Here is a list of useful software, applications, and services that are framebuilding adjacent. Some are free, some are paid, but all are useful.
Feel free to suggest your own!
CAD Design Software:
BikeCAD:
Link: BikeCAD Pro | www.bikecad.ca
Price: $750 CAD ($550 USD)
If you plan on building frames, get BikeCAD. Even though I use Fusion360 for my designs, I still use BikeCAD daily. -Daniel
Fusion360:
link: Fusion 360 | 3D CAD, CAM, CAE, & PCB Cloud-Based Software | Autodesk
Price: Free hobbiest version, $535/year
In my opinion the best hobbyist and small business CAD package. The free version has the following limitations (as of 2023)
- only 10 active/editable files (more annoying than it sounds haha)
- only a single 2D sheet. You can get around this by having a massive sheet size, but its still annoying
- no advanced CAM stuff
If your gross revenue is below $100k you can apply for a 1-year startup license: Free Fusion 360 for Startups | Fusion 360 | Autodesk
-Daniel
Graphic Design:
Inkscape:
link: https://inkscape.org/
Price: Free
A totally free vector design software. A bit hacky, but it generally gets the job done -Daniel
Affinity Designer:
link: Affinity Designer: award-winning graphic design software
Price: $70
Affinity is a pretty powerful graphic design tool. Most importantly, a pay-to-own software. Illustrator has moved to subscription only. -Daniel
Business Tools:
Notion:
link: www.notion.so
Price: free for personal use, $8-15/mo
Note-taking, information wiki, and project management tools, all in one package. It does not do any one of those perfectly, but it does everything well enough to help you get your shit together. I’ve setup Notion for other builders. I have used Jira, confluence, asana, and I find notion to be the best fit for framebuilding. -Daniel
Wave:
link: https://www.waveapps.com/
price: fee based
Free accounting software with built in ability to send invoices and receive credit card and bank payments (for a fee). Doesn’t do inventory control. Probably not as sophisticated as Quickbooks, but a heck of lot cheaper for the small business owner willing to learn basic accounting skills. -Manzanita Cycles
Sortly:
link: https://www.sortly.com/
price: $29/mo
Inventory management. Easy to use interface. Not exactly cheap, but I looked into several other options and this one was simple to set up and use.-Manzanita Cycles
Google Workspace:
link: google it
price: starting at $6/mo
Inexpensive monthly fees to create an email account with your domain. Plus, you get the suite of Google products, like Sheets, that you can share with customers to hash out full builds and Forms to create questionnaires for customers to fill out their body and favorite bike dimensions. -Manzanita Cycles
Zapier:
link: https://zapier.com/
price: Free (limied zaps) to $20-50/mo
Free web automation. After a customer fills out a Google Form, Zapier can move that data to a spreadsheet I’ve made in Sheets. That way I can have a master spreadsheet with all my customer’s body dimensions, what type of bike they want and what options they’ve chosen, etc. It’s a work in progress but a super handy tool. -Manzanita Cycles
Pirate Ship:
link: https://www.pirateship.com/
price: varries
Excellent shipping solution to save money and a good alternative to BikeFlights or ShipBikes. Pirate Ship usually offers similar UPS rates as BikeFlights, but it’s insurance rates are often cheaper when you’re sending the frame or whole bike to a customer and you want it fully covered. Plus, the whole pirate theme is a hoot. -Manzanita Cycles
Webhosting
Netlify:
link: https://www.netlify.com/
price: free and beyond
Free web hosting platform for static sites. You can use them for domain name registration too (not free). If you don’t sell products through your website, chances are you only need some HTML and CSS to make a simple site. No need to spend monthly fees for Squarespace and the like. I use Eleventy as a static site generator to process markdown files into web pages. -Manzanita Cycles