Top AI Tools for 2025: Boost Your Productivity

💼 AI Tools to Use in 2025 to Boost Your Productivity

Last week I posted on LinkedIn my top 10 AI tools to supercharge productivity—and the response was huge. So I thought I’d dedicate an entire visual newsletter with short (1m30) videos to show you each tool in action.

Many of these are free (or have a free tier). Nobody wants to drop $20/month on every app, and we’re all careful with the credit card. 💳

These tools save me hours of work—so I’m sure they’ll do the same for you.

I’ll start with the more classic ones—and there’s a little bonus at the end.

1️⃣ Information Research: Perplexity (Free tier)

Perplexity -> An “information copilot” delivering instant, reliable answers with sources cited.

2 Tips:

• Use search operators like filetype:PDF to get only PDFs, site:example.com to target a specific site, or after:YYYY-MM-DD to restrict by date.
• Try Focus mode to zero in on a specific format or site type (e.g. Reddit for user experiences).

2️⃣ Document Analysis: NotebookLM (Free)

NotebookLM -> Turn documents into interactive, conversational content.

Super handy for learning. Pro tip: you can now generate French‐language podcasts—and even interact within the podcast itself:

A paid version arrives in 2025 with more sources, custom instructions, and collaborative features…

3️⃣ Presentation Creation: Gamma App (Free tier)

Gamma -> Generate a polished presentation in minutes from any source (text, URL, etc.), with built-in analytics.

4️⃣ Diagram Generation: Napkin AI (Free)

Napkin AI -> Instantly create editable diagrams and illustrations to bring ideas to life.

5️⃣ Visual Content Generation: Krea (Free tier)

Krea -> Generate AI-powered images or videos in seconds—simple and customizable.

There’s even a GPT in Flux for optimized prompt generation. Browse the GPT Store for many more (even on the free plan).

6️⃣ Auto Internal Documentation: Guidde (Free tier)

Guidde -> Create step-by-step walkthroughs from screen recordings.

7️⃣ Simplified Video Editing: Descript (Paid)

Descript -> Edit your videos with one click using automatic transcription.

8️⃣ Automatic Note-Taking: Otter (Free tier)

Otter -> Transcribe and summarize your meetings automatically. Alternatives: Tldv, Fireflies, Noota, Leexi, Fathom.

For hardware fans, there’s Plaud—I’ve never tried it, but it’s worth a look.

9️⃣ Audio-to-Text: Flow (Free tier)

Flow -> Generate clean transcripts from any audio recording.

🎁 Bonus: Miscellaneous Free Tools

Some one-off free tools you might enjoy:

• Remove BG: One-click background removal.
• Watermark Remover: Quickly erase watermarks from images.
• LogoFa.st: Create simple logos in minutes.
• ColorMagic: Generate color palettes for your projects.
• Riverside Transcription or Downsub (for YouTube videos).
• Whimsical: AI-powered diagramming (GPT plug-in available).
• Particle: Interactive news summaries.
• Countless: Compare AI model costs.

Fun extras:

• Animated Drawings (Meta): Bring your sketches to life.
• Suno: Generate music from a prompt.
• Say What You See: A prompt-writing trainer.

Don’t forget to explore Google Labs for more free experimental tools:

• Virtual cultural tours with an AI guide.
• AI-generated stickers.
• Creative expression tools for artists.
• AI-powered chessboard generation.

In short, this is my personal take on the AI tools I use. I encourage you to try them yourself, get familiar, and see where you can extract value.