Tools and References I Actually Use

This isn't my list of the best tools out there.

It's a small collection of things I actually return to, plus a few I don't currently use but would still recommend without hesitation.

Some of them help me build, some help me think, a few do both. What they have in common is that they changed how I work enough to stay in rotation, or at least stayed good enough at solving a problem or relieving friction that I would still point other people toward them.

The pattern I keep noticing

I tend to stick with tools that do at least one of these well:

• improve my efficiency
• help me think more clearly
• respect speed and attention
• give me enough structure without boxing me in
• feel polished enough that using them is actually enjoyable, or just look so good that I just have to use them

I switch tools often and lose interest pretty quickly in tools that are just too much. That could mean loud, bloated, or full of features that feel like they exist mostly to justify themselves, etc.

The better ones usually disappear into the work and I don't have to think about them at all.

Tools I use often

ChatGPT

Ok, look, you either hate it or love it, or don't care. This isn't where I'm going to explain my stance on AI tools. That'll be another post. I use this for thinking, drafting, clarifying, and getting unstuck.

The big value to me is not that it replaces what I can do or stops me from thinking. It's that it helps me move faster from something vague to something I can feel and react to. That matters a lot when I am juggling ideas, code, writing, and figuring things out as I go.

Windsurf

This has been one of the most useful AI coding tools for me because it shortens the gap between rough direction and getting something actually built.

I know there's others like Cursor and TRAE and Antigravity, etc, but this one just clicks for me. Maybe that's because I'm not a professional developer, who knows.

What matters to me is that it just works well for the way I'm thinking and building. I'm definitely not the most skilled developer out there, so I need tools that help me bridge the gap between idea and implementation and Windsurf does that for me.

Craft Docs

Craft is one of those products where you can feel that the team cares a ton!

It's so polished and thoughtful and just nice to use. I care a lot about how digital tools feel, and Craft gets so much of that right. It makes writing, organizing, and thinking feel easier and better. And it's just pretty 🤷.

Dia Browser

I used Arc for a while, and I loved it. I had convinced friends to use it. It really changed how I browse. So much so I'm using Chrome Beta on Windows now for work just to enable the vertical tabs I've come to love.

Dia ended up replacing Arc for me, and while I was a bit skeptical at first, The Browser Company has done a pretty great job with it and are taking the time to do it well.

I know other browsers can do similar things, and have AI features and chat, and other bells and whistles, but I really enjoy Dia. It just fits the way I like to work and browse. Did I mention the vertical tabs?

Spark Mail

Email sucks. I hate it. It's one of those things I wish we didn't need anymore, but we do, I guess. Spark however has made it so much more bearable and honestly, it makes sense.

Spark has stayed one of my favorites because it feels cleaner and more considered than most of the alternatives. It's like they knew email sucked, and they set out to make it less sucky, and it's at least better than Outlook and that's enough for me.

Vowen

Vowen is one of those tools that immediately makes sense to me because it reduces friction in a very direct way.

It's a voice-to-text tool with local dictation, AI-powered voice commands, some pretty cool built-in utilities, and a strong privacy angle. It's like WisprFlow, but Free and choose your own flavor in a sense. You can dictate anywhere and setup the transcription to run locally on-device.

I like that it just feels useful and is constantly being improved. It is still early, but I think the direction is very strong.

Craft Agents

This one is interesting to me because it feels like a more thoughtful way to work with coding agents. Again, made by Craft, so what else would I expect?

It's basically a desktop interface for agent workflows instead of a terminal-first experience, which is so much better. The inbox-style setup, "connect to anything" style integrations, and overall polish all make it feel great to use.

I like tools that make powerful things feel a little more human and a little less annoying and this is in that category for me.

Devin Review

Incredibly useful when I want another layer of review on code and now I use it for every step of a project.

I try not to treat tools like this as a replacement for understanding what I am building, but it's genuinely so helpful for catching things, questioning choices, and giving me another pass to react to and makes me more confident in shipping things that actually work.

Foundations I keep coming back to

Motion

I care a lot about how interfaces move and make you feel, and this is one of the best tools for that work.

Not because more motion is always better but because when motion matters, it helps to have something that can do it cleanly.

Tools I am not currently using, but still recommend

Replit

I am not using it much right now, but I still think it is great for speed and eliminating some of the barriers that non-technical people face when trying to just create something but not knowing how or where to start.

It is good for testing, quick apps and sites, and trusting that things will usually just work. Replit's come a long way and I see it getting easier and easier for the average person to build what they want whenever they want.

Framer

I'm not currently using Framer, but I still think it is one of the best web design tools out there and it's positioned itself in an ideal place for the future of web design and development.

It's fast, polished, and relatively easy to use. They care a lot about the web and what they're building and doing it well. Even if it is not part of my current workflow, I would still recommend it.

Relume

Same kind of story here. I am not actively using it right now, but Relume is still a very strong tool for web design, planning, structure, and speed.

The library is great. Their design system is great. Pair this with almost any website builder and you've got one of the best tools for getting design down fast, and getting a site up faster.

Why keep a page like this

Partly because I like seeing the patterns in one place.

Partly because recommendations are more useful when they come with a review or judgment instead of just links.

And partly because I want this to be a place that helps you find what you need or what you're looking for, or what's useful to you, not just what I think is cool. But a lot of it is pretty cool.