23 Best AI Productivity Tools in 2024: Elevate Your Work with Cutting-Edge Apps

AI productivity tools are software that uses artificial intelligence to automate tasks. These technologies enable us to improve our creativity, get rid of mistakes, and not waste time. 

According to NBER, such tools will help increase output by up to 14%. We have scheduling apps, writing assistance, you name it. These apps will help you work smarter, not harder.

So, I've browsed through the web, studied reviews, and tested a number of AI productivity tools myself to come up with this list. Without saying much, here are my top picks to improve your productivity this year.

Writing and Editing

If you write a lot for work or school, these platforms are for you. In other words, they help you by making sure that your writing sounds good and with no errors. Here are some of the top AI writing and editing tools:

1. ChatGPT

When you have no idea on how to start writing your report or maybe you need assistance in your writing project, ChatGPT is always there to help. It is a generative AI software that uses AI to understand what you are trying to say and gives you hints to make your writing clearer and more interesting. Also, it helps you brainstorm ideas and polish your final draft. However, be careful because some companies do not allow any AI-generated texts to be used in their projects.

Key Features

• Creates texts taking into account the previous messages.
• Maintains context throughout the whole conversation.
• Excels in different writing niches, be it essay writing, article drafting, or storytelling.

Plans

• Free plan. This comes with a GPT-3.5 model, which you can use on any platform.
• Plus plan. You get to use GPT-4, which is their most up-to-date model. $20 per user per month.
• Team plan. This plan costs $25 per user each month. It has all the features the Plus plan has. Also, you can use it to create and share GPTs in your workspace.

Best Suited For

ChatGPT is good for writing essays, articles, or even creative stories. So, freelancers can also use it to do research. Also, they can use it to summarize information and provide insights and analysis. 

2. Grammarly

When you need a personal editor that scans your writing for mistakes and helps you fix them, Grammarly is the best choice. It helps scan your texts for typos and errors with punctuation. Also, it gives you tips on how to make your writing to sound more professional and polished.

Key Features

• Uses an advanced AI algorithm to detect and correct grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.
• Analyze the tone and style you use in your writing and recommend corrections to make it engaging.
• Suggests synonyms to increase the clarity of your writing.
• Checks write-ups for plagiarism.

Plans

• Free plan. This plan provides you with 100 prompts for text generation. Also, it is free to check texts for grammar errors.
• Premium plan. This one costs $12 per user each month and gives you 1,000 AI prompts.
• Business plan. This plan goes for $15 per user per month and gives 2,000 AI prompts. This plan is best for teams.

Best Suited For

Grammarly is suitable for students. They can use it to make sure they get error-free assignments and essays. Also, professional writers, bloggers, and content creators can use the advanced writing assistance features to improve their work. 

3. QuillBot

QuillBot is a tool that helps rewrite texts in different ways. Also, it uses AI to understand the context of your writing and suggest different wording, keeping the original meaning. Additionally, the application has plagiarism and grammar checkers, summarizers, and translators.

Key Features

• Uses AI to transform long texts into concise ones. 
• Automatically generates citations in different formats, like APA, MLA, and Chicago.
• Checks the text and give you some improvements.
• Scans the text for plagiarism.

Plans

• Free plan. With this plan, you get 125 words in paraphrasing and 1,200 words in the summarizer. 
• Premium plan. This plan goes for $9.95/user/month, and you will get all the available features.

Best Suited For

It is a great choice for students, academics, and content creators. 

Task and Project Management

Task and project management tools help you stay as productive as ever in your remote work. Here are the best of them:

1. ClickUp

ClickUp is a comprehensive productivity tool that allows teams to get together, discuss, make plans, and interact on everything from process documents to finished product principles.

Key Features

• Understands natural language commands. It helps users create tasks, set reminders, and use the platform through conversational inputs.
• Automatically assigns tasks, sets due dates, and prioritizes work depending on established rules and machine learning algorithms.
• Uses AI to analyze project data and provide insights, forecasts, and recommendations for optimizing workflows.

Plans

• Free forever plan. This plan gives you core project management features for personal use or small teams.
• Unlimited plan. For larger teams, this plan provides unlimited storage, advanced reporting, and guest author permissions. It goes for $7/user/month.
• Business plan. This plan goes for $12/user/month. In addition to the Unlimited features, it includes custom exporting, increased security, and priority support.
• Enterprise plan. This plan is best for large organizations. It offers advanced security, compliance, and personalized onboarding. 

