Which AI for which job

⌨️ Vibe coding

Short answer: Cursor if you can read code. Lovable if you can't. Claude Code or Codex if you live in the terminal.

Cursor: Pick it if you have a repo and want an agent that edits across files while you steer.

Lovable: Pick it if you want a live app with auth and a database today and you never touch code.

Claude Code: Pick it if you prefer the terminal and long multi-step changes.

Codex: Pick it if you want to fire off background tasks and review diffs later.

Full breakdown →

🎬 Video

Short answer: Runway or Kling to generate footage, HeyGen for talking-head videos, OpusClip to turn long videos into shorts.

Runway: Pick it if you want generated, cinematic shots and a full editing toolkit.

Kling AI: Pick it if you want realistic motion from a prompt or an image.

HeyGen: Pick it if you want to post talking-head videos without filming each one.

OpusClip: Pick it if you have long videos and need Shorts/Reels out of them.

Full breakdown →

✍️ Writing

Short answer: Claude for long-form drafts that sound human, ChatGPT if you want one tool for everything, Grammarly to polish what you already wrote, and Sudowrite for fiction.

Claude: Pick it if you write long pieces (posts, docs, newsletters) and want a natural voice that follows your style guide.

ChatGPT: Pick it if you want one assistant for drafting, research, files, and images, and it's already open.

Grok: Pick it if the piece depends on what people are saying on X right now.

Grammarly: Pick it if you already have the words and want grammar, tone, and rewrites wherever you type.

Full breakdown →

📊 Spreadsheets & data

Short answer: Use the AI built into the sheet you already use: Gemini in Google Sheets or Copilot in Excel. For one-off analysis of a CSV, use Julius.

Gemini in Google Sheets: Pick it if your team lives in Google Workspace.

Copilot in Excel: Pick it if you're on Microsoft 365 and Excel.

Julius AI: Pick it if you have a CSV and a question and want charts back.

Rows: Pick it if you want live data pulled in from other apps.

Full breakdown →

🎨 Images & design

Short answer: Midjourney for the best-looking images, Ideogram when the words in the image have to be spelled right, Krea for fast edits and iteration.

Midjourney: Pick it if you want art-directed, great-looking visuals and you're fine paying.

Ideogram: Pick it if you're making posters, logos, or thumbnails where the text must be correct.

Krea: Pick it if you iterate fast, edit existing images, or want many models in one place.

Adobe Firefly: Pick it if you already work in Photoshop and the Adobe suite.

Full breakdown →

🎙️ Voice & music

Voiceovers, cloned voices, and full songs from a prompt.

ElevenLabs: The standard for AI voiceover quality.

Suno: Vocals, lyrics, and structure in seconds. Fun and fast.

🤖 Automation & agents

Short answer: n8n if you're technical or want to self-host for free, Zapier if you want the most apps and the easiest start, Make if you think in flowcharts.

n8n: Pick it if you're comfortable with a little code, want AI agent nodes, or want to self-host and skip per-task fees.

Zapier: Pick it if you want the biggest app catalog and the fastest setup, and you're fine paying as you scale.

Make: Pick it if your flows branch a lot and you'd rather see them on a visual canvas.

Full breakdown →

🔎 Research & search

Short answer: Perplexity for fast answers with sources you can click, NotebookLM when the answers have to come only from your own files.

Perplexity: Pick it if you want a quick answer from the web with citations you can click through and verify.

NotebookLM: Pick it if you have a pile of PDFs, notes, or transcripts and want answers grounded only in them, plus audio overviews.

ChatGPT: Pick it if you want research, file analysis, and writing in the same chat you already have open.

Claude: Pick it if you need to read and reason over long documents and turn them into a careful written summary.

Full breakdown →

🗂️ Slides & docs

Short answer: Gamma for the fastest path from an outline to a presentable deck, Canva when you want templates and design control, and Manus when the deck is the end of a bigger research job you want handed back finished.

Gamma: Pick it if you have an outline or a prompt and want a presentable deck, doc, or one-page site in minutes.

Canva: Pick it if you care about the look, want to start from templates, and also make social posts and flyers in the same tool.

Manus: Pick it if you need the research done too, and want a finished deck or report back instead of a blank outline.

Full breakdown →

📝 Meetings & notes

Notes, summaries, and action items without typing.

Granola: Your notes, enhanced. Nobody sees a recorder bot.

Fathom: Generous free tier for individuals.

🧑‍💻 Coding assistants

Short answer: GitHub Copilot if your team lives on GitHub, Gemini Code Assist for the best free solo plan, JetBrains AI if you're in IntelliJ or PyCharm, and Tabnine when code can't leave the building.

GitHub Copilot: Pick it if your repos are on GitHub and you want completions, chat, and PR review under one subscription.

Gemini Code Assist: Pick it if you're a solo dev who wants a generous free tier and a big context window for large files.

JetBrains AI Assistant: Pick it if you work in IntelliJ, PyCharm, or WebStorm and want AI that knows the IDE's refactors and inspections.

Tabnine: Pick it if legal or security says code stays private, so you need a private or self-hosted deployment.

Full breakdown →

💼 Agents for business

Short answer: Lindy for an AI assistant that works your inbox and calendar, Manus for big research and build jobs, Relevance AI for a team of sales and ops agents, and Gumloop when non-engineers need to build and own the agents.

Lindy: Pick it if you want an assistant that handles email triage, scheduling, and follow-ups across your inbox and calendar, set up in plain English.

Manus: Pick it if you have a big one-off job, like market research or a first-draft site or deck, and want a finished deliverable back.

Relevance AI: Pick it if you're running repeatable sales or ops work (lead research, outreach, qualification) and want several specialist agents working together.

Gumloop: Pick it if the people who own the process aren't engineers and need a drag-and-drop builder that works with any model.

Full breakdown →