A small remote team needs one tool for each job: team chat, video calls, a shared place for documents, a task tracker, payroll and HR that cover every country you hire in, and password and device security. Add async video and scheduling help once time zones spread out. Everything beyond that is optional until a real problem demands it.
Remote teams rarely suffer from too few tools. They suffer from too many: three places to chat, two task trackers and documents scattered across personal drives. The fix is to name the jobs a distributed team has to get done, pick one tool for each, and write down where each kind of information lives.
Remote work is a subject close to my own record. I founded RemoteTeam, an HR platform for remote teams, in 2019, and Gusto acquired it in 2021, 580 days after incorporation. This page is the map: for each job, what to look for, and the detailed guide to the tools that do it.
What does a remote team need on day one?
Before the first remote hire, set up these six things. Each has a short section below.
Team chat for daily conversation, with channels per team or project.
Video calls for meetings, interviews and pairing.
Docs and a wiki where decisions, processes and onboarding live.
A task tracker so everyone can see who owns what.
Payroll, HR and compliance for each country where people live.
Password management and device security so access can be granted and removed cleanly.
Most startups already use a productivity suite such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for email, calendars and files. Treat that as the foundation, and add only what it doesn't cover well.
Communication: chat and async updates
Chat is the office of a remote team, so choose deliberately. Slack and Microsoft Teams are the usual choices for internal chat; Discord suits communities more than companies. What matters more than the brand is the set of norms you write down on day one: which channels are for urgent issues, when people are expected to reply, and when a thread should become a document.
Async tools matter more as time zones spread. Short recorded videos, such as Loom walkthroughs, replace many status meetings, and a weekly written update from each team keeps everyone aligned without a call across six time zones. The best communication tools for remote teams compares chat, async video and update tools in detail.
Video meetings
Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams all handle everyday calls well, so the deciding factors are usually what you already pay for and what your customers use. Look at recording and transcripts, how the tool handles large all-hands meetings, and whether guests can join from a browser without installing anything.
Fewer meetings is still the best video strategy. Keep a few recurring calls that build trust, such as a weekly team meeting and one-on-ones, and move status updates to writing. The best video conferencing tools for remote teams covers the options and their trade-offs.
Projects, tasks and documents
A remote team can't tap someone on the shoulder to ask what is happening, so the task tracker and the docs space carry that weight. Pick one tracker for all work. Engineering teams often prefer Linear or Jira, and mixed teams often use Asana, Trello or the databases in Notion. Every task needs a single owner and a visible status.
Documents need one home too, usually Notion, Confluence or your productivity suite's shared drive. Decisions belong in a document people can find later, not in a chat thread that scrolls away. The best project management software for remote teams goes through trackers by team size and style.
Which HR and payroll tools does a remote team need?
This is the job founders underestimate, and the one with legal consequences. Paying someone in another state or country brings tax registration, withholding, benefits and employment law that differ by place. The tools fall into a few groups:
Payroll and HR platforms such as Gusto run payroll, benefits, onboarding and documents for employees in the countries they support. In the interest of disclosure, Gusto acquired RemoteTeam, and I worked on its corporate development team.
Employer of record (EOR) services such as Deel and Remote employ people on your behalf in countries where you have no legal entity, handling local contracts, payroll and compliance.
Contractor payment tools pay independent contractors across borders. Be careful: treating someone as a contractor when the relationship looks like employment can create legal risk in many countries.
HR information systems hold the employee record, time off, reviews and org charts once the team outgrows a spreadsheet.
The best HR software for remote teams compares these categories. Whatever you choose, ask a local employment lawyer before your first hire in a new country.
Security and access
When a team works from homes, cafes and co-working spaces, security moves from the office network to each person's laptop and accounts. The essentials:
A password manager such as 1Password or Bitwarden, with shared vaults for team credentials.
Single sign-on through your productivity suite where your tools support it, so one account controls access.
Two-factor authentication on every important account.
Device management that can enforce disk encryption and lock or wipe a lost laptop.
An offboarding checklist that removes access on someone's last day.
Larger customers will ask about these controls in security reviews, so setting them up early saves a scramble later.
How do you keep the tool stack small?
Tool sprawl creeps in one free trial at a time. A few rules keep it in check:
One tool per job. If a new tool overlaps with an existing one, one of them has to go.
An owner for every tool. Someone decides how it is used, pays the bill and removes leavers.
A written map. A single page that says where chat, docs, tasks, files and decisions live. New hires read it first.
A review every six months. Cancel anything nobody would miss.
The startup remote work checklist turns these into a step-by-step setup list, and the lessons from remote work tools that changed the workplace explains why some of these products stuck. More tool guides are in the technology section.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:What is the minimum tool stack for a remote startup?
A productivity suite for email, calendars and files, one chat tool, one video tool, one task tracker, a password manager and a payroll provider that covers where your team lives. Many early teams run well on that alone for their first year.
Q:Do I need an employer of record to hire abroad?
Not always. You can open your own legal entity in a country, hire people there as contractors where that is legally appropriate, or use an employer of record that employs them for you. An EOR is usually the fastest way to hire a few people in a country where you have no entity.
Q:Should a remote team work mostly async or in real time?
Mostly async, with a few deliberate live moments. Writing things down lets people in different time zones contribute without long overlap, while regular calls and one-on-ones keep trust and relationships strong.
Q:How often should we review our remote tools?
Every six months is a good rhythm, and also whenever the team doubles. Check what each tool costs, who uses it and whether another tool already does the same job, then cancel or consolidate.
Q:What is the most common remote-tool mistake?
Letting information spread across too many places. When decisions live in chat, documents sit in personal drives and tasks hide in several trackers, people waste time searching. A written map of where everything lives prevents most of it.