Cheat Sheet: I Want to Do X, Use Y
| I want to… | Use this | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Write an email, essay, or report | Claude | Free |
| Research a topic with sources | Perplexity | Free |
| AI inside Google apps | Gemini | US$20/mo |
| Identify something from a photo | Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini | Free |
| Troubleshoot with a screenshot | Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini | Free |
| Study a long document or book | NotebookLM | Free |
| Store and search many documents | MyAIDrive | Free |
| Create a beautiful image | Midjourney | US$10/mo |
| Create an image with text/logo | Ideogram | Free |
| Quick image inside a chat | ChatGPT (built-in) | Free |
| Build a slide deck fast | Gamma | Free |
| Generate a complete song | Suno | Free |
| Create a short video clip | Kling AI | Free |
| Generate a polished video clip | Runway | US$12/mo |
| Add captions to a video | CapCut | Free |
| Generate natural voiceover | ElevenLabs | Free |
| Build a simple website | Bolt.new or Lovable | Free |
| Build a simple app or tool | Bolt.new or Replit | Free |
| Automate a research task | Manus | Free |
| Transcribe a meeting | Otter.ai | Free |
| Plan meals, travel, or life admin | Claude or ChatGPT | Free |
| AI while browsing the web | Brave (Leo AI) | Free |
| AI inside Word/Excel/PPT | Microsoft Copilot | ~US$30/mo add-on |
Want more detail? This cheat sheet gives you the quick answer. For full reviews with pricing tiers, privacy ratings, and Ken's honest take on each tool, see the Top 100 AI Tools.