Tool rankings
The best AI tools, ranked for every job
The best AI tools depend on the job, from video editing to writing code. We rank 44 tools across 13 categories, say who each one suits, point out the catch, list what is free and what costs money, and link the free courses that teach it.
Scores are our editorial opinion. Nobody pays to be ranked, and affiliate links never change a score.
AI tool rankings answer one question per job: which tool should you use, and what will it cost you? Each category below ranks 3 or 4 tools out of 10, says whether each suits beginners, experts or both, names the catch, and lists the free plan and the cheapest paid plan from the maker's own pricing page.
Most people need 2 or 3 tools, not 20. Start with a chat assistant, then add one tool for the job you do most, such as video, slides or code. If a tool has a free plan, use it for 1 week before you pay for anything.
Every tool links to the free courses on this site that teach the skills behind it, such as Generative AI for Everyone for chat assistants, so you learn the idea as well as the buttons.
Choose a category
Each one has its own ranking, from our top pick down.
- 4 tools rankedChat assistantsThe general-purpose AI you talk to. Most people should start here.Our top pickChatGPTThen Claude, Gemini
- 3 tools rankedWritingTools that tidy, rewrite and check what you write.Our top pickGrammarlyThen Notion AI, QuillBot
- 3 tools rankedResearch and studyAnswers with sources, and study partners for your own notes.Our top pickGemini NotebookThen Perplexity, Elicit
- 4 tools rankedImage generationTurn a written description into a picture.Our top pickMidjourneyThen Adobe Firefly, Stable Diffusion
- 4 tools rankedVideo editingCut, caption and generate video with AI doing the dull parts.Our top pickDescriptThen CapCut, Runway
- 4 tools rankedAudio and voiceVoiceovers, clean recordings, transcription and music.Our top pickElevenLabsThen Whisper, Adobe Podcast
- 3 tools rankedDesign and slidesPresentations, posters and graphics without a designer.Our top pickCanvaThen Gamma, Adobe Express
- 3 tools rankedAutomation and agentsConnect your apps and let AI handle repetitive steps.Our top pickZapierThen n8n, Make
- 4 tools rankedCoding assistantsAI that writes, explains and fixes code with you.Our top pickCursorThen Claude Code, GitHub Copilot
- 3 tools rankedPractise machine learningPlaces to train your first models with nothing to install.Our top pickGoogle ColabThen Kaggle Notebooks, Teachable Machine
- 3 tools rankedML frameworksThe libraries you'll use to build models for real.Our top pickPyTorchThen scikit-learn, Weights & Biases
- 3 tools rankedOpen and local modelsDownload open models and run them on your own machine.Our top pickHugging FaceThen Ollama, LM Studio
- 3 tools rankedAI avatarsTurn a typed script into a presenter video, no camera needed.Our top pickHeyGenThen Synthesia, D-ID
Top picks across every category
The highest-scoring tools overall, split by where you are. Tools that suit everyone appear in both lists.
For beginners
No code needed. Start at the top.
Best AI tools for you
Shortlists across categories, one tool per job, and step-by-step workflows that put the tools in order.
- Best AI tools for studentsRevise from your own notes, research with sources and polish essays without cheating yourself.
- Best AI tools for content creatorsScript, voice, edit and package videos faster, without handing over your style.
- Best AI tools for small businessWrite, design and automate the admin that eats your week, for under the cost of one lunch a month.
- Best AI tools for teachersPlan lessons, adapt resources and make slides faster, so evenings go back to marking or rest.
- Best AI tools for marketingCopy, creative, research and reporting: the AI tools a small marketing team gets the most from.
- Best AI tools for developersCoding assistants, research and local models: the AI stack that makes a working developer faster.
- Best AI tools for writersEdit, check, research and hear your work, while the words stay yours.
- How to make a faceless video with AIScript, AI voiceover, generated visuals, edit and thumbnail: a full explainer without showing your face.
- How to make an AI avatar videoType a script and get a presenter on screen: training, explainer and social videos without filming.
Questions people ask
Which AI tool should a beginner start with?
Start with a chat assistant. It explains ideas, drafts text and answers follow-up questions, which makes every other tool easier to learn. The chat assistants ranking puts the beginner picks first and lists what each free plan includes.
Are the AI tools in these rankings free?
Most have a free plan or a free version, but the limits differ a lot. Each ranking lists the free plan and the cheapest paid plan for every tool, taken from the maker's own pricing page on the date shown.
How do you score the AI tools?
We score each tool out of 10 on how good the results are, how easy it is to start and who it suits. Scores are our editorial opinion. Prices and free plans are checked on each maker's own site.
Do I need to learn to code to use these AI tools?
No. The chat, writing, research, image, video, audio, design and automation rankings all include tools you can use without code. The coding, machine learning and open model rankings are for people who write code or want to start.
Last checked : free plans and prices on each maker's own pricing page.
Know your tool? Learn it properly.
Every course we link is free and reviewed. Browse the full catalogue to find one at your level.