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8 Best AI Tools in 2026
Updated Mar 1, 2026
See how our top 8 picks compare across the 8 AI tools we evaluated.
Explore what each does best, where it falls short, and why it earned a spot on our 2026 list.
Wispr FlowBestBest accurate AI voice dictation
Best accurate AI voice dictation
ChatGPTBestBest overall AI chat app
Best overall AI chat app
GranolaBestBest virtual and in-person AI note taker
Best virtual and in-person AI note taker- OpenAIRecommended
For AI writing, coding, brainstorming
For AI writing, coding, brainstorming 
PerplexityRecommendedBest for researching, whether work, student, or personal
Best for researching, whether work, student, or personal
Superhuman MailRecommendedBest overall email client
Best overall email client
MotionRecommendedBest AI project management for small-mid-size teams
Best AI project management for small-mid-size teams
LittlebirdRecommendedBest for context-aware recall
Best for context-aware recall
Best AI Tools at a Glance
8 apps and 6 deals
Best AI Tools Ranked & Reviewed
Watch our full breakdown of the top AI tools, how they performed in testing, and what makes each one worth considering
Recorded by our expert reviewers
Alex
and Andra
Independent, hands-on testing.Learn more
How We Evaluate AI Tools
We score each AI tool across multiple criteria, and hands-on expert evaluation
- No Category Criteria records assigned to this category yet.
- Expert EvaluationCurated by, our rankings reflect in-depth testing, industry insights, and hands-on experience.AlexandAndra
Go to Wispr Flow site
Wispr Flow Summary
Wispr Flow SummarySubscribe for updates
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Go to ChatGPT site
What is ChatGPT?
What is ChatGPT?What really is there to say? ChatGPT was the fastest-growing consumer app in history when it launched. It reached 1 million users in about 5 days after launch and 100 million users in about 2 months after launch.
OpenAI is general artificial intelligence. You can ask it questions, and it'll answer them, like a human. You can ask it to write code for you, and it'll build it, all while explaining the why and how.
Engineering friends of mine are worried that it'll replace their job, and yet they are using it to become a better engineer (using it to teach them different coding languages).
The craziest thing of it all, anyone can use it, and you don't even need to be technical to use it. Just visit ChatGPT here and start asking it questions. You'll be amazed by what it can do. If you're more technical, then be sure to check out the actual API and see where you can fit it into what you're building (I mean everyone else is).
Everyone is trying to build a OpenAI (ChatGPT) into their product right now. It's the closest thing we've seen to magic in an incredibly long time.
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3
Granola
Best
Best virtual and in-person AI note taker
Best virtual and in-person AI note takerGranola is essentially an always-on listening assistant (primarily for meetings), allowing for perfect recollection, along with meeting assistance (call context question/answers mid-call), no meeting bot required.
Granola has become the meeting repository for all internal (in-person) and external meetings and brainstorming sessions. We have a new rule at Efficient App: if Granola wasn't there, it didn't happen.
Go to Granola site
What is Granola?
What is Granola?Granola is a meeting recorder tool that doesn't require those annoying bots to join. In-fact the people you're on the call with don't even have to know you're using it.
Interestingly enough, this isn't any different than just having a note taker on the call, because they don't allow you to playback the audio. What you can do is ask Granola's AI Chatbot questions about the call, or any calls you've had across the company.
You can even ask Granola questions mid-call, which uses full context of the call up to that point, or can even come up with contextual questions to ask to help the conversation flowing. It's really as if you have an active note taking assistant on the call alongside you, helping you keep the conversation flowing, and researching further context details when needed.
We make sure to always have Granola recording our meetings (even in-person team meetings and brainstorming meetings), even if we have one of the best AI note taker bots joining the call as well. It's just a more lightweight solution that can't be kicked from calls and is less invasive.
Go to OpenAI site
What is OpenAI?
What is OpenAI?OpenAI is general artificial intelligence. You can ask it questions, and it'll answer them, like a human. You can ask it to write code for you, and it'll build it, all while explaining the why and how.
Engineering friends of mine are worried that it'll replace their job, and yet they are using it to become a better engineer (using it to teach them different coding languages).
It's amazing as to what will be made possible with it, and the demo video below between Slack + OpenAI + Motion is just a tiny glimpse into where you can see it intelligently improving our every-day processes.
