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 · 3
Coding · 5
Windsurf
ACodeium's agentic IDE. Cascade agent + strong free tier.
Free + $15/mo Pro
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 · 3
Flux (Black Forest Labs)
AOpen weights + strong photorealism. The open-source answer.
API + open weights (Schnell is Apache 2.0)
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 · 6
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
Synthesia
AEnterprise AI avatar video for training + comms.
$22-$89/mo + enterprise