The AI Starter Stack
One pick per job, the tool we'd start with today. Bookmark it; it updates whenever our rankings change.
| Task | Start with | Price | First step |
|---|---|---|---|
| app building | Lovable | From £22/mo (Pro) · free tier | Sign up at lovable.dev |
| automation | Zapier | From $19.99/mo (Professional) · free tier | Sign up at zapier.com |
| avatar video | HeyGen | From $29/mo (Creator) · free tier | Sign up at heygen.com |
| coding | Cursor | freemium · free tier | Download the Cursor editor from cursor.com |
| graphic design | Canva | From £100/yr (Pro) · free tier | Create a free account at canva.com |
| image generation | Midjourney | From $10/mo (Basic) | Sign up at midjourney.com and choose a plan (no free tier) |
| logo design | Ideogram | From $20/mo (Plus, monthly) · free tier | Sign up at ideogram.ai |
| meeting notes | Otter.ai | From $8.33/user/mo (Pro, billed annually) · free tier | Sign up at otter.ai and connect your calendar |
| music | Suno | From £6/mo (Pro) · free tier | Sign up at suno.com |
| photo editing | Remove.bg | From £8/mo (40 credits) or £2.70 pay-as-you-go for 3 credits · free tier | Go to remove.bg |
| podcast editing | Descript | From $24/mo (Hobbyist, monthly) · free tier | Download Descript or open the web app and sign up |
| presentations | Gamma | From £7/seat/mo (Plus) · free tier | Sign up at gamma.app |
| productivity | Notion AI | From £8.50/member/mo (Plus) · free tier | Create a Notion workspace at notion.com |
| research | Perplexity | freemium · free tier | Go to perplexity.ai and sign up |
| short form clips | Opus Clip | From $15/mo (Starter) · free tier | Sign up at opus.pro |
| social media | Canva | From £100/yr (Pro) · free tier | Create a free account at canva.com |
| transcription | Descript | From $24/mo (Hobbyist, monthly) · free tier | Download Descript or open the web app and sign up |
| translation dubbing | ElevenLabs | From $6/mo (Starter) · free tier | Sign up at elevenlabs.io |
| video editing | Descript | From $24/mo (Hobbyist, monthly) · free tier | Download Descript or open the web app and sign up |
| video generation | Runway | From $15/mo (Standard, monthly) · free tier | Sign up at runwayml.com |
| voiceover | ElevenLabs | From $6/mo (Starter) · free tier | Sign up at elevenlabs.io |
| web design | v0 | From $30/user/mo (Plus) · free tier | Sign in at v0.app with your Vercel account |
| writing | ChatGPT | freemium · free tier | Sign up at chatgpt.com with email or Google |
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