12 Best Google Drive Apps for Professionals and Freelancers

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Google search engine opened in a laptop

Now that Google Drive is growing fast, developers are coming out with lots of useful applications to extend the power of this popular cloud storage service. Most of these applications work well with Google Chrome and are extremely easy to install. I've compiled a list of some of the best applications that will make your Google Drive account a hub of all important activities related to various file and document management routines. So let's get started and see some of these awesome third-party apps to get a more rich experience while using our Google Drive service. Do share your favorite ones after testing.

Google search engine opened in a laptop

Almost all of these apps offer both the free version as well as the premium one. Start with the former and upgrade if you find it useful for your business. In some cases, the free version is ample for your needs.

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I use a couple of these apps to fulfill my blogging workflow needs. Let's get started and one by one check these useful and productive Google Drive apps built specifically for professionals and techies.

Balsamiq Wireframes

Balsamiq Wireframes - This application extends the functionality of your Google Drive by adding support for creating, editing, and storing high-quality wireframe sketches right within this cloud storage service. Quite similar to Google Docs documents, you get the wireframe document option once you install this application. There are hundreds of wireframe templates to start your sketch with dozens of editing options supported by extra features to pump new life into your existing sketches. Since it is tightly integrated with Google Drive, you can create a complex wireframe sketch in several sessions keeping different versions generated during each editing session.

BeFunky photo editor

BeFunky Photo Editor - This powerful photo editor makes your Google Drive a power-packed storage solution for editing and storing your photographs. You can easily open and edit photos created in GIMP or Photoshop through this powerful app and can easily store them in your Google Drive account. It has dozens of editing effects to give a professional touch to your photographs with ease. You can also open large PSD files stored in your Google Drive easily through this photo editor giving you the flexibility to edit such files directly from within your storage directory. This app is ideal for photographers, web designers, and freelancers who regularly work with photographs.

Lucidchart logo

Lucidchart - This is one more app that I use regularly with my Google Drive account. It extends your Google Drive's functionality by adding support for creating and editing flowcharts, UML diagrams, mind maps, sketches, sitemaps, and much more. The app provides you with hundreds of templates in each category to get you started in no time. This app also supports an unlimited number of collaborators for a given file with a strong version control system that stores all the revisions automatically in your Google Drive. All the collaborators can edit any diagram or map in real-time through this powerful application. Collaborators can also comment and can group chat while working on a single document.

Screencastify video editor logo

Screencastify - As the name suggests, this useful application turns your Google Drive into a powerful media library with tons of features. Through this app, you can directly record or edit your video files within Google Drive and can also organize them with ease. All major media file formats are supported by this app so that you don't have to export them for external editing. This app automatically creates a project folder on Google Drive whenever you open a new video file for editing. Like other Google Drive apps, this one also supports collaborators who can simultaneously work on a single file at the same time. This app is ideal for freelancers as well as professionals.

FAX.PLUS app for Google Drive

FAX.PLUS - This is a powerful fax application for business users on Google Drive. Whenever you install this application, it creates a dedicated FAX.PLUS folder in your Google Drive for managing your incoming and outgoing faxes. It supports up to 30 different file types that can be easily signed and faxed from within your Google Drive account. It's not just the fax, but if you want you can send the same signed document through email too without going to Gmail. This app is ideal for Google Apps account holders who regularly exchange business documents on daily basis. The interface of this application is soothing to the eyes and gels very well with Google Drive's native interface.

Mindomo app for Google Drive

Mindomo - This is yet another useful application used by me on regular basis. It's a powerful app that brings mind-mapping features to your Google Drive. This app supports all popular mind map file formats generated through XMind, Freemind, and MindManager. This app is tightly integrated with Google Drive facilitating easy import, export, and editing of mind map files. Like other apps, this one also has built-in support for multiple collaborators who can work on the same mind map file at the same time. It also has a live chat feature for all the collaborators with intelligent task alerts. You can also use this Google Drive app on Android and iOS platforms.

GeoGebra graphing calculator

GeoGebra - If you're a mathematics student, teacher, or researcher, this Google Drive app can help you in plotting different graphs derived from complex mathematical equations very easily. All the generated graphs can be stored easily in your Google Drive from within the application. This application is extremely good for educational purposes and can greatly help in refining mathematical graph plotting skills. Teachers can use this tool in online classrooms to easily demonstrate graph plotting which is sometimes very awkward on boards. You can also take screenshots of the plotted graphs to store them on your Google Drive.

DocuSign electronic signature service

DocuSign - If you're a business organization or an individual who regularly sends and receive signed business documents on daily basis, then this Google Drive application is made just for you. Through this app, you can get your business documents signed securely by DocuSign service from within your Google Drive. You can also verify incoming signed documents easily without any need to leave Google Drive at all. This application supports lots of file formats that can be signed and sent securely to the recipient. Since all these activities are done within your Google Drive, you save a lot of money otherwise spent on stationery and transportation.

Gantter project management tool

Gantter - This powerful project scheduling application for Google Drive users is one of the popular apps in its category. No matter how big is your project, this application lets you create large project schedules right within your Google Drive. You can also add an unlimited number of collaborators for a large project schedule who can work simultaneously where each collaborator has his project schedule shared space on Google Drive. This app has numerous project scheduling templates so that you can start a new project quickly. If you're an IT manager or work in a similar capacity, this application can make your work very easy.

Smartsheet work management tool

Smartsheet - This is a combination of powerful task and project management applications for your Google Drive account. Its rich grid-based interface makes the entire project management exercise a pleasing experience. Needless to say, this app supports multiple collaborators for a single project or task management schedule. You can also create different types of reports and can also access the associated files from different smartphones. You can also import data from Google contacts and Google Docs for an easy and quick update. This application has a large number of options with numerous features which makes it one of the premier Google Drive apps for project and task management.

Pixlr Suite for Google Drive

Pixlr Suite - This is yet another powerful photo editing Google Drive app with over 250 effects to give a professional touch to your photographs. It also has a text tool and an option to paste custom stickers on the photographs. All the edited pictures can be easily stored in your Google Drive account. Some users think that this is a trimmed-down version of Pixlr Editor, but that is not the case. This app is equally powerful with loads of photo editing options. I generally use this application for creating custom frames and borders for my images and highly recommend it to hobbyists as well as professional users.

Diagramming tool for Google Drive

diagrams.net - And last but not least is the powerful Google Drive application to make different types of diagrams within your Google Drive account. Through this useful application, you can easily create flowcharts, UML, ERD, network diagrams, business process models, and org charts. This app has a very large library of objects to assist with easy and quick diagram creation even by novice users. You can export the diagrams in various file formats that can be saved directly to your Google Drive account. There's also a handy search feature to find previously created diagrams from a large database. This app is ideal for freelancers and students.