The Only 3 AI Tools You Need to Make Money in 2026
Why more tools won’t help you (and what will)
I need to tell you something that’s going to save you a lot of money and a lot of frustration.
I use a handful of AI tools but three of them are the ones I open every single day. THREE. That’s my daily stack. And those three tools handle everything I need to create content, build offers, serve my audience, and generate income.
I know this because I was the person with too many subscriptions. I’ve tested over 40 AI tools in the last three years like a maniac. Signed up for free trials, paid for monthly plans, watched every tutorial, and joined every waitlist. And you know what most of that got me? A bunch of logins I couldn’t keep track of and a credit card statement that made me want to cry.
Maybe you’re in the same place right now. Your upline told you to use this tool, some course told you to use that tool, you saw someone on TikTok swearing by three more, and now you’ve got subscriptions bleeding out of your bank account and you’re STILL not sure what to post tomorrow. Or maybe you’re a coach or creator who keeps hearing you need an expensive AI stack to stay competitive and you’re wondering if that’s actually true. Or maybe you just searched “AI tools to make money” and got hit with a wall of lists that all recommend different things.
Wherever you’re coming from, the answer is the same. You need three tools. That’s it. The rest is noise.
Why Most “Best AI Tools for Creators” Lists Are Rubbish
I’m going to be straight with you about something. Most of those “Top 20 AI Tools You NEED” posts? They’re affiliate dumps. The person writing the list gets paid every time you click through and subscribe. So of course the list is long. Every tool on that list is a potential commission for them.
I have ZERO affiliate relationships with the three tools I’m about to recommend. None. I make nothing if you sign up for any of them. I’m telling you about them because I use them every single day and they work. That’s it.
The other problem with those giant tool lists is what they actually do to you. More tools means more logins, more subscriptions, more learning curves, more things pulling at your attention when you should be building your business. I’ve watched people (and been the person) spending more time managing software than actually creating anything. You end up with thirty AI subscriptions and no clear offer. You’re just spending money to feel productive.
For real. Simplicity is the actual productivity tool here. Fewer subscriptions and less complexity means you actually execute. That’s what generates income.
The 3-Tool Stack: Everything You Need, Nothing You Don’t
These three tools cover my full workflow from thinking to creating to producing visual content. They work together without overlap. And the combined cost starts under $50 a month at entry-level paid tiers. All three have free versions powerful enough to test before you spend anything.
This works whether you’re brand new to AI or you’ve been building online for years. The tools scale with you.
Tool #1: Claude by Anthropic
Claude is where I do my thinking. All of it. Strategy, content, articles, emails, brainstorming, editing, and offer development. If it involves words or ideas, it happens in Claude.
I switched to Claude from ChatGPT and I’m not even a little bit sorry about it. The difference in output quality was IMMEDIATE. Claude writes closer to how I actually think and communicate. The reasoning is deeper and the writing doesn’t sound like a machine tried to be casual. And when I push back on something or ask for revisions, it adjusts intelligently instead of just rearranging the same words into a different order (if you’ve used ChatGPT for writing, you know exactly what I’m talking about).
This matters because the whole point of using AI for content is that it needs to sound like YOU. If you’re spending an hour editing every single piece of AI content to strip out the robot voice, your tool is failing you. I was doing that constantly with ChatGPT. With Claude, I barely edit.
Day to day, Claude handles my content strategy and planning. I use it to brainstorm topics, develop outlines, and create first drafts that are close enough to my voice that editing takes minutes instead of hours. It writes email sequences and social media content. It helps me think through business decisions by surfacing things I might miss.
Pricing: There’s a free tier that’s genuinely useful for getting started. The Pro plan is $20 a month and that’s what most people will need. There’s also a Max plan at $100 a month for heavy users, but Pro is more than enough for most creators and entrepreneurs.
I’m not saying ChatGPT is bad. Millions of people use it well. But I tested both extensively and for my workflow, Claude won. That’s where I landed and I haven’t looked back.
Tool #2: Higgsfield
This is the one most people haven’t heard of yet and honestly it’s the one I’m most excited about.
Higgsfield is an all-in-one AI visual studio. Image generation, video creation, AI avatars, and cinematic video. All in one platform. You don’t need a separate image tool AND a separate video tool AND a separate avatar tool. Higgsfield does all of it.
If you’re building anything online, visual content is not optional. You need images for social media and digital products. You need video for short-form content and audience building. And if you’re running a faceless brand or you just don’t want to be on camera every single day (I get it), AI avatars let you show up without actually showing up.
Higgsfield lets you create an avatar that looks like you and delivers your content with your presence, without you filming anything. I know that sounds like a gimmick. It’s not. I use it in my actual business for people who value their privacy or who simply cannot be on camera five days a week. Some of you are juggling businesses and families and about fourteen other things. Being camera-ready every day is not realistic and it doesn’t have to be.
I use Higgsfield for all my visual content. For image generation, I use Nano Banana Pro inside the platform, and for video I use Grok Imagine almost exclusively now. Plus it has face animation, lip sync, and the ability to change the visual style of your content (think turning a regular video into animation or a completely different aesthetic). Every time I log in there’s something new.
Pricing: There’s a free tier with limited credits so you can test it. Higgsfield runs on a credit-based system with paid plans starting at $9 a month for 150 credits. The Pro plan at around $17 a month gives you 600 credits, which is enough to get real work done. Most people starting out will land somewhere in the $9 to $29 range. I’m on a higher tier because I generate at volume, but you don’t need to start where I am.
