Best AI Tools for 2025

AI productivity tools have changed how marketing teams and agencies work, turning hours of manual tasks into minutes of automated bliss. From generating social media content to analyzing campaign data, AI marketing tools are helping marketers streamline tasks and boost efficiency.

Today’s top AI solutions can write copy, create eye-catching visuals, schedule posts, and optimize social media management — all while also finding quick recipes for your next dinner party.

Below are some AI tools I’ve tried myself and can recommend for various marketing tasks and projects.

Artificial intelligence is now everywhere. It’s in entertainment, in healthcare, in retail. That’s why it shouldn’t be surprising that productivity has also gotten an AI boost.

Some existing tools have incorporated AI features, while other tools have been entirely designed with AI at their core. Either way, these 11 best AI productivity tools will make your work – and life – much easier.

What are AI productivity tools?

AI productivity tools are software applications that use artificial intelligence to automate and enhance common tasks. They learn from user inputs and patterns to deliver increasingly accurate and personalized results. AI tools help streamline processes like research, content creation, data analysis, project management, and communication, reducing manual effort and improving productivity across various activities and industries.

Benefits of using AI productivity tools

You’ve probably used tools like ChatGPT or Gemini to get an extra boost of productivity in your daily work. But did you know teams can also greatly benefit from integrating AI apps into their workflows?

  • Time efficiency

When you automate repetitive tasks, activities that once took hours, like drafting social media posts and scheduling them, can now be completed in minutes. This allows marketers to focus on strategic planning and direction — and, why not, on having more creative coffee breaks with colleagues.

  • Cost savings

Marketing teams can leverage AI-powered features to handle tasks like copywriting, editing, image generation, and data analysis. Many marketing teams rely on AI copywriting tools to generate engaging and persuasive content efficiently. For example, a single marketer can now generate multiple versions of ad copy, create accompanying visuals, and analyze performance metrics using one integrated AI solution. This is not to say that one marketer should be doing it all, but that smaller teams can now accomplish more with fewer resources.

  • Boost creativity

AI content creation tools are great for this. Think of them as a brainstorming buddy. AI apps instantly generate lists of fresh ideas that can serve as a drawing board for human minds.

  • Greater consistency

You also get more consistency when you use artificial intelligence. AI tools can follow visual identity and brand voice guidelines, ensuring your content is aligned with quality standards across different channels.

  • Faster data analysis

AI productivity apps can quickly analyze large amounts of data, identify patterns, provide valuable insights, and suggest improvements for marketing campaigns.

You may need to use several AI assistants to achieve all these benefits, though there are a few that stand out as comprehensive solutions for marketing teams and agencies.

Key Takeaways

– AI Productivity Tools Save Time: Automate repetitive tasks and streamline workflows to focus on more important priorities.

– Boost Efficiency and Creativity: AI tools help you stay organized, spark fresh ideas, and make data-driven decisions with ease.

– Customizable Solutions for Everyone: From managing social media to automating data analysis, there’s an AI tool designed to meet your unique needs.

 

Gemini

Gemini is Google’s new AI assistant that brings its own interpretation to artificial intelligence. Compared to ChatGPT, there are several important differences: Gemini excels in code writing, adding additional features and more detailed documentation, and it follows specified guidelines more accurately when creating creative texts. The platform is based on three models: Ultra for complex tasks, Pro for everyday use, and Nano for mobile devices. A major advantage is its deep integration with Google services: the AI assists with tasks in Gmail, Docs, and Sheets, significantly speeding up routine work, making it an effective AI productivity tool for busy professionals. Additionally, Gemini supports a context window of up to one million tokens, enabling it to process large volumes of information in a single request.

