, sign, share and search. You can even use the built-in preview feature to see what the document will look like on different screen sizes and resolutions. And if you’re writing a letter or have been sent an important form, you can add your signature by using the Acrobat app on a touchscreen-enabled device.

If you’re interested in purchasing Acrobat, there are two offerings to pick from. Acrobat Standard DC costs $12.99 a month, letting you create, edit and sign PDF documents. However, it only works on Windows devices. Meanwhile, Acrobat Pro DC gives you access to all the listed features for $14.99 a month – plus it’s also compatible with Mac devices.

Image Credit: Foxit

Foxit has developed a sophisticated PDF management app, with PhantomPDF being pushed as a tool that goes well beyond PDF viewing, providing a range of cloud-based tools that allow you to create and customize documents at scale.

Described by the company as a ‘transformative’ PDF application, the software lets you create and modify PDFs while providing a plethora of sophisticated management, security and collaboration features. For instance, you can manage who has access to documents, track who opens them, notify readers of document updates and send document requests to your colleagues.

This software also sports a whole suite of useful editing tools. You can change the layout of a document, rearrange paragraphs, columns and pages, or make your documents look more professional by including stamps, watermarks, headers, footers and so forth. You can also merge PDFs and split PDFs into new files.

In terms of price, the Standard edition will cost you $13 monthly or a one-time payment of $139. Should you be mulling a purchase, the good news is that there’s a free trial so you can test out the software first.

Image Credit: Nuance

Nuance is another notable firm that develops PDF management software for individuals and enterprises. Power PDF is an easy-to-use piece of software that lets you create, edit, annotate and share documents quickly. It’s used by a number of large organizations and governments.

There are several versions of the software, all of which offer different features. For $129, the Standard edition lets you create, convert, combine and edit documents, fill in forms and share PDF files. It also lets you turn documents like invoices and receipts into PDFs through a scanning and OCR feature.

Meanwhile, the Power PDF Advanced package is priced at $179 and targeted at business users. While offering all the same features of the Standard edition, it comes with collaboration, security and redaction abilities. You can access documents anywhere and at any time through the cloud, too.

Enterprises can get a quote for volume licensing of the software as well. By going down this route, firms get one deployment package with a single license.

Image Credit: Soda

Lulu Software has developed a range of easy-to-use PDF management applications for both individual users and businesses under the Soda brand. PDF Anywhere is the firm’s enterprise offering, giving companies access to a full suite of cloud-based PDF tools.

With the software, you’re able to review, annotate, send and track documents from a single comprehensive user interface. You can also connect Soda PDF Anywhere to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Evernote and Box accounts, which makes it easier to download and distribute documents.

Another great thing about the application is that it comes with a batch processing feature, allowing you to create and convert multiple PDF files at the same time. There’s an e-sign function as well, which you can use to prepare and send PDF-based contracts to clients or partners. What’s more, you can track and get reminders on all the documents you distribute through the app.

Plus, if you use a range of devices within your company, the software works not just for Windows, but also Mac, Linux, iOS and Android devices. As for pricing, there are several plans available. The basic home package starts from $48 a year, though you can get a free PDF reader and individual functions (like e-sign) separately, though.

Image Credit:  SoftXpansion 

SoftXpansion has developed Perfect PDF Ultimate, which is described by the firm as an ‘all-in-one’ application for processing PDF files. Available to buy direct from the Microsoft Store, this user-friendly software is perfect for viewing, editing and creating PDF documents.

Features include the ability to edit page content, generate interactive forms, comment on existing documents, as well as being able to convert, combine and split files. You can also add e-signatures and encryption to important business files. You can buy Perfect PDF Ultimate for $29.99.

Other PDF readers and editors to consider

PDF Exchange is a free PDF editor that's rich with features. Aside from being able to view, create, and edit PDFs, there are additional options to OCR and digital sign documents. PDF-XChange Editor Plus is an upgraded version which allows for the creation and editing of PDF forms. While PDF Exchange Editor is freeware, you can pay $37 to get a version with support. PDF EXchange Editor Plus is available for $47.

