AI Tools for 2025

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

Bo‎lt

Getting a bit more technical now, but if I managed it then you can too! This tool blew me away.

Bolt.new is an AI-powered platform that allows you to quickly prototype, run, edit, and deploy full-stack applications directly from your browser. I decided to give it a try by building a simple web application for managing tasks.

Building an app on the platform was fast and intuitive. I typed a prompt describing the app—“Build a task manager with a to-do list, user authentication, and a simple dashboard”—and Bolt.new generated a working prototype. From there, I was able to refine the design and functionality using the built-in editor. I added a delete button to each task and adjusted the styling using the code editor and it all seemed to work fine.

What I found most impressive was that it can deploy the apps for you. Once I was happy with the app, I clicked “deploy,” and boom, the app was live. The platform handled everything—from hosting to managing serverless functions, it all saved me a ton of time compared to setting up everything manually in a local development environment. It's perfect for prototyping an app.

Bolt.new supports frameworks and libraries like React, Next.js, and Vite, so you can probably still use your preferred tech stack. The AI also helped with code generation and debugging to such an extent that I actually didn't use Claude while I was working on my mini-app.

Bolt.new isn't the best fit for complex projects that require extensive business logic or integration with third-party services. For more intricate systems or advanced features, you'll still need a real developer.

All in all, I found Bolt.new to be an excellent tool for quickly building and deploying web applications, especially for rapid prototypes or smaller projects. If you're looking to develop something fast and don't want to worry about managing the backend or hosting, it’s a fantastic option.

Bolt.new offers a free plan that provides a daily allocation of 100,000 tokens. The Pro Plan is available at $18 per month, offering 10 million tokens per month.

Su‎no

Suno is an AI-powered music generator that allows users to create songs by inputting text prompts. I entered a prompt describing the mood and genre I desired—a melancholic piano ballad—and Suno produced a complete song with vocals and instrumentation. The AI's ability to interpret and translate textual descriptions into musical compositions is pretty mind blowing.

I found my generated song to be surprisingly coherent and emotive. The vocals, while synthetic, conveyed the intended melancholy, and the piano arrangement complemented the mood effectively. However, there were moments where the lyrics felt slightly repetitive, and the vocal delivery lacked some human nuances.

Suno offers limited editing capabilities. I attempted to adjust the tempo and key, but the options were somewhat constrained. For more intricate modifications, external audio editing software would be necessary.

Despite the editing limitations, I found the experience enjoyable and plan to use Suno again for generating quick musical ideas or exploring different genres. My most frequent use case for Suno is background music for social media posts and videos, and it's really great for that.

AI-generated music is gaining traction, with platforms like Suno making it accessible to a broader audience. But while AI can produce impressive compositions, it currently lacks the depth and emotional complexity of human-created music. I think it will be a while yet until we're listening to AI-generated music for pleasure.

Suno offers a Free Plan with 50 daily credits for up to 10 song generations per day, suitable for personal and non-commercial use. The Pro Plan at $10/month provides 2,500 credits per month, commercial use rights, priority generation, and the ability to run up to 10 tasks simultaneously.

Be sure to get the Pro Plan if you want to use Suno like I do for social media posts and videos as you'll need the commercial license.

Ud‎io

To test Udio, I wanted to create an upbeat, electronic track with a strong bassline and catchy melodies, so I fed it a prompt describing the vibe I was aiming for.

The track had a solid structure, with a clear intro, build-up, and drop. The synths were vibrant and energetic, and the rhythm section had a groove that made the track feel engaging.

One thing that sets Udio apart from Suno is its approach to genre-specific customization. Udio offers a more direct way of shaping the style of the music based on the prompt you give it. For example, I could request specific instruments or even ask for a particular type of electronic subgenre. While the song was definitely listenable and had the vibe I wanted, it wasn’t without limitations. The vocals, while fitting, still felt a bit robotic.

Editing options in Udio are also a bit more flexible than Suno, but still not at the level of traditional music production software.

Udio offers a Free Plan with 100 credits per month for up to 50 song generations and basic music creation tools. For more credits you'll need the Standard Plan which costs $10/month.