38 tools, sorted out
AI tools, by what you actually want to do
Skip the directory-style lists with 5,000 tools. Here's a curated set of 38 AI tools we actually recommend, grouped by purpose. Free vs. paid clearly marked. Try any of them in one click.
Filter by what you want to do:
Chatbots & Assistants
The conversation-style AI tools — your starting point for almost anything.
- Editor's pick
ChatGPT
The most well-known AI assistant. Great for writing, brainstorming, explaining, and most everyday tasks.
Try ChatGPT → -
Claude
Especially good with long documents, careful reasoning, and thoughtful writing. Many find it more patient.
Try Claude → -
Gemini
Google's AI, built into Gmail, Docs, and Drive. Best if you live in Google's apps.
Try Gemini → -
Perplexity
AI search engine. Combines a chatbot with cited web results — best when you need fresh, sourceable answers.
Try Perplexity → - Free alternative
DeepSeek
Chinese AI lab; flagship reasoning model performs at the level of the big 3 on math, code, and step-by-step problems. Free.
Try DeepSeek → - Free alternative
Qwen
Alibaba's flagship AI. Particularly strong with non-English languages — Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi, Korean, and others. Free.
Try Qwen → - Free alternative
Mistral / Le Chat
European AI assistant from French lab Mistral. Fast, privacy-conscious, built under EU data rules. Free.
Try Mistral / Le Chat → -
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft's AI, integrated across Office (Word, Excel, Outlook). Great if you live in Office.
Try Microsoft Copilot →
Writing & Editing
Tools that help you draft, edit, and polish your writing.
- Best for everyday writing
Grammarly
Grammar, spelling, tone, clarity. Works inside Gmail, Word, Google Docs, and your browser.
Try Grammarly → -
Jasper
Marketing-focused AI writer. Templates for ads, emails, social posts, blog drafts.
Try Jasper → -
Copy.ai
Marketing copy and content workflows. Strong free tier for testing.
Try Copy.ai → -
ProWritingAid
Deeper writing analysis than Grammarly — sentence rhythm, repetition, style. Strong for fiction writers.
Try ProWritingAid → -
QuillBot
Paraphrasing, summarizing, and grammar fixes. Useful for tightening drafts.
Try QuillBot →
Image Generation
Create images from text descriptions — for blog posts, social media, presentations, fun.
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DALL-E (via ChatGPT)
High-quality image generation built into ChatGPT. Great if you already pay for ChatGPT Plus.
Try DALL-E (via ChatGPT) → - Best image quality
Midjourney
The artist-favorite. Most stunning visual quality, but learning curve. Currently runs through Discord and web.
Try Midjourney → -
Adobe Firefly
Adobe's AI image generator. Trained on licensed content — safer for commercial use. Built into Photoshop and Express.
Try Adobe Firefly → - Best for non-designers
Canva AI
Image generation built into Canva. Easiest way to make social posts and presentation visuals.
Try Canva AI → -
Leonardo.ai
High-quality alternative to Midjourney with a more traditional web interface.
Try Leonardo.ai → -
Ideogram
Particularly good at images that include readable text — logos, posters, signs.
Try Ideogram →
Video & Audio
Create voiceovers, edit videos, generate AI presenters, make music.
- Editor's pick for podcasts
Descript
Edit video and audio by editing text. AI tools for cleanup, transcription, and AI voices.
Try Descript → - Best AI voices
ElevenLabs
Realistic AI voices and voice cloning. Best-in-class for audiobooks, podcasts, and narrations.
Try ElevenLabs → -
Synthesia
Create training videos with AI presenters. Type a script, get a polished talking-head video.
Try Synthesia → -
HeyGen
Similar to Synthesia — AI avatars reading scripts. Strong free tier for testing.
Try HeyGen → -
Suno
AI-generated music with vocals. Type a prompt, get a song in 30 seconds. Useful for jingles or fun.
Try Suno →
Productivity & Notes
AI built into the apps you use to plan, take notes, and stay on top of meetings.
- All-in-one workspace
Notion AI
Notes, docs, project planning — with AI built in to summarize, draft, and translate.
Try Notion AI → - Best for meetings
Otter.ai
AI meeting notes. Records, transcribes, summarizes. Joins Zoom/Meet/Teams automatically.
Try Otter.ai → -
Fireflies.ai
Similar to Otter — AI meeting notes with strong search across all your past meetings.
Try Fireflies.ai → -
Mem
AI-organized notes that connect themselves. Best if you take a lot of unstructured notes.
Try Mem → -
Reflect
Beautiful note-taking with AI helpers built in. Like Bear meets Roam meets Notion.
Try Reflect →
Design & Presentations
Create slides, social media graphics, and visual content with AI doing the heavy lifting.
- Easiest design tool
Canva
Design tool that needs no introduction. AI added throughout — Magic Design, Magic Write, AI image gen.
Try Canva → - Best for fast slides
Gamma
Type a prompt, get a polished presentation, doc, or webpage. Way faster than PowerPoint.
Try Gamma → -
Beautiful.ai
Smart slide design that auto-formats as you type. Less flexible than PowerPoint but always looks good.
Try Beautiful.ai → -
Tome
AI-native presentations and storytelling. Generates slides from a prompt with images included.
Try Tome →
Coding
Even non-developers can build with AI now. These tools help.
- Top pick for developers
Cursor
AI-first code editor. The most popular tool for serious AI-assisted coding right now.
Try Cursor → -
GitHub Copilot
AI autocomplete inside VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, and more. Built by GitHub.
Try GitHub Copilot → -
Claude Code
Anthropic's coding tool that lives in your terminal and edits your project files directly.
Try Claude Code → - Best for non-developers
Lovable
Build full apps from a chat. Great for non-developers building real, functional websites.
Try Lovable → -
v0 by Vercel
Generates beautiful UI components from a prompt. Best for designers and devs polishing UI.
Try v0 by Vercel →