Nitro PDF Reader is another free PDF reader that allows users to read, edit, and annotate PDF files. Nitro PDF offers a couple of key differences to a lot of other free PDF software, though. The first is that it allows for the creation and editing of PDF forms. The other is that it has a sleek and simple interace that uses tabbed menus, making it look like it took inspiration from Microsoft Word in presentation. Sharing and signing are also available.

STDU Viewer - aka, Scientific and Technical Document Utility Viewer - is a freeware viewer that works with multiple file formats. It aims to be an all-in-one viewer for most common file formats used in scientific documentation, such as PDF, TIFF, DjVu, XPS, JBIG2, WWF, FB2, TXT, TCR, PalmDoc(PDB), MOBI, AZW, EPub, DCX, as well as offers a range of supported image file types. It comes with a tabbed interface, multilingual support, and can also work with multi-layered text documents and convert them to single layer document file.

Adobe Reader DC is probably the most famous read-only viewer for PDF files, not least because it's free and has often been integrated with web browsers. The positives, apart from being free, include the stated aim of making PDFs viewable regardless of the operating system used. The negative, of course, is that you can't edit and annotate files in the free viewer and you will need one of the options above to do that.

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Best PDF to Excel converters 2019

PDF files allows text and images, and even spreadsheets, to be shared in a document - no matter what the device of operating system being used to read it. 

Originally developed by Adobe, the Portable Document File - or PDF as it's better known - always had the intention of being a very versatile and flexible file.

The problem is, PDF's are designed to retain the integrity of the file, which means not only can it be difficult to edit a PDF, but also to export data from it. This is especially the case as while PDF readers are free, software that provides PDF editing tools usually come at a price.

Luckily, there are a number of solutions that not only allow PDf's to be edited and annotated, but also allow any tables in a PDF file to be exported to Excel or another spreadsheet program. 

Even better, unlike some file conversion software, the process should be simple and easy once you have the right toolkit, with no concerns about data formatting becoming lost in the export process.

Here then are the best in PDF to Excel converters that we've found, though note that pricing can vary between a one-off fee to a monthly subscription.

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Image Credit: Adobe

Adobe are the original developer of the PDF format, so their Adobe Acrobat software should be the market leading software. It's certainly packed with features, which includes the ability to convert PDF files into XLXS files for use in Excel spreadsheets.

The process should be quick and painless, with the data preserved without need for reformatting. In Adobe Acrobat, you simply open the PDF file you want to export, click on the Export PDF tool, choose your format such as Excel Workbook or .xlxs, then export. You can do this on any device, including your cell phone. 

Once completed, you can then edit the spreadsheet tables using whichever device you're already using. This is also supposed to apply to scanned OCR data, and in each instance you can select the data you actually want to convert, instead of having to export the whole table from .pdf to .xlxs.

Acrobat is more than just about exporting files, of course, and you can create, edit, export, sign, and review the documents being worked on collaboratively. This of course includes any spreadsheets that you export from PDF format.

Pricing for Adobe Acrobat comes in two versions: Adobe Standard DC is priced at $12.99 per month, which is only for use with Windows machines; whereas Adobe Pro DC is for both PC and Mac, and is priced at $14.99 per month.

Image Credit: pdftoexcelonline.com

Nitro Pro is a simple and streamlined application that allows you to turn PDF files into Excel documents with a minimum of fuss. Indeed, Nitro claims that its tool allows people to convert PDFs into any Microsoft Office format within a matter of seconds.

Using the application, you can edit all images, text and pages stored in a PDF document and transfer them into an Excel spreadsheet. Just like the Adobe offering, you’re able to add and request digital signatures on PDF documents.

Another great thing about this product is that it’s cloud-based, so you can access documents and edit them from any smartphone, tablet or desktop PC. You can even turn multiple PDFs into a single, searchable document, and there are tools that let you share and view files easily.

