Every AI tools listicle is the same. ChatGPT for everything. Midjourney. Notion AI. They're fine. They're not what we actually use day-to-day at 2BFT. Here are the 5 we do use, and why.
1. Claude (Anthropic) — the default brain.
Every WhatsApp message, every product page, every customer email, every line of code we ship — Claude Sonnet 5 is the default. It's the best at following instructions, the best at code-switching between Tamil and English, and the most consistent on long documents. We've been on Claude since the first Sonnet release. Not switching.
2. Nano Banana 2 (Google) — the default image.
For Stashed product photography and Maruthi Jewellers catalogue shots, Nano Banana 2 full is the default. For lifestyle and social, Nano Banana 2 Lite. The integration with Gemini Studio is the cleanest in the market. The free tier is generous enough that small businesses don't need to pay.
3. Veo 3.1 (Google) — the default video.
8-second social videos, 1080p, native audio, strongest physics consistency. Veo 3.1 Lite is on a public preview that handles 80% of what we need. The remaining 20% is still Runway for now. But Google's catching up fast.
4. NotebookLM (Google) — the underdog.
This is the one nobody talks about and we use it daily. Upload the textbook, ask questions, generate a 5-minute audio summary for slow learners. The audio quality is the best of any TTS in 2026. The free tier is enough for 90% of teachers. We showed this to the 14 teachers at St. Paul's — 3 of them now use it for every chapter.
5. NotebookLM + Gemini — the audio stack.
For 2BFT podcasts, course intros, and YouTube voiceovers. NotebookLM generates the script, ElevenLabs v3 voices it. Both have free tiers. Together they replace a $200/month podcasting setup.
What we don't use daily (but should mention).
ChatGPT (occasional), Gemini (for image work), Perplexity (for research), n8n + OpenClaw (for automations). These are all on the /learn hub with the rest. But the daily 5 is what gets used.
