5best.ai · Week 43, 2026

Too many AI tools. Here are the five worth your time.

Ranked every week by what real users say, not by who pays.

Ranked from 24.3M App Store ratings and 1,428 Hacker News comments · 39 tools

See all the details
  1. NotebookLM4.9★
  2. ElevenLabs4.8★
  3. Canva4.9★
  4. Wispr Flow4.8★
  5. Perplexity4.8★

Illustration generated with AI

This week's 5 best AI tools

Week 43, 2026. Ordered by App Store ratings and what people say on Hacker News. Pick the one you need and go straight to it.

1

Research a topicScore 86.5

NotebookLM

Google research notebook that answers questions, summarises and makes audio overviews from sources you upload.

4.9★ from 63.7K App Store ratings · 90% positive of 10 Hacker News opinions (9+ / 1−)

Users complain about: quality

  • Free plan
  • From $4.99/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

2

Voice, audio & musicScore 84.0

ElevenLabs

AI voice platform for text-to-speech, voice cloning, dubbing, sound effects, music and voice agents.

4.8★ from 23.2K App Store ratings · 57% positive of 14 Hacker News opinions (8+ / 6−)

Users complain about: quality, censorship, pricing

  • Free plan
  • From $6/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

3

Make images & videoScore 76.6

Canva

Online design tool with templates and AI features for social posts, presentations, videos and print.

4.9★ from 3.6M App Store ratings · 50% positive of 6 Hacker News opinions (3+ / 3−)

Users complain about: api support, quality, support

  • Free plan
  • From $144/year
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

4

Voice, audio & musicScore 75.3

Wispr Flow

Voice dictation app that turns your speech into polished text in any app on desktop and mobile.

4.8★ from 18K App Store ratings · 50% positive of 14 Hacker News opinions (7+ / 7−)

Users complain about: pricing, quality, accuracy

  • Free plan
  • From $12/user/month billed annually ($15 monthly)
  • iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

5

Research a topicScore 72.7

Perplexity

AI answer engine that searches the web and replies with cited sources, plus research and agent tools.

4.8★ from 518.1K App Store ratings · 67% positive of 6 Hacker News opinions (4+ / 2−)

Users complain about: hallucinations, privacy

  • Free plan
  • From $17/month or equivalent, when billed annually
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Read this week's write-up →

The 5 best in every category

Ask anything

#1Score 70.8

Grok

xAI's chat assistant that answers with live web and X search, and generates images, video and code.

What users say & pricing

4.9★ from 1.5M App Store ratings · 25% positive of 8 Hacker News opinions (2+ / 6−)

Users complain about: accuracy, censorship, hallucinations

  • Free plan
  • From $8/month ($80/year)
  • Web · iPhone · Android · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Grok

#2Score 65.4

ChatGPT

AI chat assistant for writing, research, image creation, voice chats and coding help.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 11.6M App Store ratings · 45% positive of 11 Hacker News opinions (5+ / 6−)

Users complain about: quality, usage limits, bugs

  • Free plan
  • From $8/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit ChatGPT

#3Score 62.9

Claude

AI assistant from Anthropic for writing, analysis, research and coding, with chat on web, desktop and mobile.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 285.6K App Store ratings · 58% positive of 26 Hacker News opinions (15+ / 11−)

Users complain about: ux, speed, bugs

  • Free plan
  • From $17/month billed annually ($20 if billed monthly)
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows · Linux · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Claude

#4Score 58.1

Le Chat / Vibe (Mistral)

Mistral's AI assistant combining chat and a coding agent, available on web, mobile, terminal and IDE.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 1.3K App Store ratings · 67% positive of 6 Hacker News opinions (4+ / 2−)

Users complain about: bugs, privacy

  • Free plan
  • From $14.99/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Terminal · Code editor

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Le Chat / Vibe (Mistral)

#5Score 37.7

DeepSeek

Chat assistant and API from DeepSeek, offering its own open models for reasoning, coding and web search.

What users say & pricing

3.9★ from 12.4K App Store ratings · 85% positive of 13 Hacker News opinions (11+ / 2−)

Users complain about: bugs, speed

  • Free plan
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit DeepSeek

Build apps & code

#1Score 66.2

Lovable

AI app builder that creates and publishes websites and web apps from a chat description.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 2.6K App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free plan
  • From $25/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Lovable

#2Score 63.0

v0

Vercel's AI agent that generates full-stack web apps and UI code from prompts and deploys them to Vercel.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 865 App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free plan
  • From $30/user/month
  • Web · iPhone

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit v0

#3Score 58.3

Claude Code

Anthropic's coding agent that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands and opens pull requests.