Nitro Pro starts from $126 per single-user licence, but there are discounts for bulk purchases, and you can sign up for a 14-day free trial to see if the software works for you.

Image Credit: PDFZilla

The majority of PDF to Excel conversion apps out there are only available in English, which isn’t useful if you run or work at a company with a global reach. Need a solution on the language front? Enter PDFZilla.

Not only is it an incredibly powerful converter in its own right, but this app supports more than 20 languages, including German, French, Italian and Spanish. The software is also fast and easy to get to grips with, letting you convert PDFs with just three clicks.

You’re able to turn PDF documents into Excel, Word, Plain Text, Rich Text, JPG, GIF, PNG and more file formats within one platform. There’s also a handy batch conversion mode for dealing with multiple documents – up to 1,000 files – at the same time. You can buy the software for $29.95, although note that it only works with Windows.

Image Credit: WonderShare

The majority of PDF to Excel converters are fairly broad in terms of their features, and PDFelement is by no means different. It’s been designed predominantly for professional users who need a tool for editing, converting, creating and annotating PDF documents.

What’s more, it boasts decent platform support, being available on Windows and Mac, with an iOS app too, allowing you to convert and edit documents while on-the-go. If you’re about to head into a meeting, having access to documents from your smartphone could be extremely useful.

PDFelement comes with a built-in optical character recognition (OCR) tool, which means you can annotate and add signatures to PDF documents. In a similar way to UniPDF, it tries to keep important elements of a document intact during the conversion process. For instance, if you have embedded tables in a PDF document, these will be converted into an Excel spreadsheet (hopefully) without issues. PDFelement retails at $79.95 (£65) for the standard package, but for all features you will need the Professional package priced at $129.99 (£110).

Image Credit: SmallPDF

SmallPDF is another good example of a versatile PDF management tool. With it, you’re able to convert PDF documents into a range of different file types, including Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

It’s very easy-to-use, and indeed cloud-based for maximum convenience, allowing you to access PDF conversion via the website from wherever you may be (providing you’re online). There’s also a downloadable app for those who want to work offline (for Windows and Mac PCs).

SmallPDF allows you to compress, merge and split documents, as well as add e-signatures. And when it comes to security, this solution will delete your files an hour after they’ve been processed, so you don’t have to worry about any important business data potentially ending up in the hands of third-parties.

SmallPDF is priced at $6 (£4.30) on a monthly subscription, or $4 (£2.80) per month if you sign up annually.

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Best database software in 2019

The modern business world is built on information stored in databases. The challenge comes in using the right database with the right structure to hold the information you need, while being able to access that data easily. Of course, making a decision on this is not an easy process.

There are many different database platform options, all of which allow for the retrieval of datasets in different ways. And there are many different priorities that may affect the database architecture, whether it's query speed, storage format, security or even integration issues.

Many people will be familiar with the basic set of columns and rows of a simple database, such as one made with Microsoft Access, but these days databases can be multi-layered, use different query languages, and work with different storage formats such as even XML.

The biggest concerns are likely to revolve around performance and the end-user experience. If business owners and employees struggle to get the information they need from a dataset, then the database isn't working well for them. The same applies to speed, as modern demands expect data to be presentable in seconds rather than days.

With all that in mind, we’re going to look at some of the powerhouses of the database world, from simple and straightforward solutions, to ones with more complex architecture that may require extensive customization.

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Image credit: TeamDesk

If you’re looking for a powerful database solution that’s also easy to use, then it’s worth checking out TeamDesk. It provides you with the tools to create custom databases quickly without any prior technical knowledge. 

What’s great about TeamDesk is that it runs on the cloud through its own secure servers, so you don’t need to invest in your own hardware. According to the company, it’s achieved a 99.96% uptime record over the past six years, making it a reliable choice.   