Claude AI

Claude is an AI assistant from Anthropic that distinguishes itself from ChatGPT with a deeper approach to analysis and reasoning. The platform focuses on advanced analytics: Claude doesn’t just generate responses but demonstrates complex reasoning when solving challenging tasks. Unlike ChatGPT, it doesn’t generate images or access the internet, but it does offer powerful AI tools for productivity, including powerful features for code work, document analysis, and data processing. Its capability to work with images is particularly impressive—Claude can analyze handwritten notes, charts, and photos, extracting structured information. For international projects, the advanced language model is a major asset, not only translating texts but also helping create content in multiple languages while respecting cultural nuances. The free plan provides access to Claude 3.5 Sonnet through web and mobile apps. The Pro plan at $20/month unlocks access to the more powerful Claude 3 Opus model and priority support, while the Team plan at $25/user/month adds corporate management features.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is an AI productivity tool that, unlike the all-purpose ChatGPT, is deeply integrated into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The main difference lies in the approach: while ChatGPT operates as a standalone application for a wide range of tasks, Copilot becomes a smart assistant embedded directly within familiar programs. In Excel, it aids in data analysis and visualization creation; in Word, it suggests ideas for text and enhances document structure; and in Outlook, it assists with composing emails in the right tone. Copilot’s communication style is more business-oriented and focused on work-related tasks, whereas ChatGPT is friendlier and more conversational. A key point is that Copilot is available exclusively through a Microsoft 365 subscription for an additional $30 per user per month, making it a corporate tool, whereas ChatGPT offers basic functionality for free. The choice between them depends on your needs: if you’re a frequent Microsoft 365 user, Copilot will significantly speed up your workflow, but if you need a versatile AI assistant, ChatGPT may be the more suitable choice.

Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is a cloud-based SEO optimization tool that analyzes competitor content and provides recommendations to improve your search engine rankings based on over 500 ranking factors. Honestly, I didn’t expect this AI productivity tool to engage me so deeply during the testing process. Surfer SEO features a built-in editor with competitor and SERP analysis. Integration with Google Docs and WordPress significantly streamlines the workflow: you can optimize your text directly in the editor and publish it to your site immediately. The content planner offers genuinely fresh ideas for articles based on niche analysis—it’s fantastic not having to spend hours searching for topics to publish. However, there are a couple of points that puzzled me: some keyword recommendations sometimes seem too aggressive—you risk falling into keyword stuffing, so it’s wise to use this AI automation tool thoughtfully.

Jasper

Jasper is a powerful AI content creation platform designed to help marketers and teams streamline the production of high-quality text. With its 2024 release, Jasper brings an impressive suite of capabilities, making it one of the best AI tools 2023 has to offer. The Company Intelligence feature fine-tunes content to match a brand’s unique style, while Campaign & Content Acceleration speeds up marketing campaign launches by generating all necessary content from a single brief. Surfer SEO integration and built-in analytics turn Jasper into an all-in-one solution for content creation and optimization, boosting AI productivity. Jasper Art seamlessly provides visual assets, while the Chrome browser extension simplifies workflow even further. Supporting over 25 languages, this AI app is ideal for international projects. The support team is highly responsive, assisting users in quickly navigating its templates and features. Given its extensive functionality and the substantial time savings it offers, Jasper’s pricing is justified, making it one of the best AI options available.

Content at Scale

Content at Scale is an AI-powered content creation service designed for generating long-form, SEO-optimized content for blogs, marketing campaigns, and websites. Having worked intensively with this platform over the past week, I can confidently say it’s a powerful AI tool for those aiming to automate content creation at scale. The bulk content generation feature operates impressively fast, producing high-quality results that once seemed out of reach for AI. Built-in SEO tools and a WordPress plugin streamline the workflow significantly, and the integrated plagiarism checker is a great asset for ensuring originality. Like any AI app, some final editing is needed to align the content with brand voice perfectly, but the incredible speed more than compensates.

Frase

Frase is an AI-powered platform for content creation and optimization, aiming to merge the functionality of a text editor with SEO capabilities. While testing it, I paid particular attention to its research tools—this is where Frase really stands out from the competition. With tools for SERP analysis and keyword clustering, it helps pinpoint exactly what to write about and how to structure the content for maximum impact. The integration with Google Search Console is thoughtfully implemented, enabling users to instantly see which topics drive traffic and adjust content strategy accordingly. However, the text generation feature leaves room for improvement—the quality noticeably lags behind market leaders, making the drafts difficult to use without significant editing. That said, it’s perfect for niche research and developing content briefs, making it a useful AI tool for productivity.

Clearscope

Clearscope is an AI-driven content optimization platform that helps you create materials with high search visibility. Among a sea of SEO tools, Clearscope stands out with genuinely valuable features. One key highlight is Content View Alerts—a feature that doesn’t just notify you of changes in search rankings but provides clear insights into what adjustments your content needs. Working with the AI content planner felt akin to collaborating with an experienced editor; it suggests a logical structure while incorporating current SEO trends. The internal linking functionality is also notably advanced compared to competitors: the system identifies genuinely relevant links instead of simply matching pages with similar keywords. One point to keep in mind is that the platform can lean toward over-optimization. However, as long as you maintain a natural writing style, this shouldn’t be an issue. Clearscope is definitely one of the best AI tools for content optimization.

