Every tool on this list is something I use in my own work. No paid placements. If it is here, it earned its place.
AI Coding
Claude Code — My primary AI coding environment. Reads your files, runs commands, writes and edits code. The gap between Claude Code and everything else is significant. See my full setup guide.
Cursor — IDE with AI built in. Good for teams not ready for Claude Code. Better than Copilot.
AI Models
Claude (Anthropic) — Best for reasoning, writing, and code. My default for anything that requires nuance.
ChatGPT (OpenAI) — Strong for general tasks. GPT-4o is fast and reliable. Use it for anything that does not require deep reasoning.
Automation
n8n — Open-source workflow automation. Self-hostable, powerful, and the AI node support is genuinely good. Better than Zapier for anything complex.
Make — Visual automation builder. Easier than n8n for simple workflows. Good starting point if you are new to automation.
Writing and Content
Obsidian — My second brain. Local markdown files, linked notes, no subscription required. I use it for everything that needs to persist.
Development Stack
VS Code — Editor. The Claude Code extension runs inside it.
GitHub — Version control and CI/CD. Claude Code integrates directly with it.
This list updates as tools change. If something falls off, it did not hold up in real use.