Everyone I talk to has subscription fatigue.
We’re stuck in this weird paradox: Running a business in 2025 requires digital tools, but it feels like those same tools are bleeding us dry. $9.99 here, $29.99 there… it all adds up to a lot of money for tools that seemed essential but now you can’t remember why you signed up.
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We’re stuck in this weird paradox: Running a business in 2025 requires digital tools, but it feels like those same tools are bleeding us dry. $9.99 here, $29.99 there… it all adds up to a lot of money for tools that seemed essential but now you can’t remember why you signed up.
So I took a hard look at every subscription hitting my credit card and asked myself a simple question: Which of these tools would I actually miss if they disappeared tomorrow?
The ones where I felt genuine panic if they were no longer in my life.
Here’s what made the cut:
📧 Email Marketing: Flodesk
If social media collapsed (and honestly, the way things are going…), how would you reach your audience?
Your email list is the only audience you actually own. No algorithm changes. No platform drama. Just you and the people who want to hear from you.
Yes, it’s painful emailing 10 people at the beginning. But those 10 become 100, then 1,000. And unlike social followers, these people actually buy things.
I’ve tried every email platform out there. I’m currently using Flodesk because it doesn’t make me want to throw my laptop out the window. Clean interface, works smoothly, gets the job done. They’re raising prices soon, but you can still lock in unlimited pricing here.
🎨 Design: Adobe Express
Whether it’s YouTube thumbnails or social graphics, you need something that doesn’t require a design degree.
Full transparency: I’m an Adobe Ambassador (just got back from Adobe Max in LA), so I’m biased. But I used their tools long before they started inviting me to fancy events.
Adobe Express has a generous free tier and templates that don’t look like everyone else’s. Plus they’re one of the few companies actually paying contributors and artist royalties for AI training data instead of just… taking it.
Watch my tutorial on their new AI Assistant here.
🤖 AI Brain Trust: ChatGPT + Claude
We’ve reached the point where not using AI for content creation is just… unnecessary struggle.
ChatGPT: My thinking and brainstorming partner. Helps me find unique angles and position my content differently. I also use it for research and analysis. It’s very versatile.
Claude: Still my go-to editor and writing assistant. I write, Claude polishes. Because here’s the thing. When AI writes FOR you, you sound like everyone else using AI. When it edits WITH you, you sound like a better version of yourself.
✂️ Video Editing: Descript
Here’s what changed my editing life: I upload my video, Descript transcribes it, and the AI tool detects the “ums” and awkward pauses from the text so you can delete it, quickly.
Edit video by editing text. Sounds like magic, still feels like magic every time I use it.
You don’t have to suffer through finding and cutting things out manually scrubbing through the video.
What used to be a 3-hour editing session is now down to 20 to 30 minutes.
It’s not perfect or the most intuitive tool. Sometimes the AI cuts are a bit jumpy so you need to check it. But for getting content out editing and out? It’s a good tool.
You can check it out here.
🎥 Screen Recording: Tella
For tutorials and demos, this is it.
The templates are what sold me. Instead of staring at my screen wondering where to position my face bubble (bottom right? top left? how big?), Tella’s layouts just work. Clean, professional, done.
But the real time-saver? Their AI tools. It automatically removes that part where you completely fumbled your words because you suddenly became aware you were recording. What would take me an hour to edit manually happens in about 15 minutes.
Try out Tella here.
The real question isn’t “What tools do I need?”
It’s “What tools give me back more time than they take?”
Every subscription should either:
- Save you time, cutting down hours into minutes of editing or creating, OR
- Directly generate revenue, OR
- Help you stop procrastinating on that one task.
If it doesn’t hit one of those bars, cancel it. Today.
Your bank account and future self will thank you.
Sara ✨
P.S. What’s one subscription you keep paying for but never use? Confess. I’ll go first: That premium Zoom account when I only use Google Meets 🤦🏻♀️.
(Yes, I’m canceling it right after I hit send. No, really. This time for sure.)