NeuralText

NeuralText is an AI-powered platform for content creation and optimization, aiming to merge the functionality of a text editor with SEO capabilities. While testing it, I paid particular attention to its research tools—this is where NeuralText really stands out from the competition. With tools for SERP analysis and keyword clustering, it helps pinpoint exactly what to write about and how to structure the content for maximum impact. The integration with Google Search Console is thoughtfully implemented, enabling users to instantly see which topics drive traffic and adjust content strategy accordingly. However, the text generation feature leaves room for improvement—the quality noticeably lags behind market leaders, making the drafts difficult to use without significant editing. That said, it’s perfect for niche research and developing content briefs, making it a useful AI tool for work.

Scalenut

Scalenut is an AI platform for SEO and content marketing that brings together tools for content creation and optimization. In my experience, it’s rare to come across a tool that genuinely speeds up the SEO content creation process, but Scalenut was a pleasant surprise. The Cruise Mode feature is particularly impressive—not only does it generate text, but it produces fully SEO-optimized articles in just minutes. The Keyword Planner here is significantly more advanced than those of competitors: rather than simply listing keywords, it creates thematic clusters based on search engine results analysis. Traffic Analyzer and Content Optimizer work in tandem, pinpointing where to make improvements to boost traffic. I should note that the platform requires a bit of time to get familiar with—there’s so much functionality that it’s hard to grasp it all at once. But once you’ve mastered the tools, the results are well worth the effort, making Scalenut one of the best AI options for SEO content.

Ch‎atGPT

ChatGPT consistently ranks at the top of the LM Arena leaderboard, outperforming other models in key benchmarks. It’s the world’s most popular AI application, with 200 million users as of October 2024.

I’ve used ChatGPT extensively for brainstorming ideas, translation tasks, coding, AI script generation, data analysis and managing research-heavy tasks. The new 4o model is a significant leap forward—it’s incredibly fast, and feels way smarter than any of the previous versions of ChatGPT.

With ChatGPT-4’s multimodal capabilities I can paste in images—like a chart or graph—and ask questions about it, making it much easier to interpret visual data quickly. I fed it a PNG image of a chart and it analysed the chart, gave me a table of the raw data (that it read from the chart image) and then re-did the chart in my preferred colors – pretty impressive.

ChatGPT can now retain context over time, personalizing responses based on previous conversations. For instance, I’ve used it to refine recurring project ideas without re-explaining every detail, saving hours of effort. You can review and manage what it remembers through OpenAI’s controls, to make sure it doesn’t go all Skynet on you.

The integrated ChatGPT search option (more on this later) makes it even easier to find relevant information directly within conversations, which cuts down on the hallucinations with the use of RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation). RAG grounds the AI’s answer by retrieving information from external data sources.

While it excels in creative and general-purpose tasks, I’d recommend exploring other tools like Claude (see below) for coding. It’s not that ChatGPT is bad at coding tasks, it’s just that Claude is great at them.

ChatGPT-4o mini is available to anyone free of charge. The Plus plan costs $20/month, and it’s worth every penny.

 

Cl‎aude

I’ve been using Claude, developed by Anthropic, for coding tasks, and it’s quickly becoming my go-to for code reviews. What really makes Claude stand out is how precise it is—it seems to “get” the nuances of programming better than other tools I’ve tried. I’ve used it to spot subtle issues in my code and even brainstorm better ways to structure projects. Anthropic are training these models on more recent and specialized coding knowledge and it shows, especially when tackling modern frameworks or troubleshooting tricky bugs.

Another thing I love about Claude is how nice it is to talk to. It feels like it has more “soul” compared to ChatGPT—the tone is warmer, and conversations just flow better. Whether I’m bouncing around ideas or working through a complicated issue, it’s genuinely pleasant to interact with. I have quite reached Her levels of affection for Claude, but we’re getting there.

