There are thousands of AI tools. You need five. Here’s what each one does, how to set it up, and what to try first.
These aren’t five random tools. They’re a stack, and each one handles a different part of your work. Claude is where you think, Notion is where everything lives, Granola remembers your meetings, Wispr Flow lets you talk instead of type, and Gamma designs the deck.
All five have a free way to start. Prices below are current as of November 2026.
The tool I use for literally everything. Writing, thinking through problems, analyzing documents, building interactive tools, drafting emails, prepping for meetings. You give it context about what you’re working on, and it helps you produce things you’d actually use. If you only download one AI tool, make it this one.
Cost. Free plan. Pro is $20/mo, or $17/mo billed yearly. Works on the web, desktop and phone.
01
Sign up
Go to claude.ai and create an account, or download the desktop or mobile app.
02
Turn on memory
Click your initials in the bottom left, then Settings, then Your Claude, and make sure Memory from chats is on. Then tell Claude your name, your job and how you like things written, and it remembers across chats.
03
Connect your Google account
In a chat, click +, hover over Connectors, and switch on Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive. These are free on every plan, and Claude asks before it sends an email or changes a file.
Your whole work life in one app. Notes, tasks, projects, docs and wikis, with AI built right in to summarize a page, organize notes or answer questions across your workspace. Claude is where you think. Notion is where you keep everything.
Cost. Notion is free, and Plus is $10/mo per member. Free and Plus only get a limited trial of Notion AI. The full AI comes with Business at $20/mo per member. (Notion pricing)
01
Sign up and pick a template
Go to notion.com, create an account, and start from a template like a project tracker or meeting notes page.
02
Use the AI on any page
Press Space on a page to ask Notion AI, or highlight text and choose Edit with AI. (Notion AI help)
Try this first. Paste your notes from a meeting or brainstorm into a new page, highlight everything and ask the AI to summarize it with decisions and next steps.
Takes notes in your meetings for you. It runs on your computer, listens to any meeting (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, even in person), and no bot joins your call. When it ends, you get a clean summary and action items, and you can ask it follow-up questions about what was said.
Cost. The free Basic plan keeps your meeting history for 30 days. Business is $14/mo per user. It runs on Mac and Windows, with iPhone and Android apps. (Granola pricing)
01
Download and sign in
Get the desktop app from granola.ai and connect your calendar so it knows your meetings.
02
Run it in your next meeting
When the meeting ends, open the notes, add anything it missed, and ask it "what were the action items and who owns each one?" Then paste the notes into Claude with this to turn them into a real plan.
You talk, it types. Everywhere. It works in every app on your phone and computer, including email, Slack, texts and Google Docs. It cleans up what you say into properly formatted text, without the filler words or the rambling. Emails that took 5 minutes to type take 30 seconds to say.
Cost. Flow is free on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, up to a weekly word limit. Pro removes the limit for $15/mo, or $12/mo billed yearly. (Wispr pricing)
01
Download and allow access
Download Flow from the link below and allow the permissions it asks for. It needs them to type into other apps.
02
Set your shortcut
I hold the Fn key. Hold it, talk, let go, and your words appear wherever your cursor is.
Try this first. Click into an email reply, hold your shortcut and say what you want to say, the way you’d say it to a friend. Let go and you have a clean email. You’ll never want to type again.
Tell it what your presentation is about and it builds the whole deck. Slides, design, layout and content. Refine any slide, swap layouts, present straight from Gamma or export to PowerPoint. I haven’t opened PowerPoint in months.
Cost. Free to start with 400 credits that don’t refresh. Paid plans add monthly credits and remove the "Made with Gamma" badge.
01
Let Claude do the thinking
Use this prompt in Claude first, so the deck says something before it looks good.
02
Let Gamma do the design
Go to gamma.app, click Create new, choose Paste in text, and paste Claude’s outline. Pick a theme and you have a presentable deck in about 10 minutes.
A Real Workflow
Granola captures your meeting. Claude turns the action items into a project plan. The plan lives in Notion. Wispr Flow dictates the follow-up email. When it’s time to present the results, Gamma builds the deck. Five tools, one workflow.