Hi, I’m Kayla. I review gear for a living and run a tiny candle shop on the side. So I write a lot—emails, ads, blog posts, even bedtime stories when my kid can’t sleep. Last month, I spent two weeks using a bunch of AI writing tools. I used them on real work, not fake tests.
A fuller breakdown with extra screenshots lives in my deep-dive on PTools.
Some tools felt like a warm cup of tea. Some felt like stale toast. Here’s the real stuff—what helped me write faster, what made me roll my eyes, and a few lines the tools wrote for me.
By the way, I’ll keep it simple. Plain talk. Straight to the point.
Quick Picks (If You’re In A Hurry)
- Best overall helper: ChatGPT (GPT-4 tier)
- Best for long research and clean summaries: Claude 3.5 Sonnet
- Best for marketing templates and ads: Jasper
- Best for grammar and tone: Grammarly
- Best for fiction and rich ideas: Sudowrite
- Best for quick rewrites and paraphrase: QuillBot
- Best inside docs and notes: Notion AI
- Best free start inside Google Docs: Gemini
If you want to see how these picks stack up against dozens of niche AI apps, the comparison tables on PTools are a gold mine.
ChatGPT (GPT-4): My Daily Driver
I open this one first. It’s fast, friendly, and plays nice with messy notes. I use it for emails, headlines, and first drafts.
On days when I want quick gut-check reactions from actual people—before polishing a pitch with AI—I dip into a random chat room; one of the easiest ways to find a solid room is by skimming InstantChat’s roundup of the best sites for random chat, where each platform is broken down by niche, anonymity level, and moderation quality so you can land productive feedback fast.
- What I asked: “Write a short, calm email to a jar supplier. The shipment is late. I need a firm date.”
- What it gave me: “Could you confirm the revised ship date by Friday? I’d like to update our customers with a clear timeline.”
That line saved me from sounding grumpy. You know what? It even fixed my bullet list into clear steps.
Pros:
- Great for tone and ideas
- Good at structure and flow
- Handles mixed tasks (email, blog intro, product copy)
Cons:
- Can sound too polite
- Sometimes makes up sources if you don’t check
Price note: I use the paid plan. Worth it for me.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet: The Clean Summarizer
Claude feels… calm. It shines with big chunks of text. I tossed it a 55-page customer interview doc. No sweat.
By the way, the latest Claude 3.5 Sonnet model is faster and cheaper than Claude 3 Opus while handling up to 200,000 tokens—wild headroom for long-form work (source).
If you ever need to pull raw data before handing it to an AI, take a peek at my review of the best web-scraping tools.
- What I asked: “Pull top themes and 5 customer quotes about candle scents. Keep it human.”
- What it gave me:
- Theme: “Comfort scents for stress” (quotes about lavender after work)
- Theme: “Gifting bundles” (quotes about holiday sets)
- Theme: “Shipping worries” (quotes about late packages)
The quotes felt natural. Not stiff. I used two lines as-is.
Also worth noting: Anthropic recently rolled out an “artifacts” panel inside Claude’s web app, which lets the AI spin up and render full web pages or single-page apps right in the chat—handy if your writing project needs a quick interactive mock-up or landing page (see it in action).
For niches where accuracy and up-to-date local knowledge matter—say you’re drafting a nightlife or adult-oriented city guide—AI still needs hard facts to chew on. A solid real-world reference is the USA Sex Guide for Bell, California, which packs current venue lists, etiquette tips, and legal notes you can weave into your copy so the final draft stays both useful and trustworthy.
Pros:
- Long memory
- Clear summaries and clusters
- Gentle voice
Cons:
- Gets cautious with edgy ad claims
- Can refuse spicy content
I keep it for research days and reports.
Jasper: The Template King For Ads
I thought Jasper would be too hype. Then I tried the ad templates with my fall sale. I was wrong.
- What I asked: “Facebook ad for 20% off fall candle bundles. Cozy vibe, short, two variants.”
- What it gave me (snippet): “Crunchy leaves. Soft sweater. Your home, warmer by one match.”
- And a second one: “Fall is calling. Answer with cedar, cinnamon, and a tiny flame.”
Did I laugh at “tiny flame” first? Yep. Did it perform? Also yep. Clicks went up. Sales too.
Pros:
- Tons of templates (AIDA, PAS, headlines, product pages)
- Brand voice training worked after I pasted 200 words of my copy
Cons:
- Can feel formulaic if you overuse it
- Needs tight prompts to avoid fluff
I use it when speed matters.
Grammarly: The Cleanup Crew
When my brain is fried, I paste my draft into Grammarly. It catches my comma mess and tones down word soup.
- What I asked: “Make this intro cleaner but not stiff.”
- Original line: “Candle jars arrive whenever they feel like it, and that’s not helpful.”
- Fixed line: “Our candle jars keep arriving late, and it’s causing real delays.”
That’s tighter. Still me.
Pros:
- Grammar, tone, and clarity
- Nice “confidence” meter for length and readability
Cons:
- Rewrites can get bland
- Sometimes misses repeated words in headers
I keep it open while I write. Like a seatbelt.
Sudowrite: Fiction’s Secret Spice
I’m not a novelist. But I play. Sudowrite’s Story Engine is wild fun. I used it for a cozy mystery about—don’t laugh—a missing sourdough starter at the farmers market.
- What I asked: “Plot a three-act outline. Add three quirky suspects.”
- What it gave me:
- Suspect 1: A beekeeper who writes poetry on jar labels
- Suspect 2: A teen who flips vintage mixers on weekends
- Suspect 3: The bread judge who hates plastic wrap
Then I asked it to rewrite a paragraph “warm and funny, less purple.” It toned down the flowery bits and kept the charm.
Pros:
- Strong idea engine
- Great sensory details and metaphors
Cons:
- Can get purple fast
- Needs your voice guide, or it wanders
Perfect for story play or brand storytelling.
QuillBot: Quick Paraphrase And Shorten
This is my “fix that one sentence” tool. Press, spin, done.
- What I asked: “Paraphrase: ‘We’re temporarily out of cedar wicks due to supplier delays.’ Keep it plain.”
- What it gave me: “We’re short on cedar wicks right now because our supplier is delayed.”
Short. Clear. I used it on a press note too, where I had a line that sounded like a robot.
Pros:
- Modes like Simple, Formal, Shorten
- Built-in grammar and citations
Cons:
- Can shift meaning if you don’t check
- Over-paraphrasing feels wooden
Good for quick fixes, not whole drafts.
Notion AI: Ideas Inside Your Notes
Since I live in Notion, this one is handy. I use it inside my content calendar.
- What I asked (in my doc): “Give me 5 post ideas for Lavender Week, mix reels and stills.”
- What it gave me:
- “20-second ‘How we pour’ reel”
- “Lavender bedtime tips + candle safety”
- “Customer care card carousel”
- “Behind-the-scent: where our oil comes from”
- “Poll: team lavender vs. team cedar”
Fast. Not perfect. But it breaks the blank page.
Pros:
- Right where I’m working
- Solid outlines and summaries
Cons:
- Facts can wobble
- Works best as a jumpstart, not a final pass
Gemini (in Google Docs): The Free-ish Helper
In Docs, I click the side panel and ask for an outline. It’s simple, and that’s the charm.
- What I asked: “Turn these messy bullets into a blog outline with H2s and H3s.”
- What it gave me: A clean outline with short headings and a call-to-action block.
Pros:
- Easy if you live in Docs
- Good for structure and short summaries
Cons:
- Generic voice
- Slow on long research
I use it for meeting notes and
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