181 AI tools worth your time, sorted by the job you need done

Beginner-friendly

Best forLong documents, careful writing and coding

Strong at reading long files and writing in a natural, precise voice.

Good to knowFree usage limits reset every few hours; heavy users need Pro.

Beginner-friendly

Best forPeople who live in Google Workspace

Works with Gmail, Docs and Drive, and handles images, video and long files.

Good to knowThe deepest Workspace features need a paid Google plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forWindows and Microsoft 365 users

Built into Windows and Edge, with web answers that cite sources.

Good to knowCopilot inside Word and Excel is a separate paid add-on.

Beginner-friendly

Best forResearch questions that need sources

Answers like a search engine, with numbered citations you can check.

Good to knowAlways open the sources: summaries can still misread them.

Beginner-friendly

Best forReal-time takes on news and X posts

Pulls in live posts from X, useful for breaking stories and trends.

Good to knowLess careful with facts than the leaders; verify before you quote it.

Beginner-friendly

Best forA fast, European-made assistant

Quick answers from a French company, a draw for EU data concerns.

Good to knowFewer integrations than ChatGPT or Gemini.

Beginner-friendly

Best forMaths, logic and coding on a budget

A capable free reasoning model with open-weight versions you can run yourself.

Good to knowHosted in China: avoid pasting sensitive business data.

Beginner-friendly

Best forQuick help inside WhatsApp and Instagram

Already in the apps you use, so there's nothing to install.

Good to knowLimited control over what happens to your chats.

Some setup

Best forTrying many AI models in one place

One login for models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others.

Good to knowDaily points run out fast on the strongest models.

Beginner-friendly

Best forMac users who want AI built into the browser

Chat with your open tabs and run reusable skills while you browse.

Good to knowMac only; the free plan caps AI chats.

Beginner-friendly

Best forHands-off research and comparison agents

Agents that research, compare and build pages or slides from your request.

Good to knowCredits run out quickly on long agent tasks.

Beginner-friendly

Best forDelegating multi-step tasks to an agent

Plans and carries out longer tasks in its own cloud browser.

Good to knowCheck what accounts and data you let it access.

Beginner-friendly

Best forPrivacy-minded AI help in the browser

An assistant inside the Brave browser that summarises pages without an account.

Good to knowFewer agent features than Comet or Dia.

Beginner-friendly

Best forEveryday PDF jobs plus light AI

Compress, convert, merge and sign, with an AI assistant on top.

Good to knowThe free plan limits daily tasks.

Some setup

Best forEditing and annotating PDFs with AI built in

A full PDF editor with AI summaries, translation and chat.

Good to knowAI is sold as a separate add-on to the editor.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTeams already working in Acrobat

Cited summaries and Q&A inside the PDF tool most companies use.

Good to knowAn add-on on top of an Acrobat subscription.

Beginner-friendly

Best forChatting across many documents

Multi-document chat and data extraction, with an API for developers.

Good to knowAdvanced extraction is on paid plans.

Beginner-friendly

Best forResearchers working through long files

Answers and summaries across long technical and research documents.

Good to knowFree page limits are small.

Beginner-friendly

Best forLiterature reviews

Finds papers and pulls key findings into a table.

Good to knowFree searches are limited.

Beginner-friendly

Best forChecking what the research says

Searches peer-reviewed studies and shows where evidence agrees.

Good to knowCovers science better than business topics.

Beginner-friendly

Best forSeeing if a paper is supported or disputed

Shows how later papers cite a study: supporting or contrasting.

Good to knowPaid after the trial.

Beginner-friendly

Best forReading difficult papers

Explains equations, tables and jargon in plain language.

Good to knowAdvanced features are paid.

Beginner-friendly

Best forFree academic search

A free, AI-powered search engine for scientific papers.

Good to knowSearch only; no writing help.

Beginner-friendly

Best forMapping related research

Builds visual maps of papers and authors around a topic.

Good to knowBest for academics.

Beginner-friendly

Best forFinding papers like one you know

Draws a graph of similar papers from one starting paper.

Good to knowFree graphs are limited each month.

Beginner-friendly

Best forAnalysing spreadsheets by asking questions

Upload data and ask for charts and analysis in plain English.

