Rotating frequently · Opinions strong
This is not a comprehensive list. It's a personal one. Tools I actually use, actually recommend, and actually have feelings about. Updated whenever something new earns a spot or loses it.
Last updated March 2026Claude
My daily driver. Best for nuanced reasoning, long documents, and anything where you actually need it to think.
ChatGPT
The one everyone knows. Still solid for quick tasks and has the biggest plugin ecosystem.
Gemini
Underrated for multimodal tasks and deeply integrated with Google Workspace. Shines at enterprise.
DeepSeek
Genuinely impressive reasoning model that came out of nowhere. Worth keeping an eye on.
Qwen
Strong multilingual capabilities and open weights make this one interesting for researchers.
Manus
Agentic AI that can actually do things autonomously. Impressive capabilities but worth noting it's Meta-owned — I use it with that context in mind.
Draw Things
Local Stable Diffusion on your Mac. No subscription, no cloud, no data leaving your device. This is how I make my AI art.
FLUX.1 Fill
Best inpainting model out right now. Drop it into Draw Things and watch it fill gaps like magic.
Microsoft Designer
Canva's AI-powered competitor. Surprisingly good for quick graphics and social assets.
Nano Banana
Lightweight AI image editor for quick edits without the overhead of a full suite.
Pixabay
5.5 million+ free images. Not AI-generated but an essential companion to any AI workflow.
InVideo
Text to professional video in minutes. Great for explainers and content without needing to be on camera.
Wondercraft
AI audio and podcast creation. Turn text into studio-quality audio without a microphone.
Podera
Turn any text, article, or blog into a podcast. Seriously underrated for consuming long-form content.
NotebookLM
Upload anything, get a podcast. My About page literally uses one of these. Game changing for synthesizing research.
Elicit
AI research assistant that searches academic papers. Built for actual researchers, not just vibes.
ResearchRabbit
Maps academic literature visually so you can actually see how papers connect. Zotero's cooler cousin.
Consensus
Ask a question, get answers backed by peer-reviewed research. Evidence-based AI search done right.
Glasp
PDF and web highlighter that builds a second brain from everything you read. Researchers, this one's for you.
ResearchFlow
AI research engine for deep dives. When you need to go further than a quick search.
Classkick
Real-time student feedback at scale. Built for actual classroom use, not just a demo.
Edpuzzle
Turn any video into an interactive lesson. Essential for training and curriculum development.
Book Creator
Students creating actual books with multimedia. Deceptively powerful for consent education and curriculum design.
HuggingFace
The home of open source AI. If you're not browsing models here you're missing half the ecosystem.
Anytalk
Real-time AI translator and voiceover. Genuinely useful for multilingual research contexts.
Napkin AI
Turns text into visual diagrams automatically. Presentations and reports got a lot easier.
Memo AI
Cut study time in half. AI-powered summaries and study tools for dense material.
Liz the Developer
YouTube
Makes technical AI content actually accessible without dumbing it down. Genuinely one of the best educators in this space right now.
↗CJ Trowbridge
cjtrowbridge.com
Intersectional thinker who approaches AI from a perspective you won't find in most tech spaces. Challenges assumptions in the best way.
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