AI tools our editors recommend.

A short list chosen for the work these tools do especially well. Each pick includes a signed editor’s note explaining who it suits, where it stands out and why it earned a place here.

8 tools

Sort

Grammarly

Catch mistakes and clarify writing before you send it

Editor's pick Write better emails Agencies Freelancers Best for a freelancer sending client emails and proposals daily

$30/month 86/100 Top pick

Editor's note
Grammarly works best as an always-on writing assistant rather than something you open only when a piece of text needs fixing. It sits directly inside Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and other everyday writing tools, correcting mistakes and suggesting clearer phrasing as you work. The real value for me is that it removes a lot of small editing friction from routine business writing.
For client emails, proposals, and similar professional content, I’d start with the Free plan and only move to Pro once I was using the AI features often enough to justify it. I find it particularly useful for polishing tone, improving clarity, and catching small issues before they reach a client, which makes it an easy recommendation for people who write regularly for work.
Marta VidalEditor
ElevenLabs

Turn written scripts into spoken audio

Editor's pick Make voiceovers & audio Agencies Creators & influencers Best for a creator producing regular client voiceovers

$0/month 85/100 Top pick

Editor's note
I’d choose ElevenLabs whenever the voice is part of the finished product and the default text-to-speech on a phone or computer would make it feel cheap. For product demos, course lessons, narrated articles, or other published content, the more natural pacing and delivery can make a noticeable difference in perceived quality. It also makes revisions much easier, since you can update a few lines without having to rerecord an entire section. The quality difference is easy to justify if you publish regularly and want a consistent voice across your content, although the paid plans may feel expensive if you only need an occasional clip.
Tom KovácsEditor
HeyGen

Generate talking‑head videos from scripts and audio with lifelike avatars

Editor's pick Make & edit video Agencies Creators & influencers Best for a creator repurposing short social and marketing clips

Starting price: $0/month (Free plan) 84/100 Top pick

Editor's note
HeyGen earns a place here because it removes the need to record a presenter again whenever a short script changes. The real value is not replacing a camera crew; it is making repeatable talking-head video practical for small marketing teams. I would use the free three-video allowance to judge the avatar first, then pay for Creator when weekly product updates, localized clips or social videos make 1080p exports part of the routine.
Tom KovácsEditor
remove.bg

Remove photo backgrounds and create transparent cutouts

Editor's pick Edit photos Freelancers Small businesses Best for a freelancer producing recurring product or portrait cutouts

$3 for 3 credits 83/100 Top pick

Editor's note
Few AI tools are as focused as remove.bg, and that is precisely why I would keep it bookmarked. For recurring product shots or client portraits, getting a usable transparent cutout in seconds removes a surprisingly tedious step from the job. I would buy occasional credits before subscribing, and move to Lite only when HD cutouts arrive every week; glass, reflective products and delicate edges still deserve a manual check.
Marta VidalEditor
Notion

Keep notes, client work, and projects in one shared workspace

Editor's pick Organize projects & tasks Freelancers Small businesses Free plan Best for a small team managing client work and internal knowledge

$10/mo (yearly) 82/100 Top pick

Editor's note
What wins me over with Notion is how easily it can become the working home for a small client project. If I were running a solo consultancy, I’d keep the brief, meeting notes, deliverables, useful links and approval checklist onone shared page. That is a genuinely useful workflow, and the Free plan is enough to find out whether it suits you.
I wouldn’t choose it if I wanted a system that was ready immediately. Notion rewards people who enjoy shaping their own workspace; without that effort, it can become another place where information accumulates.
Tom KovácsEditor
Consensus

Search and summarize academic research with source links

Editor's pick Search & summarize the web Freelancers Small businesses Best for a freelance science or health writer on deadlines

$0/month 81/100 Top pick

Editor's note
Consensus is where I would start when a health or science claim needs more than a confident web summary. It gets you from a question to relevant papers and source links quickly, which is the difficult first step under a deadline. I see it as an orientation tool that helps an editor ask better questions, not as an automatic literature review. For formal or reproducible research I would still return to PubMed, the original papers and a documented search process.
Daniel NowakEditor
Reclaim.ai

Protect work time around shifting calendar events

Editor's pick Plan schedules & travel Freelancers Small businesses Best for a freelancer with a frequently changing meeting calendar

$10/month 77/100 Solid

Editor's note
Reclaim.ai addresses a problem that ordinary task lists do not: planned work disappears as meetings move into the calendar. For a freelancer with recurring client calls, letting focus blocks find another open slot can preserve the week without rebuilding it by hand. The appeal is not a smarter to-do list; it is a calendar that keeps defending time after the plan changes. I would begin with Lite and upgrade only after the scheduling rules feel trustworthy enough to manage a busy week.
Marta VidalEditor
Parseur

Extract structured data from PDFs, emails, invoices, and receipts

Editor's pick Extract data from documents Freelancers Small businesses Best for a freelancer handling recurring invoices

$49/month 77/100 Solid

Editor's note
Parseur is a deliberately niche pick: it becomes interesting only when the same kind of document keeps arriving. A bookkeeper forwarding supplier invoices could send totals, dates and references into a spreadsheet instead of retyping them every week. Removing one dull, recurring administrative job can be more valuable than adding another general-purpose AI assistant. At $49 a month, I would pay only when the document volume clearly costs more in manual time, and I would still check exported fields.
Daniel NowakEditor

Other highly rated tools

Not hand-picked, but still strong performers under the same scoring rubric.

Browse all tools

Klaviyo

Write better emails

83/100

Send personalized email and SMS tied to customer events

$20/month Top pick

Tactiq

Summarize meetings

81/100

Capture live meeting transcripts and generate instant summaries

$12/month Top pick

Otter.ai

Summarize meetings

80/100

Record meetings and turn them into transcripts, summaries, and action items

free (Pro from $16.99/month) Top pick

Google Gemini

Write sales & marketing copy

80/100

Draft copy and research summaries from Google Workspace material

$19.99/month Top pick

Claude

Write blog posts & articles

80/100

Turn briefs and long documents into drafts and edits

$0 (Free); paid plans from $20/month Top pick

GPT For Work

Clean & analyze spreadsheets

80/100

Clean, classify, translate, and generate spreadsheet rows in Google and Microsoft files

$25/month Top pick

NoteGPT

Transcribe calls & audio

79/100

Convert videos and documents into transcripts, summaries, and slides

$9/month Solid

DeepL

Translate content

79/100

Translate text and files into another language

$8.74/mo (yearly) Solid