The craziest thing of it all, anyone can use it, and you don't even need to be technical to use it. Just visit ChatGPT here and start asking it questions. You'll be amazed by what it can do. If you're more technical, then be sure to check out the actual API and see where you can fit it into what you're building (I mean everyone else is).
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Go to Perplexity site
What is Perplexity?
What is Perplexity?Perplexity is an AI-first search engine that replaces Google with direct answers pulled from the web.
We like to use it when doing deep research that we need sources from the internet. It pulls from multiple sources in real time, making it one of the best tools for researching topics online.
One of the main benefits of Perplexity is that it gives you access to multiple LLMs in one place, so you can switch models depending on what you're trying to do.
That said, we find it's much better for internet research than deep reasoning. It's strong at finding and summarizing information with sources, but not as strong as other LLMs for complex problem-solving, math, or advanced reasoning tasks.
Perplexity also offers its own web browser, Comet (an alternative to Chrome), where you can use Perplexity as your default search engine and experiment with AI agent-style browsing features.
6
Superhuman Mail
Recommended
Best overall email client
Best overall email clientSuperhuman Mail is the best email client on the market. It's wildly fast, minimal (not bloated with features), and helps individuals and teams triage through emails most efficiently. We've been using it for 6+ years and can't ever imagine going back to regular email.
Claim the Superhuman free trial for 30 days free, which is more than enough time to see if it fits your workflow.
Go to Superhuman Mail site
What is Superhuman Mail?
What is Superhuman Mail?Superhuman Mail is by far the best email client built for busy professionals who live in their inbox and want a faster, more focused experience. It works as a layer on top of Gmail or Outlook, meaning you keep your existing email provider, but operate entirely inside Superhuman Mail’s web, desktop, or mobile app instead.
Superhuman Mail has a beautiful, minimal design and will help you get through your email faster. You can navigate your inbox almost entirely by keyboard, snooze messages effortlessly, use AI to draft responses in your voice, and create inbox splits to process emails in intentional batches. So, if checking email feels overwhelming, distracting, or just slower than it should be, Superhuman Mail really does fix that.
If you get more than 10 emails a week, we recommend trying Superhuman Mail for at least 30 days. If email slows you down, Superhuman Mail is the fastest fix we've found. The free month trial gives you enough time to see if it's actually worth paying for (heads up, you don't get the free month if you try signing up for Superhuman Mail directly). You can grab the free month via our Superhuman Mail discount link.
We've personally been using Superhuman Mail for over 6 years as our email app and couldn't see life without it.
And trust me, I used to be the person that said "I would never pay for email" but after trying it for the first month... I couldn't imagine going back to Gmail, and here I am now 6+ years later, still a paying customer, and I'm happier for it.
Superhuman Mail is available on MacOS, iOS, Android, and works on Windows via modern browsers.
Pros and Cons
Pros and ConsPros
Pros- Wildly fast performance (literally instant compared to Gmail/Outlook)
- Minimal, beautifully designed interface with zero clutter
- Team email collaboration features helps move emails forward more quickly and seamlessly
- Deep-work friendly (no distractions, no unnecessary features)
- Mobile app on iOS and Android to help you triage emails on-the-go
- Free 30-day trial to test it out
Cons
Cons- Might feel unnecessary if you don't spend much time in email
- While you can share emails and drafts with your team, you cannot assign emails and have your team answer on your behalf
Key Features
Key FeaturesMinimal Interface
Minimal InterfaceThe first time we opened Superhuman Mail, it genuinely felt like a different category of email tool. The wall of emails we were used to see just wasn't there instead it had been replace with a clean, fast interface that made it feel like this is the only email client actually designed for deep work.
The use of inbox splits makes brings allows for purpose and intention when managing your emails. There’s nothing visually overwhelming or distracting, which, if you spend hours in your inbox like we do, makes a massive difference. It doesn’t feel like you’re “doing email.” It feels like you’re focused.
Pair that with a mobile app that is purposefully designed to allow for triaging emails with speed and clarity and it honestly makes it impossible to go back.
Superhuman Mail AI
Superhuman Mail AISuperhuman Mail actually drafts email responses in your tone. It learns from your previous messages and responds as you would.