Best Suited For

It is a great choice if you have a remote team.

2. Trello

I recommend using Trello to keep everything organized just the way you like it. It is really user-friendly. So, even if you are working alone or with a team, it is a great tool to stay on top of things. Also, it helps you know exactly what needs to be done.

Key Features

• Trello's Butler tool helps you to automate routine tasks. 
• It has a smart suggestions feature which is powered by AI to make your work even more efficient. This includes suggesting templates and organizing tasks. 
• It has AI-powered suggestions to help streamline workflows. This is done by recommending relevant templates, board organization, and ordering tasks.
• You can integrate it with AI assistants like ChatGPT.

Plans

• Free plan. This plan comes with core Kanban board features, which is perfect for personal use or small teams. 
• Standard plan. The standard plan goes for $5/user/month. It gives you access to advanced features like custom fields, larger file attachments, and unlimited integrations. 
• Premium plan. The premium plan is best for larger teams. It goes for $10/user/month and gives you workspace command runs, unlimited automation, and priority support. 
• Enterprise plan. This plan goes for $17.5/user/month. It offers advanced security, compliance, and dedicated account management for organizations. 

Best Suited For

It is a great fit for virtual team members as they can use it for visual project management, team collaboration, and agile methodologies. 

3. Asana

Asana is a tool for those who need a project manager in digital form. It is made to help you plan, organize, and execute projects from start to finish. This tool has features like task dependencies and timelines. Also, Asana makes it easy to keep track of progress and stay on schedule.

Key Features

• Assigns project templates and workflows to streamline project planning.
• Automatically assigns tasks, set due dates, and order work based on priority and predefined conditions.
• Monitors project performance and shows areas that needs improvement.

Plans

• Personal plan. This plan is completely free and includes vital features for both teams and individual use.
• Starter plan. It goes for $10.99 for each user per month. This package allows you to use advanced features such as personal fields, timeline views, and infinite dashboards.
• Advanced plan. This plan is best for larger teams, and it goes for $24.99 for each user per month.

Best Suited For

It is a great choice for project managers who want to handle complex projects. They can also use it to automate repetitive tasks and optimize workflows. 

4. Jira

I use Jira a lot, and it is really helpful. It is a project management tool that's great for teams working on complex projects with lots of moving parts. That is, it is great for remote and hybrid teams. It helps you plan, track, and manage tasks and deadlines so nothing falls through the cracks.

Key Features

• Has the Scrum and Kanban boards for visualizing and organizing work.
• Heps to create custom rules and workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and streamline processes.

Plans

• Free plan. The free plan gives you basic project management features like project boards and storage.
• Standard plan. This plan goes for $8.15/user/month, and you get advanced features like roadmaps, agile reporting, and unlimited storage.
• Premium plan. This $16/user/month plan provides advanced automation, user management, and data encryption.
• Enterprise plan. This plan offers enterprise-grade security, compliance, and dedicated support.

Best Suited For

It is the best fit for students and employees to use it for bug tracking, issue management, and team collaboration. 

Communication and Collaboration

Communication and collaboration tools are helpful for people who need to work together with others. Below are the best softwares:

1. Slack

I bet you’ve heard of Slack, but have you tried it? It is like a digital office where you can chat with your team and share files. You can also collaborate on projects in real time. This means that it is perfect for keeping everyone on the same page, whether you're working remotely or in the same building.

Key Features

• Lets you quickly find relevant messages, files, and information across various channels and conversations.
• Suggests relevant channels, apps, and resources based on the context of conversations.
• You can make use of Slack's integration with AI tools to automate different workflows. These workflows include scheduling meetings, generating reports, or triggering specific actions based on predefined conditions.

Plans

• Free plan. The free plan has vital communication and collaboration tools, such as one-on-one meetings.
• Standard plan. The cost of this plan is $7.25 per user/month and includes features such as guest access, limitless app integrations, and enhanced file storage.
• Plus plan. I like this plan because it was designed for larger teams. It also costs around $12.50 per user each month and contains extra security and compliance capabilities, as well as better support.
• Enterprise grid plan. The enterprise package is ideal for businesses and begins at $6.67 per user per month. It provides extensive security, compliance, and management controls, as well as personalized support.

Best Suited For

It is great for students and employees who can use it for team communication, project collaboration, remote and distributed teams, and workflow automation.

2. Zoom

When you need to discuss anything with your remote team, Zoom is an app that makes it easy. All you need is a stable internet connection.

