Pick what you’re trying to do, answer two quick questions, and get the right tool for the job.
1What do you want to do?
Pick the one closest to your task.
2Which apps do you live in?
Some AIs work best inside the tools you already use.
3What’s your budget?
Most tools have a free tier; paid plans are usually about $20/month.
| Tool | Best at | Watch out for | Free tier |
|---|
You don’t need every tool. For an online-course business, these few cover almost everything:
Your main workbench
Planning courses, writing lessons, building pages and fixing WordPress code.
ClaudeYour quick everyday helper
Fast questions, voice chats on the go, images with text on them.
ChatGPTYour personal assistant
Errands, bookings, shopping and inbox chores done for you.
Muse (or Gemini Spark if you live in Gmail)Your research desk
Find facts with sources, then turn your own PDFs and videos into quizzes and study guides.
Perplexity + NotebookLMYour video studio
Presenter-style course videos without filming, plus natural voiceovers.
HeyGen or Synthesia + ElevenLabsYour graphics room
Course thumbnails, social posts and branded visuals.
Canva (+ Midjourney for artistic images)