9 AI tools you should be using (and what each one is for)
Published on:
Reading time: 9 min
Topic: Technology
Author: Leandro Valencia
Practical guide to 9 AI tools —ChatGPT, Qwen, Codex, Ollama, Google Flow, Vibes, Perchance and Treblo— with what each does, who it's for, how much it costs, and when it makes sense to open it.
Table of Contents
Quick overview
| Tool | What it's for | Cost | Ideal if… |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Writing, summarizing, analyzing, images | Free / paid | You'll only use one from this list |
| Qwen Studio | Chat, image and free video | Free | You want to try without paying |
| Codex | Agent that completes full coding tasks | With ChatGPT plan | You develop or automate |
| Ollama | Local AI, no cloud or internet | Free (open source) | You handle sensitive data |
| Google Flow | Professional video production | Free / from $4.99 | You produce video often |
| Vibes | AI video for social, with remix | Free | You post to Reels and Stories |
| Perchance | Fast generators, no signup | Free | You need a draft in 30 sec |
| Treblo | Full songs with lyrics and vocals | Free | You need music without licenses |
| Treblo Detect | Check if a track was made in Treblo | Free | You curate or distribute music |
To think and write
1. ChatGPT — the generalist assistant
What it is: OpenAI's AI assistant. It writes, summarizes, translates, analyzes documents, generates images, searches the web, and codes.
What it's really good for: less as "write me the post" and more as a thinking partner. Paste a meeting transcript and ask for the action items. Hand it your messy notes and ask for a structure. Give it the difficult email you've been avoiding for two days and ask for three versions in different tones.
Who it's for: everyone. If you're only going to adopt one tool from this list, this is it.
Cost: there's a free plan. Paid plans unlock more capable models and higher limits.
2. Qwen Studio — the free alternative almost nobody is watching
What it is: Alibaba's AI platform. Chat, image generation and understanding, video generation, document processing, and web search, all in one place.
What it's really good for: here's the interesting part. Features that sit behind a subscription on other platforms —video generation included— are available on Qwen for free, no credit card required. If you're experimenting and don't want to pay three subscriptions to discover what works for you, Qwen is a cheap (literally) place to try.
Who it's for: anyone who wants to generate images and video without committing to a monthly plan yet.
Cost: free across its main features. It also has an API for developers.
👉 qwen.ai
To code (even if you're not a programmer)
3. Codex — the agent that writes code for you
What it is: OpenAI's coding agent, available inside ChatGPT, as an editor extension, and from the terminal.
What it's really good for: it's not autocomplete. Codex takes a complete task —fix a bug, run a migration, review a pull request— and executes it end to end. It can run several tasks in parallel and work in the background on routine things like issue triage or monitoring.
Who it's for: development teams, mostly. But if you're an entrepreneur who already tinkers with automations or scripts, Codex is the jump from "I ask it how to do it" to "let it do it."
Cost: included in ChatGPT's paid plans.
4. Ollama — AI running on your own computer
What it is: a tool to download and run language models locally, on your machine, with no internet and nothing sent to anyone else's server.
What it's really good for: privacy and zero cost per use. If you handle client information, contracts, financial data, or anything you'd rather not upload to the cloud, Ollama unties that knot. It's also the entry door if you want to understand how this works under the hood instead of just consuming it.
The honest caveat: models that run on a normal laptop aren't as good as cloud ones, and you need a decent machine. It's a tradeoff: less power in exchange for total control.
Who it's for: technical tinkerers, people with sensitive data, and anyone who wants to stop depending on a subscription.
Cost: free and open source.
👉 ollama.com · Explainer video
To create video and images
5. Google Flow — the complete creative studio
What it is: Google's audiovisual creation studio, built on its Veo, Nano Banana, and Gemini Omni models.
What it's really good for: text to video, image to video, conversational editing ("remove the background", "make it walk toward the camera"), clip extension, and a scene builder. It also has community-built tools: storyboards, animated text overlays, resize video to any format.
Who it's for: content creators, advertising, anyone who produces video frequently.
Cost: there's a free tier with 50 daily credits. Google AI Plus from $4.99/mo, Pro $19.99/mo, Ultra from $99.99/mo. Credits are consumed based on the model you use, so the free tier is enough to experiment, not to produce at volume.
6. Vibes — AI video for social
What it is: Meta's AI video creation platform. It started as a feed inside the Meta AI app and now has its own space.
