The Stack — every AI tool I use, and what it costs

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The Short Version

Every conclusion from all eight playbooks — 97 chapters, 46 pages, condensed to what you would write on a card. Free, no upsell on the way in.

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Codes right nowCreao AFF20AI agent platform Riibase WELCOME25All-in-one CRM Tripo AFMAX50Text and images to 3D AiPPT DMS20Slides from a sentence

Start from the problem, not the tool

Five things people actually want to do, and the smallest set of tools that does each one. Prices are rough monthly totals — most of these start free.

Launch a paid product

Build it, host it, store the data, take the money. Everything else is later.

~€40/mo, most of it free until you have traffic

Claude Code Vercel Supabase Stripe

Ship without writing code

Describe what you want, get something working, put it in front of ten people this week.

~€25/mo, free tiers to start

Lovable Appy Pie Emergent Vercel

Publish video every day

Generate it, clean it up, narrate it, cut it. The pipeline, not the hero clip.

~€50/mo across the set

Vidu Wizstar Retouch4me ElevenLabs CapCut

Sell something physical

A store, samples, a way to see the product before it exists, and somewhere to keep the customers.

~€60/mo plus sampling

Shopify DHgate Style3D Riibase

Run the business on AI

The agent, the notes, the documents and the one subscription that replaces four.

~€70/mo, or one plan if you consolidate

Creao MuleRun Notta PopAi Lorka

Working numbers, not opinions

The long version of what is on this list: what the work actually pays per hour, what a product nets after advertising, and which subscriptions earn their place.

The stack

The AI tool stack for a one-person business, and what it costs a month

Five jobs a solo operator actually has to do, the smallest set of tools that does each one, and the monthly total — including which subscriptions to delay until something is earning.

Worked numbers

Dropshipping unit economics in 2026: the €69 worked example

The arithmetic that decides whether a store is a business or a machine for converting savings into advertising — built line by line on a €69 product, with the order bump and the repeat purchase that make it work.

Ranking

The real hourly rate of 8 AI side hustles

Eight AI side hustles, ranked by what they pay per hour once you count every hour — sourcing, learning, listing and the mistakes. Worked examples with the arithmetic shown.

Everything I have written →

Straight comparisons

When you already know you are going to pay for something and only need to decide who gets the money. Tables, honest verdicts, and no pretending one tool wins everything.

Builders

Lovable vs Bolt vs v0 vs Replit

Seven tools that turn a description into an app. Which one you keep matters more than which is best.

Video

Vidu vs Vidmage vs Wizstar

Three AI video tools built for three completely different jobs.

Tripo vs V2Fun

Two ways to get a usable 3D model without learning 3D.

Documents

PopAi vs Lorka vs xTiles vs Notta

The half of the work nobody enjoys, handed over.

Start here

With these four you can build a complete product, put it live and get paid. Everything below is something you add later, when you have a concrete problem — not before.

Claude CodeIn my stackP01

An AI agent in your terminal that reads your files, edits them, runs commands and deploys.

When you build or automate software. The foundation of Playbook 01.

~€17–20/mo View

ClaudeIn my stackP03

The assistant itself. Strong on long text, code, and following instructions exactly.

Your daily workhorse. The foundation of Playbook 03.

~€20/mo View

VercelIn my stackP01P02

Hosting. Puts a project live on a real address with one command.

The moment something needs to leave your laptop. Free until you have real traffic.

Free tier View

SupabaseIn my stackP01P02

Database, accounts and file storage in one, with no backend work.

As soon as your app has to remember anything between visits.

Free tier View

Building without a terminal

Browser builders: you describe what you want and a working app comes out. Pick one and stay with it — switching costs more than it returns.

LovableIn my stackP02

Builds complete apps from a prompt. The most finished output of the group.

Your default choice when you want something that looks done, fast.

Free tier, then ~$25/mo View

BoltIn my stackP02

Fast full-stack prototypes, entirely in the browser.

When you want to iterate heavily on an idea.

Free tier, Pro ~$25/mo View

v0In my stackP02

Strong on how individual screens look; now full apps too.

When the appearance matters most.

Free tier, then ~$20/mo View

ReplitIn my stackP02

Building and hosting in one place, agent included.