Key Features

• Offers screen sharing and virtual backgrounds for interactive presentations.
• Has an AI-based noise cancellation technology that effectively filters out background noise.
• Generates real-time closed captions.
• Automatically generate a meeting summary, including key topics discussed, action items, and highlights.

Plans

• Basic plan. This plan is free and offers features such as unlimited one-on-one and group sessions lasting up to 40 minutes.
• Pro plan. This subscription plan costs $14.99 per user each month and includes advanced capabilities such as meeting recordings, online streaming, and cloud recording transcripts.
• Business plan. This package is designed for small and medium enterprises and costs $19.99 per user per month. It offers additional features such as company branding, specialized customer support, and cloud storage for recordings.
• Enterprise plan. This plan is for big companies and starts at $19.99 for each user per month.

Best Suited For

Zoom is best for remote teams. That is because it helps them meet and collaborate. Also, they can use it for online classes and training, virtual events, and webinars.

Note-taking and Documentation

Note-taking and documentation tools are useful for anyone who needs to keep track of information. Here are the best tools:

1. Notion

When you need a flexible tool to manage projects, tasks, and knowledge, Notion is there for yoi. The tool helps you organize information in one place and is useful for both individuals and teams.

Key Features

• Quickly finds information, documents, and tasks all over your workspace.
• Suggests the best templates, databases, and workflows based on the context of your work.

Plans

• Free plan. This plan is free and includes basic features such as infinite pages, sharing, and 7 days of history.
• Plus plan. This plan costs $8 for every user per month and includes extra features such as unlimited visitors, version history, and extended permissions.
• Business plan. This one is intended for teams. It costs $15 per user each month and features administrative tools and priority support.
• Enterprise plan. Pricing for this plan is customized based on your specific needs.

Best Suited For

This tool is best for students and business leaders who want to make use of note-taking and knowledge management. Also, project managers can use it for team collaboration.

2. Evernote

My colleague, Marta, highly recommends Evernote and it  also has many positive reviews online. It is a note-taking app that helps you capture your thoughts and organize notes. So, whether you are brainstorming ideas, taking meeting notes, or creating to-do lists, Evernote has got you covered.

Key Features

• Recognizes text in images and PDF files.
• Searches for notes you write manually. 
• Suggests relevant tags, notebooks, and related content based on the context of your notes.

Plans

• Free plan. This plan allows you to create and synchronize notes across devices, capture web clippings, and add attachments.
• Personal plan. This plan costs $14.99 per user per month and includes sophisticated search features, note annotation, and PDF creation tools.
• Professional plan. This plan costs $17.99 per user per month.
• Teams plan. This plan costs $24.99 per user per month.

Best Suited For

This tool is best for freelancers and students who can use the note-taking and information capture feature for research and study. Project managers can also use it to collaborate.

3. Otter.ai

Otter.ai is an AI-powered transcription and note-taking tool that makes capturing and reviewing spoken conversations easy. That is to say, it is perfect for recording meetings, interviews, lectures, etc. It also automatically transcribes them into searchable, editable text.

Key Features

• Allows you to quickly find notes, documents, and attachments across your entire note collection
• Has a real-time transcription of spoken conversations with high accuracy.
• There is a speaker identification feature and highlighting for easy reference.
• Has playback controls and keyword searches for quickly finding the necessary information.
• Generates a concise summary of transcribed audio. 

Plans

• Basic plan. This is entirely free to use. However, it lacks many features.
• Pro plan. This package costs $10 for each user per month and includes unlimited monthly transcribing minutes, extensive editing abilities, and priority customer service.
• Business plan. This costs $20 per user each month and includes features such as centralized billing, administrative management, and increased security.
• Entrepreneur plan. This is a customized plan for big companies.

Best Suited For

This tool is best for freelancers or hybrid workers to use for remote meetings and interviews. Students and researchers can also use it for lectures and presentations. It can also be used for podcast and content creation, note-taking, and documentation.

4. Microsoft Office

As a long-time user of Microsoft Office, I can confidently say that it is a comprehensive suite of productivity tools that has been great for both personal and professional use. Its many tools have become an indispensable asset in daily workflow.

Key Features

• Gives you advanced writing suggestions and grammar checks. Also, it helps you recommend different writing styles.
• Easily analyzes and visualizes complex data.
• Assists in creating captivating presentations by suggesting visually appealing layouts, design ideas, and even generating slide content based on your inputs.