Secondly, Superhuman Mail figures out if an email you sent needs a follow-up/nudge, and it automatically drafts a follow-up in your voice and leaves it in your inbox for you to hit send (yes, just like an executive assistant would). This makes it fantastic if you're doing sales out of your inbox.
Third, Superhuman Mail uses AI to search your inbox. Forget trying to find the perfect search term to surface an email. With Superhuman Mail, you can ask any question in plain language, and it will give you an AI summary response (e.g., "Where was the conversation left off with XYZ? When is the last time I spoke to XYZ?"). And you can even use the AI Chat for other things, like telling it to create a calendar invite.
Read Statuses
Read StatusesSimilar to read receipts in text messages, Superhuman Mail shows you exactly who opened your email, how many times they viewed it, and when they opened it. It's super helpful if you're waiting on a reply.
Calendar & Scheduler
Calendar & SchedulerSuperhuman Mail is also one of the best calendar apps and best scheduling apps if you live within your email. Why?
Say you get an event email with no calendar invite, just hit [b] and Superhuman Mail will instantly create an event for you (I absolutely love this feature). Or if you're writing to someone, and you say "let's meet next Tuesday" your calendar automatically pops open on the right so you can quickly check your availability.
Want to share your availability quickly? No worries, hit the keyboard shortcut and [CMD] + [SHIFT] + [a] and send over your free time slots in seconds so they can book in.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard ShortcutsSuperhuman Mail also allows you to triage through your inbox using only keyboard shortcuts.
I was a skeptic for years, until I finally gave it a shot. Learned some of the simple keyboard shortcuts like [e] for archive and [h] for snooze + some additional fun shortcuts like [#] for delete, and [!] for spam.
Just hit [0] to instantly open your calendar on the right-hand side without leaving your inbox, giving you a full view of your schedule while you continue working through emails.
Don't like memorizing keyboard shortcuts to get through your email more quickly? Great, then just press [CMD] + [k] for the command bar → the Superhuman Mail key, which allows you to do absolutely anything from anywhere just by typing.
Superhuman Mail For Teams
Superhuman Mail For TeamsYou can share email threads with others (whether they are on your team or not) so you can collaborate under email.
This has come super handy for us when we've had sales negotiations (very helpful to @mention each other and check-in if what is proposed makes sense), or to more thoughtfully respond to a customer. Read our entire Superhuman Mail Team Comments review here.
If you share the Superhuman Mail Discount link with your entire team, you will all get a free 30 days to test it out together.
Pricing
Pricing- Monthly Subscription: $30/mo
- Annual Plan: $300/year
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7
Motion
Recommended
Best AI project management for small-mid-size teams
Best AI project management for small-mid-size teamsMotion is the most innovative AI-powered project management tool for individuals and teams who want to fully embrace AI to get work done.
It uses AI to take all of your team's projects, tasks, priorities, deadlines, and dependencies to build the perfect day for you and your team, time blocking tasks right on your calendar. They also have AI Docs, & an AI Note Taker, helping you get work done faster.
We've been using it for 5 years and is core to how we manage our time and projects!
Go to Motion site
What is Motion?
What is Motion?Motion is a calendar-first, AI-powered project management system that brings your tasks, meetings, documentation, and team workload into one tool.
Previous to using Motion, we used Asana for seven years. It kept us organized enough, but I was spending at least an hour or two every week just "cleaning up" the tool so it wouldn't fall apart. Deadlines would shift, priorities would change, and suddenly half the board was out of date. That's why we switched to Motion five years ago and haven't looked back.
The core thing Motion does differently is it actually schedules your tasks onto your calendar automatically, based on deadlines, priorities, and availability.
And when plans change, which they always do, it updates everything for you. What really got me early on was the deadline visibility. If our team has 5 hours of meetings in a day and 8 hours of work scheduled, Motion flags that we're at risk before it becomes a problem.
We use it to manage our entire YouTube production process, from scripting and filming to editing, reviewing, and distributing.
Recently, Motion has become more of an all-in-one tool. On top of being a calendar and project management tool, you can also store all of your notes and documentation in the app via their AI Docs and meeting recorder. This is especially helpful as you can tie meeting notes to projects, and when asking the Motion AI Assistant it has full context on projects, discussions, and notes.
