This catalog sorts AI tools by the job they do: generative AI tools that make images, video and text, plus chatbots, photo editors and coding assistants. Pick the task, open its page, and you get a short list of tools with the price, the free plan and the limits each vendor publishes. Every page carries the month its facts were checked, because AI pricing changes often.
How the catalog is organized
There are three kinds of pages, and each one answers a different question.
- Category roundups answer "which tool should I use for this job". Examples: AI image generators, AI video generators, AI photo editors and AI chatbots. Each pick gets the same block: what it is best for, the price, whether a free plan exists, and its strengths and limits.
- Alternatives pages answer "I use X and want something else". The largest is ChatGPT alternatives, written for people leaving ChatGPT for price, privacy or a feature it lacks.
- Tool pages cover one product in depth: plans, what the free tier allows, and who it suits.
Two roundups cut across categories. Free AI tools lists tools with a free tier that does real work, with the limit of each free tier. Best AI apps covers phone apps by the job you install them for.
Head-to-head questions such as ChatGPT vs Claude live in the comparison section, so the catalog links there instead of repeating them.
How picks are chosen
Picks come from public facts that a reader can check:
- Price and plan names, copied from the vendor's pricing page, with the billing period when it changes the number.
- The free plan: whether one exists and what its limit is, in the vendor's own terms (credits, messages, minutes).
- Platform: web, iOS, Android, desktop or a plug-in for another app.
- Features the vendor documents, plus limits that the vendor or an independent review states.
We do not publish benchmark scores or "we tested" claims. The Prompt Hackers Score on each tool page is computed, not typed in: six measures (user reviews, search demand, traffic, links to the site, 12-month momentum and price) ranked across the catalog, with the full breakdown one click away under "how it's scored". If a fact cannot be confirmed on a page we can link to, it stays out. Each page ends with its sources.
Money and rankings
No vendor pays for a place in a ranking, and the order of picks is never for sale. Some tool pages have a button to the vendor's site. When a link is sponsored or earns a commission, it is marked as sponsored next to the link. The FTC's guidance on affiliate links says the closer the disclosure is to the recommendation, the better, and that is where we put it.
Where to start
- Pictures from a text description: start with the image generators roundup.
- Short clips from text or a photo: the video generators roundup.
- Fixing a photo you already took: the photo editors roundup.
- Writing, research and questions: the chatbots roundup.
- Writing or reviewing code: the AI coding tools roundup.
- No budget: the free tools list, which states each free limit.
Prompts for the tools in this catalog
A tool is only as good as what you ask it. The prompt library has ready prompts for many of the products listed here, such as Midjourney prompts for image work. Tool pages link to the matching prompt hub when one exists.
FAQ
How do you pick the top AI tools in each category?
By the public facts listed above: price, free plan, platform and documented features, checked on the vendor's own pages. A tool ranks higher when those facts fit the job the page is about. No pick is based on a private test or a paid placement.
How often are prices updated?
Each page shows the month its facts were last checked in the spec row and in its text. When a vendor changes a plan, the page is re-checked against the vendor's pricing page, and the date moves.
Can a company pay to be listed?
No. A vendor can buy advertising on the site, but not a place in a roundup or its position in one. Sponsored links are labelled where they appear.
Why are some popular tools missing?
The catalog leaves out adult tools, face-swap and "undress" apps, and AI companion apps. It also leaves out tools whose pricing or free plan we could not confirm on a public page.
Sources
- FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking — Federal Trade Commission, accessed October 2026