39 Best Content Creation Tools You Need in 2024

Research tools aren’t just essential for creating great content. They also help you better understand your audience and ensure that you’re creating content that will perform well. These tools will help you do the essential research required to succeed as a content creator, even if you’re not quite sure where to start.

1. Google Trends

Google Trends is a popular tool for both new and experienced digital content creators. It analyzes actual search queries on Google across different regions and provides data on their popularity over time.

You can get real-time updates on which topics and terms are trending in different locations right now and compare the search volumes of related terms. With the data they collect on Google Trends, content creators can target specific keywords that are trending and use them as a starting point to create useful content.

Cost: Free.

2. AlsoAsked

AlsoAsked is a keyword research tool that aggregates data from Google’s “People Also Ask” section, which is a snippet of popular queries related to an initial query that people are searching on Google.

Having access to data from these long-tail searches enables you to create more comprehensive content that answers any relevant questions your audience may have.

Cost: Paid plans start at $12 per month (billed annually).

3. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO tool that’s crucial for bloggers. It provides a wealth of insights into your website’s performance, enabling you to make relevant adjustments to your content strategy and boost your site’s ranking.

You can track all these different aspects of your website with Ahrefs:

• Keyword ranking on specific pages
• The traffic of your site and specific pages
• Number and quality of backlinks
• Domain rating (DR)
• Organic search vs. paid search

In addition, Ahrefs lets you run full audits on your site, analyze the competition, and explore top-performing content and high-volume keywords.

Cost: You can use some tools for free or sign up for one of Ahrefs paid plans, which cost $29–$14,990 per month (billed annually).

4. Semrush

Similar to Ahrefs, Semrush is an SEO tool that allows you to perform in-depth SEO analyses, including topic and keyword research, competitor research, rank tracking, traffic tracking, and website audits.

Here are a few other notable features of Semrush:

• SEO smart writing editor
• Social media and paid ads management
• Content scheduling
• AI-generated content creation

Cost: You can use some tools for free or sign up for one of Semrush’s paid plans, which cost $139.95–$499.95 per month.

5. AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic is another SEO tool for keyword research. It helps you target relevant keywords, topics, and related queries by compiling data from various search engines, including Google, Bing, YouTube, TikTok, and Amazon.

Compared to other SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush, AnswerThePublic offers much cheaper plans. However, the software’s features are quite basic, focusing only on generating keywords.

Cost: AnswerThePublic’s pricing is $11–$99 per month or $119–$1,990 for lifetime access.

Although content writing tools are most applicable to text-based content creation like blogging, they can also help you create better content in other media.

Writing is a key part of most types of content creation, from writing dialogue for videos to summarizing a podcast in a social media post. The writing tools below will help you do that, even if you’re not a natural-born writer.

6. Microsoft Word

Part of Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Microsoft Word is a word processor program that lets you write, format, and edit text. It’s one of the most popular tools to create simple and complex written documents.

Whether you want to start a blog or write social media post captions, Microsoft Word is a solid choice.

Valuable features include must-have spell checkers and grammar checkers as well as various customizable templates. If you’re working as part of a content creation team, you’ll also love Word’s collaboration tools, which allow you to simultaneously work with your colleagues on a particular document, editing, commenting, and making suggested changes in real time.

Cost: You can get the web version of Microsoft Word for free or pay $149.99 for one device (Word only) or $6.99+ per month for one of the Microsoft 365 paid plans.

7. Google Docs

Google Docs is part of the free Google Docs Editors office suite. This content creation tool offers similar word-processing features to Microsoft Word. For instance, you can create documents, insert tables, charts, and images, and collaborate with other users.

While Google Docs may offer fewer technical capabilities than Microsoft Word, it’s better for file sharing and real-time collaboration with other creators. Another advantage of Google Docs is that it’s a completely free word processing tool, meaning it may be a better choice if you just need a simple program to create documents.

Cost: Free.

8. Grammarly

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing tool that improves your writing by correcting spelling, punctuation, grammar, and styling errors. This content editing software also analyzes writing tones and offers recommendations for improved word choice and sentence structure.

Moreover, Grammarly can detect accidental plagiarism, ensure your citations remain consistent, and generate AI prompts. If you want to make money blogging or earn an income from other writing-based content creation, consider using this tool to polish your writing.

Cost: You can get a free version or choose one of Grammarly’s paid plans, which cost $12–$15 per month (billed annually).

