Why Try AILATEST UPDATE: July 8, 2026
I first published this round-up on October 17, 2024. But things in AI move fast, so I release regular updates. Check out this archive page with the past versions (fun for tracing how AI and my preferences evolved).
I often get asked about AI tools that I personally use.
While I regularly test and review all sorts of AI models and sites, most don’t end up a part of my routine.
Here are those that did.
🗣️ 1. Large language models
These are the chatbots and LLMs I turn to.
🎁Free:
Claude Sonnet 5 [UPDATED - replaced 4.6] for most creative work. Claude has a “fresh” conversational feel and tends to suggest unconventional ideas. Interactive explainers are awesome for visualizing and grasping tricky concepts. The only downside is the strict message limit for free accounts.
GPT 5.5 Instant [UPDATED - replaced GPT 5.4] holds up nicely for regular day-to-day chats and low-stakes research.
💵Paid:
Claude 4.6 Opus is my primary daily driver for everything I do with Claude Code. It runs most of my projects and tasks. (I’m still hesitant to switch to Opus 4.8 due to higher token use and negative public consensus.)
GPT 5.5 High [NEW] is my go-to for most heavy research. It tends to do a solid job of surfacing and validating sources, then returning a vetted answer.
🖼️ 2. AI images
Here are my favorite image models.
🎁Free:
Gemini 3.1 Flash Image (aka Nano Banana 2) for image editing. Excellent at detail-preserving image edits from natural-language requests.
GPT Image 2: for leaderboard-topping image generation. It understands context and can render entire pages of text within an image. (I made a swipe file for it with 100 use cases and prompts.)
💵Paid:
Midjourney: I’ve written dozens of posts about Midjourney over the years. I have honestly not used it much lately, but it remains excellent for artistic exploration and photographic images.
📽️ 3. AI video
The AI video space is making the biggest leaps lately. Here’s my take on AI video models based on thorough tests of both text-to-video and image-to-video.
🎁Free:
Gemini Omni Flash [NEW - replacing Veo 3.1] is a top-ranked model for context-aware videos with native audio. It’s also great for natural-language video edits. The Flow platform gives you free daily credits to try it.
💵 Paid:
Seedance 2.0: Still the #1 video model (but Seedance 2.5 is coming) if you want the cutting-edge stuff. (I get to use it on Genspark with my credits.)
🎵 4. AI music
This space is surprisingly steady. I rarely use AI music tools, but when I do…
🎁Free:
Both give you a generous amount of free credits, so take them for a spin to see which one you prefer. These two came out on top in my most recent head-to-head test (sorry, Udio and Sonauto).
Note: For a more skeptical perspective from a professional, see this comment thread.
💵 Paid:
Any of the above: Once you’ve picked your favorite, you can always upgrade for additional features.
🔬 5. Research
🎁Free:
NotebookLM remains a super easy recommendation. I’ve been a fan since March 2024. (I covered everything in my recent live video walkthrough.)
Learn About is another Google product that complements NotebookLM nicely. While NotebookLM is grounded in your preselected sources and synthesizes info across them, Learn About can browse the web and is built for open-ended exploration of any topic.
Perplexity I don’t use Perplexity very often, but its “Pro” search is a good midway point between simple web browsing and the time-intensive “Deep Research” tools.
💵 Paid:
Perplexity Deep Research was recently upgraded with the latest Claude models to reach SOTA performance on deep research benchmarks.
📈 6. Agents & productivity
🎁Free:
Codex [NEW]: OpenAI local agent that I now use in tandem with Claude Code. Codex is the most user-friendly way to try local agents without paying (free ChatGPT users get a limited weekly Codex quota).
Google AI Studio: Google still offers a whole lot for free here. You can try its latest frontier models, voice generation, coding tools, and live calls with screen or camera sharing. It’s a great way to sample most of what Google has to offer at no charge.
💵 Paid:
Claude Code: My primary daily driver for actually building and doing stuff with AI. (Here’s just some of what Claude Code can do for you.)
Genspark Super Agent: A robust agent that can orchestrate dozens of tools to complete complex, multi-step tasks. You get free monthly credits to try it, but you’ll likely need the paid plan for bigger tasks.
🫵 Over to you…
What AI tools do you use the most? What would you add to the above list?
Leave a comment or drop me an email at whytryai@substack.com.
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