My AI Tools Tier List for 2025
An overview of the AI tools I use every day and what I like about them
Still searching for the perfect last-minute holiday gift for the business professional in your life? Look no further than the rapidly evolving world of AI tools.
Whether you're shopping for a startup founder, corporate executive, or ambitious colleague, an AI tool subscription can be the gift that keeps on giving throughout 2025.
This curated tier list breaks down the most impactful AI tools available today, helping you choose the perfect match for your recipient's needs. From research powerhouses to creative assistants, these tools can dramatically enhance productivity and decision-making capabilities.
S Tier: The Gold Standard
These tools are my daily drivers. Not a day goes by where I’m not using these in some part of my workflow. The AI capabilities are second-to-none, offering exceptional versatility, reliability, and functionality for business-related applications like market research, message segmentation, or in-depth analysis. I think of these tools like a second coworker or team member that’s up-to-date on everything I’m working on.
Perplexity: A powerful AI research assistant that excels at real-time information synthesis and fact-checking. It combines web search with AI to provide comprehensive, up-to-date answers with cited sources. Perfect for market research, competitive analysis, and staying current with industry trends.
Claude: An advanced AI assistant known for its nuanced understanding, sophisticated reasoning, and ability to handle complex tasks. Excels at content creation, document analysis, coding, and strategic problem-solving. Particularly valuable for tasks requiring careful analysis or detailed explanations.
A Tier: Professional Powerhouses
These tools offer a lot of capabilities, but are more niche in their application and use cases. I often use one or more of these tools for specific needs.
Superwhisper: Advanced speech-to-text tool that provides highly accurate transcription across multiple languages. Ideal for meeting transcription, content creation from audio, and making video content searchable.
ChatGPT: Versatile AI assistant for general-purpose tasks, brainstorming, and content generation. Strong at conversational interactions and quick problem-solving.
Cursor: AI-powered code editor that enhances developer productivity through intelligent code completion and refactoring suggestions. Excellent for software development teams.
Canva: Design platform with AI features for creating professional marketing materials, presentations, and social media content. Perfect for teams without dedicated design resources.
NotebookLM Plus: AI-powered note-taking and research tool that helps organize and analyze information. Great for research synthesis and knowledge management.
B Tier: Specialized Solutions
These tools excel at highly specialized use cases, but they shouldn’t necessarily be considered a substitute for someone with expertise in a domain. Whether it's content creation/editing for a deck or brainstorming new ideas, these tools can help in a pinch, but will often need a lot of user input on your end.
v0: AI design tool for generating and editing images. Useful for creating quick mockups and design concepts.
Suno: AI music generation platform. Good for creating custom background music for videos and presentations.
HeyGen: AI video generation platform for creating professional-looking video content. Useful for training materials and marketing content.
Grok: Conversational AI with a unique personality, good for creative brainstorming but less reliable for formal business use.
Playground AI: Image generation platform with good quality but limited business-specific features.
Napkin AI: Quick text-to-visual generation. Useful for early-stage ideation and adding graphics to decks.
Zapier AI: Automation tool with AI capabilities for workflow optimization. Good for simple automation tasks.
Eleven Labs: Text-to-speech platform with natural-sounding voices. Useful for voice-over work and accessibility features.
C Tier: Limited but Functional
These tools provide value but may be too narrow in scope or need significant improvement.
Figma AI: Design tool with AI features for basic design tasks. While Figma itself is excellent, its AI capabilities are currently limited compared to dedicated AI design tools.
I have to say, there was a lot of disagreement between the designers on my team that I talked to when making this list about putting Figma AI in the C tier and Canva in the A tier.
For the design-minded and creative-oriented folks, they thought of Figma AI as a force multiplier. It enabled them to work faster and more efficiently, speeding up the 0 to 1 process and freeing up more brain power to think creatively.
For a lot of the tedious things that required a bit of polish, but not necessarily a wholly original design, the AI generated content was more than sufficient. It was also great as a jumping off point for further improvements.
One feature that everyone loved was the AI-supported contextual renaming and organization of layers. I think most designers would agree with this one.
On the other hand, I think Canva is far more useful for those who are not “designers” so to speak. By this, I mean folks who have a good aesthetic eye and are conscious of the importance of good design, but don’t necessarily have the necessary fluency with tools like Figma or Illustrator to bring their ideas to life.
As such, Canva’s AI tools for content generation and manipulation are far more useful. Essentially, if you can describe it, it can be brought to life. If you have tweaks or changes, you can re-prompt and make those changes immediately, without needing to set up a review session or write out lengthy change notes.
In talking with the team, they often mentioned that a lot of the AI features that Canva provides are things that can be done natively, with far more control in tools like Illustrator, Photoshop, or Blender. However, this requires a certain degree of know-how. Sure, you can probably learn how to use these tools, but why spend all that time watching tutorials for a one-off project? Not to mention the interruption to your own workflow.
As a whole, I don’t think the AI tools in Canva should be seen as a replacement for designers. Rather, they help to bridge the gap between design fluency and tool fluency – getting you 90% of the way there. For most people who don’t need perfection, this is just good enough.
D Tier: Not Yet Competitive
These tools need substantial improvement to compete with alternatives.
Apple Intelligence: Basic AI features integrated into Apple workspace apps. Currently limited in capability and flexibility.
Gemini for Google Workspace: AI features in Google's productivity suite. While promising, it currently lacks the sophistication of standalone AI tools.
Grammarly: While useful for basic writing improvement, its AI capabilities are limited compared to more advanced language models.
Now that we’ve reached the end, I’m curious to know what you all think about my rankings. Drop a comment or send me an email - I’d love to hear your thoughts.