9. Hemingway Editor

Hemingway Editor is another AI writing tool that enhances your writing by fixing writing mistakes and suggesting text rewrites. It can also help you adjust your writing’s tone and formality according to the needs of your target audience.

This tool is ideal if you’re doing writing-based content creation but you’re not fully confident in your writing or editorial skills. If you want to try before you buy, Hemingway Editor offers a 14-day free trial.

Cost: Hemingway Editor’s paid plans cost $8.33–$15.00 per month (billed annually).

10. ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI virtual assistant that engages in conversations with users. Regardless of your medium, ChatGPT can be an efficient tool for outlining posts, brainstorming ideas, or even editing your written content.

It’s advisable to use ChatGPT merely as an aid to find inspiration or streamline your workflow instead of fully relying on it since it’s known for having certain issues, like overusing certain phrases, adding excessive tangential information, and answering questions incorrectly.

Cost: You can use the free version or sign up for one of ChatGPT’s paid plans, starting at $20 per month.

11. Jasper AI

Jasper AI is a generative AI tool that can converse with users, generate ideas, and create content from scratch. It’s a lot like ChatGPT, but there are a few differences.

For starters, ChatGPT is a chat bot that offers more general AI assistance, whereas Jasper AI is an AI-powered content marketing tool. Secondly, Jasper AI has more advanced capabilities but also a higher price tag.

Jasper AI is specifically designed to generate marketing materials or strategies. However, you can also use this tool to plan out, create, and analyze content as well as ensure consistent style and tone.

Cost: Jasper AI’s paid plans start at $39 per month.

You don’t necessarily need to become a professional graphic designer to create stunning visual media for your content. Several imaging and visual content creation tools have hit the market in recent years to make image generation more accessible than ever.

12. Pexels

Pexels is a website that offers free stock photos and videos shared by photographers and videographers. You can use these photos and videos for both personal and commercial purposes.

However, you can’t just download and sell these photos and videos. In order to monetize Pexel photos and videos, you have to make your own edits to them first. Just beware that you can’t upload any photos or videos from Pexel (edited or not) to other stock photo websites.

Cost: Free.

13. Unsplash

Unsplash is a website that offers a wide selection of free stock photos and illustrations that can be used for most personal and commercial projects (check their Terms & Conditions page for exceptions). If you need a photo to accompany your written or video content, then this is a good site to use.

Without the creator’s consent, you can’t sell any images you get from Unsplash—this includes printing them on physical goods you plan to sell. However, you can contact the creator via their Unsplash profile’s message feature (if they enabled it).

The premium version of this tool, Unsplash+, offers additional features like exclusive content and unlimited royalty-free downloads.

Cost: You can use the free version or the paid version of Unsplash, which costs $12 per month (billed annually).

14. Shutterstock

In addition to photos, illustrations, and videos, Shutterstock provides many other types of content, including AI-generated images, music, sound effects, 3D models, and templates. Depending on which plan you purchase, you may also have access to creative AI editing tools, basic image editing tools, and premium image editing tools.

The website accepts image submissions and pays you each time it licenses your content. In short, it allows you to sell stock photos on the platform, which is one of the many ways for photographers to make money.

The company is also taking a forward-thinking approach to AI, forbidding the submission of AI-generated images but allowing users to generate images on the Shutterstock site using a tool that intends to compensate the human artists whose work was used for the AI training model.

Cost: One-time Shutterstock packs start at $29, and subscriptions start at $29 per month.

15. Canva

Canva is an online graphic design tool and content creation platform that content creators often use to produce items like social media graphics and templates. You can also use its AI feature to generate text and edit images.

In addition to having thousands of templates for you to work from, Canva offers free design tutorials to help you get started. This makes it a great option for beginners and creators who need visual designs but don’t have the budget to hire a professional designer.

Cost: You can use Canva for free or access more features with one of their paid plans, which start at $15 per month or $120 per year.

16. Microsoft Designer

Microsoft Designer lets users create, design, and edit various visual media with the help of AI. Content creators can use it to produce social media posts, graphics, and images more quickly.

This is a great free design tool for content creators and influencers alike (you can read our breakdown of content creator vs. influencer if you’re unsure how the two differ). There’s also potential to access even more features if you’re willing to pay a monthly fee.

Cost: Microsoft Designer is free to use, but you can also get the premium version, Microsoft Copilot Pro, for $20 per month.

17. Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a graphic design software with comprehensive features for creating both simple and complex designs, including logos, banners, icons, graphics, and illustrations.

Most professional or experienced graphic designers working on specialized projects would choose Adobe Illustrator over Canva because it offers a wider selection of tools, features, and formats. The catch is that Adobe Illustrator is pricier. Thankfully, however, Adobe Illustrator has a free 7-day trial period.

Cost: Adobe Illustrator pricing costs $34.49 for a monthly plan, $22.99 per month (billed annually), or $263.88 per year for a one-time payment.

18. Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom

Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom are both comprehensive image-editing tools, but they have different focuses. While Photoshop can achieve more in-depth edits, Lightroom is better for managing images in bulk.

Both tools are beneficial in a wide range of photography side hustles. If you work as a professional photographer, it’s a good idea to use them together. You can purchase one or both to use in your content creation projects.

Cost: Adobe Photoshop costs $22.99 per month, Lightroom costs $9.99 per month, and a Photoshop and Lightroom bundle costs $19.99 per month.

19. PicMonkey

PicMonkey is a photo editing and design tool that’s one of the most loved content creation tools for social media, particularly among UGC creators and different types of influencers. This is mainly because of their numerous design templates for YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can also access many stock photos, graphics, and icons.

It offers basic features like cropping, resizing, and color adjustment, as well as the option to add filters or photo effects or remove an image’s background. While you can technically get started for free, you can’t download or share your designs without a paid subscription.

Cost: PicMonkey’s paid plans cost $7.99–$12.99 per month (billed monthly) or $72–$120 per year (billed annually).

20. GIMP

The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is a free image-editing software that’s available for most major operating systems, including macOS, Windows, and GNU/Linux. It’s integrated with several programming languages, offering a high level of customization for your images.

In addition to image editing, you can also use the software for graphic design and illustration creation. Granted, GIMP doesn’t have many of the higher-end features that you’d find already included in some other paid tools, but it can still get most jobs done at a fairly decent level.

Cost: Free.

If you’re lacking expert-level video editing and production skills but you have your heart set on becoming a YouTube or TikTok star, don’t worry. We’ve rounded up several incredibly useful video production tools that can help you achieve professional-level results and express your most creative ideas without the need for advanced technical skills.

21. Animoto

Animoto is a good video-making and editing tool for video content creators, such as those running a YouTube channel or making money on TikTok. It’s mainly designed for creating image slideshows and presentations.

As a user, you can access stock media and music, create screen and webcam recordings, collaborate with others on a video, and use custom templates. While Animoto may not be the first choice for professional editors, it’s a good option for beginners who want to create quality videos for their social media platforms.

Cost: You can use the free version or purchase one of Animoto’s paid plans for $8–$39 per month (billed annually).

22. Biteable

Similar to Animoto, Biteable is a video-editing tool that’s ideal for beginners and cost-conscious content creators. Here are some of the things you can do with Biteable:

• Create videos with different types of templates
• Customize content with animations
• Apply royalty-free soundtracks
• Use text-to-speech tools to create voice overs

Beyond creating videos by yourself, you can organize and share them with others, collect feedback, and start collaborations. Before committing, you can try Biteable out for free with their 7-day free trial.

Cost: Biteable’s pricing starts at $15 per month (billed annually).

23. Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is an advanced nonlinear video editing app for Mac users. It’s a higher-level tool for video content creators, particularly film makers.

It has all the editing, audio, and motion graphics features you need to create complex professional videos. The organizational tools you get also make it easy to manage large volumes of clips.

Cost: One-time purchase of $299.99.

24. Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro is another comprehensive video creation tool that professional video creators use. Its robust features let you perform in-depth edits, upload and organize a large number of files, and create clear dialogue and audio.

In addition, Premiere Pro offers AI-powered speech-to-text tools and templates for creating captions, graphics, and animated templates. You can try it out free for 7 days before you need to make a purchase.

Cost: Adobe Premiere Pro pricing starts at $22.99 per month (billed annually).

25. Adobe After Effects

Adobe After Effects is a motion graphics and visual effects software that can help you create industry-standard videos. Video creators use it to create more complex graphics and effects shots.

This is a great tool to pair with your main video editing software, and many professional video creators and editors pair it with a video creation tool like Adobe Premiere Pro. Like many other Adobe products, you can take advantage of a free 7-day trial before you commit.

