Peak inside my AI-powered toolstack

A subscriber asked what tools I use to run my newsletter business.

I’m a reformed tool collector.

I’ve seen creators spend more time researching productivity apps than actually creating. They’ll debate Notion vs. Obsidian for weeks while their email list sits at 12 subscribers.

I did the same thing!

My approach these days? Find a few tools that work, stick with them, and get back to creating and growing your list!

Occasionally, I’ll try a new AI tool but only after I’ve created some content or shipped an offer for the day (more on that in a moment).

Here’s my current tool stack:

Writing
​The Archive - $19.99
Apple Notes (free) - Quick capture for ideas on the go
Grammarly - $29.99 (use my 20% discount here)

I use these every day

AI
​Claude ($20/month) - My creative partner for ideation and content repurposing
ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) - Executive assistant and business coach
Perplexity ($20/month) - Google killer in the making

Email Marketing
​Kit (email marketing) - Around $79/month for my list size
Substack (free) - Growing my audience with daily notes
Ghost (free) - I use this for a local newsletter I run

Video & Design
​Camtasia (one-time) - Recording and editing YouTube videos
Canva Pro ($15/month) - Quick graphics when needed

Courses
​Teachable (varies) - I’ve tried a few other online platforms and wasted dozens of hours procrastinating instead of creating. I keep coming back to Teachable.

Business Operations
​Stripe (2.9% fees) - Payment processing
Google Workspace ($7/month) - Email and file storage

Websites
​WordPress - free, excluding hosting

Vibe Coding
​Cursor AI - $20 per month
Netlify + GitHub - free

You don’t need these to run a newsletter business! I only include them here as I’m teaching myself to vibe code on the side of my business.

I’d rather spend 20 minutes writing this email than 2 hours setting up the “perfect” system.

What matters isn’t having the shiniest tools—it’s shipping consistently. Take those vibe coding tools I mentioned. I’ll only experiment with shiny tools like this after I’ve worked on my newsletter business for the day i.e., written an email, made an offer, tweaked an ad.

Speaking of which, if you want to see how I use Claude and ChatGPT to 10x my content output without losing my voice, PromptWritingStudio is still open.

It’s the only newsletter course that teaches you to use AI as a creative partner, not a replacement. The course is almost out of beta and is only available at this price point for a little while longer (more on that soon)

Check it out here​