FrostyStack
FrostyStack is an independent publication about the software tools and systems small businesses actually use to grow, chosen and reviewed by someone who has built, shipped, and operated software for four decades.
What FrostyStack is
FrostyStack is a working reference for small business owners, operators, founders, and marketers who need to make real decisions about the software running their business. Every category we cover (website and hosting, prospecting, outreach, CRM, content, AI video, automation) is a category we've had to solve for a real business at some point. The tools we recommend are the ones we'd pick if we were building that stack today.
You will not find every product in every category listed here. That is deliberate. Most small businesses do not need thirty options; they need one or two that work and fit together. Our job is to narrow the field so you can spend less time evaluating software and more time using it.
How we choose the tools we cover
Every tool on FrostyStack earns its place on the merits. A vendor cannot pay to be added to the site, and whether or not a tool offers an affiliate program does not decide whether we cover it or how we rank it against alternatives. When two products compete in the same category, we recommend the one we would actually use, not the one paying the higher commission.
Where we have strong opinions, we say so plainly. Where a decision genuinely depends on your situation, we lay out the tradeoffs and let you choose. Software changes fast. Pricing shifts, features get added or removed, and better options appear, so we revisit and update our recommendations as the landscape moves.
Who's behind FrostyStack
FrostyStack is written and operated by Marc Ilgen.
Marc holds a PhD in Engineering and has spent more than 40 years as a software and technology executive across aerospace, artificial intelligence and machine learning research, mobile applications, smart home systems, and small business growth. Over that career he has served as CTO, VP of Software, VP of Revenue, and Chief Software Scientist, and was a Principal Investigator on DARPA-funded AI and ML research programs going back to the 1990s. He is also the founder or co-founder of several comapnies and understands the tool stack required to enebale small companies to grow.
That background matters here for one reason: after four decades of building software at every scale from research prototypes to consumer products used by millions, it becomes possible to look at a new tool and know within minutes whether it will hold up under real use, or whether it will fall apart the moment a business tries to depend on it. FrostyStack is where that judgment gets applied to the software small businesses are being sold today.
How we make money
FrostyStack is supported by affiliate commissions. When you click a link on the site and sign up for or buy a product we recommend, the vendor may pay us a small referral fee at no additional cost to you. This is what pays for hosting, research time, tool subscriptions, and the writing that goes into every review. We do not run display ads, we do not sell subscriptions, and we do not sell your data. See our Affiliate Disclosure for the full picture and our Privacy Policy for how we handle your information.
Get in touch
Questions about a specific tool, a suggestion for something we should cover, or a partnership idea? Email info@frostystack.com or use the contact form. We read everything.