Good to knowFree messages are limited.

Beginner-friendly

Best forSpreadsheets with built-in AI

A modern spreadsheet that analyses and summarises data for you.

Good to knowSmaller ecosystem than Excel or Sheets.

Technical

Best forData teams sharing analysis

Notebooks and apps with an AI assistant for SQL and Python.

Good to knowBuilt for data professionals.

Beginner-friendly

Best forParaphrasing and summarising

Rewrites sentences in several modes and summarises long text.

Good to knowThe free plan caps how much you can paraphrase at once.

Beginner-friendly

Best forRewriting a clumsy sentence

Offers several rewrites of any sentence, from shorter to more formal.

Good to knowFree users get a small number of rewrites each day.

Our guide: Hemingway vs ProWritingAid vs Wordtune

Beginner-friendly

Best forNovelists and long-form writers

Deep style reports on pacing, repetition and readability.

Good to knowFree checks are limited in length.

Our guide: Hemingway vs ProWritingAid vs Wordtune

Beginner-friendly

Best forMaking writing clear and simple

Highlights long sentences and passive voice so you can cut them.

Good to knowThe AI rewrite features are part of the paid version.

Our guide: Hemingway vs ProWritingAid vs Wordtune

Beginner-friendly

Best forMarketing teams writing on-brand copy

Brand voice, campaign templates and team workflows for marketers.

Good to knowPricey for solo bloggers; set a reminder before the trial ends.

Our guide: Best AI blog writer tools

Beginner-friendly

Best forSales and marketing workflows

Turns repeatable go-to-market tasks into automated writing workflows.

Good to knowBuilt for teams now, more than one-off blog posts.

Our guide: Best AI blog writer tools

Beginner-friendly

Best forSEO-focused blog drafts

Writes articles with live web research and SEO checks built in.

Good to knowDrafts still need a human edit and fact check.

Our guide: Best AI blog writer tools

Beginner-friendly

Best forShort copy on a small budget

Quick templates for bios, ads and product descriptions at a low price.

Good to knowBetter for short pieces than full articles.

Our guide: Best AI blog writer tools

Beginner-friendly

Best forFiction writers

Brainstorms plot, describes scenes and continues your story in your voice.

Good to knowCredits are used quickly on long chapters.

Beginner-friendly

Best forDistraction-free drafting with AI on call

A clean writing app where AI feedback is one keystroke away.

Good to knowFewer templates than marketing-focused tools.

Beginner-friendly

Best forStudents and academic writing

Autocompletes as you write and helps cite sources properly.

Good to knowCheck every citation it suggests.

Beginner-friendly

Best forAd and landing-page copy that converts

Scores each line of copy for its likely performance before you publish.

Good to knowAimed at performance marketers, so priced like it.

Some setup

Best forAll-in-one SEO and competitor research

Keyword research, site audits and rank tracking, with AI writing tools.

Good to knowExpensive once the trial ends; cancel in time if you're only testing.

Our guide: Website audit and SEO checker tools

Some setup

Best forOptimising articles to rank

Scores your draft against the pages already ranking for the keyword.

Good to knowFollowing the score blindly can make writing robotic.

Our guide: Content optimization tools

Some setup

Best forWriting briefs from search results

Builds a content brief from the top results in minutes.

Good to knowShort trial window.

Our guide: Content optimization tools

Some setup

Best forTeams that need simple content grading

A clean, easy content grader that writers actually use.

Good to knowNo self-serve trial; priced for teams.

Our guide: Content optimization tools

Some setup

Best forPlanning topic clusters

Shows which topics your site covers well and where gaps are.

Good to knowThe free plan is limited in queries.

Our guide: Content optimization tools

Some setup

Best forBudget-friendly content optimisation

Surfer-style optimisation at a lower monthly price.

Good to knowThe interface takes some getting used to.

Our guide: Content optimization tools

Some setup

Best forRank tracking for small sites and agencies

Accurate rank tracking and audits at a fair price.

Good to knowFewer data sources than Semrush or Ahrefs.

Our guide: Website audit and SEO checker tools

Some setup

Best forPlanning and writing SEO content in one place

Topic clusters, briefs and drafts in one workflow.

