OpenAI has become so dominant that ChatGPT is now a synonym for everyday AI chatbots. Even if you can name some of the competition, I suspect most people’s list of ChatGPT alternatives could be counted on one hand and include tools from tech giants like Google and Microsoft.
But it’s little surprise that in such a quickly emerging market that there’s a multitude of AI tools I’ve tried away from ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot that are well worth your consideration and go beyond helping you hone your resume or get restaurant recommendations.
Here are five of my favorite AI tools you probably haven’t used yet.
1. Brain.FM
Need a pulsing electro beat to stay focused at work? Or an ambient soundscape to lull you off to sleep? Brain.FM generates ‘science-backed music’ to complement four listener needs — Focus, Meditate, Relax, and Sleep — which you tailor further to your current situation and mood with the app’s filters. Let it play out on an endless loop, or set your own timers and intervals.
Brain.FM says that the positive effect its music has on neural activity is scientifically proven, with peer-reviewed studies showing increased attention on tasks in users with ADHD symptoms.
$9.99/month / $69.99/year after 7/14 day free trial, 60-day money-back guarantee
2. Beautiful.ai
It’s not easy to make a slideshow presentation look engaging, and I’ve been in enough team meetings to know that the odd pie chart or stock image don’t exactly dazzle. Beautiful.ai helps you populate your PowerPoints with attention grabbing graphs and incisive infographics.
Feed in your own data to create an entire slideshow or use prompts to generate custom graphics. Plus, you can use the tool to gather contributions from multiple collaborators and instantly put them into a uniform format and style, choosing between more than 60 attractive templates.
From $144/year (Team, Enterprise and ad hoc plans available) after 14 day free trial
3. Recall
I suspect my pre-breakfast routine is a familiar one — lying in bed, smartphone in hand, flitting between news articles, Substacks, YouTube videos and social media posts.
By the time I reach the coffeemaker I’ve already half-read or watched more content than I’m going to remember.
Recall gathers and categorizes all of the posts, videos, podcasts and PDFs that have caught your eye (I’d suggest taking advantage of the one-click browser extension for ultimate convenience), summarizing each one and keeping them neatly organized to return to for future reference.
Free (limited to 10 free summaries). Plus plan is $10/month / $84/year (Business plan available). 30-day refund period
4. Maple
“Get your family organized.” That’s the enticing four-word elevator pitch for Maple — an AI-powered personal assistant tool for your family built by ‘a team of parents and family members’ that seeks to make every aspect of your domestic life a little bit more manageable.
From creating meal plans that cater to every member (with full recipes and shopping lists), to working out a fair schedule of chores and parenting duties, Maple takes the thinking out of your everyday household management.
You can use Maple for trip planning, syncing calendars, and storing key emergency contact details, with its apps for Android and iOS.
Free (limited folders, calendars, features). Plus plan is $9.49/month / $75.99/year after 7 day free trial
5. Mem
Put your hastily typed memos-to-self, lengthy meeting minutes, emails, and documents into Mem, and the tool will organize them logically and have them primed at your fingertips.
With all that knowledge stored, you can then interact with the Mem chatbot to ask it specific questions about your team, project, or strategies. Get it to draft emails based on the information you’ve fed in, or have it join the dots between disparate documents to help you work more efficiently.
Free (while Mem 2.0 is in Alpha and Beta testing phases)
More from Tom’s Guide
Back to Laptops