Plans

• Microsoft 365 personal plan. The package costs $6.99 per user per month and provides one person with access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other Office applications.
• Microsoft 365 Family plan. This subscription, which costs $9.99 per user per month, allows up to six users to access Office programs across several devices.

Best Suited For

Any professional can use Office because it is well suited for document creation and editing. So, CEOs, researchers, and analysts can use it for data analysis and reporting, as well as presentations and slideshows.

5. Google Services

Google's suite of products and services has changed how we work, collaborate, and stay organized for the better. Also, it has become an integral part of how we work on a daily basis. This is from cloud storage and productivity tools to AI-powered assistants and search capabilities.

Key Features

• Integrates AI-driven writing suggestions, grammar checks, and styling recommendations. All these help enhance writing quality.
• Understands and responds to voice commands. This helps us perform tasks hands-free.

Plans

Google services are free to use.

Best Suited For

Students and CEOs – in fact, anybody can use it for collaboration, cloud storage, research, information gathering, file management, communication, and AI assistance.

Personal Productivity

These tools help you stay organized and get things done. I found two great AI personal productivity tools:

1. Google Assistant

Google Assistant is like having a robotic manager right at your fingertips. That is, it uses AI to understand your voice commands. Also, it gives you personalized assistance throughout your day.

Key Features

• Advanced AI voice recognition feature helps you interact with the assistant without touching buttons.
• Controls smart home devices, like lights, thermostats, and speakers, using voice commands.
• Learns from your preferences, habits, and usage patterns and then gives you personalized recommendations.

Plans

It is free to use.

Best Suited For

This tool is for freelancers to perform daily task management duties. Anyone can use the hands-free control feature and smart home automation.

2. Siri (Apple ecosystem)

I am sure you already know Siri. This Apple's virtual assistant helps you stay organized and productive with your Apple products (iPhone, iPad, or Mac). The tool uses AI to understand your voice commands and perform tasks to make your life easier.

Key Features

• Listens to voice commands for setting reminders, sending messages, and making calls without lifting a finger.
• Integrates with Apple services like Calendar, Messages, and Maps for easy task management.
• Uses the machine learning capability for personalized suggestions and notifications based on your habits and preferences to help you stay productive throughout the day.

Plans

It is free to use.

Best Suited For

Siri is best for anyone to use for device control, automation, and hands-free control.

Image Generation

Image generation tools are great for anyone who needs to create visuals, be it marketers, content creators, or social media managers. Here are the best AI image generators:

1. Lensgo

The great thing about Lensgo is that you can try it several times for free. It helps you create stunning visuals for your work or even your social media. The tool uses advanced algorithms to generate images based on your preferences and requirements.

Key Features

• Recognizes and identifies objects like flowers simply by uploading them. It will also give you the name and overview of the objects
• Improves the quality and appearance of your visuals.

Plans

• Free plan. This is a free plan that has just 50 points a day.
• Standard plan. This costs $6 for each user per month and has 1,000 points for that month.
• Pro plan. Pro is the most popular plan. It costs about $22 for each user per month and has 4,000 points for the month.
• Mega plan. This plan costs $49 per month and includes 10,000 points each month. It is recommended for large enterprises.

Best Suited For

If you would love to create a stock image for school projects or blog posts, this tool is for you.

2. Midjourney

Have you ever seen unrealistic images that look like the works of a masterful designer? Now we don’t need professionals to create such masterpieces. Midjourney is an AI-powered image generation tool that helps you create professional-looking images for your needs. It uses machine learning algorithms to analyze your content and generate images tailored to your needs.

Key Features

• Offers image templates and themes for creating pictures in different styles and genres.
• Applies various artistic styles to the generated images.
• Upscales and enhances the resolution and quality of the generated images.

Plans

• Free plan. This is the free plan, which includes a limited number of monthly picture-generating credits.
• Basic plan. This plan costs $10 per month and includes more picture production credits and higher-resolution outputs.
• Standard plan. At $30 per month, the plan includes more picture-generating credits, priority queuing, and access to advanced capabilities such as image variety and upscaling.
• Pro plan. This plan is designed for professional users and costs $60 per month. It includes limitless picture generating credits, commercial usage rights, and priority support.

Best Suited For

This tool is for those who want to generate stock images for school work, blogs, and social media posts.