Cost: Adobe After Effects pricing starts at $22.99 per month.

26. Lumen5

Lumen5 is an AI video creation tool that streamlines your video creation process with templated designs, preset text, and image placement. It’s a great tool for bloggers, social media creators, and multi-channel content creators who publish content in several different formats.

The platform’s AI Script Composer lets you repurpose content by generating videos from blog posts. While Lumen5 is a helpful tool for creating short videos quickly, it isn’t ideal for creating complex, longer-form videos that require more flexible and advanced editing features.

Cost: You can use the free plan or buy one of the Lumen5 paid plans for $19+ per month (billed annually).

27. Descript

Descript is an AI-powered video editing tool best known for its transcription services and simple video editing capabilities. It’s one of the more popular content creation tools for podcasters and video creators.

Here are a few things you can to with Descript’s AI features:

• Edit videos and audio clips by editing text
• Turn text into speech in your voice
• Translate video captions
• Automatically remove filler words

Although Descript isn’t a good replacement for standard editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro, its AI features can help polish your content and make certain tasks easier.

Cost: You can access some features for free or buy a Descript paid plan for $12–$50 per month.

Audio editing tools are essential for many creators—whether you’re on a journey toward becoming a paid podcaster or you’re looking to make it in the music industry by creating and sharing music content.

The audio production tools below will help you easily achieve pro-quality sound by cutting out unwanted audio, layering sounds, adding sound effects, mastering your final audio, and more.

28. Audacity

Audacity is a type of audio editing and recording software that’s ideal for podcasting, producing music, or creating other audio-based content. It’s open source and completely free.

This audio content creation tool is a multi-track editor with a broad effects library. It can handle anything from recording and editing spoken word recordings to mixing and adding simple effects or reducing background noise and altering frequencies.

Most popular audio formats, including mp3, m4a, AIFF, FLAC, and WAV, are compatible with Audacity.

Cost: Free.

29. Adobe Audition

Adobe Audition is for professionals seeking an audio recording and editing tool with more refined features. You can use it to handle complex audio files with multiple tracks.

This content creation software provides advanced tools that allow users to edit, mix, record, and restore videos and audio files seamlessly and with precision. Its most valuable features include its advanced audio restoration capabilities and integration with other Adobe products.

Cost: Adobe Audition pricing starts at $22.99 per month (billed annually).

30. GarageBand

GarageBand is a free music recording app available to all Apple users. It has all the basic features you need to play, record, and share your music, including built-in instruments, looping, and multi-track recording.

Although there are plenty of other audio interfaces that offer more advanced capabilities, GarageBand’s main advantages are its low cost and user-friendliness, making it a good starting tool for beginners who are just figuring out how to make money with music and those on a budget.

Cost: Free.

31. Alitu

Alitu is an AI-powered audio recording and editing tool for podcasters. It offers audio editing, clean-up, and transcription tools that allow you to edit your audio files to a high sound quality as well as arrange and layer sound clips for seamless transitions, ad placement, and podcast background music.

You can also access their free music library, publish your episodes easily to major platforms (e.g., Spotify and Apple Music), and even create your own podcast website. You can also try it out free for 7 days before you commit.

Cost: Alitu’s paid plans start at $32 per month (billed annually) or $38 per month (billed monthly).

Most digital creations also have their own content creator website, and it’s definitely something to consider if you want to make money from your content. This may be where you store or distribute your content, or it may be the end point you bring your audience in order to monetize your content—such as through the sale of products, courses, or services.

Whatever your goal is, these website creation tools will provide you with everything you need to launch your own content-filled website.

32. WordPress

WordPress is one of the most popular website-building tools on the market. It’s a good option for content creators who want to build and grow a website, whether to start a blog, build a community, or host a virtual shop to sell products online.

However, don’t confuse the WordPress software with WordPress.com. WordPress is software you can use as part of your website framework, but it doesn’t offer web hosting, which is key to bringing your site live. By contrast, WordPress.com is a service that gives you access to the WordPress software as well as all the extra tools and features you need to get your website actually up and running.

While you’ll have a little less freedom with WordPress.com, its simplicity makes it a good choice for first-time site owners. But if you want to cut costs or have more control over how you run your site, then you may be better off purchasing the software only.

Cost: The WordPress software is free, and WordPress.com has a free plan as well as paid plans starting at $4 per month (billed annually).

