Writing and content
Product descriptions / ad copy
Claude free tier, ChatGPT free
Claude Pro (best prose quality)
Blog posts and long-form articles
Claude free tier (start here)
Claude Pro for consistency + length
Email subject lines and campaigns
ChatGPT or Claude free
Claude Pro + Klaviyo for sending
Social media captions
Claude / ChatGPT free
Claude Pro; Buffer ($6/mo) to schedule
Proofreading and grammar
Grammarly free tier free
Claude Pro (more nuanced editing)
Transcription (video, podcast)
Whisper (local, free, excellent)
Descript ($12/mo) with editing
Design and visuals
Social graphics, presentations, ads
Canva free tier free
Canva Pro ($13/mo): brand kit + bg removal
AI image generation
Bing Image Creator (free, DALL-E 3)
ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) for DALL-E 3
Background removal
Remove.bg (limited free tier)
Canva Pro ($13/mo): unlimited
Video editing
DaVinci Resolve (free, powerful)
Descript ($12/mo) for AI transcript-based editing
Logo / brand identity
Canva free tier (basic)
Looka or hire a designer
Research and information
Real-time research with citations
Perplexity free tier excellent free tier
Perplexity Pro ($20/mo) for model choice
Deep research and reasoning
Claude free, ChatGPT free
Claude Pro (200K context, better reasoning)
Academic papers and studies
Perplexity Academic mode (free tier)
Perplexity Pro for more queries
Competitor research
Perplexity free + Google
Semrush ($129/mo) at scale
SEO and marketing
Keyword research
Google Search Console + Ubersuggest free
Semrush ($129/mo) for full data
SEO-optimized article writing
Claude / ChatGPT free
Claude Pro for consistent output
Technical SEO audit
Screaming Frog (500 URLs free)
Semrush site audit for large sites
Email list and newsletter
Buttondown (100 subs), Mailchimp (500 subs)
Klaviyo ($35+/mo) for ecommerce flows
Social media scheduling
Buffer free tier (3 channels, 10 posts)
Buffer Essentials ($6/mo/channel)
Coding and automation
Code generation and debugging
Claude free, GitHub Copilot free tier
ChatGPT Plus (code interpreter) or Cursor ($20/mo)
No-code automation
Zapier free (5 zaps), Make free (1K ops/mo)
Make Starter ($9/mo) for most use cases
Data analysis (spreadsheets, CSV)
Claude (paste small datasets)
ChatGPT Plus (code interpreter handles large files)
Self-hosted automation
n8n self-hosted (~$6/mo server) technical
n8n Cloud ($20+/mo) for managed
Want the prompts that make these tools actually work?
75 fill-in-the-blank prompts for freelancers and solopreneurs. Every tool on this checklist, every workflow you need. $17 once.
The honest minimum viable AI stack (for most people)
Zero budget
Claude free + ChatGPT free + Canva free + Perplexity free + Grammarly free + Google Search Console. Covers 80% of AI use cases at $0/month.
$20/month budget
Add Claude Pro ($20/mo). Writing, research, analysis. Skip all the niche AI tools until you have a specific gap Claude does not fill.
$35/month budget
Claude Pro ($20) + Canva Pro ($13) + Buffer free. This covers writing, design, and scheduling for most freelancers and small businesses.
$60/month budget
Add ChatGPT Plus for code/images. Now you have the full production stack. Add other tools only when you hit a specific, repeated friction point.