Tools I use

This page contains a list of tools I use for my work. It may contain some affiliate links. If you purchase something through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

For Development Work

• Text editor: I use Cursor over Visual Studio Code nowadays because the AI features within Cursor are much better than VSCode’s.
  • I still recommend VSCode for new developers because it’s free and easy to get started. (Cursor builts on top of VSCode anyway).
  • Here’s a video series to help you get started with Visual Studio Code if you’re new. And some keyboard shortcut customisations if you’re into that sorta thing.
• Theme: I use Twilight Cosmos. (I made this).
  • Before this, my other favourites are Moonlight 2 Italic and Night Owl.
• Coding Font: I’m using Jetbrains Mono now and I prefer it over fancy ones like. Here’s why.
• Terminal: I tend to use iTerm2, but the integrated terminal in Cursor / Visual Studio Code is great too.
• Git: Tower is my choice for this. Get 20% off the first year of Tower with zell20.
• Database:
  • I’ve switched over to SQLite ever since I started using Astro. If you’re using SQLite, TablePlus lets you check your SQL data. This is bundled with Setapp. (More below about Setapp below).
  • MongoDB is good, but it gets complex. If you’re using MongoDB, MongoDB Compass is a great app for viewing your data.
• Hosting:
  • I host most of my sites on Digital Ocean. It’s cheaper than Netlify or Vercel for higher traffic sites that consume more bandwidth.
  • I use Netlify for client sites that don’t need a backend, or if they have lower traffic

For Writing and Editing

• Text Editor:
  • I’ve been using Obsidian for a while and I like it very much — more than Ulysses and iA Writer — because I can store all my notes and writing in one place. (No more switching between many apps!)
• Emoji: Rocket is hands-down the best emoji picker for Mac.
• Editing:
  • Hemingway helps me prune sentences
  • Grammarly helps me check for grammar and spelling mistakes
• Screenshot: I use Cleanshot over Mac’s default screenshot taker.
  • It’s faster
  • It cleanups the desktop.
  • I get Cleanshot via Setapp.
• Annotation: Cleanshot has a built-in annotation tool that’s good enough for most use cases.
• Video capture and GIF makers: Recently, I’ve been using Cleanshot for this as well. But Kap is a good free alternative.

For Design Work

• Design: I use Figma.
• Font Management: Typeface is currently my favourite font manager. (It comes with Setapp too).
• Color Picker: Sip (via Setapp) is a great color picker tool.
  • It can check color-contrast against accessibility guidelines as well.
• Color Palette:
  • I rely on my gut feeling and experience so I no longer use tools to generate color palettes nowadays but I’m open to suggestions if you have any.
  • I write colors in oklch format. oklch.com is useful for converting between hex and oklch.
• Measuring:
  • If I need precise measurements between things on my screen, I use PixelSnap. (Comes with Setapp)
  • But typically, I just do a rough gauge.

Workdesk Setup

• Computer: Macbook Pro 16-inch. (I don’t like working small screens).
• Monitor: Prism X315. It’s cheaper than most monitors, but the color accuracy isn’t great.
• Speakers:
  • I use Genelec 8020D. Amazing speakers with great sound quality. It’s a studio monitor though, so sound is more directional.
  • I recently added a KRK S8.4 subwoofer to the mix. Unfortunately, maybe the Genelecs are already great, I don’t find much of an added value with the subwoofer.
• Chair
  • Got the Herman Miller Embody gaming chair recently.
  • Used the Secret Lab Titan Evo before this. It gave me a really bad backaches over time.
• Keyboard
  • Moonlander as my main keyboard at my workstation.
  • Corne Keyboard v4 as my secondary keyboard when I’m out on the go.
  • I talked about setting up both of these. (Moonlander, Corne).

For Business-related systems

• Email: I use Gmail. No other email client seem to be a good fit nowadays.
• Email List:
  • I use Sendy nowadys.
  • I’ve tried Convertkit and Buttondown previously but they got really expensive really fast. They’re good when you’re starting out though.
  • Sendy costs $1 for every 10,000 emails sent - and $0 if I don’t send anything.
• Todolist systems: I built my own system within Obsidian. Other systems don’t seem to work for me with the way I manage stuff.
• Payment provider:
  • I used Thrivecart for a period of time.
  • Nowadays I alternate between Stripe and Thrivecart
• Currency Conversion:
  • I use Transferwise to convert USD to SGD whenever possible because it has better rates
• Scheduling: I use Cal to schedule calls because it’s free.
• Video calls: Google Meet is my go-to for video calls since I already own a Google workspace.

For Video recording and Streaming

• Streaming App: I use Open Broadcaster Studio (OBS) to stream.
  • It’s the only decent app you can use on Mac.
• Camera: Logitech C920 because it’s cheap and good.
• Microphone: My setup contains 4 things:
  • Shure SM7B -DM1 Dynamite inline preamp
  • Audient ID4 Audio Interface
  •  RODE PSA 1 Boom Arm 
  • Plus a cheap pop filter (like this one)

File Storage and Backups

• Dropbox: For files that require good syncing capabilities and speed
• Google Drive: For less essential stuff
• Backblaze: To backup all my projects (because they have large node_modules folder). Backblaze backs EVERYTHING up. (It’s a lifesaver for the occassional faulty Mac models)

Other Mac Stuff

Lots of stuff here. I use:

• Endurance (via Setapp) to extend battery life.
• Tripmode (via Setapp) to save mobile data.
• Clean my Mac X (via Setapp) to remove unwanted files.
• Bartender (via Setapp) to cleanup menu bar icons
• Alfred over Spotlight
• BusyCal (via Setapp) as my calendar.
• Moom to manage windows placement on Mac.
  • Setapp has Mosiac that does the same thing.
• Raycast for snippet management

Wanna chat?

Wanna talk about the tools I use? Just hit me up and I’ll be happy to chat.