The full list
29 tools, one honest verdict each.
Tap a category to filter. "Hit" means it's in my daily rotation. "Keep" means useful but situational. "Skip" means I tried it and moved on.
Last reviewed: 3 Sep 2026 · My AI spend: —/mo · updated quarterly
Writing LLMs
Where I actually draft, reason, and edit.
Claude
Long-form reasoning and first drafts. My default for anything over 500 words.
HitChatGPT
Everyday Swiss-army knife, plus the editing pass with a different bias.
KeepGemini
Huge context window, smooth if you live in Google Workspace.
KeepDeepSeek
Cheap reasoning model for coding-adjacent thinking. Great value.
KeepImage Generation
Hero visuals, thumbnails, product mockups.
Midjourney
Still the best aesthetic for brand visuals and mood boards.
HitFlux
Open, fast, scarily realistic. My pick for product-style shots.
HitDALL·E 3
Text-in-image accuracy, baked into ChatGPT. Convenient.
KeepIdeogram
Best pure text rendering on images I've tested.
KeepCode Assistance
How a one-person team ships software.
Cursor
Daily driver. Whole-repo context, agent mode, just works.
HitClaude Code
Agentic terminal workflows — scaffolding and refactors.
HitGitHub Copilot
Inline completions inside VS Code. Solid, low friction.
KeepWindsurf
Fast edits, good for quick fixes. Backup to Cursor.
KeepData & Analytics
No-code insights without a spreadsheet meltdown.
ChatGPT ADA
Advanced Data Analysis — upload a CSV, get charts and answers.
KeepJulius AI
Stats and visualizations explained in plain language.
KeepRows
Spreadsheet that talks to APIs and AI. Lightweight BI.
KeepDatawrapper
Clean charts for publishing. The one I reach for in posts.
KeepProductivity
The automation backbone that keeps it running.
Make
Visual automation with real logic. The glue of my business.
HitNotion AI
Docs, PKM, and drafts in one place. My second brain.
KeepZapier
Easiest zaps when a tool isn't on Make.
KeepReclaim
Calendar that defends deep-work blocks. Quietly valuable.
KeepGranola
Background meeting notes that don't interrupt.
KeepVideo & Audio
Content at scale without a studio.
ElevenLabs
Voiceovers and a podcast version of everything I write.
HitRunway
Video generation and magic editing. Best all-rounder.
HitHeyGen
Avatar videos for explainers. Saves me a camera setup.
HitSuno
Music and jingles. Fun, and good enough for shorts.
KeepDescript
Edit audio/video by editing text. Underrated.
KeepResearch
Sourced answers, not confident guesses.
Perplexity
My starting point for any "is this real?" question. Cited.
HitConsensus
Academic claims with study backing. Great for fact-checking.
KeepElicit
Reviews papers fast when I need primary sources.
KeepNo tools in this category yet — check back next quarter.
Want the whole workflow?
The PDF bundles these into 4 copy-paste stacks — newsletter, solo SaaS, X growth, knowledge products.