Tools to Run Your Stained Glass Business
Running a stained glass studio involves custom design work, client communication, material tracking, and project scheduling. The right tools help you manage commissions from initial consultation through delivery, keep your finances organized, and maintain consistent communication with clients. You don’t need expensive enterprise software—most successful stained glass businesses operate with 5-7 core tools that handle the essentials.
Your toolkit should balance simplicity with functionality. Many stained glass artists start with basic free tools and upgrade only when growth demands it. The tools below are chosen specifically for small studios, custom creators, and service-based makers.
Project Management & Design Organization
Stained glass commissions require tracking multiple stages: initial design approval, glass selection, cutting, soldering, and final installation. Asana lets you create project boards for each commission, assign tasks to yourself (or team members if you expand), and attach design files, measurements, and reference images. This prevents designs from getting lost in email threads.
Monday.com works similarly but with more visual customization. You can create templates for your standard project workflow—consultation → design approval → material ordering → fabrication → installation—and reuse them for every new commission. The free tier handles 1-2 concurrent projects comfortably.
Notion is a free all-in-one workspace that many glass artists use to store design catalogs, client specifications, and project checklists. You can create a database of past projects, materials used, and time spent on each piece—useful data for pricing future work.
Invoicing & Payment Collection
Custom stained glass work typically involves deposits upfront and final payment upon completion. Square Invoices generates professional invoices from your phone or browser, accepts online payments, and tracks unpaid invoices. You can add your logo, itemize by design hours and materials, and automatically send payment reminders.
Wave is completely free and includes invoicing, payment acceptance, and basic expense tracking. For a solo artist, Wave eliminates the need for separate accounting software in year one. You can accept card payments through Wave’s payment processor at competitive rates.
FreshBooks combines invoicing with time tracking and expense logging. This matters for stained glass because you need to record material costs and labor hours accurately. If you eventually hire an assistant or want detailed profitability per project, FreshBooks makes this visible.
Client Communication & Scheduling
Stained glass commissions require multiple touchpoints—initial consultation, design approval meetings, measurement visits for installations, and delivery scheduling. Calendly lets clients book consultation slots directly from your website or email without back-and-forth messaging. It syncs with your Google or Outlook calendar and prevents double-booking.
Acuity Scheduling goes further by including deposit collection, form questionnaires, and automatic reminders. You can require clients to answer questions during booking (window dimensions, color preferences, budget) so you gather essential information before the first conversation.
Gmail with folders and labels remains free and sufficient for email management if you’re starting. As volume grows, HubSpot CRM (free tier) stores client contact information, tracks communication history, and shows you when a client’s project is due for follow-up.
Accounting & Expense Tracking
Material costs—glass, lead, solder, flux, copper foil—add up quickly. Tracking these expenses is essential for accurate pricing and tax time. Wave (mentioned above) logs expenses automatically if you connect your business bank account. You categorize each purchase by type, making end-of-year reporting easier.
Zoho Books is low-cost ($10-15/month) and designed for freelancers and small studios. It tracks expenses, invoices, and generates profit-and-loss reports showing which types of projects are most profitable.
Design & Estimation
Adobe Illustrator or Procreate (iPad, $12.99 one-time) are standard for digital stained glass design mockups. These let you present scaled designs to clients before you cut a single piece of glass, reducing approval revisions.
For layout planning and material cutting estimates, Inkscape is free and lets you create patterns with exact measurements. You can design a window layout, print the full-scale pattern, and calculate glass waste before ordering materials.
Cloud Storage & File Backup
Google Drive (free, 15GB) stores design files, client contracts, and project photos. Organize by client name and year so you can retrieve past designs if a customer wants a similar piece years later.
Dropbox or OneDrive work similarly. Since design files can be large and design work is difficult to recreate, automated cloud backup prevents catastrophic loss if your computer fails.
Email Marketing (Optional, for Growth)
Once you have past customers, Mailchimp (free for up to 500 contacts) lets you send newsletters about new designs, seasonal window promotions, or workshop announcements. This keeps you top-of-mind when someone needs a new stained glass piece.
Free vs Paid Tools
Start with free tools. Wave, Google Drive, Calendly, and Gmail cost nothing and handle the essentials—invoicing, file storage, client scheduling, and communication. Many stained glass artists operate profitably for 1-2 years on entirely free software.
Upgrade when you hit a specific friction point. If you can’t track which projects are profitable, pay for FreshBooks ($15-50/month). If client scheduling emails are consuming your time, upgrade to Acuity Scheduling ($15-25/month). If you hire an assistant, move to Asana or Monday.com to delegate tasks clearly. This approach keeps your overhead low while you validate your market.
The Minimum Tech Stack to Launch
You need only three tools on day one:
- Wave — Creates invoices, accepts payments, tracks expenses, requires no credit card to start
- Google Drive or Dropbox — Backs up your design files and stores client contracts safely
- Calendly — Books consultation slots without email scheduling friction, integrates with your personal calendar
These three tools cost $0 and handle invoicing, file management, and scheduling. Add Gmail (free) for client communication and Notion (free) to organize your design portfolio and past project data. You now have a complete operating system for a solo stained glass studio.