Sourdough does not need a stand mixer, most doughs are mixed by hand or with a bowl scraper, but a handful of cheap tools make the difference between a dense loaf and a well-shaped, well-scored one. Five real picks below cover proofing, scoring, baking, and weighing.
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Various (commodity item, no dominant brand)
Gives a sourdough loaf its shape and the classic spiral ridge pattern during the final proof. This is a commodity item on Amazon with no single well-known brand, so search rather than chase a specific listing. A well-floured towel-lined bowl works too, this just makes it easier and more consistent.
Ateco
A dedicated razor-blade scoring tool gives cleaner, more controlled slashes than a kitchen knife, which matters for both oven spring and the classic bakery look. Cheap enough that there is little reason to keep using a knife once you have baked more than a couple of loaves.
OXO
Doubles as a bench scraper for handling sticky high-hydration dough and dividing it cleanly. Not sourdough-specific, but it is one of the most reached-for tools once you start baking bread regularly.
Lodge
Baking sourdough covered in a preheated Dutch oven traps steam and produces the crackly, bakery-style crust that a home oven cannot manage on its own. It is heavy and takes up cupboard space, but for sourdough specifically it is close to essential, not optional.
OXO
Sourdough hydration ratios only work if flour and water are weighed, not measured by volume. A basic digital scale with a pull-out display for reading under a mixing bowl is worth more to sourdough success than most specialty tools on this list.