When you want as few separate accounts as possible.

Free tier, Core ~$20/mo View

Base44In my stackP02

The most guided, genuinely no-code experience of the group.

When the other builders feel too open-ended.

~$20/mo View

CursorIn my stackP01P02

A code editor with AI. The step between browser builder and terminal.

When you do want to see the code, but not type it yourself.

~$20/mo View

Appy PieP02

Builds apps and workflows from a description, then publishes them.

The version of an idea you want in front of ten people this week.

Free tier, then paid View

EmergentP01P02

AI that builds and iterates on working software rather than snippets.

When a browser builder runs out of room and you are not ready for a terminal.

Free tier, then paid View

Money and foundations

The boring layer between a demo and a business. Everything here starts free.

StripeIn my stackP01P02

Payments and subscriptions. The standard, and integrating it is a matter of asking.

As soon as you want to sell something.

Free, percentage per sale View

GitHubIn my stackP01

Version control. Your restore point when an hour of building goes wrong.

From day one, on every project.

Free View

ResendIn my stackP01P02

Transactional email that actually arrives.

As soon as your app has to send a confirmation or a contact form.

Free tier View

CloudflareIn my stackP01P02

DNS, domains and basic protection.

As soon as you work with real domains.

Free View

PorkbunIn my stackP01P02

A domain registrar without upsell tricks, with honest renewal prices.

Every project. Always buy client domains in the client's name.

~€10–15/year View

1PasswordIn my stackP01P03

Password manager. Also where client credentials belong.

Immediately, honestly.

~€3–5/mo View

ShopifyP02

Hosts the store, takes the payment and handles the tax.

Selling physical products. The default, and the reason is boring reliability.

From ~€29/mo View

RiibaseP01

One CRM for contacts, deals and follow-ups, with AI built in.

Client work, once the spreadsheet stops holding it.

Free tier, then paid View

DHgateP02

Wholesale marketplace for sampling and early product testing.

Ordering samples from three suppliers before you commit to anything.

Per order View

Book BoltP02

Research, covers and interiors for low-content books on Amazon KDP.

Notebooks and journals as a first paid product.

From ~$10/mo View

AdGuard VPNP01

VPN and ad blocking, no logs, from a company that has been at this since 2009.

Testing geo-restricted checkouts, and not doing client work on café wifi.

From ~€3/mo View

GuidelyProP02

Guides shoppers to the right product through a few short questions instead of a category page.

A store with more than a handful of products, where visitors browse and then leave.

On request View

Automation

For processes you have already run by hand and that are frequent, boring and stable. Never automate something you have not done manually at least five times.

n8nIn my stackP03

Workflow automation you can host yourself. Plenty of control.

When you sell automations or run real volume.

Free self-hosted, cloud ~€20/mo View

MakeIn my stackP03

Visual automation between tools, lower barrier than n8n.

When you want to connect something quickly without hosting.

Free tier View

ZapierIn my stackP03

The most integrations, the highest price.

When the tool your client uses is only available here.

Free tier, then ~$20+/mo View

AI tools worth knowing

Not part of my daily stack — these are tools in the same territory that are worth a look when you have the specific problem they solve. Marked as such, so you know the difference.

CreaoP03

Turns one conversation into a reusable app, connected to Gmail, Slack, GitHub and 30+ tools.

When you want the agent to finish the job, not hand you a draft.

Free tier, then paid · code AFF20 View

MuleRunP03

An autonomous agent for repetitive work.

Jobs where checking the result takes seconds.

Free tier, then paid View

PopAiP03

Builds documents and presentations from a prompt, and reads long PDFs.

The formatting half of the work nobody gets paid well for.

Free tier, then paid View

PopAi SheetsP03

Describe the calculation in plain language, get the working spreadsheet back.

The formula you cannot remember and do not want to relearn.

Free tier, then paid View

xTilesP03

One workspace where a plan, a checklist and a document sit on the same page.

When notes, boards and docs are spread over three apps.

Free tier, then paid View

PolyPalP03

Live AI translation for calls and conversations.

Selling outside your own language.

Free tier, then paid View

WaveSpeedAIP03

Fast inference for image and video models, priced per run.

