I spend $2,000/mo on AI tools, here are the best ones

The creator shares his $2,000 monthly AI tool stack, highlighting cost-effective local AI models, voice AI, context engineering, automation, and productivity tools, with a strong focus on advanced coding assistants like Cursor, Codex, and Cloud Code that significantly boost developer efficiency. Despite the high expenses, he emphasizes the substantial productivity gains and offers training through his platform to help others maximize these AI resources.

In this video, the creator shares insights from spending $2,000 a month on various AI tools, highlighting the best ones for coding, automation, context engineering, and productivity. He begins by emphasizing the power of local AI models using tools like Olama, Anything LLM, and Apollo, which allow users to run open-source AI models privately and offline, even on mobile devices. These tools are cost-effective or free, making them accessible for many users. He also introduces voice AI tools such as Super Whisper and ChatGPT Voice, which enhance productivity through customizable shortcuts and translation features, with Super Whisper costing $85 a month and ChatGPT Pro subscription at $200 a month.

For context engineering, the creator uses Repo Prompt, a tool that simplifies managing and structuring AI context by loading relevant files and generating prompts automatically. This tool costs $15 a month and is praised for making complex context management easy. In productivity, he promotes his own tool, Vectal, which optimizes AI interactions based on project context and offers one-click AI features that save significant time daily. Vectal is available for free and is highly appreciated by its users.

Automation is another key category, where he uses NA10 and Lindy to automate repetitive tasks like calendar tracking and workflow management. NA10 is hosted cheaply on Hostinger for $5 a month, while Lindy offers hundreds of pre-built templates for $50 a month. For web search, Perplexity is recommended for its speed and depth, scanning multiple sources quickly and offering a pro plan at $20 a month. For personal advice and writing tasks, he uses GPT-4.5 for its human-like responses despite high token costs, and Claude AI for copywriting, though Claude is noted to be biased and expensive.

The most significant investment is in coding tools, where Cursor and Codex stand out. Cursor, built on VS Code, offers advanced AI features like background agents and a bug bot, costing around $200 a month for heavy users. Codex, an autonomous AI coding agent by OpenAI, is praised for its ability to generate multiple code versions and high pull request acceptance rates. The creator also uses Claude for detailed code reviews via GitHub actions, adding to API costs. The crown jewel is Cloud Code, an AI tool that dramatically boosts productivity by enabling fast, iterative coding and UI improvements, though it is the most expensive at $200 per user per month, with the creator spending up to $900 monthly for his team.

Overall, the video provides a comprehensive overview of a high-end AI tool stack tailored for developers and teams aiming to maximize productivity and automation. The creator also offers training and resources through his platform, the New Society, to help others leverage these tools effectively. Despite the high costs, he emphasizes the value and productivity gains these AI tools bring, making them worthwhile investments for serious developers and businesses.