Good to knowAI drafts need careful editing.

Our guide: Content optimization tools

Beginner-friendly

Best forFinding the questions people ask

Maps Google's 'People also ask' questions into a tree.

Good to knowFree searches are limited per day.

Beginner-friendly

Best forQuick translation in almost any language

Covers more languages than any other tool, with camera and voice modes.

Good to knowLess polished than DeepL for long, formal text.

Beginner-friendly

Best forDubbing videos into other languages

Translates and voices videos, keeping the speaker's own voice.

Good to knowBilled by video minutes; long videos add up.

Some setup

Best forCompanies translating at scale

AI translation with human review workflows for teams.

Good to knowBuilt for businesses, not one-off translations.

Beginner-friendly

Best forThe most striking, artistic images

Still a leader for style, lighting and composition.

Good to knowNo free plan, and images are public unless you pay for stealth mode.

Our guide: Shutterstock AI vs Firefly vs Midjourney

Beginner-friendly

Best forSocial graphics and simple designs

Templates plus AI tools for images, edits and resizing.

Good to knowMost AI features and premium assets need Canva Pro.

Beginner-friendly

Best forImages with readable text in them

Unusually good at putting words, logos and signs into images.

Good to knowFree images are public.

Some setup

Best forGame art and consistent characters

Many styles and fine control for consistent characters and assets.

Good to knowFree tokens refresh daily but go quickly.

Beginner-friendly

Best forVector graphics and brand-consistent sets

Generates editable vector art and icon sets in one style.

Good to knowCommercial rights depend on your plan.

Some setup

Best forReal-time image generation and upscaling

Draw or type and see the image change live.

Good to knowFree compute is limited per day.

Beginner-friendly

Best forProduct photos for online stores

Removes backgrounds and places products in clean scenes.

Good to knowFree exports carry a watermark.

Beginner-friendly

Best forRemoving a background in one click

Fast, accurate cut-outs of people and products.

Good to knowFull-resolution downloads use paid credits.

Beginner-friendly

Best forUpscaling images with added detail

Enlarges images and invents convincing fine detail.

Good to knowCan change faces and text; check results closely.

Beginner-friendly

Best forQuick photo clean-ups

Removes objects, relights scenes and upscales in the browser.

Good to knowFree use is limited and watermarked in places.

Beginner-friendly

Best forA logo and brand kit fast

Generates logo options and a matching brand kit.

Good to knowDesigning is free; downloading the files is paid.

Some setup

Best forSharpening and upscaling photos and video

Professional-grade upscaling and noise removal on your computer.

Good to knowPaid software; the price covers a year of updates.

Beginner-friendly

Best forProfessional headshots from selfies

Turns a set of casual photos into studio-style headshots.

Good to knowYou pay per pack; check the results before using them on LinkedIn.

Beginner-friendly

Best forMatching headshots for a whole team

Consistent backgrounds and styles across every team member.

Good to knowPaid per person; quality depends on the photos you upload.

Some setup

Best forGenerating and editing video with AI

Text-to-video, image-to-video and AI editing tools in one studio.

Good to knowFree credits are one-time, not monthly.

Some setup

Best forRealistic AI video clips

Strong motion and realism from text or image prompts.

Good to knowFree generations can take a long time in the queue.

Some setup

Best forCinematic short clips

Smooth camera moves and lighting from simple prompts.

Good to knowFree clips are limited and watermarked.

Beginner-friendly

Best forPlayful effects and quick clips

Fun effects and fast generations for social video.

Good to knowLess realistic than Kling or Runway.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTalking-avatar and translated videos

Realistic avatars and video translation with lip sync.

Good to knowFree videos are short and watermarked.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTraining and explainer videos

Professional AI presenters in many languages.

Good to knowFree plan is limited to a few minutes a month.

Beginner-friendly

Best forEditing video by editing the transcript

Delete words in the transcript and the video cuts itself.

Good to knowFree exports are limited and watermarked.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTurning long videos into shorts

Finds the best moments and makes captioned short clips.

Good to knowFree clips carry a watermark.

Beginner-friendly

Best forVideos from a script or idea

Builds a full video with stock footage, voice and music from a prompt.

