October 20, 2026

Five jobs. Five verdicts.

Tuesday, October 20, 2026 · ~4 min read

Stop switching tools: here's which AI tool to use for each job, and whether to keep the one you already have.

Each job gets:

• The pick, with its price (from the vendor's own page) and the one reason it won
• A free option if you'd rather not pay yet
• Already using something else? Whether to keep your current tool

1. Make a short talking-avatar video

The pick: HeyGen

• Chosen for: The free plan lets you try the real avatar engine (Avatar IV) before you pay.
• Price: Free plan (3 videos/mo, up to 1 min). Creator $29/mo, or $24/mo billed annually: no watermark, 1080p, voice cloning.
• Time to start: ~15 min to your first video
• Why not Synthesia? Its Starter is also $29/mo, but it's built around training features (surveys, roleplays, learner seats) a quick social clip doesn't need.

Alternative: Synthesia, for training videos. The free Basic plan gives 10 min of video, 3 survey responses and 500 credits per month (watermarked).

Already on Synthesia? Keep it for training videos. Try HeyGen's free plan if you mostly make short social clips. Tested by our team See if you should switch →

2. Build a simple website without code

The pick: Framer

• Chosen for: You can build and publish free on a Framer domain, and pay only for your own domain.
• Price: Free plan. Basic $10/mo billed yearly adds a custom domain (monthly billing costs more).
• Time to start: ~30 min to a live first draft
• Why not Carrd? Carrd makes one-page sites. Once you need a few pages, Framer grows with you.

Free option: Carrd, free to start. Pro Standard is $19/year (up to 10 sites, custom domain).

Already on Wix or Squarespace? Keep it if your site does the job. Try Framer if you want more design freedom without code. Tested by our team See if you should switch →

3. Automate email follow-ups from Gmail

The pick: GMass

• Chosen for: Automatic follow-up sequences are included in the cheapest plan, inside Gmail.
• Price: Standard $29.95/mo billed monthly, or $249/year (~$21/mo).
• Time to start: ~20 min (install, connect Gmail, write a 2-step sequence)
• Why not Streak? It's a full CRM in Gmail. Paid plans start at $49/user/mo billed annually ($59 monthly).

Free option: Auto Follow Up It!, a Chrome extension that sends the follow-up from your Gmail if there's no reply and cancels it if they answer. Free tier available. Check current pricing.

Caution: Only email people who know you. Automated follow-ups to cold lists are the fastest way to land in spam.

Already using Mailmeteor or Streak? Keep it if your follow-ups run fine. Try GMass if you need multi-step sequences at higher volume. Tested by our team See if you should switch →

4. Research a market fast

The pick: Perplexity Pro

• Chosen for: Every answer cites its sources, so you can check claims quickly.
• Price: Free plan with limited weekly usage; paid plan available.
• Time to start: ~5 min. Ask for a market overview, competitors and pricing.
• Why not Gemini? Strong and free to try, but Google says free users may lose Deep Research access during high demand.

Free option: Gemini Deep Research, in the Gemini app without a paid plan, within usage limits.

Already paying for ChatGPT or Gemini? Keep it: both have a deep research mode. Try Perplexity's free plan if you want every claim cited. Tested by our team See if you should switch →

5. Add captions to a talking video

The pick: Descript

• Chosen for: You edit the video by editing its transcript, and captions come from that same transcript.
• Price: Free plan (60 media min/mo, 720p export). Hobbyist $16/mo billed annually ($24 monthly): 10 media hours, 1080p, watermark-free.
• Time to start: ~15 min (upload, check the transcript, add a caption layout)
• Why not CapCut? Exporting auto captions requires CapCut Pro.

Free option: YouTube automatic captions, if the video lives on YouTube: captions are generated after upload; review and fix them in YouTube Studio → Subtitles.

Already on CapCut? Keep it if you pay for Pro. On the free plan, try YouTube's free captions or Descript. Tested by our team See if you should switch →

That's it for #1

Forward this to someone stuck on "which AI tool should I use?" Want a job answered next week? Hit reply.

— WhichToolAI

Tools are chosen independently. No paid or affiliate links. Prices checked Oct 2026 on vendors' official pages; they can change and vary by region, tax or promotion. Time-to-start figures are our estimates.

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