That said, I have hit the response and rate limits a little faster than I’d like, which can be a hassle if I’m deep into a project. But for $20/month on the Pro plan, it’s still a great deal, especially if you’re looking for an AI assistant that’s smart, approachable, and particularly strong in coding tasks.

op 10 AI Blogs of 2024

  1. OpenAI Blog
    OpenAI is one of the world’s most prominent AI safety research organizations, and its blog reflects a focus on the long-term impacts of advanced technology. Posts delve into topics from model releases like CLIP and DALL-E to the technical details of self-supervised learning. Recent pieces have also examined AI alignment techniques and the societal effects of powerful language models. With contributors from top researchers, the OpenAI blog gives fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpses into cutting-edge work. It’s a must-follow for anyone interested in technical AI discussions or the future of the field.
  2. Analytics Vidhya
    Analytics Vidhya is a go-to hub for the data science community with tutorials, forums, jobs, and more. Their expansive blog similarly covers a huge range of topics with something for all levels. Popular categories include machine learning algorithms, deep learning techniques, NLP, computer vision, business analytics, and interviews. Authors range from experienced practitioners to those just starting out. Posts are consistently well-written and include helpful code snippets. It’s a top resource whether you need project ideas, tips on tools like PyTorch/TensorFlow or to keep up with opportunities in the industry. Between their thorough content and large following, Analytics Vidhya earns a spot on any aspiring or established data scientist’s reading list.
  3. Towards Data Science
    As its name implies, Towards Data Science shares insightful perspectives on the latest advances and applications of machine learning. Founder Anthropic aims to spread data science knowledge to solve problems across various industries. Their accomplished authors provide detailed deep dives into state-of-the-art algorithms, pipelines for deploying models and musings on the budding fields of self-supervised learning, and more. While the title may signal a focus on deep learning, coverage also encompasses topics like statistics, tech trends, and career development. From newcomers to leading researchers, the diverse readership will find TDS a valuable source of information and ideas.
  4. KDnuggets
    A veritable treasure trove of data science and machine learning content, KDnuggets has been published continuously for over two decades. Readers will discover a wide assortment of thought-provoking analyses, tutorials, news, and more — all with a focus on how analytics are enhancing business and research. The expansive machine learning algorithms guide alone makes it worth following. Regular contributions come from experienced professionals as well as guest authors. With their finger on the pulse of the industry, KDnuggets ensures you stay up-to-date on the latest tools, trends, and opportunities in the field. It’s a must for any lifelong learner of data-driven disciplines.
  5. AI Parabellum
    AI Parabellum fills a unique niche by reviewing AI tools with a focus on their business and creative applications. Expert authors provide in-depth analyses of products across domains from text generation to computer vision. They uncover both technical capabilities and limitations to help professionals harness new technologies. A regular “Generative Roundup” series explores the evolving landscape of language models. Additional segments cover ML basics, AI ethics, and more. The clean, visual design keeps complex topics approachable. Whether you’re a C-level executive or developer, this blog aids in navigating how AI can enhance strategy and operations. It demonstrates how even introductory posts can offer significant takeaways.
  6. TensorFlow Blog
    As one of the most prominent open-source ML frameworks, Tensorflow’s expansive ecosystem demands comprehensive documentation. Their blog more than delivers with detailed guides, case studies, and announcements. Recent tutorials have unpacked reinforcement learning, CNNs for computer vision tasks, and levels of abstractions within TensorFlow Extended. Interviews give an insider perspective on everything from model deployment to research. Contributors range from Google engineers to external developers, universities, and startups — showing real-world TensorFlow applications at many levels. Even experienced users will walk away with novel insights or perspectives to improve their work. For all things Tensorflow, this developer-focused blog is essential reading.
  7. Berkeley AI Research Blog
    The birthplace of some of the most impactful AI breakthroughs, UC Berkeley maintains an engaging blog about recent work. Posts shine a light on their accomplished researchers pushing the boundaries of deep reinforcement learning, self-supervised models, natural language processing, and more. Developments like CausalWorld, Concept Bottleneck, and Equivalent Adversarial Perturbation are presented with approachable language alongside impressive results. Beyond new techniques, interviews and stories offer a peek into the University’s dynamic research culture. For those curious about the exciting advances on the horizon, Berkeley’s blog previews some of AI’s likely next frontier-expanding moves.
  8. AWS Machine Learning Blog
    As the largest ML platform provider, AWS ensures customers understand how to leverage their unmatched infrastructure. Their active blog publishes tutorials, announcements, and technical discussions to onboard organizations of all sizes. Sections cover everything from cloud migration strategies to best practices in computer vision, natural language, and beyond. In-depth series explore frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and SageMaker in rigorous detail. Interviews with customers provide real-world success stories. With clarity and rigor, every post showcases accessible yet powerful machine learning opportunities on AWS. For all users and levels, this essential blog is a one-stop guide to productive ML on the cloud.
  9. Apple Machine Learning Research Blog
    As a leader in consumer technologies, Apple shares insights into the ML powers behind products like the iPhone and Siri. With a focus on accessibility over academic rigor, informative explainers cover topics like on-device intelligence and computer vision applications. Behind-the-scenes profiles offer a personal look at Apple researchers’ trajectories and daily responsibilities. Lightweight Tensorflow.js experiments provide additional code-based learning. While posts avoid bleeding-edge topics, the blog effectively highlights ML’s growing role in our everyday lives. Even occasional readers will leave with a richer understanding of their devices and ML’s expanding impact on the world around us.
  10. MIT News AI topics
    As a world-renowned STEM research university, unsurprisingly, MIT publishes impactful work stretching the boundaries of AI. Their news hub collects related articles, profiles, and events across departments. Browseable by faculty and lab, it provides a wide-angled view of groundbreaking inventions and funding initiatives. From AI safety research to computer science discoveries and medical applications, each piece showcases ambitious, solution-driven work. Stylistically basic but continually updated, this blog serves as a thorough springboard for deeper exploration. It highlights universities’ multiplying contributions to AI advancement and ensures readers don’t miss out on potentially transformative research.

