Kai's tool library
Curated, opinionated, tiered. S-tier is what I'd tell a friend to use. A-tier is worth your time. B-tier works but probably isn't the best option.
Chatbots · 7
Claude
SAnthropic's flagship — best reasoning + longest useful context.
Free + $20/mo Pro + team/enterprise
ChatGPT
SThe default. Strongest ecosystem + best multimodal breadth.
Free + $20/mo Plus + $200/mo Pro
Gemini
AGoogle's answer. Best integrated with Workspace + free for a lot.
Free + $20/mo Advanced (bundled with 2TB Drive)
Grok
AxAI's chatbot. Real-time X/Twitter data + fewer refusals.
Free + $30/mo SuperGrok + included with X Premium
DeepSeek
SChinese open-weight powerhouse. Crazy cheap, genuinely smart.
Free web + ultra-cheap API (~$0.14/M input tokens)
Qwen
AAlibaba's open chat model. Multilingual + agentic.
Free web + API
Le Chat (Mistral)
BFrench alternative. Fast, European, privacy-focused.
Free + $15/mo Pro
Research · 4
Perplexity
SAI search done right. Cited answers, not chat theater.
Free + $20/mo Pro
NotebookLM
SGoogle's research notebook. Turns your docs into a podcast.
Free
Elicit
SAI research assistant for academic literature.
Free + $12-$42/mo
Genspark
AAI agent for deep search. Generates Sparkpages — full mini-reports.
Free + $25/mo Plus
Coding · 8
Cursor
SVS Code fork that made AI coding actually work.
Free + $20/mo Pro + $40/mo Business
Claude Code
SAnthropic's CLI agent. Opus-powered, operates on your repo directly.
Part of Claude Pro/Max/Team plans
Windsurf
ACodeium's agentic IDE. Cascade agent + strong free tier.
Free + $15/mo Pro
GitHub Copilot
BMicrosoft/GitHub's autocomplete. Deep VS Code + JetBrains integration.
Free (limited) + $10/mo Pro + $19/mo Business
Aider
ATerminal-based AI pair programmer. Git-aware, model-flexible.
Free (open source) + whatever API you use
Cline
AOpen-source VS Code agent. Reads + writes + runs.
Free (open source) + your API costs
Bolt.new (StackBlitz)
APrompt to deployed full-stack app in the browser.
Free + $20-$200/mo
Replit Agent
AReplit's AI that builds + deploys full apps on their platform.
$10-$25/mo Core/Teams
Image · 7
Midjourney
SThe aesthetic gold standard for AI image generation.
$10-$120/mo
Ideogram
SThe one that actually gets text in images right.
Free + $8/mo + $20/mo + $60/mo
Flux (Black Forest Labs)
AOpen weights + strong photorealism. The open-source answer.
API + open weights (Schnell is Apache 2.0)
DALL-E 3
BOpenAI's image model. Built into ChatGPT Plus.
Included with ChatGPT Plus $20/mo
Recraft
SVector + raster AI for designers. Actually controls the output.
Free + $12-$48/mo
Leonardo.ai
AGamer + creator image gen with model fine-tuning built in.
Free + $12-$60/mo
Adobe Firefly
ACommercially safe image gen, deeply integrated with Photoshop.
Free + included with Creative Cloud
Video · 9
Runway
SThe pro's AI video tool. Gen-4 is the current bar.
Free + $15-$95/mo
Kling
AKuaishou's video model. The surprise standout.
Credit-based, free trial
Sora
AOpenAI's video model. Long clips, cinematic quality.
Included with ChatGPT Plus/Pro
Pika
AThe playful, accessible AI video tool.
Free + $8-$58/mo
Luma Dream Machine
ASmooth, cinematic motion. Image-to-video specialist.
Free + $10-$500/mo
Google Veo
AGoogle's video model. Baked into Gemini + YouTube Shorts.
Included with Gemini Advanced $20/mo + YouTube creator tools
HeyGen
SAI avatar videos. Record once, speak any language.
Free + $24-$65/mo
Synthesia
AEnterprise AI avatar video for training + comms.
$22-$89/mo + enterprise
Descript
SEdit video + podcasts by editing the transcript.
Free + $16-$50/mo
Voice · 5
ElevenLabs
SThe voice gold standard. Cloning + TTS + dubbing.
Free + $5-$330/mo
OpenAI Voice / Realtime
SChatGPT's voice + the Realtime API for developers.
Voice included with ChatGPT Plus; Realtime API by usage
Cartesia
SUltra-low-latency voice. Built for realtime agents.
Free tier + usage-based API
Play.ht
AEnterprise-grade TTS with voice cloning.
Free + $39-$99/mo
Hume AI
AVoice AI that reads + expresses emotion.
Free tier + pay-as-you-go
Meetings · 4
Granola
SMeeting notes that don't suck. Runs locally, no bot joins.
Free + $18/mo
Otter.ai
BMeeting transcription veteran. Cross-platform, team-friendly.
Free + $17-$30/user/mo
Fireflies
ASales-focused meeting AI with CRM integration.
Free + $10-$19/user/mo
Fathom
SMeeting notes, free forever for individuals.
Free for individuals + $15-$29/user/mo teams
Design · 5
v0
SVercel's AI-powered UI generator. Prompt to shadcn component.
Free + $20/mo
Lovable
ABuild a full app from a prompt. Stripe-ready.
Free + $25-$100/mo
Figma AI
AAI features baked into the design tool you already use.
Included with Figma plans
Framer
ADesign + publish sites with AI assists built in.
Free + $5-$30/mo
Galileo AI
BPrompt to UI design. Figma-ready outputs.
Free trial + paid plans
Productivity · 4
Audio · 3
Writing · 3
Agents · 4
Manus
SAutonomous AI agent that actually finishes tasks.
Free tier + $39-$199/mo
Devin
ACognition Labs' autonomous coding engineer.
$500/mo
ChatGPT Operator
BOpenAI's browser agent. Clicks and types on websites for you.
Included with ChatGPT Pro $200/mo
Claude Agent SDK
SAnthropic's SDK for building your own agents on Claude.
API usage + SDK is free
Dev Platform · 5
OpenRouter
SOne API, every model. Pay-as-you-go, no subscriptions.
Pay per token — model-dependent
Replicate
SRun any open-source AI model with an API call.
Pay per second of compute
Groq
SThe fastest AI inference in the world. Crazy low latency.
Free tier + pay-as-you-go API
Hugging Face
SThe GitHub of AI. Models, datasets, spaces — all in one.
Free + $9-$20/mo + enterprise
Ollama
SRun LLMs locally. One-line install, GUI optional.
Free + open source