7 AI Tools That Do the Heavy Lifting So You Don’t Have To—Including Free Options

Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly transformed the way professionals and students around the world work, study, and conduct research. Since the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, AI has become deeply integrated into daily workflows, making complex tasks faster and more efficient. Over time, AI technology has expanded far beyond ChatGPT, forming a vast ecosystem of specialized tools designed to assist with nearly every type of digital task—from writing and coding to image generation, productivity assistance, and even automated planning for everyday needs like travel. With so many tools available, users often find themselves overwhelmed by the choices, especially with dozens of free AI applications accessible online. This overview highlights some of the most widely used AI tools today, providing insights into their core functions, features, pricing, and ideal use cases.

Cursor AI is one of the most significant AI-powered tools for developers. Built on Visual Studio Code, Cursor is designed as an “AI-first” coding assistant. It embeds AI directly into the coding process, acting as a copilot for developers. With its capabilities, Cursor can write code, debug existing code, refactor scripts, and generate new code in response to natural language prompts. For beginners, it can simplify complex programming tasks, while for experienced developers, it offers a productivity boost by automating repetitive tasks. Cursor offers a range of pricing plans: the free Hobby plan includes limited agent requests and a one-week trial of the Pro version, while paid plans include Pro at $20/month, Pro+ at $60/month, and Ultra at $200/month. Additionally, business users can opt for team-oriented plans priced at $40/month per user. Cursor is ideal for developers seeking a versatile, all-in-one coding tool that supports both free use and scalable upgrades.

Midjourney is another widely recognized AI tool, known especially for its ability to generate high-quality, realistic, and artistic images from natural language prompts. Using advanced diffusion models, Midjourney interprets text to produce visuals that range from artistic illustrations to hyper-realistic images. It gained massive popularity for creating viral images—for example, Pope Francis wearing a stylish Balenciaga puffer jacket and AI-generated pictures of Donald Trump being arrested. These examples demonstrate the tool’s power and influence across the internet. Midjourney is best suited for designers, illustrators, marketers, and content creators who require visually striking imagery. Unlike some other AI tools, Midjourney does not offer a free tier. Its pricing starts at $10/month for the basic plan (up to 200 images), with other plans including Standard at $24/month, Pro at $48/month, and Mega at $96/month. The tool is ideal for users willing to pay for high-quality, customizable image generation.

Descript.com is another major AI-driven tool, focused on making audio and video editing more intuitive and efficient. Descript transforms traditional editing by converting audio and video files into editable text transcripts. Users can edit a video or podcast simply by deleting or modifying words in the transcript, just like editing a document. This significantly reduces the learning curve for media creation. Its features are particularly useful for podcasters, instructors, video creators, and marketers. Descript offers an accessible way to create and refine multimedia content without requiring advanced editing skills.

Together, these AI tools reflect the rapidly expanding AI ecosystem that empowers users across coding, visual creation, and media editing—streamlining tasks and offering new possibilities for productivity and creativity.