AI tools I actually use | Mommy is the Boss

No "top 50 AI tools" list here. These are the ones I use at work and at home, what I use them for, and what they cost me.

My everyday AI

Claude

My main AI assistant. Writing, proofing, problem-solving, and building websites and apps. If I could only keep one AI tool, this is it.

Free plan available; paid plans for heavier use.

Microsoft Copilot

What a lot of companies hand out at work. Good for quick tasks inside Microsoft apps. I use it alongside Claude, not instead of it.

For building things

VS Code

A free code editor. With an AI coding agent plugged in, it's where I build and fix HTML emails, web pages and small apps.

Free.

GitHub

Where my project code lives, with every version saved. Think of it as Google Drive for code.

Free plan available.

Netlify

Hosts this website. Drag in a zip file and the site is live. It also handles simple forms.

This site runs on the free plan.

Vercel

Hosts my app Mira. Same idea as Netlify, and especially good for apps built with Next.js.

Free plan available.

For learning

Anthropic's free courses

Free, practical lessons on using Claude well, from the company that makes it. Good weekend learning.

Free.

What I stopped paying for

Old-school web hosting. I was paying every year to keep a WordPress site alive that I hadn't updated since 2020. Now this site is hosted for $0. Here's how I did it.

I only list tools I use myself. If any of these links ever become affiliate links, I'll say so right here.