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Free resource No. 01

The AI toolsworth paying for

46 tools sorted by the job they do, with what each one is for and what it costs to start.

46 tools11 categoriesNo affiliate linksPrices checked October 2026

Chat assistants

4 picks
Claude

Long documents, careful writing, analysis and coding. Projects keep your files and instructions in one place so every chat starts informed.

Free plan, Pro $20/mo
ChatGPT

General assistant with image generation, voice mode and custom GPTs. Good for quick drafts and brainstorming.

Free plan, Plus $20/mo
Gemini

Google's assistant. Strongest when your work lives in Gmail, Docs and Drive.

Free plan, paid via Google AI plans
Perplexity

Search that answers with sources you can click. Use it when you need current facts, not opinions.

Free plan, Pro $20/mo

Coding and building

6 picks
Claude Code

An agent that works in your terminal and codebase. Reads files, runs commands and makes changes you approve.

Included with Claude Pro and Max
Cursor

A code editor with AI built in. Ask for changes across many files and review them as diffs.

Free plan, Pro $20/mo
GitHub Copilot

Autocomplete and chat inside the editor you already use.

Free plan, Pro $10/mo
Lovable

Describe an app in plain English and get a working web app with a database behind it.

Free plan, paid plans
v0

Generates clean React and Tailwind interfaces from a prompt or a screenshot.

Free plan, paid plans
Replit

Build, run and host small apps in the browser with an agent doing the setup.

Free plan, paid plans

Research and writing

3 picks
NotebookLM

Upload your own sources and ask questions that are answered only from them. Also turns them into audio overviews.

Free
Elicit

Finds and summarizes academic papers. Useful when a claim needs real research behind it.

Free plan, paid plans
Grammarly

Catches mistakes and tone problems in email and docs as you type.

Free plan, paid plans

Images

5 picks
Midjourney

The most striking image quality for concepts, moodboards and stylized visuals.

Paid, from $10/mo
Ideogram

Images with readable text in them. Good for posters, thumbnails and ad mockups.

Free plan, paid plans
Adobe Firefly

Image generation trained on licensed content, built into Photoshop and Express.

Free credits, paid plans
Recraft

Vector graphics, icons and brand-consistent illustration sets.

Free plan, paid plans
Krea

Real-time image generation and upscaling. Sketch on one side, watch the image update on the other.

Free plan, paid plans

Video

7 picks
Runway

Generate and edit video clips from text or images, with tools to extend and restyle footage.

Free credits, paid plans
Kling

Text and image to video with strong motion and camera control.

Free credits, paid plans
Veo in Flow

Google's video model, with sound, inside the Flow filmmaking tool.

Included with Google AI plans
HeyGen

AI avatars and video translation. Record once and publish in other languages.

Free plan, paid plans
Descript

Edit video and podcasts by editing the transcript. Removes filler words in one click.

Free plan, paid plans
Opus Clip

Cuts long videos into short vertical clips with captions.

Free plan, paid plans
CapCut

Fast short-form editing with auto captions, templates and effects.

Free, paid Pro

Voice and audio

3 picks
ElevenLabs

Realistic voiceovers, voice cloning of your own voice, and dubbing.

Free plan, paid from $6/mo
Suno

Generates full songs with vocals from a text prompt. Good for intros and background tracks.

Free plan, paid plans
Adobe Podcast

Enhance Speech makes a phone recording sound like a studio mic.

Free, paid Express plan

Meetings and notes

4 picks
Fathom

Records and summarizes Zoom, Meet and Teams calls, then sends action items to your CRM.

Free plan, paid team plans
Granola

Notes that build from your rough jottings plus the call audio, with no bot joining the meeting.

Free plan, paid plans
Otter

Live transcription and searchable meeting history.

Free plan, paid plans
Fireflies

Transcribes calls and lets you search across every conversation your team has had.

Free plan, paid plans

Automation

3 picks
Zapier

The easiest way to connect thousands of apps. Now with AI steps inside each workflow.

Free plan, paid plans
Make

Visual automation with more control over branching and data than Zapier, at a lower cost per task.

Free plan, paid plans
n8n

Open-source automation you can self-host. Strong AI agent nodes and no per-task fees when self-hosted.

Free to self-host, paid cloud

Sales and outreach

3 picks
Clay

Builds lead lists by pulling from dozens of data sources, then writes personalized first lines.

Free plan, paid plans
Apollo

A large B2B contact database with sequences built in.

Free plan, paid plans
Instantly

Cold email at scale with warmup and inbox rotation.

Paid plans

Design and slides

4 picks
Canva

Social posts, decks and ads from templates, with AI tools for resizing and writing.

Free plan, paid Pro
Gamma

Turns an outline into a finished deck, document or one-page site.

Free plan, paid plans
Figma

The standard for interface design, with AI features for first drafts and cleanup.

Free plan, paid plans
Framer

Design and publish a fast marketing site without code.

Free plan, paid site plans

Calendar and inbox

4 picks
Notion

Docs, wikis and project boards with AI that can search across your workspace.

Free plan, AI on paid plans
Superhuman

The fastest email client, with AI drafting and instant reply suggestions.

Paid plans
Reclaim

Defends focus time and habits on your calendar automatically.

Free plan, paid plans
Motion

Plans your day by fitting tasks around your meetings.

Paid plans

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Put the tools to work

Start with the $27 Claude Beginner Course and get real work done the same afternoon. When you want every template and workflow, the Vault is the next step.