Good to knowWatermark and export limits on the free plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forQuick browser-based edits and subtitles

Auto-subtitles, translation and simple edits online.

Good to knowFree exports are watermarked.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTalking-head videos for creators

Auto-captions, eye-contact correction and AI edits on your phone.

Good to knowMost features sit behind the subscription.

Beginner-friendly

Best forMaking a still image talk

Animates a portrait to speak any audio with expressive faces.

Good to knowFree credits are limited.

Beginner-friendly

Best forVoiceovers for presentations and training

Studio-style editor for timing voiceovers to slides and video.

Good to knowFree plan doesn't allow downloads.

Beginner-friendly

Best forListening to articles and documents

Reads web pages, PDFs and books aloud at any speed.

Good to knowThe best voices and speeds are paid.

Beginner-friendly

Best forMaking full songs from a prompt

Writes lyrics, melody and vocals in almost any style.

Good to knowCommercial use needs a paid plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forMaking rough recordings sound studio-clean

Enhance Speech removes echo and noise from voice recordings.

Good to knowLong files and batch use need Adobe Express Premium.

Beginner-friendly

Best forNoise-free calls

Removes background noise and voices on any call app.

Good to knowFree minutes are capped each day.

Beginner-friendly

Best forRecording podcasts and interviews remotely

Records each guest locally in high quality, then edits with AI.

Good to knowFree recordings are limited and watermarked.

Beginner-friendly

Best forRemoving filler words from podcasts

Cuts ums, stutters and mouth sounds automatically.

Good to knowPay-as-you-go after the free minutes.

Some setup

Best forLevelling and mastering audio

Balances loudness and cleans audio for podcasts.

Good to knowFree processing hours are limited each month.

Beginner-friendly

Best forRoyalty-free background music

Generates editable tracks you can shape to fit a video.

Good to knowDownloads and licences need a paid plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forMood-based music for video and podcasts

Composes music that changes with the mood of each scene.

Good to knowLicensed downloads are paid.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTeams that need on-brand slides

Smart templates keep slides aligned as you edit.

Good to knowPaid after the trial; no permanent free plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forCollaborative pitch decks

A fast, collaborative deck tool with AI drafting.

Good to knowAdvanced analytics and branding are paid.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTurning text into diagrams

Converts a paragraph into a flowchart or visual in seconds.

Good to knowFewer manual editing options than a full design tool.

Some setup

Best forInteractive 3D for websites

A browser 3D design tool with AI for objects and textures.

Good to knowTakes some learning if you are new to 3D.

Beginner-friendly

Best forFast, clean 3D model generation

Quick image-to-3D with tidy geometry and auto-rigging.

Good to knowFree models are public and limited in number.

Beginner-friendly

Best forHigh-detail 3D models

Detailed, production-quality models from images or text.

Good to knowCredits are used quickly at the highest quality.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTurning blog posts or podcasts into eBooks

Imports existing content and lays it out as an eBook or lead magnet.

Good to knowPaid only; best when you already have content to repurpose.

Beginner-friendly

Best forBranded eBooks, reports and whitepapers

Templates and AI design with brand kits for consistent documents.

Good to knowPremium templates and downloads need a paid plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forWriting and designing a full eBook in one place

Drafts chapters, makes a cover and lays out the book from one workflow.

Good to knowAI drafts still need your expertise and a careful edit.

Beginner-friendly

Best forDrafting long books with AI help

Outlines and drafts full-length non-fiction and fiction books.

Good to knowBetter for drafting than for design.

Some setup

Best forInteractive eBooks for education

Builds interactive EPUBs with quizzes, video and AI writing help.

Good to knowMore setup than a simple PDF eBook.

Beginner-friendly

Best forLead magnets that grow an email list

Turns blog posts into designed lead magnets with signup forms.

Good to knowBuilt for marketers rather than book authors.

Some setup

Best forSelling courses on your own site

A mature course platform with an AI outline generator.

Good to knowAI writes the outline; you still create the lessons.

Some setup

Best forCreators running courses, coaching and email

Courses, community, email and checkout in one platform with AI help.

Good to knowOne of the more expensive options.

Some setup

Best forInteractive courses and branded academies

Interactive video, assessments and AI course tools for training businesses.

