The AI Tools I Actually Use Every Day
I work with AI tools every day as an independent developer. Hermes Agent is my main coding environment. ChatGPT handles writing and quick research. Claude does code review. Phind is my search engine. These four tools cover almost everything I do.
I also talk to friends about what they use. A designer friend lives in Midjourney. A podcaster runs on Descript. A video editor splits time between Runway and CapCut. Below is what I actually know — not a catalog of every AI tool, just the ones I see working.
Hermes Agent
This is my daily driver for coding. It has multiple memory layers — the first is a persistent hot memory with a character cap, but the fourth layer can plug into third-party vector databases. If I had to pick one thing to improve, it would be that first-layer cap. Otherwise, it's near perfect for my workflow.
ChatGPT
I use the free tier. It handles writing drafts, quick research, and learning new concepts. I wrote three blog posts with it this week. The output isn't always great on the first try, but for getting a draft down fast, it works. I haven't needed the Pro plan.
Claude
This is where I go when the answer has to be right. Claude catches problems in my code that ChatGPT misses. The logic is tighter. It explains its reasoning instead of just giving a fix. When Claude Code came out, I started using it for reviewing larger changes.
Phind
My search engine. Documentation lookups, source code searches, error message fixes — it does all of that. Every answer comes with a source link. It still gives me wrong answers about half the time, but at least I can trace where the answer came from. I switched from Google for anything code-related.
What my friends use
Design: Midjourney. My designer friend says it's the only tool that gives him real inspiration when he's stuck. Plenty of AI image tools have come out, but MJ is the one he keeps paying for.
Podcast: Descript. Text-based audio editing saves him at least an hour a day. The AI silence removal alone is worth the subscription.
Video: Runway for generation, CapCut for editing short-form. CapCut's AI captions and voiceover are good enough that he stopped hiring freelancers for that work.
How I pick tools
- Start from the task, not the tool.
- Use the free tier until you hit a real limit.
- A tool you already know beats a "better" tool you don't.
- If a tool can't explain why it gave you that answer, be careful.
