This is an opinionated starter stack — not a comprehensive directory of every AI tool. The goal is to give operators a stable set of tools that cover real business needs without creating tool sprawl. Start with the core tools in each category, add others only when a genuine need arises.

Chat and Reasoning

• Claude Pro (Anthropic): Primary reasoning and drafting tool. Best for long documents, nuanced writing, following complex multi-step instructions. Use Projects to maintain context per workflow. $20/month.
• ChatGPT Plus (OpenAI): Strong for structured tasks, code, and integrations. Team plan adds data privacy protections worth having for business use. $20/month individual, $30/user/month for Team.
• Perplexity Pro: Research and fact-checking with live web access and citations. Not a drafting tool — a sourcing tool. $20/month.

Writing and Editing

• Claude (via Projects): For long-form drafts — proposals, reports, SOPs, email sequences — Claude with a loaded Project (your style guide, past examples, company context) is the strongest option for operator writing tasks.
• Grammarly Business: Tone and grammar checking that integrates directly into Gmail, Slack, and docs. Useful as a final pass on customer-facing communications. Not a replacement for a good prompt — a quality gate after one.

Automation

• n8n: Open-source workflow automation. Self-hostable, no-code/low-code, connects AI models (Claude, OpenAI) to your CRM, email, Slack, databases, and anything with an API. Steeper initial setup than Zapier but far more flexible. Best choice for operators who want to build real business automations.
• Zapier: Faster to start. Best for simple trigger-action flows (new form submission → send email, new invoice → log in sheet). Start here if n8n feels like too much overhead, then migrate when you hit limitations.
• Make (formerly Integromat): A middle ground — more powerful than Zapier, more visual than n8n. Worth knowing if you outgrow Zapier but aren’t ready for n8n’s setup.

Build and Development

• Claude Code: AI coding agent for operators who want to build real tools — internal dashboards, web apps, automations. Works in your terminal and project files. Pairs with Vercel and Neon for deployment. See Ship Your First Web App.
• Cursor: Code editor with AI built in. Better interface for operators who want to see and edit code directly rather than work purely through a terminal agent. Good alternative to Claude Code for visual learners.
• Vercel + Neon: Hosting and database for operator-built apps. Vercel deploys from GitHub automatically. Neon is serverless Postgres. Both have generous free tiers.

Research

• Perplexity Pro: Current web search with citations. Use for competitor research, market trends, regulatory questions, anything requiring up-to-date sourced information.
• NotebookLM (Google): Upload your own documents (contracts, reports, transcripts) and ask questions against them. Useful for synthesizing internal knowledge bases without fine-tuning a model.

Video and Screen

• Descript: Record, transcribe, edit video and audio. Drop a meeting recording in and get a transcript you can feed into Claude for summarization, action items, or SOP creation. The editing workflow is the best non-technical option for operator-made video content.
• Loom: Quick screen and webcam recording with sharing. Better than Descript if you just need to record a process walkthrough, not edit it. Free tier is useful.