The AI Tools I Actually Use Every Day (Honest Review)

Most AI tool reviews are written by people who tested the tool for 20 minutes and wrote a summary from the product page. That’s not a review. That’s a press release.

I’m not doing that.

I’ve been building with AI for months. I’ve tried dozens of tools. Most of them I dropped within a week. Some I use every single day.

This is the honest list — what works, what doesn’t, and why.

ChatGPT — the one I keep going back to

What it is: OpenAI’s chatbot. Text, code, images, voice — it does most things well.

What I actually use it for:

  • Writing first drafts (blog posts, emails, social media)
  • Brainstorming when I’m stuck
  • Explaining technical concepts in plain English
  • Quick research before I deep-dive

What it’s NOT good at:

  • Long conversations (loses context after ~20 messages)
  • Math and calculations (it guesses more than calculates)
  • Current events (training data has a cutoff)

Honest take: ChatGPT is the Swiss Army knife of AI. It’s not the best at anything specific, but it’s good enough at most things. If you’re only going to use one AI tool, start here.

Price: Free tier is surprisingly good. $20/month for Plus gives you better models and image generation.

Claude — the one I use for serious writing

What it is: Anthropic’s chatbot. Better at long-form writing and nuanced reasoning.

What I actually use it for:

  • Writing blog posts that need to sound human
  • Analyzing long documents or research papers
  • Complex reasoning tasks (strategy, planning)
  • When I need the AI to actually think, not just predict

What it’s NOT good at:

  • Image generation (can’t do it)
  • Code execution (limited compared to ChatGPT)
  • Speed (sometimes slower responses)

Honest take: Claude writes better than ChatGPT. If you’re writing something that needs to sound authentic — not like AI wrote it — Claude is the move. It’s more careful, more thoughtful, and less likely to give you generic filler.

Price: Free tier is solid. $20/month for Pro.

Notion — my second brain

What it is: Notes, databases, project management. All in one place.

What I actually use it for:

  • Tracking blog posts (status, publish date, topic)
  • Databases for affiliate links and products
  • Content calendar
  • Meeting notes and research

What it’s NOT good at:

  • Complex project management (use Linear for that)
  • Offline access (needs internet to work well)
  • Speed with large databases (can get slow)

Honest take: Notion isn’t AI, but its AI features are getting better. The real value is organization. If you’re building anything with content, you need a system. Notion is mine.

Price: Free for personal use. $10/month for Plus.

GitHub — where my code lives

What it is: Code hosting. Version control. Collaboration.

What I actually use it for:

  • Hosting my blog (connected to Vercel for auto-deploy)
  • Storing scripts and automations
  • Version control (if I break something, I can go back)
  • Sharing projects publicly

What it’s NOT good at:

  • Learning to code (use a free course for that)
  • Non-code projects (it’s built for developers)

Honest take: GitHub scared me at first. It looked like it was built for engineers. But for hosting a blog with auto-deploy? It’s dead simple. Push code → blog updates. That’s it.

Price: Free for public repos. Free for private repos too (up to 3 collaborators).

Vercel — my blog runs here

What it is: Hosting platform. You push code to GitHub, Vercel makes it a website.

What I actually use it for:

  • Hosting my blog
  • Auto-deploying when I push to GitHub
  • Free SSL (the https:// thing)
  • Fast global CDN

What it’s NOT good at:

  • Dynamic apps (it’s for static sites and serverless)
  • Complex backend logic (use a real server for that)

Honest take: Vercel made it possible for me to have a blog without understanding servers, DNS, or hosting. Push to GitHub → blog goes live. Free. No credit card.

Price: Free tier is generous. Pro is $20/month if you need more.

Hugo — my blog’s engine

What it is: A static site generator. Turns markdown files into a website.

What I actually use it for:

  • Building my blog from markdown files
  • Fast loading (no database, no server-side code)
  • Simple content management (write in markdown, done)

What it’s NOT good at:

  • Dynamic content (comments, user accounts — need plugins)
  • Visual editing (you write in code/markdown, not a drag-and-drop builder)

Honest take: Hugo is fast. Like, really fast. My blog loads in under a second. If you want a blog that’s fast, simple, and free to host — Hugo is the answer. But if you want a visual builder where you drag stuff around, use Wix or Squarespace.

Price: Free. Open source.

The tools I tried and dropped

Not everything works. Here’s what I tested and why I stopped:

Midjourney — Beautiful images, but expensive and requires Discord. Switched to free alternatives.

Notion AI — Writing assistant in Notion. Okay for quick edits, but not good enough for real writing.

Grammarly — Good for catching typos, but the AI suggestions made my writing sound generic.

Jasper — AI writing tool. Great for marketing copy, but $49/month is too much for what it does.

Copy.ai — Similar to Jasper. Good templates, but not worth the subscription.

What I’d recommend if you’re starting today

If you have $0:

  1. ChatGPT (free tier)
  2. Notion (free)
  3. GitHub (free)
  4. Vercel (free)
  5. Hugo (free)

That’s a complete blog setup. For free.

If you have $20/month:

If you have $40/month:

Don’t buy more tools. Use what you have. The tools aren’t the bottleneck — the work is.

Coming soon

I test AI tools so you don’t waste money on the ones that don’t work. If I recommend something, I use it. If it sucks, I’ll say so.

Built with AI. Written by a human. Tested in the real world.