Tools index
The tools we actually name
Every tool on this page is one our guides already teach. There are 6 of them, which is the point: you need one chat tool and maybe one specialist, not a directory of four hundred. Each row says what the job is, who it fits, where we stop trusting it, and which guide to open next.
No prices here. Plans change faster than this page does, so every row links the vendor's own pricing page instead. Links last checked 18 September 2026.
Chat assistants
Pick one and start. For everyday writing, summarizing and thinking out loud, all three do the job, and switching later takes minutes.
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ChatGPT
General chat assistant (OpenAI)Draft, rewrite and summarize in plain language: emails, listings, quotes, social posts, awkward follow-ups.
- Who it fits
- Owners who want the most-travelled road. It is the one most people have heard of, so tutorials and someone to ask are easy to find.
- Where we'd stop
- It can state something false with total confidence. Check names, numbers, laws and prices before they leave your desk.
Guides that name it
Check ChatGPT pricing Checked 18 September 2026
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Claude
General chat assistant (Anthropic)The same drafting and summarizing work, with a writing voice readers often describe as more natural.
- Who it fits
- Owners who write a lot and care about tone, or who hand it long documents to read carefully.
- Where we'd stop
- Same weakness as the others: it can invent detail, including in a document it just read back to you. Read the contract yourself before you sign it.
Guides that name it
Check Claude pricing Checked 18 September 2026
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Gemini
General chat assistant (Google)Chat drafting that sits next to the Google tools a business may already run on.
- Who it fits
- Owners whose business already lives in Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar.
- Where we'd stop
- It makes things up like the rest, and living inside your mail does not make its answers verified.
Guides that name it
Check Gemini pricing Checked 18 September 2026
Specialist tools
One of these, matched to the time sink you actually have. Not four of them. A specialist earns its place only when the job comes up every week.
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Otter.ai
TranscriptionTurns meetings, client calls and voice notes into text you can search, so the day does not end in half-remembered promises.
- Who it fits
- Anyone whose work happens out loud: trades dictating job notes between calls, coaches after a discovery session, anyone who leaves a meeting owing four things.
- Where we'd stop
- Names, addresses and trade jargon come out mangled, so skim before you rely on it. A transcript is a record, not a summary.
Guides that name it
Check Otter.ai pricing Checked 18 September 2026
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Canva
Image cleanup and simple designRemoves a background in one click, brightens a dim photo, erases a stray object, lays out a flyer.
- Who it fits
- Sellers and shops photographing stock on the kitchen table, and anyone who needs a usable flyer without hiring a designer.
- Where we'd stop
- Fine detail (hair, fur, glass edges) comes out slightly wrong. Zoom in before you publish.
Guide that names it
Check Canva pricing Checked 18 September 2026
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Zapier
Automation between appsPasses information between apps on its own: a new form response becomes a to-do, a new invoice becomes a reminder.
- Who it fits
- Only once a chat tool and one specialist are a genuine habit. It is step 3 of the starter stack, and skipping it costs you nothing in month one.
- Where we'd stop
- We have not published a walkthrough for it yet, so this row is a pointer, not a lesson. Do not start here.
No guide yet
We name it on Start here this month, step 3 and have not published a walkthrough for it. Saying so beats pretending.
Check Zapier pricing Checked 18 September 2026
If you are not sure which of these you need
Start with the plan, not the tool list. Start here this month picks one time sink and one stack for thirty days, and the industry starter kits sequence the guides for your line of work. If the question is only whether a paid plan is worth it yet, Free vs. paid AI: what $20 a month actually gets you answers that without us guessing at today's prices.