🧪 Tool Stack & Reviews

Tool Stack & Reviews
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What’s actually worth your time (and money) in the world of AI.

This is not your typical AI tools list.
This is Jc’s personal R&D lab—plus insights from the community—on what actually works for building faster, automating smarter, and sounding like you cloned Morgan Freeman.

:toolbox: Why This Exists

Because most “AI tool lists” are:

  • 80% fluff
  • Written by someone who’s never built a thing
  • Designed to get affiliate clicks

This space is different. Here you’ll find:

  • :test_tube: Reviews from people who use the tools to run real businesses
  • :high_voltage: Practical use cases, not just features
  • :prohibited: Honest red flags (what not to waste your time on)
  • :repeat_button: Workflow-ready integrations (especially with n8n)

:speaker_high_volume: AUDIO — Tools That Talk Back

:star: ElevenLabs (Jc favorite)

The voice cloning and natural tone are unmatched. Human-like delivery, perfect for:

  • Personal AI assistants
  • Video narrations
  • Voice agents like Steve v2

If your brand needs a voice, this is the one to beat.

:speaking_head: Other solid picks:

  • Fliki – Text-to-video and text-to-speech, multi-language powerhouse
  • Play.ht – Clean UI, flexible voices
  • Suno & Udio – Make music and soundtracks with a prompt

:framed_picture: IMAGE — Visual Magic

:fire: ChatGPT 4o

Yes, it’s finally good at images.

No, you don’t need Midjourney for everything anymore.

ChatGPT 4o now does:

  • Realistic human renders
  • Marketing assets
  • Thumbnail mockups

I have personally stopped my Midjourney subscription and rely on ChatGPT and the OpenAI Image Gen API only.

:artist_palette: Other tools:

  • Stable Diffusion – More control, open-source
  • Midjourney – Still the best for that dramatic “designer” look
  • DALL·E – Simple prompts, consistent results

:movie_camera: VIDEO — From Slide Decks to Studio Grade

:clapper_board: Top Tools to Watch:

  • Runway – Swiss army knife for media generation
  • Sora – (Coming soon) OpenAI’s long-form video model
  • Pika / OpusClip – Fast turnaround edits and repurposing
  • Invideo / Captions – Plug-and-play video workflows

Use them to:

  • Turn blog posts into reels
  • Auto-clip long content for social
  • Build explainer videos from prompts

:robot: AVATARS — Talk With a Face

  • HeyGen – Real-time face syncing + voiceovers. Surprisingly smooth.
  • Synthesia – Fast avatar creation, very polished UX
  • D-ID – Great for animation from stills

Use cases:

  • Video sales letters
  • Onboarding tutorials
  • LinkedIn native videos with personality

:briefcase: SALES, MARKETING & ACADEMIC

  • Sybill – Transcribes and analyzes your sales calls like a sales coach
  • SubStrata – For reading the room in deal-making conversations
  • CreativAI – For content generation that feels on-brand
  • Aidaptive – Predictive personalization for ecommerce/hospitality
  • Consensus / Perplexity – For research-backed, source-cited answers

:warning: “Would Not Recommend” Wall (Coming Soon)

We’re adding a mini review wall of:

  • Overhyped but underwhelming tools
  • Expensive with no API
  • Breaks n8n workflows
  • Sounds cool but… meh in production

Got a tool that flopped? Share it and save someone else the trouble.

:package: Coming Up:

  • :repeat_button: “Top Tools by Workflow” (email, content, voice, etc.)
  • :brain: AI + n8n Tool Stack Combos
  • :test_tube: Workflow stress tests: how many tools can we chain before it breaks?

Drop your own stack below :backhand_index_pointing_down:
Or request a review of a tool you’re curious about.

Let’s build the real toolbox for small business automation — one node at a time.