r/Software_Finder

I'm doing some research to better understand the software engineers actually use in industry and where the biggest productivity pain points are.

I'm interested in both professional tools and the smaller utilities you can't live without.

Some examples:
\\\\- CAD: SolidWorks, CATIA, Creo, Inventor, Fusion 360, NX
\\\\- Simulation: ANSYS, Abaqus, COMSOL
\\\\- Electrical: Altium Designer, KiCad, OrCAD, LTspice, PSpice
\\\\- Controls: MATLAB/Simulink, LabVIEW
\\\\- PLC/SCADA: TIA Portal, Studio 5000, Ignition
\\\\- Programming: VS Code, Visual Studio, Eclipse
\\\\- Other engineering tools you use regularly

A few questions:

\\\\- Which software do you spend the most time in?
\\\\- What's the most repetitive or frustrating task you do every day?
\\\\- Is there a feature you've always wished existed but still doesn't?
\\\\- Are there tasks you still have to do manually because the software makes them painful?
\\\\- If you could improve one engineering tool tomorrow, what would you add?

I'm especially interested in hearing from mechanical, electrical, civil, controls, embedded, HVAC, manufacturing, and automation engineers, but I'd love to hear from anyone.

Not trying to sell anything—I'm just trying to understand where engineers lose the most time so I can identify opportunities for better tools. Looking forward to hearing what drives you crazy every day.

I am thinking of making the CRM for small businesses as i feel that most of the good CRMs are quite expensive and complicated.

Anyone up for that with me ?
And roast my idea if possible !!

Drop a software that just works, every time, no drama, the one you never even think about because it has never given you a reason to. What earned that spot for you?

Hi folks, I actually love Partnerstack and used it for my previous and current startups. But..

My startup is sitting at $15k-$18k MRR right now, but I don't like the PS platform tax. I mena, we have money, but we have to count our costs/revenue. I'm sure there are plenty of other more cost effective opps.

Who is in my list:
- Tapfiliate
- Admitad (as far as I understand they are part of the big enterprise with many brands)
- First promoter
- Trackdesk (their ads are everywhere)

What ot choose? I'm in B2B saas IT niche

May be an activity, action, problem or something else.

Half the software stack at most companies exists because someone said well, everyone in our space uses it. Not because it was the best fit. Which of your tools got chosen by copying someone else, and did it actually work out?

Have an uncle who's looking to change to Prompt EMR from Epic for his practice. Saw the cost range from $100 to $500 a month. He's a physiotherapist btw...

Can someone give me some guidance on the exact pricing? I don't want to talk to their customer service reps

We integrate with a bunch of issue trackers and I'm trying to avoid reinventing a wheel that surely exists somewhere.

The problem: every tracker has its own task shape. Jira has workflows + custom statuses, Linear has typed states, Azure DevOps has work-item types + board columns, Asana has sections, GitHub Projects has whatever fields you bolt on. We need to read tasks from all of them and treat them uniformly downstream — same status semantics, same hierarchy (epic → story → subtask), same notion of "assignee," same "is this done?" check.

What I've found so far:

- OSLC — the actual open standard for this (OASIS, RDF/Linked Data). Looks right on paper but adoption is thin; none of the SaaS trackers expose native OSLC endpoints, so you're writing adapters anyway. Feels heavyweight for what I need.

- Commercial CDM tools — Planview Hub (ex-Tasktop), Unito, Exalate. They clearly nailed the "map each tool once to a canonical model" pattern (O(N) adapters instead of O(N²) pairwise syncs), but they're closed-source and priced for enterprise.

Yup, in every aspect. Change my mind.

We have all seen these threads. The tool nobody uses, the one everyone complains about, the subscription that clears every month for no reason. Names like Jira, Teams and Workday come up almost every single time.

So let us flip it. Forget the ones you tolerate. What is the one tool that actually carries your day, the one you would notice within an hour if it disappeared? Drop the tool, what you use it for, and the one thing that makes it stick.

I've been helping out with hr tasks for a small business, and we've reached the point where spreadsheets and manual tracking just aren't cutting it anymore. We need something that can handle the basics like employee records, leave tracking, and onboarding, but our budget is pretty limited, so we're trying to avoid paying for features we'd never use. I'm looking for something that's reliable, easy to learn, and still affordable for a growing team.

For those who have actually used hr software in a small business, what has worked well for you? Which platforms have stayed useful as your company grew without becoming too expensive? I'd love to hear about your real experiences, including anything you wish you had known before choosing one.

I've tried giving Apple Pages, Numbers, and Keynote multiple chances over the years, but I always end up coming back to Microsoft Office.

I get that Apple's apps are free but not capable.

Drop a comment with the type of software you are looking for (CRM, project management, HR, accounting, anything), your team size, and roughly what you can spend a month. I will reply with two/three tools that are actually worth your time, why each one fits, and what to watch out for. I will get through as many as I can, so comment below.

I honestly think launching a new software for free just to "gather feedback" is a massive trap for founders. Free users will complain about every little bug, demand endless custom features, and praise your tool only because it costs them zero dollars.

The exact moment you add a paywall, 99% of them vanish. I've realized that if a founder doesn't have the confidence to charge from day one, they aren't building a sustainable business, they are just burning their own hosting budget.

Am I looking at this the wrong way? How do you guys handle validation without giving the house away for free?

Automated mass messaging has hit a wall. I’ve been running cold sequences lately to build up our pipeline, and the results are non-existent. Filters are sharper than ever, and it feels like prospects are so exhausted by templated pitch emails that they delete everything without reading a single line.

Blasting cold lists just feels like a fast track to burning your brand's reputation for zero return. It does nothing to build actual trust or brand authority.

How are you actually bringing in high-intent leads right now?