Closing Thoughts on Best AI Blogs of 2024

In summary, these 10 best AI blogs of 2024 offer illuminating perspectives spanning all realms of artificial intelligence development. Whether seeking primers on algorithm theory, status updates on model performance, industry trends analysis, or coverage of applications across sectors — each provides invaluable knowledge for building a full picture of the field. Individually, they cater to specific experts or interests, yet together cover AI in its diverse, ever-advancing entirety. By frequently revisiting these AI blogs, enthusiasts can gain a reliable edge in navigating new frontiers of this transformative technology.

Th‎e best AI video generators

Sy‎‎nthesia

Synthesia is the leading AI video generator platform designed for professional video content with AI avatars. I’ve used it for creating training modules and presentations, and it’s clear why it’s a favorite for learning and development (L&D) teams. By turning text into video, Synthesia simplifies the production of high-quality content without the need for cameras, microphones, or studios.

Its most popular use case is undoubtedly training and L&D videos, but Synthesia is versatile enough to handle a wide range of needs. Businesses use it for internal communications, onboarding new employees, and creating customer support or knowledge base videos. On the marketing side, it excels in producing personalized sales outreach videos, B2B marketing content, explainer videos and even product demos. I’ve personally also found it handy for website videos that needed a polished, professional touch with minimal effort.

Two things are love about Synthesia are the ability to customize avatars and the wide variety of templates offered. When I needed to create tailored training videos for different departments, Synthesia made it easy to switch the avatar language, tone, or background to suit the audience. The library of over 230 avatars and support for 140+ languages means you can create globally consistent content effortlessly.

While Synthesia shines for corporate-style videos, it’s not designed for storytelling or cinematic visuals. It’s best for teams and businesses that prioritize speed, professionalism, and brand consistency in their video production workflows.

Synthesia offers a free plan that allows users to generate up to 36 minutes of video per year, with no credit card required. For more extensive features, paid plans start at $29 per month.

Ru‎‎nway

Runway is a powerful AI video creation platform packed with features like text-to-video, image-to-video, Motion Brush, Camera Controls, and Inpainting. I’ve mostly used its text-to-video tool to turn simple prompts into visually compelling videos for social media posts.

Tools like Motion Brush make it easy to add animations to specific parts of a video, while Camera Controls let you adjust angles and focus for a cinematic feel. The Inpainting feature is particularly impressive, allowing me to seamlessly remove or alter elements in a scene without disrupting the video’s continuity—tasks that usually require advanced skills and fancy video editing software. There is still a bit of a learning curve though, especially for newcomers to video editing.

Runway’s pricing is flexible: the Standard Plan ($12/month) is great for light use, the Pro Plan ($28/month) offers more credits and features, and the Unlimited Plan ($144/month) is ideal for high-output creators or teams. Runway also offers the Basic plan. This plan provides individuals with 125 one-time credits for free. A very light version of Runway is also integrated into Canva so you can try it out there too.

