I have put this page together to share with you some of the tools, plugins and services that I use on a daily basis.

These products make my life as a freelance front-end developer much easier and I am confident you’ll agree too.

Learning

Treehouse – from 25$/month

If you are quite new to web development, or maybe changing careers, I would highly recommend to start learning HTML, CSS and jQuery with Treehouse.

They offer wide range of courses in a nicely organized ‘tracks’.

The front-end development track will guide you through the skills required to become a front-end developer.

Use this link to get 3 months off their Silver Annual Plan for a limited time!

CodeSchool – from 29$/month

If you are more into the programming side of front-end development I would recommend CodeSchool to learn more about JavaScript, jQuery, Backbone.js, Node.js and other frameworks and scripting langueages.

Combination of screencasts, coding in the browser and gamification will make your learning experience more interesting and fun.

WordPress Plugins and Themes

StudioPress – from $59.95

StudioPress from Copyblogger Media and their popular Genesis Framework have been considered for a long time as an industry standard for
Premium WordPress Themes. Grab the beautiful Parallax Pro or Sixteen Nine Pro themes or buy the Pro Plus Package and get access to all their current and future themes!

Themeforest – $25-$60 per theme

Not every client and project have a huge budget so starting with an existing theme is sometimes the best choice.

Themeforest is the biggest marketplace when it comes to WordPress, Joomla and Drupal templates and is my first stop when choosing a theme for my clients on a tight budget.

Elegant Themes – from $69/year

For $69/year you will get access to 87 elegant themes and with their 30 day money back guarantee, there is not much you can loose.

Gravity Forms – from 39$

Lets be honest, building forms sucks. Doing the same thing all over again and again on every project is a waste of time.

Gravity Forms saves me headaches, by letting me create even the most complicated forms no matter how complex they are.

Drag and drop and you have your forms ready in no time.

Website Hosting

Dreamhost – from $8.95/month

Cheap web hosting is what most of my small clients want. With Dreamhost I can host unlimited number of sites for as little as $8.95/month.

Friendly admin interface, good support and a one click WordPress installation is all I need for smaller projects on a budget.

Use promo code IHTLOVESDH to get 40$ off Dreamhost web hosting!

Digital Ocean – from 5$/month

If you are a developer or know someone who could set this up for you, then get simple cloud hosting from Digital Ocean. It’s cheap, super fast but requires some setting up at the beginning.

I have moved this blog to Digital Ocean and couldn’t be more happier with the performance.

Productivity

Harvest – 12$/month

I track my time and create all my invoices with Harvest. I used to waste a lot of time by creating invoices manually in Word, but with Harvest it is super simple and fast. Tracking my time spent on projects helps me to better estimate future projects and work more efficiently.

Trello – Free

I know you’ll say you don’t need this, but think twice. How do you stay organized while building your projects? Do you plan or just dive into coding every time?

If you are like me then you’ve never planned your project properly and always stress out a few days before the deadline.

Get Trello, stay organized and enjoy every project.

Books

I must admit, I am not the biggest reader. Most of the technical knowledge I have is through watching others and by following thousands of tutorials online. Here are a few books that still made a big impact on my career and helped me to become a better front-end developer.

Eat That Frog

An excellent book by Brian Tracy that provides the 21 most effective methods for conquering procrastination and accomplishing more. Very easy to read and all points covered can be easily applied to any career or life situation. Complete the hardest task first thing (frog eating) in the morning and make the rest of the day more productive. A must read!

Don’t Make Me Think

This book by Steve Krug is a very easy to read guide to web usability. Whether you are realizing it or not, every website we build is for a user. Steve explains why a common sense approach is the way we should think when designing and building websites for our customers.

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. Please understand that I have experience with all of these products and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not buy any of them unless you feel you need them to help you grow your business or take your career to the next level.