33. Wix

Wix is a website-building and hosting platform with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. It offers templates and design features to help users customize their websites as well as built-in SEO and marketing tools for driving traffic. It also integrates with other content creator tools like Google Analytics and Google Ads.

In addition, Wix has an AI website builder that helps users turn their ideas into custom websites. You can chat with it about your vision for how your website will look and have it make modifications for you.

Cost: Wix’s pricing starts at $17 per month.

34. Squarespace

Squarespace is a fairly standard all-in-one content management system where you can build and host your own content creator website. You can also register a custom domain name, build a website with customizable templates, create marketing campaigns, and use SEO tools.

Like WordPress.com and Wix, Squarespace offers web hosting, so you won’t need to purchase a web host elsewhere. You can test the waters with their 14-day free trial before you purchase a subscription.

Cost: Squarespace’s pricing starts at $16 per month (billed annually).

Whether you’re juggling multiple tasks on your own or managing a content team, project management tools are a must. While these digital tools aren’t solely designed for content creators, they can be a huge asset, allowing you to save time and effort on the more tedious aspects of the content production cycle.

35. Google Workspace

Google Workspace includes several productivity and collaboration tools that are beneficial for large content creation projects or content creation teams. Its emphasis is on real-time collaboration and Cloud storage.

Google Docs is often included in Google Workspace subscriptions, but you’ll also get many more additional features:

• Gmail business email: This lets you create a custom email for your business.
• Google Drive: This offers secure cloud storage for all your files and documents.
• Google Meet: You can hold calls and video conferences with Meet.
• Google Chat: Your team can message each other and the occasional guests you invite via Chat.
• Google Calendar: With shared calendars, team members can check each other’s availability at a glance.
• Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides: These content tools let you collaborate with others on various projects.

All in all, Google Workplace is a comprehensive tool kit to help you build and grow your content creation business. To see how it differs from Google’s free user features, you can try out Google Workplace for free for 14 days.

Cost: Google Workspace pricing starts at $6 per month (billed annually).

36. Trello

Trello is a project management tool that lets individuals and teams track tasks and deadlines with features like visual boards, lists, and cards. It’s particularly useful for content creators who outsource work to freelancers or work as part of a team.

The platform allows you to automate your workflow and makes it easy for team members to coordinate with each other. You can integrate Trello with similar platforms like Miro and Slack as well as other specific productivity tools, such as Google Drive, Clockify, and Mailchimp and many other integrations.

Cost: Trello has a free plan as well as paid plans that cost $5–$17.50 per month.

37. Notion

Notion is a productivity tool that lets you keep track of your ideas and plans efficiently. It also allows you to share notes and calendars with teammates, making it a good collaboration tool.

If you’re a busy content creator juggling lots of different tasks, Notion can be a huge help. This tool even has database automation features and a long list of integrations to streamline your workflow.

For an extra $8 per month (billed annually), you can also get access to Notion AI, an AI tool that answers questions, enhances your writing, and generates summaries from large databases.

Cost: Notion has a free plan as well as paid plans starting at $10 per month.

38. Buffer

Buffer is a social media management platform that lets individuals and small businesses plan, manage, and schedule posts across all major social media platforms. It also has an AI Assistant that helps you generate new content ideas and rewrite text for social media posts.

You can also use Buffer to build landing pages, browse comments on your posts, and track and analyze the performance of your social media content. This enables you to make effective changes to your overall content strategy. Buffer’s paid plans come with a 14-day free trial for you to fully experience the benefits beforehand.

Cost: Buffer offers a free plan as well as paid plans that cost $5–$120 per month.

39. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a comprehensive social media management platform that’s similar to Buffer, although it’s primarily designed for large organizations. You can use it to design, schedule, and publish content across all your social media pages.

Below are some of the exciting things you can do with Hootsuite:

• Schedule social media posts in bulk
• Perform in-depth social media performance analyses
• Monitor mentions and comments related to your business on social media
• Manage all your social media messages in one inbox
• Use AI content tools to generate text copy and ideas
• Manage paid ads

If you run a social media empire or work with a large team, Hootsuite is a useful tool to help you get the job done with minimal fuss. However, if you work on a smaller scale by yourself or with just a few teammates, then you may be better off with a cheaper management tool with simpler features.

Cost: Hootsuite’s pricing starts at $99 per month.