Runway shines for creatives like filmmakers, digital artists, and content creators looking to push boundaries. Though rendering times can occasionally lag for high-resolution videos, the results are worth it. For me, it’s become an essential tool for experimenting and achieving professional-quality outputs, whether for short-form content or storytelling projects.

The best AI writing tools

Ry‎tr

I’ve used Rytr as an AI writing assistant for generating quick, polished content, and it’s a great alternative when you want something simple and efficient. It’s particularly effective for short-form writing tasks like social media posts, product descriptions, or email drafts. One thing that stands out is its collection of over 40 pre-designed templates, which help structure your content right from the start, saving time when you’re stuck on how to begin.

Compared to ChatGPT, Rytr feels more focused and specialized for writing tasks. While ChatGPT is great for brainstorming and exploring ideas, Rytr is better when you need a ready-to-go format or a professional tone without much back-and-forth. It also comes with a built-in plagiarism checker, giving you peace of mind about originality, and supports over 30 languages, making it ideal for multilingual content creation.

I’ve noticed, however, that Rytr struggles a bit with longer or more complex writing, so it’s not my first choice for in-depth articles. That said, for short-form content, it’s fast, effective, and affordable, with plans starting at just $9/month. If you’re a freelancer, small business owner, or marketer looking for a streamlined tool that gets the job done, Rytr is a solid pick.

Su‎dowrite

I’m an aspiring novelist in my spare time, so I snuck this one into the list.

I’ve been using Sudowrite as a creative writing assistant, and it’s an excellent tool for anyone working on fiction. It’s ideal for overcoming writer’s block, generating fresh ideas, and crafting more vivid narratives. Features like the ‘Describe’ tool, which helps create immersive descriptions, and ‘Brainstorm,’ which sparks creative plot points, have significantly improved my storytelling process. The ‘Expand’ feature is also useful for turning rough outlines into fully developed drafts.

Unlike ChatGPT or Rytr, Sudowrite isn’t designed for creating emails, product descriptions, or blog posts. Its focus is entirely on fiction—helping you write better dialogue, build richer characters, and refine your narrative structure. For instance, when I was stuck on a scene, Sudowrite provided thoughtful suggestions to enhance the pacing and tension. It’s the ultimate weapon against writers block – even if you don’t end up using what it comes up with, it’ll still get you thinking about the next sentence in a different way.

While it’s not suitable for business writing or technical content, it’s a fantastic choice for novelists, short story writers, or anyone experimenting with creative projects. With plans starting at $19/month, Sudowrite offers a unique way to elevate your fiction writing.

The best AI grammar checkers

Gr‎ammarly

I’ve been using Grammarly to enhance my writing for years, and now it has a bunch of AI-powered features. Beyond the usual catching grammar and spelling errors, Grammarly offers tone adjustments, strategic suggestions, and full-sentence rewrites.

Grammarly’s new AI writing assistant generates content ideas and assists in drafting emails and documents, and is integrated directly into various platforms, including Gmail, Google Docs, and Microsoft Word, providing real-time suggestions as I write. These integrations have made it easier for me to maintain consistency and professionalism across the different writing tasks I’m faced with on a typical work day.

While Grammarly excels in refining and enhancing existing text, it’s not designed for generating long-form content from scratch. However, for editing and improving drafts, its AI features are must-have. There’s a free version covering basic corrections and a premium plan starting at $30/month.

Wo‎rdtune

Another tool I’ve been using to refine my writing is Wordtune. Unlike Grammarly, which focuses primarily on grammar and spelling corrections, Wordtune excels in rephrasing sentences to improve clarity, tone, and style.

One feature I find particularly useful is the ability to switch between formal and casual tones with a single click, allowing me to tailor my writing to different audiences effortlessly. Additionally, Wordtune offers advanced AI proofreading capabilities, ensuring that my spelling, grammar, and phrasing are all spot-on before I hit ‘send’.

Wordtune also provides contextual suggestions that complement my writing, creating content that perfectly matches my style, tone, and subject matter. This has been invaluable in maintaining consistency across all of my writing.

While Wordtune is excellent for rewriting and enhancing existing text, it’s not designed for generating long-form content from scratch. However, for editing and improving drafts, it provides some useful features that aren’t quite covered by Grammarly. With a free version covering basic features and premium plans starting at $13.99/month, Wordtune offers a range of tools to elevate your writing.

