Judging Tool Choice by Use
There are dozens of generative AI tools. Trying all is impossible, so choose by reverse-lookup from your use.
Illustration/Character Creation
- 1st Midjourney: stands out in beauty/artistry (check official pricing)
- 2nd NijiJourney: anime/manga style. Same company as Midjourney
- 3rd Stable Diffusion: run on your PC, free. Needs technical skill
- Choose: Midjourney for artistry, SD for flexibility
Photo-Style/Realistic Images
- 1st FLUX: strongest in photo realism
- 2nd GPT Image 2.0 (in ChatGPT): the image generator built into ChatGPT, the easiest place to start
- 3rd Adobe Firefly: commercially safe, Photoshop integration
- Choose: FLUX for realism, GPT Image 2.0 for convenience, Firefly for commercial
Video
- Visual-expression focus: Google Veo, Runway. OpenAI shut down Sora: the app and web ended April 26, 2026 and the API stops September 24, 2026. For video, the live options are Runway, Kling, Luma and Veo
- Animating characters: Kling, Pika
- Commercially safe: Adobe Firefly Video
- Long/complex: Runway + AfterEffects together
Music
- With vocals: Suno (pricing changes—check official)
- BGM/arrangement: Udio, AIVA
- Vocal synthesis: ElevenLabs, Synthesizer V
Text/Novels
- Long-form/stories: Claude (Opus 5 / Sonnet 5) holds a long piece together well
- SEO articles: ChatGPT, Notion AI
- Novel-specialized: Sudowrite, NovelAI
- Copy: ChatGPT, Jasper
Design (UI/Logo)
- UI: Figma AI, Galileo AI
- Logo: Looka, Brandmark, Midjourney
- Illustration + design: Canva AI
3D/Special
- 3D models: Meshy, Tripo, Luma
- 3D scenes: NVIDIA Edify, Luma Dream Machine
4 Axes When Choosing
- Quality: top-quality paid tools for pro use
- Price: free/cheap at first, up once used to it
- Commercial use: always confirm plan and license clauses
- Usability: UI / Japanese support / community richness
2026 Recommended Beginner Set
- Text: ChatGPT free + Claude free
- Image: start from GPT Image 2.0 (in ChatGPT), Midjourney once used to it
- Video: Runway free tier
- Music: Suno free tier
Next Step
Once you know how to choose, next try tools concretely in "Account Creation and Free/Paid Judgment."
