Tools Zach Hipes Uses

My editor of choice. Lightweight, extensible, and doesn't get in the way.

Every website I build runs on this. Server-side rendering, app router, great performance out of the box.

Catches bugs before they hit production. Non-negotiable for anything I ship.

Lets me iterate on design in code faster than any design tool. Once you go utility-first, you don't go back.

Deployment that just works. Preview URLs for every branch — clients can see changes before they go live.

Version control and CI/CD. Every line of code is tracked.

Best model I've used for complex reasoning and building workflows. Powers most of my client automation systems.

CLI coding tool. I use this for rapid prototyping and building features faster than any team could.

GPT-4o for embeddings, image analysis, and structured data extraction. Right tool for specific jobs.

Self-hosted workflow automation. More flexible than Zapier, and you own your data. I use this for client lead routing and monitoring.

Data analysis, scraping competitor data, custom automation scripts. The Swiss army knife.

Where I spend most of my time. Search campaigns specifically — display is mostly waste for local businesses.

Not perfect, but essential. Custom event setup is where most people get it wrong.

Every client gets a clean GTM container. Server-side tagging when privacy compliance matters.

First place I check for SEO clients. Indexing issues, query performance, coverage problems.

Call tracking and recording. If you're a local service business and you're not recording calls, you're guessing about lead quality.

Best tool for competitive SEO research. Keyword gaps, backlink profiles, content opportunities.

Technical SEO crawler. Finds broken links, redirect chains, and crawl issues that hurt rankings.

For wireframes and prototyping when a project needs design approval before code.

Photo editing for client assets and content.

Asset creation, image optimization, and anything Lightroom can't handle.

Animation library for React. Every smooth transition on this site runs on it.