What it's really good for: create images and videos from scratch, re-edit them, change their style, add music, and do lip sync. Its particular trick is remix: you see something in the feed, grab it, and make it yours. And it publishes straight to Stories and Reels.
Who it's for: anyone who lives off posting to social and needs volume without friction.
Cost: free.
👉 vibes.ai
7. Perchance — free generators with no signup
What it is: a huge collection of community-built generators. Images, text, names, characters, random ideas.
What it's really good for: pure speed. No signup, no login, no limits. You need an image for a thumbnail in thirty seconds and don't want to burn credits on another platform: you go in, type, generate.
The warning: quality varies wildly between generators and there are no guarantees of anything. It's a community toolbox, not a polished product.
Who it's for: drafts, quick tests, and when the budget is zero.
Cost: free.
For music
8. Treblo — full songs in 15 seconds
What it is: an AI music generator (formerly called Sonauto). You write an idea, pick styles, and it returns a complete song with lyrics and vocals.
What it's really good for: background music for your videos without fighting licenses. Podcast intros. Jingles. Personalized songs as gifts. It sings in any language, including Spanish, and you can write your own lyrics or ask it to write them.
What sets it apart: unlimited free songs with its latest model, no commercial-use restrictions, and download in every format. Most competitors charge for commercial use or limit the download format.
Cost: free.
9. Treblo Detect — check if a song was made with AI
What it is: an open classifier that estimates whether a song was generated with Treblo.
Read this carefully, because the nuance matters: it detects songs made with Treblo, not AI-generated music in general. It won't identify tracks made in Suno, Udio, or other platforms. Its false-positive rate is below 1 in 10,000, which is strong — but only within that scope.
Who it's for: labels, playlist curators, platforms, and anyone who needs to verify provenance. And as a signal of where everything is heading: detecting AI-generated content is becoming infrastructure, not a curiosity.
How they connect
Put together, these nine tools cover a complete workflow:
Ideas and script → ChatGPT or Qwen Image and video → Flow for serious production, Vibes for social, Perchance for quick drafts Music → Treblo Privacy → Ollama for anything that shouldn't leave your machine Automation → Codex when the work gets repetitive
Don't adopt them all at once. Pick one that solves a concrete pain this week, use it until it becomes habit, then add the next one. The people who get real value out of AI aren't the ones who know the most tools — they're the ones who integrated two or three well.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best AI tool to start with?
ChatGPT. If you're only going to adopt one, it's the most versatile: it writes, summarizes, analyzes, generates images, and searches the web. Once you've mastered it, add another based on the problem in front of you.
Are there AI tools that are truly free and good?
Yes. Qwen Studio offers chat, image, and video for free; Perchance has generators with no signup; Treblo makes full songs at no cost; and Ollama runs models on your own machine without sending your data to the cloud.
Can I use Treblo's music on YouTube or commercial videos?
Yes. Unlike many competitors, Treblo allows unlimited free songs with its latest model, no commercial-use restrictions, and download in every format.
Is it worth running AI on my own computer with Ollama?
If you handle sensitive data —clients, contracts, finances— yes, because nothing leaves your machine. The tradeoff is that local models are less powerful than cloud ones and you need decent hardware.
How do I choose between Google Flow and Vibes for video?
Flow is built for professional production: conversational editing, clip extension, storyboards. Vibes shines on volume for social: direct remix and publishing to Reels and Stories. If you produce video often, Flow; if you post heavily to social, Vibes.
Prices and features cited are as of August 2026 and change frequently. Verify on the official pages before subscribing.
Which of these do you already use? Tell us what's worked for you.
Related Posts
Keep exploring similar content that may interest you
The best Ollama models for everyday use (2026 guide)
2026 guide to choosing Ollama models: comparison table of Qwen 3.5, Gemma 4, gpt-oss, qwen3-coder and more, with quantization, required RAM, and what to install based on your hardware.
GEO: Research and a Personal Perspective on SEO in the AI Era
A documented look at GEO — with data from Ahrefs, Semrush, Pew Research and the original Princeton paper — its evidence, its limits, and its real relationship with SEO.
OpenCode Go: Price, Usage Limits, and Whether It's Worth It in 2026
A deep dive into OpenCode Go: how much it costs, which models it includes, how its usage limits actually work, and when it's worth paying for. Includes how to get a $5 credit toward your limits.