Tools We Use
The tools Hardal runs on - what they're for, and how to get access.
We keep our tool stack intentional. Every tool has a cost - not just financial, but in overhead, context-switching, and information fragmentation. We don't add tools speculatively.
Core tools
Communication
Slack - Primary async communication. Public channels by default; DMs for truly personal matters. We don't use email internally.
Google Meet - Video calls. Embedded in Google Calendar invites.
Loom - For async video messages when a video is clearer than text (product demos, quick walkthroughs). Not a replacement for documentation.
Claude - For any agentic support and LLM needs
Project management
Linear - All engineering tasks, bugs, and sprints live here. If a task isn't in Linear, it doesn't exist. Every task needs an owner. Feature requests from customers go here too.
Documentation
Google Drive - Contracts, financial documents, legal docs, anything that needs to be on the record. The default for anything operational.
Google Docs - Internal knowledge base for longer-form documentation that doesn't belong in the codebase or the public handbook.
This handbook - Public-facing documentation of how we work.
Engineering
GitHub - All code. Pull requests, code review, issue tracking for engineering.
Azure - Cloud infrastructure. Container hosting, CI/CD pipelines.
Cloudinary - Media asset management for the website and customer-facing assets.
Sanity - CMS for website content management.
Codex - For AI support in coding.
Design
Figma - UI design, wireframes, brand assets. The source of truth for design files.
Customer-facing
Hardal dashboard - The actual product.
Cal.com - Meeting booking for sales and customer success calls.
Finance and HR
Deel - Payroll, contracts, and expense reimbursement. Submit all expenses here.
1Password - Password and credentials manager. All shared credentials live here - not in Slack, not in email.
Teamtailor - All hiring processes
** Paraşüt & Quickbooks** - For all accounting purposes
Analytics and marketing
Hardal - We use our own product for website tracking. Dogfooding is mandatory.
Google Search Console - SEO monitoring.
Resend - Transactional email.
How to get access to a tool
Ask in Slack. Most tools have a shared admin who can grant access. If you need access to something for a specific project and it's not in this list, check with the founders first - we try to avoid proliferating tools unnecessarily.
Adding a new tool
Before adding a new tool to the stack:
- Is there an existing tool that does this well enough?
- What does it cost per month, and is that reasonable for what it does?
- Who will own it (renewals, admin, offboarding people when they leave)?
- Does it need GDPR/KVKK compliance consideration?
If you want to try something out, use a free trial. If it's genuinely better than what we have and worth paying for, propose it. Don't add paid tools without approval.
Tools we've tried and moved away from
This list exists so we don't keep revisiting the same decisions.
- Notion as primary project management - context fragmentation; Linear handles engineering better
- Jira - too heavyweight for our team size
- HubSpot CRM - evaluating alternatives that fit our workflow better
- Discord as a communication platform - got too complicated at the end. Slack works better