Once your volume makes a monthly subscription the expensive option.

Per run View

BytePlusP03

Cloud and AI services for products that outgrew the free tier.

Worth pricing before you need it, not after.

Per use View

NottaP03

Transcribes meetings, calls and interviews, then pulls the decisions out of them.

Client calls you keep half-remembering a week later.

Free tier, then paid View

LorkaP03

One subscription covering writing, images, video and voice instead of five.

When the stack creep hits and you want a single line on the statement.

~$30/mo View

AiPPTP03

Turns a sentence or an existing document into a finished slide deck.

When the deck is the deliverable and you would rather not build it.

Free tier, then paid · code DMS20 View

PiP01P03

AI presentation generator — paste the content, get a designed deck back.

Client proposals and pitch decks, where the design usually eats the afternoon.

Free tier, then paid View

GlobalGPTP03

Chat, image, video, audio, search and agents from several leading models under one subscription.

When you want to compare models without paying four separate bills.

Single subscription View

Z.ai (GLM)P01P03

Access to the GLM model family with credits for developers and builders.

Building on top of a model rather than using a chat window.

Credits, pay as you go View

Content and publishing

Only relevant once you actually publish. Buy nothing here before you have posted three things.

ElevenLabsIn my stackP03

Voice generation and voice-overs that do not sound like a robot.

Faceless video with a narrator.

Free tier, then ~$5–22/mo View

DescriptIn my stackP03

Edit video by editing the transcript.

When you cut a lot of talking-head video or screencasts.

Free tier, then ~$15–30/mo View

CapCutIn my stackP03

Fast shorts and vertical editing, with captions.

TikTok, Reels and Shorts.

Free, Pro ~€10/mo View

OBS StudioIn my stackP03

Screen recording. Free, open source, and good enough for everything.

Record every build — that is the whole content engine.

Free View

KitIn my stackP03

Email platform for creators. The list is the only thing you actually own.

Now. Even at three hundred followers.

Free under 1,000 subs View

CanvaIn my stackP03

Thumbnails, covers and anything that has to look good quickly.

As soon as you publish.

Free tier View

FigmaIn my stackP01P02

Design and screens, including showing a client something before you build.

Client work where the look has to be approved up front.

Free tier View

ViduP03

Turns text, images or references into video, holding characters steady across shots.

Faceless or character-led video where consistency is the hard part.

Free tier, then paid View

VidmageP03

AI video generation aimed at volume rather than one hero clip.

Publishing daily instead of occasionally.

Free tier, then paid View

Retouch4meP03

Automates skin, defects and texture as plugins inside your editor.

Product or portrait photography at any real volume.

Per plugin, one-off View

TripoP03

Turns text or a photo into an editable 3D model.

Product mockups and 3D assets without learning 3D.

Free tier, then paid View

Style3DP02

3D design and virtual fitting for apparel.

Clothing, where the first physical sample is expensive to get wrong.

On request View

WizstarP02P03

Turns product links and images into video, with translation and lip sync.

Product video at volume, especially for more than one language.

Free tier, then paid View

V2FunP03

Text or images into high-quality 3D models in minutes.

3D assets for games, products or thumbnails without a modeller.

Free tier, then paid View

HappyScribeP03

Transcribes, subtitles and translates video with AI, with human linguists as an option.

Subtitles at volume, or publishing the same video in more than one language.

Per minute, or subscription View

Measuring

Without numbers you have a story. With numbers you have a price.

PlausibleIn my stackP02P03

Simple, privacy-friendly visitor stats with no cookie banner.

As soon as you have a page people land on.

~€9/mo View

UmamiIn my stackP02P03

Same idea, free if you host it yourself.

When you would rather pay nothing and still measure.

Free self-hosted View

The stack changes. So does the book.

The playbooks get revised when the tools or the rules move, and everyone who has The Short Version gets told. Same link, nothing else to sign up for.

Get The Short Version

Free. PDF, 46 pages.

The playbooks

Eight books, 474 pages. Every one has the reasoning, the real numbers, a worked example and a day-by-day plan — including the chapters on tax, security and compliance that nobody enjoys writing.