// The Architecture
There are millions of tools out there. These are the Toyota Camrys—reliable, accessible, powerful, and they will serve you well wherever you are starting from.
No affiliate fluff. No sponsored rankings. Just the honest short-list from someone who is actually building with these every single week.
// 01. THE LLMs
The three I actually have open right now.
Claude
The one I live in. The Workspaces feature alone is worth the subscription (you can build custom skills, drop in your own documents, and it starts to feel less like a chatbot and more like a trained collaborator). Project memory changes everything.
Gemini
My stress-tester. Genuinely strong with language nuance—when I want to pressure-check a prompt or see how an idea holds up in a different model, this is where it goes.
ChatGPT
The OG. Still essential. Still the most recognisable starting point if you're onboarding anyone else to this world.
// 02. VIBE CODING
// THE FRAMEWORK
Before the list—a frame that will save you a lot of confusion. Vibe coding tools fall into three tiers. The tier you choose determines how much control you have and how much technical knowledge you need. Pick the wrong tier for the wrong project and you'll either feel constrained or lost. Pick right and you'll ship something real this weekend.
Tier 01 // Done For You
Least control, least code required.
Lovable
The Shopify of vibe coding. It has limits, but it's brilliant within them—fast, supported, and surprisingly well-integrated. Best for: MVPs, demo builds, weekend ideas you want live before Monday.
Bolt.io
Similar territory to Lovable, but the front-end output is noticeably sharper. If the design matters from day one, start here.
v0
Same tier. Same energy. Great for hatching something fast.
Tier 02 // Mid-Level Control
A bit more under the hood.
Tempo Labs
Solid mid-tier option when you want more flexibility without going full terminal.
Onlook + Google AI Studio
Good for when you're ready to start making meaningful post-build edits.
Replit
Less in my rotation right now, but worth knowing it exists.
Tier 03 // Maximum Control
Get comfortable in the terminal.
Cursor
This is where serious builders live. Not impossible to learn—just requires a bit of orientation before it clicks.
Windsurf
Same tier as Cursor. Once you're here, you're working like a developer, with AI doing the heavy lifting.
> THE ARCHITECT'S ADVICE:
If you're starting from zero, take a weekend and go straight into Lovable or Bolt. You'll hit a ceiling eventually—and that ceiling is the tutorial. When you do, you'll naturally start looking for more control, and that's when the knowledge follows the need.
// 03. TOP INTEGRATIONS
Supabase
The database layer. Lovable has its own, but Supabase gives you more room to grow.
Stripe
Payments. Non-negotiable the moment you're selling anything.
// 04. IMAGE & VIDEO GENERATION
The three I'm actually generating with.
Midjourney
Still the gold standard for quality. If the image needs to look like it was made intentionally, this is where it gets made.
Nano + Claude
This combo is a powerhouse. Claude writes the prompt, Nano executes it—the output-to-effort ratio is genuinely impressive.
Sora
Video generation. Early days, but worth having in your toolkit and watching closely.
// 05. AGENTS
The tools that act, not just answer.
Claude Chrome Plugin
Browser-level access means Claude can operate on the page you're actually looking at. Changes the use case significantly.
Claude Cowork
Desktop agent. Built for non-developers who want automation without the terminal.
Airtop
The one I reach for when a tool doesn't have an API. Lets you automate the un-automatable. More useful than it sounds.
Google AI Studio
Useful for building and testing agent behaviour before deploying it anywhere.
Open Claw
Worth having in the stack for logic execution.
// 06. AUTOMATION & PRODUCTIVITY
Where the workflows actually live.
Lindy.ai
My go-to for building automations that feel like they were designed by someone who's used software before. Fast to set up, genuinely reliable.
n8n
Open-source, flexible, and powerful once you know it. The learning curve is real—but so is the ceiling.
Manus AI
Newer in the rotation, but watching it closely. The agentic automation space is moving fast and Manus is moving with it.
Granola
AI meeting notes that actually capture what matters. It removes the tax of having to be the person writing things down while also trying to think. If you're in calls, you need this.