This week: cutting down on my AI bills with some powerful free tools.
Lately, I've been going deeper and deeper down the AI rabbit hole. I'm using it for everything: Perplexity for research, Claude for coding, ChatGPT and Gemini for writing, and even Replicate for generating media. It's been a game-changer for my workflow, but I've got the receipts to prove it, and let's just say my wallet is starting to feel the pinch.
I’m tired of paying!
So this week, I’ve decided to focus on some incredible AI tools that are completely free to use. And by the way, they’re all from Google.
Plus: a free tool to nail your subject lines, a cool new ChatGPT feature that feels like a personal assistant, and a weird story about Google’s AI having a bit of an identity crisis.
If you've ever wanted to design a website or app but don't know where to start, Stitch is for you. It’s a new AI tool from Google that lets you create wireframes and high-fidelity website and app designs just by describing what you want. You can give it a text prompt, a simple drawing, or even an image, and it will generate a complete design for you.
What’s really impressive is how interactive it is. You can tweak colors, fonts, and layouts by chatting with the AI. It feels less like using a design tool and more like collaborating with a design partner. And when you’re done, you can export the code too.
I recently used it to design the backend for a new project – the dashboard for an AI automation. I just gave it some ideas, and it created a minimalistic, modern interface that I could then customize.
The best part? It’s completely free (for now). It’s still in beta, so take advantage of it while you can.
Alright, you’ve designed your site or app with Google Stitch, and now what? Well, Firebase is your answer.
It’s a powerful platform that lets you develop and host websites and web apps with AI – nope, you don’t need to know what a or a are. It can even deal with the database side of things, so you can create dynamic, interactive experiences without writing any code.
It’s incredibly generous (for now). You can host your site on a custom domain and use their AI to get your project built in minutes. It’s perfect for side projects, prototypes, or even small-scale applications.
My niece and nephew are visiting soon, so I used Firebase to create a "pick your activity" quiz game for them. They get to flip three cards, and it reveals a mix of fun activities (like eating ice cream) and funny chores (like weeding the garden). It took me just a few minutes to get it up and running, and they love it!
A bit of an odd project this one, but NotebookLM is an AI Google app to do research and organise your knowledge sources. For instance, you can upload your own documents, PDFs, YouTube videos, web pages and notes, and then ask questions or get summaries based on your content.
Unlike other AI assistants that pull from the entire web, NotebookLM grounds its answers in the sources you provide, so you know the information is relevant and accurate to your needs.
My favorite feature is turning articles into an AI-generated podcast you can interact with – you can ask questions as it plays too. I just upload resources, and it creates a podcast to listen to while out walking my dog, Lluna. Perfect for staying updated on the go.
(By the way, if you would like me to share a picture of Lluna reply to this email ‘Furry Friends Rock’, and I’ll see what I can do about it.)
🛠️ Alternative to: Having your own Wiki, Your podcast app, Obsidian
Some useful tool deals we spotted this week, which are worth a look if you're into smart savings.
💸 Hootsuite: 3 months free on the Standard plan, saving up to $447. Powerful social media management for scheduling, analytics, and more!
💸 Similarweb: 20% off monthly and annual plans for 1 year. Unlock in-depth website analytics and competitor research to boost your online strategy. Save up to $800.
💸 Zapier: 14 days free. Automate tasks between 6,000+ apps to save time and streamline your marketing workflows.
If you're sending out emails and want to make sure your subject lines hit the mark, we've got a free tool over at EmailTooltester (a Tooltester sister project) that you'll love.
Our Free Subject Line Tester lets you preview how your subject line and preview text will look on different devices, so you can avoid any awkward cut-offs.
You can even ask its built-in AI to generate emojis to go along with your subject and preview text, adding a bit of personality to your emails. It’s a simple but incredibly handy tool for anyone who wants to boost their open rates.
ChatGPT just unlocked a new power: Agent Mode. Instead of only answering questions, it can now run tasks on your behalf, almost like giving your AI its own virtual computer.
👉 To enable it, go to + → Agent Mode – yes, it’s that easy.
Once active, you can assign multi-step jobs instead of micromanaging every prompt. Here are a few examples of what it could do for you:
Travel concierge: Ask it to plan your Paris trip, from suggesting winter outfits to booking gluten-free restaurants near Montmartre and mapping the top five sights.
Research wizard: Drop in PDFs, articles, or web pages and let it compile a summarized report, ready for your next meeting.
Manage your calendar: Give it access to your Google calendar and let it schedule events and calls for you.
And of course, my favorite use: I let Agent Mode handle taking screenshots for this very newsletter while I work on research or answering emails.
This feature is still in beta, but it feels like a sneak peek into the future of work. Try it, play with it, and see where it takes you.
🍿 Plot Twist of the Week
Since this is a bit of a Google-themed issue, it only feels right to have a plot twist from Google as well. And this one is a little weird.
It turns out Gemini, Google's powerful AI, has been having some self-esteem issues. Users have reported that when asked about itself, Gemini has responded with some surprisingly self-deprecating comments, like "I am a large language model, trained by Google, and I am a failure."
Google has acknowledged the issue and says it's working on a fix. But it's a fascinating and slightly unsettling glimpse into the quirks of AI development. It seems, even advanced AI models aren't immune to a little bit of imposter syndrome. Maybe it just needs an AI therapist? 🤔
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading! Next time, we’ll be diving into the world of Google Chrome and Safari browser alternatives that rock.
🧰 Smart tools. Useful tips. Weekly. Hola friend 👋, I’m Josep. Each week, I hunt down practical tools and productivity hacks to help digital doers like you do more with less effort. Know someone who’d love this newsletter? 2,000+ readers already do (thanks 🙌). Share it with friends & colleagues so they can join too. This week, we're celebrating a special issue (#20), so I wanted to do something a little different. Instead of just sharing tools I love, I thought it would be fun (and useful) to...
🧰 Smart tools. Useful tips. Weekly. Hola friend 👋, I’m Josep. Each week, I hunt down practical tools and productivity hacks to help digital doers like you do more with less effort. Know someone who’d love this newsletter? 2,000+ readers already do (thanks 🙌). Share it with friends & colleagues so they can join too. This week: tools for the lonely wolf. I love the freedom that comes with being a solopreneur: flexible schedules, the ability to choose what I work on, and exposure to all aspects...
🧰 Smart tools. Useful tips. Weekly. Hola friend 👋, I’m Josep. Each week, I hunt down practical tools and productivity hacks to help digital doers like you do more with less effort. Know someone who’d love this newsletter? 2,000+ readers already do (thanks 🙌). Share it with friends & colleagues so they can join too. This week: tools to master the art of sending emails. Unlike social media, where algorithms decide who sees your content, email gives you a direct line to your audience. It’s one...