Video Generation

Here are the best AI video generators based on the reviews I found online:

1. InVideo

Searching for the reviews, I found many of them giving 5 stars to InVideo – a versatile video creation platform that combines AI technology with natural editing tools. The tool helps you create engaging videos in minutes. It offers many templates, effects, and features to make your videos stand out.

Key Features

• Makes videos the way you want them, using your favorite style, content, and preferences.
• Creates voice-overs in different languages and accents that sound real and natural, so you don't have to record them yourself.
• Enhances videos by adjusting colors, stabilizing footage, and making other improvements.

Plans

• Free plan. InVideo provides a free package that has restricted access to features and watermarked outputs.
• Business plan. This subscription plan is $15 per user per month and includes access to advanced features, limitless exports, and 60GB of cloud storage.
• Unlimited plan. At $30 per user each month, this package includes unlimited storage, powerful team communication capabilities, and priority support.

Best Suited For

I believe that this tool is best for content creators, marketers, educators, and trainers.

2. Synthesia

Synthesia helps you generate highly realistic AI avatars that can lip-sync to any script or audio recording. However, it does not have a free plan – which may disappoint you. But, for professionals working with videos it will most likely become a great tool to work with. 

Key Features

• It makes use of advanced NLP ability to understand and interpret text. This capability helps ensure accurate lip-syncing and natural-sounding speech
• Generates lifelike facial animations and expressions for the avatars.
• You can clone your own voice or use pre-existing voice models to have the AI avatars speak in a natural and expressive manner.

Plans

• Starter plan. The paid version costs $22 for each user per month and includes additional capabilities, higher-resolution exports, and limitless video production.
• Creator plan. It costs $67 a month and offers additional services, including custom avatar creation, speech cloning, and priority assistance.
• Enterprise plan. For large enterprises, price for this package is tailored to particular requirements.

Best Suited For

It is suitable for video content creators, online educators, marketers, etc.

SEO

You may need to use SEO tools to improve your website's visibility on search engines. Here are five of the best AI-powered SEO tools I found online:

1. Frase.io

Frase.io is a tool that is powered by AI and helps you optimize your content to help you create an SEO-friendly one. That is, it uses natural language processing to analyze your content and comes up with recommendations. These recommendations help you improve the relevance and search engine ranking of your content.

Key Features

• Quickly help in analyzing and surfacing information, data, and insights from different sources.
• Has AI-driven content optimization suggestions to help improve readability and SEO.
• You can use the platform's AI-powered scoring system to evaluate the quality and comprehensiveness of your content.

Plans

• Solo plan. This plan costs $14.99 per user for each month and includes sophisticated research and outline-generating tools.
• Basic plan. This one costs $44.99 a month and includes extra services such as content optimization, scoring, and team collaboration.
• Team plan. It costs $114.99 per month and includes everything from the Basic package. However, it could be used by up to three people.

Best Suited For

This tool is mainly for content writers, bloggers, content marketers, and SEO professionals.

2. Scalenut

Scalenut is an AI-driven SEO platform that uses machine learning to analyze your website's performance. After this, it  gives you some recommendations to help improve its search engine ranking.

Key Features

• Detects technical SEO issues and helps optimize the website content.
• Identifies high-value keywords and watches their performance.

Plans

• Essential plan. $19 for each user per month with 100,000 AI words.
• Growth plan. $39 for each user per month with unlimited AI words.
• Pro plan. $75  for each user per month with unlimited AI words.
• Enterprise plan. Custom plan tailored to your needs.

Best Suited For

It is basically for content writers, bloggers, content marketers, and SEO professionals.

3. Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is a tool that helps you optimize your website's content for search engines. It uses AI algorithms to analyze top-ranking pages. Also, it gives you some recommendations to improve your content's relevance.

Key Features

• Analyzes keyword usage, content length, and other ranking factors.
• Identifies ways to improve your website's visibility in search engine results.

Plans

• Essential plan. This plan is about $89/month and you can use it on up to 30 articles.
• Scale plan. This one is $129/month and you can use it on up to 100 articles.
• Scale AI plan. The scale AI plan is $219/month and you can use it on up to 30 articles. Also, you can  generate 10 ready-to-rank AI articles.
• Enterprise plan. This plan starts from $399/month, you have to customize it to suit your needs.

Best Suited For

Best for content writers, bloggers, content marketers, and SEO professionals.

AI-powered productivity tools help you get tasks done quickly. Also, they improve your overall productivity. Remember, AI will likely not replace human creativity and intuition. However, you can enhance your abilities with these tools. Thank you for reading, and I hope it helped.

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