What users say & pricing

no App Store app · 60% positive of 30 Hacker News opinions (18+ / 12−)

Users complain about: quality, security, privacy

  • Paid only
  • From $17/month billed annually ($20 if billed monthly)
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows · Linux · Terminal · Code editor

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Claude Code

#4Score 48.8

Replit

Browser-based platform where an AI agent builds, hosts and publishes apps and websites from a prompt.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 21.4K App Store ratings · 57% positive of 7 Hacker News opinions (4+ / 3−)

Users complain about: deployment, pricing, ux

  • Free plan
  • From $18/month billed annually
  • Web · iPhone · Android

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Replit

#5Score 47.1

Cursor

AI code editor and coding agent that writes, edits and reviews code across your project.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 968 App Store ratings · 57% positive of 7 Hacker News opinions (4+ / 3−)

Users complain about: ux, privacy

  • Free plan
  • From $8/month
  • Web · Mac · Windows · Linux · Terminal · Code editor

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Cursor

Make images & video

#1Score 76.6

Canva

Online design tool with templates and AI features for social posts, presentations, videos and print.

What users say & pricing

4.9★ from 3.6M App Store ratings · 50% positive of 6 Hacker News opinions (3+ / 3−)

Users complain about: api support, quality, support

  • Free plan
  • From $144/year
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Canva

#2Score 63.1

Ideogram

AI image generator known for accurate text in images, with tools for ads, product shots and vector graphics.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 2.7K App Store ratings · 80% positive of 5 Hacker News opinions (4+ / 1−)

Users complain about: ux

  • Free plan
  • From $20/month ($180 billed annually)
  • Web · iPhone · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Ideogram

#3Score 33.1

Adobe Firefly

Adobe's generative AI app for creating and editing images, video, audio and music, including partner models.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 10.9K App Store ratings · 0% positive of 1 Hacker News opinions (0+ / 1−)

Users complain about: quality

  • Free plan
  • From $9.99/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Adobe Firefly

#4Score 30.4

Kling

AI video and image generator that turns text prompts or reference images into short videos and stills.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 31.8K App Store ratings · 33% positive of 3 Hacker News opinions (1+ / 2−)

Users complain about: quality

  • Free plan
  • From $6.99 first month, then $8.8/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Kling

#5Score 27.3

CapCut

Video and photo editor with AI tools for captions, background removal, voiceovers and AI video generation.

What users say & pricing

4.6★ from 1.1M App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free plan
  • From $19.99/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit CapCut

Voice, audio & music

#1Score 84.0

ElevenLabs

AI voice platform for text-to-speech, voice cloning, dubbing, sound effects, music and voice agents.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 23.2K App Store ratings · 57% positive of 14 Hacker News opinions (8+ / 6−)

Users complain about: quality, censorship, pricing

  • Free plan
  • From $6/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit ElevenLabs

#2Score 75.3

Wispr Flow

Voice dictation app that turns your speech into polished text in any app on desktop and mobile.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 18K App Store ratings · 50% positive of 14 Hacker News opinions (7+ / 7−)

Users complain about: pricing, quality, accuracy

  • Free plan
  • From $12/user/month billed annually ($15 monthly)
  • iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Wispr Flow

#3Score 72.0

Suno

AI music generator that creates full songs with vocals and lyrics from a text prompt.

What users say & pricing

4.9★ from 379.9K App Store ratings · 43% positive of 23 Hacker News opinions (10+ / 13−)

Users complain about: quality, ethics, lock-in

  • Free plan
  • From $8/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Suno

#4Score 64.6

Otter.ai

AI meeting assistant that records, transcribes and summarises meetings from Zoom, Teams and Google Meet.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 86.4K App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free plan
  • From $8.33/user/month billed annually ($16.99 monthly)
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Otter.ai

#5Score 27.4

Speechify

Text-to-speech app that reads documents, web pages and scanned text aloud in natural-sounding AI voices.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 527.2K App Store ratings · 0% positive of 2 Hacker News opinions (0+ / 2−)