The best AI search engines

Pe‎rplexity

Perplexity is more of a research engine than a search engine. Unlike traditional tools like Google, it doesn’t make you sift through a maze of links—instead, it provides direct answers with citations, making it far more efficient for knowledge work. That said, you still need to verify its responses, as some answers, particularly for technical queries, can rely on outdated information. I’ve seen it cite decade-old sources when I was testing it with some questions about CAD software, which wasn’t great.

Where Perplexity truly stands out is its ability to surface results I wouldn’t have thought to search for. I use it to explore a topic from multiple angles, and its multi-step reasoning engine makes it ideal for in-depth research and synthesis. You can see it automatically detect when an extra search will lead to a better answer and then it starts working through each part of the query step-by-step.

For those looking for even more functionality, Perplexity Pro is worth checking out. The Pro version costs $20/month and offers faster responses and more detailed answers, significantly improving the overall experience.

The free version is great for casual use, but if you rely on Perplexity for heavy research, the Pro plan is a solid investment.

Ch‎atGPT search

What I love about ChatGPT Search is how quick it is. It retrieves information at insane speed, while still offering deliberate reasoning when processing complex queries. This makes it incredibly effective for quickly answering questions or diving into more detailed topics without losing the conversational flow. That’s the key point here – it feels like you’re having a natural conversation with someone who knows everything.

There’s also an option to ask for more details. Instead of just delivering a single response, ChatGPT Search acts like a guide, helping you explore a subject deeply, clarify concepts, and resolve any doubts. This interactive approach makes it ideal for tackling complex topics or learning in a more intuitive way.

That said, like all LLM-based search engines, it has its limitations. The Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) stage can sometimes produce subpar results, and the tool has a tendency to justify its search outcomes with certainty—even when they aren’t entirely accurate. For this reason, I always double-check important information.

ChatGPT Search is included with premium plans like ChatGPT Plus ($20/month), and it’s a valuable addition for those who need fast, flexible, and deeply interactive search capabilities. It also recently rolled out with limited capabilities for free users too.

The best AI for social media

Vi‎sta Social

I tried using Vista Social to manage our social media accounts, and it’s quickly become an indispensable tool. Its comprehensive suite of features allows me to plan, collaborate, and schedule content across all my social channels seamlessly. The visual scheduling and preview capabilities are particularly helpful, enabling me to see exactly how my posts will appear before they go live.

The AI Assistant leverages ChatGPT to generate engaging captions and message replies and saves a bunch of time. Additionally, the platform’s engagement tools consolidate all my social media messages, comments, and reviews in one place, making it easier to keep on top of things and build relationships with our audience. Vista Social also offers robust analytics and reporting tools, allowing me to measure the performance of my campaigns and adjust my strategy accordingly.

Vista Social is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, marketing agencies, and individual content creators who need a comprehensive, affordable tool for managing social media. However, larger enterprises or teams with complex needs might find its features less robust compared to enterprise-level platforms, especially if they require advanced CRM integration or highly customized analytics.

With plans starting at $39/month, including planning and publishing tools, engagement features, AI assistance, and detailed reporting, Vista Social offers a lot of value for its price. It’s a user-friendly solution for anyone looking to simplify their social media management process.

Fe‎edHive

I also loved FeedHive. Its AI-driven features, like content suggestions and hashtag recommendations, have been particularly useful for brainstorming posts when I’m short on ideas. Scheduling content is a breeze, and the visual previews help me make sure everything looks perfect before it goes live. I also appreciate how easy it is to adjust posts for different platforms within the same interface—it saves so much time.

The analytics dashboard is another highlight. I’ve used it to track follower activity and post performance, which has helped me identify what resonates most with my audience. FeedHive’s collaboration tools are handy too—I’ve been able to share drafts with my boss and get quick approvals without switching between apps.

That said, I’ve noticed its social listening capabilities are limited. If you’re looking to monitor brand mentions or trends in real time, you might find it lacking compared to other platforms. Vista Social offers more advanced engagement tools and social listening, though at a higher price point.

FeedHive is lightweight and affordable, starting at $19/month, which makes it a great fit for freelancers and small businesses. It’s been a reliable option for creating and scheduling content, especially if you want something simple yet effective.

The best AI image generators

Mi‎djourney

Midjourney remains my favorite AI image generator for painterly and imaginative visuals. Its artistic strength lies in its ability to create stunning fantasy and sci-fi imagery or richly textured “historical” photos.

