AI Tools I Actually Use
My honest daily AI toolkit, the tools I pay for, use every week, and that earn their slot on my tab bar.
By Michael Okeje, Founder of GPTPrompts.AI · Updated April 2026
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A quick note before you scroll
I run GPTPrompts.AI, an AI education platform that publishes 20,000+ pages on prompt engineering, AI tools, and honest tool guidance in 8 languages. Every tool on this page is on my actual tab bar. I pay for them, I use them for real work at GPTPrompts.AI and for client projects, and I'd recommend them to a friend.
Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links, if you sign up, the tool's marketing budget pays me a commission. Your price doesn't change. Tools I use that don't offer an affiliate program are still on this page with regular links, recommendation quality matters more than revenue. Every affiliate link is visibly labeled "Sponsored."
This list updates quarterly. Tools get removed the moment they stop earning their slot. If you want me to consider a tool, email me at [email protected].
For thinking and writing
When I need careful reasoning, long-form writing, or nuanced analysis.
Claude
Anthropic's long-context thinking partner
Claude is the AI I reach for when I need real thinking, not just fast answers. The 200K context window means I can paste an entire codebase, a 40-page PDF, or a year of Slack exports and ask for analysis that actually reflects the whole input, not just the last few pages. I also trust Claude's writing voice more than any other model in 2026. It doesn't default to AI-isms and cliché structure the way ChatGPT can. For long-form writing, document review, and ambiguous problems where the right answer requires considering trade-offs, Claude is my first stop.
- Best for
- Long documents, nuanced writing, code review, careful reasoning
- Price
- Free tier + $20/mo Pro + $25/seat Team monthly ($20 annual)
What I like
- +200K context handles entire books or codebases
- +Cleaner voice than most models out of the box
- +Constitutional AI approach = more reliable on nuanced questions
Honest caveats
- −No image generation
- −Weaker than ChatGPT for multi-step reasoning benchmarks
- −Mobile app still behind web experience
For research and knowledge
Deep research, source-grounded analysis, and knowledge synthesis.
Genspark AI
Agent-powered research across 100+ sources at once
When I need deep research for a content brief, a business decision, or a prospect deep-dive, Genspark outperforms ChatGPT web search and even Perplexity on depth. It spawns multiple agents that check different angles simultaneously, market data, competitor moves, forum discussions, academic sources, then synthesizes the answer with citations. The Sparkpage output is particularly useful: a single visual page you can share or embed. I use it weekly for competitive research and occasionally for due-diligence-style work where I need to be confident I haven't missed the obvious counter-argument.
- Best for
- Deep research, multi-angle analysis, competitive intel, fact-checking
- Price
- Free tier with solid limits + $24.99/mo Plus
What I like
- +Multi-agent orchestration checks angles serially AI misses
- +Sparkpage output is instantly shareable
- +Strong citation quality, rarely hallucinates sources
Honest caveats
- −Interface learning curve vs Perplexity
- −Free tier queues on peak hours
- −Less brand-familiar than ChatGPT or Claude
NotebookLM
Google's source-grounded research assistant with audio overviews
NotebookLM is the tool I use when I have a corpus of source material I trust and want the AI to work strictly within it, no hallucinations from the open web. Upload 10-50 sources (PDFs, Google Docs, YouTube transcripts, websites) and it becomes a grounded research assistant for that specific knowledge base. The Audio Overview feature turns any knowledge base into a 10-15 minute podcast-style conversation between two AI hosts, I use it to listen to technical papers on commutes and long walks. For preparing interviews, condensing client knowledge bases, or studying a specific topic deeply, nothing else comes close.
- Best for
- Source-grounded research, podcast-style summaries, interview prep, study
- Price
- Free (generous limits), paid NotebookLM Plus via Google One AI Premium
What I like
- +Answers are strictly grounded in your uploaded sources
- +Audio Overview feature is genuinely useful, not a gimmick
- +Integrates naturally with Google Workspace
Honest caveats
- −Can't browse the open web
- −50-source cap per notebook (most users never hit it)
- −Free tier has some daily query limits
For autonomous work
Multi-step tasks I want executed end-to-end without babysitting.
Manus AI
Autonomous agent that plans, executes, and delivers
Manus is the first autonomous agent I've used that I actually trust to complete multi-step tasks end-to-end without babysitting. Give it a goal, "research these 10 companies, build a comparison sheet, draft an outreach email for each CEO, and save everything in a Google Doc", and it plans the subtasks, executes them across tools and browsers, and delivers a coherent output. It's not perfect, it sometimes gets stuck on auth walls or mis-reads a table, but for long-tail research, data gathering, and structured content production, it saves hours per week. I use it most for competitive analysis sprints and preparing deep-dive briefings I'd otherwise put off.