Good to knowMore features than a beginner needs.

Some setup

Best forThe simplest path to a first paid course

Easy course building with checkout and tax handling built in.

Good to knowAI features sit on higher plans.

Some setup

Best forSolo creators who want business coaching

Course tools plus an AI assistant that coaches you on growing sales.

Good to knowSmaller community than the big platforms.

Beginner-friendly

Best forSelling printed products without stock

Print-on-demand fulfilment with design and mockup tools built in.

Good to knowProfit depends on print-provider prices and shipping.

Some setup

Best forHigh-volume print-on-demand sellers

AI design, mockups and bulk publishing to marketplaces.

Good to knowMost useful once you sell on several marketplaces.

Beginner-friendly

Best forMerch-ready graphics with a commercial licence

A large merch-focused design library with AI design credits.

Good to knowLower plans cap AI credits.

Some setup

Best forPrototyping apps in the browser

Builds and runs full-stack apps right in your browser.

Good to knowLarge projects use a lot of tokens.

Some setup

Best forGenerating clean website and app interfaces

Turns a prompt or screenshot into React interfaces you can deploy.

Good to knowBest for front ends; complex back ends need more work.

Some setup

Best forBuilding and hosting an app in one place

An AI agent that writes, runs and hosts your app.

Good to knowAgent usage and hosting are billed on paid plans.

Beginner-friendly

Best forDesigners building marketing websites

Generates a polished site you can edit visually and publish.

Good to knowCustom domains and more pages need a paid plan.

Our guide: Best WordPress alternatives

Beginner-friendly

Best forSmall-business websites in minutes

Builds a simple business site with booking and invoicing.

Good to knowLimited design control compared with Framer or WordPress.

Some setup

Best forAn AI-first code editor

Edits across many files and understands your whole codebase.

Good to knowHeavy agent use needs a paid plan.

Technical

Best forAgentic coding from the terminal

Plans and makes multi-file changes, runs tests and fixes errors.

Good to knowNeeds a paid Claude plan or API credits.

Technical

Best forDelegating coding tasks to an agent

Works on tasks in the background and opens pull requests.

Good to knowIncluded with paid ChatGPT plans.

Some setup

Best forAn agentic editor with a generous free tier

An AI editor with an agent that works across your project.

Good to knowPremium model usage is limited on free.

Some setup

Best forFree AI coding help for individuals

Completions and chat in VS Code and JetBrains at no cost.

Good to knowEnterprise features need Google Cloud.

Technical

Best forDevelopers building on AWS

Code help that understands AWS services and your console.

Good to knowMost useful if you already use AWS.

Some setup

Best forIntelliJ, PyCharm and WebStorm users

AI chat and an agent built into JetBrains IDEs.

Good to knowLarger quotas need a paid AI plan.

Technical

Best forTeams with strict privacy needs

Private, self-hostable code AI that never trains on your code.

Good to knowPriced for companies.

Technical

Best forDevelopers who want a hands-off coding agent

An agent built to complete larger coding tasks on its own.

Good to knowUsage-based costs can add up.

Some setup

Best forAn AI-powered terminal

Explains errors and writes commands in your terminal.

Good to knowAI requests are limited on free.

Technical

Best forDevelopers who want an open-source agent

A VS Code agent that works with any model you choose.

Good to knowYou pay your model provider directly.

Technical

Best forCustom, open-source code assistants

Build your own assistant with the models and rules you pick.

Good to knowTakes setup to get the most from it.

Beginner-friendly

Best forSearchable call notes for teams

Records, transcribes and makes every call searchable.

Good to knowAI summaries and storage are limited on free.

Beginner-friendly

Best forNotes without a bot joining the call

Records from your computer and improves your own notes.

Good to knowFree plan has a limited meeting history.

Beginner-friendly

Best forFree call recording with summaries

Records Zoom, Meet and Teams calls with quick summaries.

Good to knowAdvanced AI features need a paid plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forClipping and sharing call moments

Timestamps and clips key moments to share with your team.

Good to knowAI notes are limited on the free plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTeams whose notes already live in Notion

Searches, summarises and writes inside your Notion workspace.

Good to knowFull AI is part of Notion's business plans.

