Hey guys, Monday here. I get asked all the time — “what AI tools are you actually using?” Not the ones I write about, not the ones that got funded, but the ones that live in my browser tabs and on my desktop. Time for an honest rundown.
What You Need to Know:
- ChatGPT (Plus): daily driver for writing, research, and quick code questions
- Claude: coding and complex analysis — the computer use feature is a game-changer
- Perplexity: search replacement for anything that needs sources and links
- Notion AI: workspace Q&A and meeting summaries — it’s in my workflow daily
- Cursor: code editor with AI built in — replaced VS Code for most tasks
The Setup
I see a lot of “I use every AI tool” posts that feel more like flex than reality. Here’s my actual setup: I have ChatGPT and Claude running side by side. ChatGPT is where I go for quick things — rewrite this email, what does this term mean, give me five ideas for X. Claude is where I go for anything that requires sustained thinking — writing longer pieces, analyzing codebases, working through complex documents.
Perplexity replaced Google for anything where I need to follow a thread. If I’m researching a topic and need to see where it leads, Perplexity’s ability to synthesize across sources and cite them is genuinely better than Google for that use case.
The Coding Stack
Cursor has mostly replaced VS Code for me. The AI-native editing — not just autocomplete but full conversation-based code generation and refactoring — is a different experience. For quick scripts or one-off code tasks that don’t need a full IDE, I’ll use Claude’s computer use feature. For anything that’s going to be part of a larger project, Cursor is home.
What’s Not in My Stack
Midjourney: I use it occasionally but not weekly — the subscription doesn’t make sense for my casual use. DALL-E through ChatGPT covers my image generation needs for articles and social. Gemini: I’ve tried it, it’s good, but it doesn’t fit my workflow better than what I already have. GitHub Copilot: good, but Cursor’s AI-native approach feels like the next generation.
Bottom Line: My actual AI stack is simpler than the noise suggests: ChatGPT + Claude + Perplexity + Notion AI + Cursor. Five tools that each do one thing well, cover 90% of my needs, and don’t require constant context-switching. Everything else is either too niche or not yet good enough to earn a permanent spot.
What’s your actual AI stack? What are the tools you reach for every day versus the ones that sounded great but didn’t stick? I’m always looking to streamline — let me know what works for you.