- Best for
- Multi-step research, data gathering, browser-based automation, competitive deep dives
- Price
- Free trial credits + paid tiers from ~$19/mo
What I like
- +Handles multi-step tasks autonomously with minimal supervision
- +Works across browser, code, and files in one session
- +Output quality on research tasks beats ChatGPT Operator for my use cases
Honest caveats
- −Can get stuck on login walls or CAPTCHAs
- −Task runs can take 10-40 minutes, not instant
- −Early product, occasional flaky sessions
Affiliate link, I earn a commission if you sign up, at no cost to you.
For building websites and apps
Rapid prototyping, landing pages, internal tools, MVPs.
Lovable
Chat your idea, ship a live AI-powered website
Lovable is how I prototype landing pages, internal tools, and client experiments without writing code from scratch. I describe what I want in natural language, "build a lead-capture site for a yoga studio with pricing, testimonials, and a Stripe booking form", and Lovable produces a working, deployable Next.js app. I then tweak via chat or download the full repo and ship to Vercel. For the vast majority of landing pages, MVPs, and small tools, it's 5-10x faster than starting from a Next.js template. It's also how I mock up feature ideas for GPTPrompts.AI before committing to a full build.
- Best for
- Landing pages, MVPs, internal tools, design-to-code prototypes
- Price
- Free tier + $20/mo Starter + $50/mo Pro
What I like
- +Production-quality Next.js output, not a walled-garden builder
- +Chat iteration is genuinely fast, real back-and-forth
- +You own the code, exportable to GitHub/Vercel
Honest caveats
- −Complex apps still need developer review
- −Free tier has generation limits
- −Occasional regressions between iterations (normal for LLM-driven code)
Affiliate link, I earn a commission if you sign up, at no cost to you.
Base44
App-focused AI builder with tight data model and auth primitives
Base44 is the AI builder I reach for when the project is more app than site, CRUD interfaces, member areas, dashboards, forms with real logic. It handles the boring primitives well: auth, user roles, database schema, API connections. Where Lovable excels at marketing sites and landing pages, Base44 shines for internal tools and data-driven apps. I've used it to stand up client portals, simple SaaS MVPs, and internal operations tools in under an afternoon each. The side-by-side between Base44 and Lovable is why I recommend both, different jobs.
- Best for
- CRUD apps, member areas, dashboards, form-heavy tools, internal SaaS
- Price
- Free tier + paid plans for production workloads
What I like
- +Strong data model handling, relationships, validation, migrations
- +Built-in auth and role management out of the box
- +Deploys with one click
Honest caveats
- −Less polished than Lovable for marketing sites
- −Smaller community / fewer templates currently
- −Best for app-shaped projects, not content sites
For voice and audio
Narration, voice cloning, audio branding, multilingual voiceover.
ElevenLabs
The best AI voice generation I've used, period
ElevenLabs is what I use for voice narration on video content, audio branding experiments, and the occasional podcast intro. The voices are naturalistic enough that most listeners genuinely can't tell they're AI, the pacing, breath, and emotional inflection are miles ahead of the competition. Voice cloning works in under a minute with consent, so I can generate narration in my own voice for content I don't have time to record. On the Creator plan at $22/mo, I get 100 minutes of audio generation monthly with full commercial rights, which covers my content workflow entirely.
- Best for
- Voiceover, narration, audio branding, voice cloning, multilingual audio
- Price
- Free tier (no commercial use) + $5 Starter + $22 Creator + $99 Pro
What I like
- +Voice quality meaningfully better than competitors in 2026
- +Voice cloning works from a 1-minute sample with consent
- +29+ languages with natural accent preservation
Honest caveats
- −Free plan excludes commercial use, need Starter ($5/mo) minimum to monetize
- −Can occasionally mispronounce uncommon proper nouns
- −API pricing separate from subscription
Affiliate link, I earn a commission if you sign up, at no cost to you.
Using Lovable or Base44 to build apps from prompts? See our complete vibe coding guide for workflows, tool comparisons, and 50+ prompts for shipping apps without writing code.
Frequently Asked Questions
Full affiliate disclosure
Links marked "Sponsored" on this page are affiliate links. If you click through and sign up or subscribe to a paid plan, the tool's affiliate program pays me a commission, typically 10-30% of the first month's subscription, sometimes a flat bounty.
Your price does not increase because of my affiliate relationship. The commission comes from the tool's marketing budget, not from you. Every affiliate recommendation on this page is a tool I personally pay for and use. Paid placements are labeled Sponsored and kept separate from these personal recommendations.
Tools without affiliate programs (Claude, NotebookLM as of April 2026) are included with plain external links because honest recommendation matters more than revenue. If those programs launch affiliate options later and I'm accepted, I'll update this disclosure transparently.
This disclosure satisfies FTC 16 CFR Part 255 guidance on material connections in endorsements. If you ever feel a recommendation on this page doesn't match the tool's real quality, email me at [email protected], I take feedback seriously.