Uses

I frequently get asked what hardware, software, and services I use, so here's the running list. Last refreshed: May 2026.

Phone

• iPhone 17 Pro (switched over from the Google Pixel 10 Pro in January 2026)

Main workstation

• Main computer: 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5, 32GB RAM)
• Secondary computer: 2024 MacBook Air (M3)
• External display: 27" LG monitor
• Dock: Ivanky Fusion Dock Max 1
• Keyboard: Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad
• Mouse: Logitech MX Master 4
• Camera (used as webcam): Sony A7 IV
• Audio interface: RØDECaster Pro II
• Microphone: Shure SM7B
• Speakers: Bose Companion 2 Series III (through the RØDECaster Pro II)
• Headphones:
  • In-ear: Apple AirPods Pro 2
  • Over-ear: Sony MDR-1000X
• Stream Deck + (key part of the setup)
• Desk mount: Elgato Desk Stand
• Lighting: 2× Elgato Key Lights
• Storage: Google Drive + local Synology NAS (local-only backup for now)
• Portable SSDs: Samsung T9

Ian's workstation

• MacBook Air M3
• oWS Dock
• Logitech MX Brio Ultra HD camera
• Shure SM7B microphone

Browser

• Google Chrome (primary)
  • Two profiles: a personal one and a work one (brad@bradfrost.com)

Email + calendar

• Google Workspace (Gmail)
• Notion Mail (connected to Gmail)
• Google Calendar
• Notion Calendar (connected to Google Calendar)

Meetings + recording

• Zoom (most meetings)
• Descript (shared recording sessions)
• OBS (streaming)

Recording + editing

• Descript — podcasts, course collab sessions, course videos (Keynote + talking head + screen share)
• Riverside — backup for when Descript craps out
• Final Cut Pro — music videos, Cold Album Drumming, other video projects

Slides

• Eddie slides (custom presentation software built on our design system)
• Keynote (nearly everything)
• Figma Slides (want to use more)

Design + creative

• Figma — design work, logos, UI design (though I prefer designing in-browser)
• Adobe Photoshop — photo editing
• Adobe Illustrator — occasionally
• Adobe Premiere — occasionally

Designing in the browser

• HTML / CSS
• Eddie Design System
• CodePen

Code editor / IDE

• Cursor (primary)
• Ongoing experiments with other IDEs and tools, especially for the AI & Design Systems course

Terminal

• Cursor's built-in terminal
• macOS Terminal

Dev tooling

• Homebrew
• nvm
• npm
• yarn (when the project uses it)

Scheduling

• Calendly

Payments + commerce

• Thinkific — course platform + payments
• Shopify — ebooks and future products
• PayPal — connected to Thinkific + Shopify

Invoicing + accounting

• Harvest — invoicing, time tracking, expenses
• QuickBooks — synced from Harvest; the source of truth our accountants use

Marketing + CRM

• MailChimp — newsletter and marketing emails
• Thinkific email — student comms (aiming to centralize in MailChimp via Zapier segments)
• Notion CRM database

Docs + knowledge base

• Notion — primary "brain"
• Google Docs / Sheets — occasionally

Meeting notes

• Notion Meeting Notes (primary)
• Shared Google Docs (sometimes)
• Handwritten notes (sometimes)
• Gmail draft (sometimes)

Chat + community

• Slack (primary)
• Discord (occasional)

Passwords + security

• 1Password (separate Family + Business vaults)
• Google Authenticator for some 2FA

Domains + hosting

• Hover — most domains
• Gandi — TLDs Hover doesn't support
• Hosting / deploys: Netlify (most sites), Flywheel (legacy WordPress)
• bradfrost.com: migrating from WordPress on Flywheel → Eleventy on Netlify

Analytics

• Google Analytics

Source control

• GitHub org: Brad-Frost-Web
• GitHub personal: bradfrost

Tickets + project tracking

• GitHub Issues (primary)
• Increasingly using Notion; bi-directional GitHub ↔ Notion sync is on the wishlist

Automation + integrations

• GitHub ↔ Netlify automatic deploys
• Zapier — primary middleware for app-to-app automation
• IFTTT — secondary middleware
• Default rule: "if no direct integration exists, wire it up via Zapier (or IFTTT)"
• Direction: expand automation across the board (Notion Automations, more Zapier flows)

Screen capture / screen recording

• Descript (when recording for production)
• CleanShot X (just getting started)
• macOS built-in screenshots / screen recording
• GIPHY Capture (sometimes)

Writing + publishing workflow

• Blog: WordPress draft → publish (migrating to markdown files in the bradfrost.com Eleventy site)
• Newsletter: MailChimp draft → publish
• Writing assistance: none — no Grammarly or similar
• Voice dictation: Wispr Flow

Basement recording studio

Studio computer

• iMac (24-inch, 4.5K Retina) — Apple M4 (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine), 32GB unified memory
• Dock: iVANKY FusionDock
• Portable SSDs: Samsung T9

Instruments

Bass

• 1974 Fender Jazz Bass
• Squier Bass VI

Guitar

• Fender Telecaster

Keys / synths / drum machines

• Nord Stage 3 (with Yamaha expression pedal and On-Stage sustain pedal)
• Moog Rogue
• Novation (MKIII)
• AKAI MPK Mini III
• Korg MicroKorg
• Behringer RD-8

Amps

• Orange 4×10 bass amp
• Fender DeVille

Mixer / monitoring / IEM

• Behringer X32 Rack
• Old iPad mini running the X32 iPad app
• Behringer Ultra-DI Pro rack DI (Nord Stage 3, Moog Rogue, RD-8, MicroKorg)
• Studio monitors: KRK Rokit 6
• In-ear monitors: Sennheiser XSW IEM

Video — cameras

• OBSBOT Tail 2
• GoPro Hero13
• Insta360 X4
• GoPro Hero5

Video — switching / capture

• RODECaster Video