The whole point is consolidation. Instead of paying for an image generator AND a video creator AND an avatar tool separately, it’s all under one roof. Less to manage, less to pay for, and your visual content stays consistent.
Tool #3: Google Gemini
Gemini is my research engine. When I need to go deep on a topic, understand what’s happening in a market, or gather real information before creating content, Gemini is where I go.
The deep research feature is what sets it apart. It doesn’t just give you a surface-level answer. It pulls from current sources, synthesizes information, and produces research that would take me hours to compile manually. If you’re creating educational content or making business decisions based on actual data (not vibes), this matters.
I occasionally use Gemini for image generation too, but it’s not a main use. Most of my image work happens inside Higgsfield with Nano Banana Pro. Gemini is there if I need a quick visual or a different style, but research is the reason it earns its spot in the stack.
In my business, Gemini handles market research for new content and offer development. It helps me understand what people are actually searching for, what questions they’re asking, and where the gaps are in content that already exists. When I’m building something educational, the deep research lets me verify information and find supporting evidence fast.
Pricing: Free tier with access to good models. The Google AI Pro plan is $19.99 a month and includes the most advanced models, deep research, image generation, and integration with Gmail, Docs, and Drive. It also comes with 2TB of Google storage. If you’re already in Google’s ecosystem, this is exceptional value.
How All Three Work Together (My Actual Workflow)
This is how I actually use these tools. This is what my week looks like.
I start in Gemini to research a topic. I’m looking for what people are actually searching for, what questions nobody is answering well, and what’s moving in the market right now. Gemini gives me the raw material and strategic direction.
That research goes straight into Claude where I build the actual content. Articles, emails, scripts, and whatever the project needs. Claude helps me develop the ideas, structure everything, and produce drafts that sound like me. This is where I create the real output.
Then Higgsfield handles the visual side. I’ll create images for the article, repurpose the written content into video, and build avatar videos for platforms where video performs better. The whole thing moves from idea to published content in three tools.
Real example: this article you’re reading right now. I used Gemini to research what people are actually searching for around AI tools and income. I used Claude to draft and develop the entire piece. And the visual assets? Higgsfield. That’s the whole process for one published article.
What You Can Skip
People ask me about these ALL THE TIME so let me save you the subscriptions.
You don’t need a separate AI writing tool if you have Claude. Jasper, Copy.ai... they do variations of the same thing and none of them come close to Claude’s reasoning or writing quality. Save your money for real.
You don’t need five image generators. Higgsfield covers it. Adding Midjourney and DALL-E on top of that is waaaaaay too many subscriptions for the same function.
You don’t need a separate AI scheduling tool yet. I see people subscribe to distribution tools before they have content worth distributing. Build the engine first.
You don’t need a course for every tool either. Most of these have free tutorials and documentation. Start using it. Learn by doing. You’ll sort out 80% of what you need in the first week just by experimenting.
And here’s the thing about a minimalist stack. You can’t blame your tools when you only have three of them. There’s nowhere to hide. You just have to do the work.
Where to Start If Budget Is Tight
Do NOT buy all three at once. Here’s the order.
Start with Claude. If you can only afford one AI subscription, this is the one. The free tier is capable enough to begin, and Pro at $20 a month covers most of your content creation and business thinking needs.
Add Gemini when you need deeper research. If you’re creating educational content or building offers, the research capabilities become worth it. The free tier gives you a real taste of what’s possible before you commit.
Add Higgsfield when you’re ready for visual content. Once your written content is working and your offers are sorted, visual content amplifies everything. $9 a month gets you in the door, and you can scale up as your needs grow.
All three at entry-level paid tiers: under $50 a month. That’s less than most people spend on a single AI tool they barely use.
Simpler Than You Think
I’m not going to be the one who watched you waste money on twelve AI subscriptions when I could have just told you what actually works. So I’m telling you. Three tools. Used with intention and a clear strategy underneath them. That’s what works. Everything else is a distraction.
Pick your tools. Learn them well. Build something real with them.
These three tools are my daily stack. They cover the core of everything I do. For niche development and structured offer building, I also use Captivation Genius, which I’m an affiliate for and genuinely recommend. It’s not something I open every day the way I open Claude or Gemini or Higgsfield, but when I’m building out a new offer or helping someone find their niche, it’s where I go.
If you want to see how all of these tools fit together, the full system behind how I use AI to build income, including the strategy, the workflows, and the frameworks that make it all productive, join me for the AI Revolution Secrets training. It’s free, it’s practical, and we walk through the complete ecosystem including Captivation Genius and how it fits alongside the daily stack.
Register for the free AI Revolution Secrets training here
If you want a complete roadmap for choosing your best income path with AI, download the AI Monetization Map. It includes the decision matrix, 7 realistic income paths, and a 30-day action plan to get you from “I don’t know where to start” to first revenue.
Download the AI Monetization Map
PS: Someone’s going to say “but what about [insert tool]?” and the answer is the same every time. If it’s not in this article or the training, I don’t use it. Fight me. (LOL don’t actually fight me, just try them.)
Great article Leah. I am really debating between ChatGPT and Google Gemini for research. Since I’m on a Mac, I don’t use Google Notes and a lot of those aspects. In your experience what does Google Gemini have over ChatGPT for research, etc.