The software runs on PC, Mac, iPhone, Android and Windows Phone. To set up a database, you can either choose from a library of predefined templates or build your own from scratch. Once you’ve done that, you’re able to remove and add functionalities as your business grows.   

In terms of pricing, there are several plans available. The starter package costs $49 (£36) per month, letting you add up to five users with an unlimited amount of tables, records, storage space and customer support. However, there’s a team edition available for $99 per month (£74) and an enterprise edition for $249 per month (£187) as well. At any rate, you can sign up for a 14-day free trial to test the waters.   

Image credit: Knack

Targeted at organizations of all sizes, Knack is probably one of the most diverse and easy-to-use database management solutions out there. The cloud-based platform is used by thousands of businesses across the world, including Fortune 500 companies, startups, educational institutions and charities. 

It offers a range of tools that aim to transform the way you organize business data. You can structure it based on metrics such as names and emails, link records together, and gain a better insight into your data by using a range of formulas and equations. What’s more, the interface is easy-to-use and requires no coding knowledge.   

To get real-time data insights, you can set up dashboards kitted out with charts, graphs and pivot tables. You can also conduct searches across datasets and make use of flexible filters. And just like TeamDesk, there’s a variety of pre-built templates available, meaning you can set up advanced databases quickly. 

The software comes with some neat e-commerce abilities, too. You’re able to process payments, donations and online orders through integration with payment providers such as PayPal and Stripe. Currently, prices start at $39 (£29) per month, although there’s a 14-day free trial available.   

Image credit: TablePlus

Looking for an on-premise database management platform? Then look no further than TablePlus. Available for the Mac, it lets you create and manage a plethora of relational databases from one user interface, including the likes of MySQL, SQLite, Redis, Amazon Redshift and Postgres.

It lets you create, query, edit and save databases easily from a native app that’s fast and easy-to-use. However, one of the defining features of this software is that it comes with native TLS encryption to ensure that important business data never gets into the wrong hands. 

As for other features, there are multi-tab and multi-window modes so you can get a quick overview of various datasets. And you can track changes you’ve made to your databases through a function called Code Review. You can also split databases into tabs and highlight different datasets to increase productivity.  

This software is used by major companies and organizations such as Spotify, Apple, Intel, FastMail, Stanford University, Shutterstock, and Rocket Internet. You can purchase TablePlus for $59 (£45). If you end up buying the solution but decide it isn’t for you, there’s a 7-day money-back policy.   

Image credit: Oracle

Oracle provides some of the most popular and advanced enterprise technology solutions on the market, and it also has some world-class database products. A great example is the Oracle Database Cloud Service which has been designed to support workloads of all sizes.

It’s a multilayered database product that comes with encryption solutions running out of the box, and has been designed especially for application development, test and production deployment. The software sports an easy-to-use web console where users can quickly create and manage databases.  

Users get access to a range of provisioning choices and pre-packaged bundles, including options for DevOps, performance, security, analytics and monitoring. Data can be managed through tools such as SSH, SQL Developer, Data Pump and SQL Plus. You’ll need to get in touch with Oracle for a quote on pricing, but can demo the software to make an informed decision.   

Image credit: Microsoft

The Microsoft Azure Cloud offers a wide range of database software and management options, hardly surprising as Microsoft has been a leading developer of database for decades.

While home users may (or may not!) be familiar with Access, which comes as part of the Office 365 suite of apps, MySQL has been one of Microsoft's most valuable gifts to the open source community.

Although MySQL is increasingly being succeeded by other database types, not least PostgreSQL and non-relational databases such as NoSQL, Microsoft can cater for these and more with its cloud-based Azure offering.

The Microsoft Azure Cloud platform is already an industry leading service, but databases and database management remain core to that. And while some users may feel overwhelmed by the many options in Azure, the one that allows databases to be fully managed can provide some relief.

Pricing is dependent upon the actual Azure services being subscribed to, but estimates are available allow with introductory offers to help ease new users into the Azure ecosystem.

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