One area where Midjourney shines is in its painterly aesthetic, particularly for faces and intricate details in surreal contexts. I’ve noticed it struggles with rendering faces at a distance, but for speculative and narrative-driven artwork—like a dreamy space opera or a mythical kingdom—Midjourney is unmatched.

For grounded realism, I rely on DALL-E 3, but when crafting vibrant, otherworldly scenes or highly conceptual art, Midjourney is my go-to tool.

Like DALL-E 3, it lacks the ability to define reusable characters or objects, a feature that would massively enhance its value for consistent visual storytelling.

Midjourney offers both free and premium plans. The free plan allows users to create a small number of images, while the premium plans offers more generations, faster processing, and access to additional tools. The cheapest premium option is the basic plan which cost me $10/month.

DA‎LL·E 3

DALL-E 3 is OpenAI’s latest iteration in text-to-image models and is now natively integrated into ChatGPT. This integration makes creating images more intuitive—you can brainstorm prompts directly with ChatGPT, refining them from simple descriptions to detailed narratives. It’s like having a creative collaborator that brings your ideas to life visually.

For me, DALL-E 3 is my go-to for photorealistic renders or scenes with multiple clear “actors.” It’s excellent for grounded, realistic depictions, like rendering battle scenes for a fighting game prompt or creating lifelike images of animals or people. The enhancements in understanding complex prompts make DALL-E 3 far more reliable than its predecessor.

That said, a limitation across tools like DALL-E 3 is the inability to define and “remember” reusable characters, locations, or objects. For instance, the ability to save a character design as “Paul” and reuse it consistently across projects would be groundbreaking for storytelling or brand design.

DALL-E 3 is the ideal tool for anyone seeking photorealistic imagery or grounded scenes, especially when collaborating with ChatGPT to fine-tune your creative vision.

The best AI design tools

Ca‎nva Magic Studio

Canva has long been my go-to design tool (because it’s so easy to use), and the addition of its AI-powered Magic Studio suite takes it to the next level with a variety of features that simplify and enhance the creative process. These features are:

  • Magic Design: By inputting a prompt or uploading an image, Magic Design generates personalized templates for various formats like social media posts and presentations. This has been particularly useful when I’m short on inspiration, providing a solid starting point for my social media posts
  • Magic Write: This tool assists in crafting content by generating text based on your prompts. I’ve found it helpful for drafting copy and sparking ideas when I have writers block
  • Magic Edit: Magic Edit allows for seamless modifications within images, such as changing colors or removing elements. It’s been invaluable for making quick adjustments without needing to switch to a separate (and more complicated) photo editing tool
  • Magic Eraser: This feature enables the removal of unwanted objects from images. I’ve used it to clean up photos before I add them to a social media post
  • Magic Animate: Magic Animate brings static designs to life by adding animations – great for creating engaging presentations and social media content that capture the attention

Regarding pricing, Canva offers a freemium model. You can try some Magic Studio tools for free, with certain limitations. For instance, Magic Write can be used up to 50 times in total for free. Upgrading to Canva Pro ($15/month) or Canva for Teams ($30/month for 3 seats) increases this limit to 250 times per person, per month.

Magic Studio is ideal for individuals and teams looking to enhance their design capabilities without extensive experience. It’s particularly beneficial for small businesses, marketers, and content creators who need to produce high-quality visuals.

Lo‎oka

Looka is an AI-powered logo design platform that makes branding simple and effective. I’ve used it for creating a logo for one of my side projects (an Airbnb property management company), and I was very pleased with the results. After entering my project name and choosing styles and colors, Looka generated several options that looked polished and professional. It’s incredibly user-friendly, even if you have zero design experience.

That’s why I love Looka – the simplicity. Once I selected a design I liked, I could easily adjust the fonts, colors, and layouts to fine-tune the final result without feeling overwhelmed. The final logo looked so good that I downloaded the accompanying Brand Kit, which included matching social media templates and business card designs. Having everything ready-to-go saved me hours of extra work.

While Looka doesn’t offer the depth of customization you’d get with a professional designer, it’s perfect for small businesses or personal projects where time and cost are important. It’s simple, effective, and delivers great results that I’ve been really happy with.

Looka offers two primary pricing options:

  • Logo-Only Packages: One-time purchases that include logo files in various formats. The Basic package is priced at $20, while the Premium package costs $65.
  • Brand Kit Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions providing access to a comprehensive brand kit with over 300 customizable assets. The standard Brand Kit is $96 per year, and the Brand Kit with an AI-generated website is $129 per year.

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