And they didn't just tack on these features either... their meeting recorder is one of the best we've used (for instance, it creates tasks automatically at the end of each call, allowing you to assign it to team members directly).
So if you want a project management tool that will help your team just focus on getting work done (instead of babysitting your project management tool), give it a shot.
Pros and Cons
Pros and ConsPros
Pros- Only calendar-first project management tool on the market
- Automatically schedules tasks directly on your calendar using AI
- Takes your entire schedule (meetings + work) into account
- Has most traditional project management features (gantt charts, kanban views)
Cons
Cons- Not ideal if you don’t want AI automatically managing your schedule
- The interface can feel cluttered
- Minimal reporting & dashboards
- Not for enterprises
Key Features
Key FeaturesProject Management
Project ManagementMotion has all your traditional project management capabilities including kanban, gantt charts, and list views. But on top of that, they also have a calendar at the core that schedules tasks from your projects onto your calendar. No other tool fully integrates at this level.
Calendar
CalendarMotion is the only project management tool on the market built with a calendar at the core. We use it as a full replacement for Google Calendar in our day to day (on top of using it for project management). Motion is truly one of the best calendar apps on the market if you're looking for something powerful.
AI Auto-Scheduling
AI Auto-SchedulingManaging your workload is tiring, we experienced it ourselves every time we had to rearrange our tasks and priorities when using Asana. That's why daily planner apps came on the market, allowing you to pull in tasks from other project management tools and plan them on your calendar.
But Motion chose not to integrate with daily planner apps, and instead become one of the best daily planning apps themselves and built powerful project management features on top (while also using AI to automatically create your schedule for you like an assistant would). So what does this mean?
Didn't get something done? No worries, Motion will reschedule it for you based on the priority on your calendar. At risk of missing a deadline? Motion will warn you and you can fix it with a few clicks. Want to push back the deadline of a bunch of projects? Tell their AI Chat and it'll do it for you.
You can even forward emails into Motion and it will automatically create a task and schedule it on your calendar.
Workflow Templates
Workflow TemplatesWorkflow Templates in Motion are reusable project templates that define exactly how your work gets done from start to finish. They include your roles, stages, tasks, and key details so every project follows the same structured process.
Once set up, Motion uses the template to automatically schedule everything on your team's calendars and adjust timelines when things change. This makes starting projects incredibly easy & fast!
AI Docs
AI DocsMotion’s AI Docs are great for keeping processes and notes right inside your projects, perfect if you don’t already have a knowledge base software in place. That said, don't expect it to be as powerful as Notion or Slite. Motion AI docs are more suitable for basic documentation and notes.
The best part of using Motion Docs for all your notes is that you can quickly tag projects and tasks within the docs itself. And when searching across your projects with Motion's AI Assistant, you get a full picture of project updates (it takes into account your projects, docs, and even meeting notes so when you ask for an update, it can truly give you an accurate picture of what happened).
But as a heads up, when we really want to do serious writing (e.g. scripting or a full software review), we find ourselves opening Motion within Dia or ChatGPT Atlas (our browsers) because using their sidebar chat assistant is faster for writing in our tone, brainstorming, and doing research.
Meeting Recorder
Meeting RecorderWe love Motion's Meeting Recorder, and if you're already using Motion for your projects, there's really no reason to use another one. It automatically joins your meetings (you just have to let it in), records video and text, and then uses AI to organize the notes for you. It also automatically creates tasks from the meeting notes and all you need to do is approve or deny them.
Pricing
Pricing- Pro AI: $19/seat/mo (billed annually). Best for professionals and small teams who want AI-powered project management, scheduling, and task planning.
- Business AI: $29/seat/mo (billed annually). Best for teams that need advanced reporting, capacity planning, time tracking, permissions, and centralized billing.
- AI Credits: Included with each plan. Pro AI includes 7,500 credits/seat/month and Business AI includes 15,000 credits/seat/month.
Go to Littlebird site
What is Littlebird AI?
What is Littlebird AI?Littlebird is an AI assistant that records meetings, takes context from what you do on your computer, and aids you in recalling and getting work done.
While they're positioning themselves as more of an AI productivity app, it's clear that they've been seeing the explosive growth of Granola, and are focusing their sights on AI note taker meets context aware AI assistant.
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