Top 10 Apps from the Google Apps Marketplace

By Clint Boulton

Any CRM lovers out there looking for an alternative to the more expensive Salesforce.com? Free for three users, and $12 per user, per month, from the fourth user on, Zoho CRM helps with sales, marketing, customer service and inventory management.

Once just online storage for consumers, Box.net has expanded to become a premier Web content management provider for the cloud, making it a smart partner for Google. Google Apps users can access files stored in Box within Gmail and Google Calendar; send files using Gmail with one click; attach a Box file or folder to a meeting invite from within Box or directly from Google Calendar; and publish work on a Google Site from Box. Free for current business users, it’s currently available at 30 percent off the standard fee of $15 per user, per month, for new users.

It may not be exciting, but payroll software is necessary in the Information Age. Intuit Online Payroll lets users access payroll software anywhere they can log in to Google Apps. Users can also access payroll or paychecks from Google Calendar and print checks and pay taxes electronically from the application. The price is $39 per month, for one employee and filing in one state.

An alternative to Zoho CRM, MyERP is free for up to two users per month and $29 per user, per month, thereafter.

This application from Tungle is a personal scheduler for those who have a hard time managing their schedules. The application is free.

One of our favorite apps even before it joined Google’s Webstore, TripIt is the ultimate trip organization application. To use TripIt, corporate travelers forward their booking confirmation e-mails to [email protected] TripIt supports over 1,000 different booking sites, including corporate booking tools and travel agencies. It’s also free.

From BatchBlue Software, this application is like a lighter Salesforce Chatter, providing the ability to organize contacts, monitor social networks, and track leads and deals. The application starts free with a 30-day trial period for all accounts. Thereafter, users may use a free version or get value-added paid plans starting at $9.95 per month.

Because people can’t get enough social CRM software, Insightly makes a free CRM application that lets users track sales leads, proposals and projects, and manage files.

Smartsheet’s application provides cloud-based project management and integration with Google Apps. Users may sign in with their Google account information and import and export between Google Spreadsheets and Smartsheet. It’s free, with paid plans starting at $9.95 per month.

An application that lets users easily create marketing campaigns, VerticalResponse is offered as a pay-as-you-go service on a per-campaign basis. Users may also pay a monthly flat fee to send unlimited e-mails.