Users complain about: bugs, pricing

  • Free plan
  • From $29/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Speechify

Write & translate

#1Score 61.4

Notion AI

AI inside the Notion workspace that searches, drafts and automates work across pages, databases and tasks.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 90.5K App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free trial
  • From $20/seat/month billed yearly ($24 monthly)
  • iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Notion AI

#2Score 59.4

DeepL

AI translation tool for text and documents, with desktop and mobile apps, browser extensions and an API.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 13.3K App Store ratings · 50% positive of 4 Hacker News opinions (2+ / 2−)

Users complain about: quality

  • Free plan
  • From $8.74/month billed annually ($10.49 if billed monthly)
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit DeepL

#3Score 55.2

Gamma

Creates presentations, documents, websites and social visuals from a prompt with an AI agent.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 1.1K App Store ratings · 100% positive of 1 Hacker News opinions (1+ / 0−)

  • Free plan
  • From $9/month billed annually ($12 if billed monthly)
  • Web · iPhone · Android · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Gamma

#4Score 36.6

QuillBot

AI writing tool for paraphrasing, grammar checking, summarising and translating text.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 3.1K App Store ratings · 50% positive of 2 Hacker News opinions (1+ / 1−)

Users complain about: accuracy

  • Free plan
  • From $8.33/month billed annually ($19.99 monthly)
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit QuillBot

#5Score 25.7

Wordtune

AI writing assistant that rewrites, paraphrases, corrects grammar and summarises English text.

What users say & pricing

4.4★ from 992 App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free plan
  • From $6.99/month billed annually ($13.99 if billed monthly)
  • Web · iPhone

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Wordtune

Research a topic

#1Score 86.5

NotebookLM

Google research notebook that answers questions, summarises and makes audio overviews from sources you upload.

What users say & pricing

4.9★ from 63.7K App Store ratings · 90% positive of 10 Hacker News opinions (9+ / 1−)

Users complain about: quality

  • Free plan
  • From $4.99/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit NotebookLM

#2Score 72.7

Perplexity

AI answer engine that searches the web and replies with cited sources, plus research and agent tools.

What users say & pricing

4.8★ from 518.1K App Store ratings · 67% positive of 6 Hacker News opinions (4+ / 2−)

Users complain about: hallucinations, privacy

  • Free plan
  • From $17/month or equivalent, when billed annually
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Perplexity

#3Score 22.4

Liner

AI search, academic research and writing tool that gives cited answers and access to many AI models.

What users say & pricing

4.4★ from 1.4K App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free plan
  • From $14.99/month billed annually ($17.99 if billed monthly)
  • Web · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Liner

Get tasks done for you

#1Score 56.5

Comet

Perplexity's web browser with a built-in AI assistant that answers questions and carries out tasks for you.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 7.8K App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free plan
  • iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24

Visit Comet

#2Score 51.6

Kimi

Moonshot AI's assistant for chat, deep research, slides, docs, sheets and coding agents.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 5.3K App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free plan
  • From $15/month billed annually ($19 if billed monthly)
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · API

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Kimi

#3Score 50.0

Manus

Autonomous AI agent that carries out multi-step tasks such as research, building websites and making slides.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 39.6K App Store ratings · no Hacker News opinions yet

  • Free plan
  • From $20/month
  • Web · iPhone · Android · Mac · Windows

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Manus

#4Score 42.2

Genspark

AI workspace with agents that research and create slides, sheets, docs, images and videos using many models.

What users say & pricing

4.7★ from 4.4K App Store ratings · 100% positive of 1 Hacker News opinions (1+ / 0−)

  • Free plan
  • From $19.99/month billed annually ($239.99/year)
  • Web · iPhone · Android

From the official site, checked 2026-10-24 · pricing

Visit Genspark

How we rank

  • App Store ratings (60%). Stars and the number of ratings from Apple's official data. A few ratings can't push a tool to the top.
  • What people say (up to 40%). Recent Hacker News comments about each tool, sorted into positive and negative. Neutral and off-topic comments don't count. With fewer than 15 opinions this part counts less, so one or two comments can't move a tool much.
  • Compared to each other. Each tool is placed by where it stands among the others, so one outlier can't distort the rest.
  • No paid placement. Company size only breaks an exact tie. Affiliate links never change the order.
  • Honest limits. App Store ratings are for the mobile app, not the web product. Hacker News readers are mostly technical people.