Tools I Use & Recommend

These are the tools, services, and software I personally use and recommend for IT professionals, sysadmins, developers, and anyone serious about their online security and infrastructure. Every link on this page is an affiliate link — meaning I earn a small commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you.

🖥️ Web Hosting & Cloud VPS

Hostinger — Best Budget Hosting

Hostinger is my go-to recommendation for anyone starting out with WordPress hosting or needing affordable shared/VPS hosting. Fast servers, great uptime, and excellent value.

  • From £2.49/month for shared hosting
  • NVMe SSD storage on all plans
  • Free SSL, free domain on annual plans
  • One-click WordPress installer

👉 Get started with Hostinger

Cloudways — Best Managed Cloud Hosting

Cloudways sits on top of DigitalOcean, Vultr, and AWS to give you managed cloud hosting without the complexity. Perfect for growing WordPress sites or client projects.

  • Managed cloud on top of DO, Vultr, AWS, GCP, Linode
  • Automatic backups, free SSL, built-in caching
  • No long-term contracts — pay as you go
  • Excellent staging environments

👉 Try Cloudways free for 3 days

Vultr — Best Raw VPS Value

Vultr offers some of the best-priced bare-metal and cloud compute instances available. I use Vultr for Linux lab environments, self-hosted apps, and testing deployments.

  • VPS from $2.50/month
  • 25+ data centre locations worldwide
  • Hourly billing — spin up and tear down anytime
  • Great for Docker, Kubernetes, and Linux homelab

👉 Get $100 free credit on Vultr

DigitalOcean — Best for Developers

DigitalOcean’s Droplets are the industry standard for developer-friendly cloud hosting. Brilliant documentation, clean UI, and a huge community of tutorials.

  • Droplets from $4/month
  • Managed databases, Kubernetes, App Platform
  • World-class documentation and tutorials
  • Great for CI/CD pipelines and DevOps projects

👉 Get $200 free credit on DigitalOcean

🔒 Security & Privacy

NordVPN — Best VPN for IT Professionals

NordVPN is the VPN I recommend to anyone who works remotely, travels, or manages servers across multiple locations. Fast, reliable, and with strong no-logs credentials.

  • 6,000+ servers in 111 countries
  • Threat Protection blocks malware and trackers
  • Meshnet for connecting your own devices securely
  • Up to 10 devices per subscription

👉 Get NordVPN — up to 72% off

1Password — Best Password Manager

1Password is the password manager I trust with every credential, SSH key, and API token I have. The developer features alone make it worth every penny.

  • Stores passwords, SSH keys, API tokens, MFA codes
  • 1Password CLI for terminal integration
  • Travel Mode to hide sensitive vaults at border crossings
  • Works across every platform and browser

👉 Try 1Password free for 14 days

Malwarebytes — Best Malware Protection

Malwarebytes is my recommended endpoint protection for Windows and Mac — lightweight, effective, and excellent at catching what traditional antivirus misses.

  • Real-time protection against malware, ransomware & spyware
  • Browser Guard blocks malicious and ad-heavy sites
  • Low system resource usage
  • Free version available for manual scanning

👉 Try Malwarebytes Premium free for 14 days

📈 SEO & Marketing

Semrush — Best SEO Toolkit

Semrush is the SEO platform I use to research keywords, audit my sites, track rankings, and spy on what competitors are ranking for. It’s the industry standard for a reason.

  • Keyword research with search volume and difficulty scores
  • Full site audits to find technical SEO issues
  • Competitor analysis and backlink research
  • Position tracking and content optimisation tools

👉 Try Semrush Pro free for 14 days

🛒 General IT Kit

I also recommend gear and books through Amazon Associates. Check out my curated picks for:

  • Networking equipment (switches, patch panels, cable testers)
  • Home lab hardware (Raspberry Pi, mini PCs, NAS drives)
  • IT certification study books (CompTIA, CCNA, AWS)
  • Desk and workspace accessories for IT pros

Amazon product links are embedded within relevant articles across the site.

Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I have personally used or thoroughly researched.