Here are my favorite tools and resources that I use everyday for my online businesses. Some of them are 100% free while others have premium features that require payment. In any case, I present to you the following tech resources that I’ve tried and tested and recommend to you.
Looking for deals, discounts, and FREE stuff?
Some of the links below allow me to earn a commission, but that won’t raise your price whatsoever. Thank you for your support.
DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean is my go-to choice for spinning up a Linux server in the cloud… quickly! I use DigitalOcean all the time when creating videos for my YouTube channel—everything from trying out new software to conducting speed tests.
While there are lots of VPS providers in the industry, I’ve worked with a great deal of them and personally find DigitalOcean to take the cake when it comes to performance, reliability, and customer support.
I like DigitalOcean so much that I’ve partnered with them to give the Tony Teaches Tech community $200 in DigitalOcean credits that you can use to try out the platform for free.
WPX WordPress Hosting
This website and most of my other websites are hosted with WPX. Why? Well because Terry, the founder of WPX, is awesome! But in all seriousness, it’s because WPX uses OpenLiteSpeed web servers, provides unlimited free CDN, and they have near perfect customer ratings.
Most importantly, after switching my websites to WPX, I saw a noticeable decreases in page load times across the board which is good for both the visitor and me.
Elementor
While I love WordPress, it falls short when complete control over the design of your website is necessary. Elementor solves this by allowing you to create beautiful pages and entire websites using their drag and drop website builder.
I’ve tested out quite a few websites builders, and none were as feature-rich and easy to use as Elementor. While there is a free version, I recommend going with Elementor Pro to have access to their entire library of design features.
GeneratePress WordPress Theme
This light-as-a-feather WordPress theme is only 30 KB in size. If that means nothing to you, just know it’s SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT and loads SUPER FAST. I even made a video about this.
A big push by Google in the past few years is site speed. Having a non-bloated WordPress theme is now critical to ranking on Google search. GeneratePress is also built with SEO in mind from the ground up. It’s for all of these reasons that most of my WordPress websites use GeneratePress.
Canva
How could an online graphic design tool make my list of web hosting resources? Well, simply because I believe the images you put on your website help increase user engagement.
Canva is much more than a glorified “Microsoft Paint”. With templates for everything from your YouTube channel to Pinterest, Canva is seriously your one-stop-shop for designers and non-designers alike. Need a featured image for your blog post? Create it with Canva in a matter of minutes.
Best of all, most Canva features are free for everyone!
Deals, Discounts, and FREE Stuff
Everyone loves a good deal! Below you will find some exclusive hosting and plugin deals and discounts that you can take advantage of for your website.
I also have a bunch of FREE website hosting options here, so check that out too.
Hosting
- DigitalOcean: get $200 in DigitalOcean credits
- Vultr: get $100 in Vultr credits
- Linode: get $100 in Linode credits
- Cloudways: use code TONY to get 20% off your first 3 months with Cloudways
WordPress Plugins
- Perfmatters: use code TONYTEACHESTECH to get 15% off any Perfmatters license
- Novashare: use code TONYTEACHESTECH to get 15% off any Novashare license