Some setup

Best forVisual, complex automations at low cost

Drag-and-drop scenarios with branches, loops and AI.

Good to knowOperations are counted strictly; watch usage.

Technical

Best forTechnical users who want to self-host

Open-source automation with AI agents you can host yourself.

Good to knowSelf-hosting means you look after updates and security.

Some setup

Best forPlanning your day automatically

Schedules tasks around your meetings and reschedules when plans change.

Good to knowPaid after the trial.

Beginner-friendly

Best forProtecting focus time on Google Calendar

Blocks time for habits and tasks, and defends it from meetings.

Good to knowTeam features are paid.

Some setup

Best forMac users who want AI everywhere

A launcher that adds AI chat and commands to every app.

Good to knowMac and Windows only; best AI models need Pro.

Beginner-friendly

Best forGetting through email much faster

A fast email app with AI replies, triage and reminders.

Good to knowNo free plan.

Some setup

Best forSearching across all company apps

One search and AI assistant across your company's tools.

Good to knowSold to companies; no self-serve plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forSmall businesses running marketing and sales

A free CRM with AI tools for email, content and prospecting.

Good to knowPaid tiers rise steeply as you grow.

Our guide: HubSpot alternatives

Beginner-friendly

Best forWriting threads and posts for X and LinkedIn

A focused editor with AI help and scheduling.

Good to knowFree scheduling is limited.

Beginner-friendly

Best forGrowing on LinkedIn

Post ideas, scheduling and analytics for LinkedIn.

Good to knowLinkedIn only.

Beginner-friendly

Best forGenerating ad creatives at volume

Produces many ad variations and scores them before you spend.

Good to knowPaid after the trial; results need brand review.

Beginner-friendly

Best forSocial posts and carousels from a prompt

Creates posts, carousels and captions in your brand style.

Good to knowFree posts are watermarked.

Some setup

Best forEnriching lead lists with many data sources

Combines dozens of data providers and AI research into one table.

Good to knowPowerful but takes time to learn.

Beginner-friendly

Best forWriting better sales emails

Scores and coaches your sales emails as you write them.

Good to knowThe free plan has a monthly limit.

Some setup

Best forCold email at volume

Sends and warms up cold email across many inboxes, with AI replies.

Good to knowFollow anti-spam laws and keep lists clean.

Some setup

Best forSales teams learning from their calls

Records and analyses sales calls to show what wins deals.

Good to knowSold to companies; no self-serve plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forA shared inbox with an AI chatbot

Chat, email and social messages in one inbox with AI answers.

Good to knowAI features sit on paid plans.

Beginner-friendly

Best forA chatbot trained on your own website

Builds a support bot from your pages and documents in minutes.

Good to knowFree bots have message limits and branding.

Some setup

Best forResolving support tickets automatically

An AI agent that answers and resolves customer questions across channels.

Good to knowPriced per resolution, so costs grow with volume.

Some setup

Best forSupport teams on Zendesk

AI agents, ticket summaries and reply suggestions inside Zendesk.

Good to knowBuilt for established support teams.

Beginner-friendly

Best forA tutor that guides instead of giving answers

Khan Academy's AI tutor that coaches students step by step.

Good to knowFree for teachers; learner access may be paid.

Beginner-friendly

Best forTeachers working in Google Docs and Slides

Gives feedback, levels text and builds resources from any page.

Good to knowWorks best in Chrome and Google tools.

Beginner-friendly

Best forStudents revising with flashcards

AI turns notes into flashcards, tests and study guides.

Good to knowMany study features need Quizlet Plus.

Beginner-friendly

Best forLearning a language daily

Short lessons with AI-powered practice conversations.

Good to knowThe AI conversation features are part of a paid plan.

Beginner-friendly

Best forGood-looking résumés and cover letters

Templates and AI writing for résumés and cover letters.

Good to knowPremium templates are paid.

Beginner-friendly

Best forRésumés that pass applicant tracking systems

Checks and rewrites résumés for ATS-friendly keywords.

Good to knowFree plan limits AI credits.

Beginner-friendly

Best forOrganising a job search

Tracks applications and tailors résumés from one board.

Good to knowAI features are limited on free.