My 40+ Top AI Creative Tools (Updated: March 2025)
Hey there, it’s Shannon. If you're looking for AI creative tools, you'll find them at the top of this page. If you want my thoughts on ongoing legal and ethical debates around AI, especially regarding training data and copyright, scroll down.
The AI tools below are grouped into categories but not ranked, each tool excels in different use cases. I’ll update this page each month with the top AI creative tools on my radar:
Image and Video
Fal and Replicate: Both offer access to industry-leading image, audio, and video models on a pay-as-you-go basis, including FLUX, Kling, Hunyuan Video, Veo 2, MiniMax-01-director and many others.
Midjourney: Industry-leading image generation with an emphasis on artistic visuals and personalization.
Runway: Industry-leading high-quality image and video models with style transfer, character animation + a suite of creative tools.
Dream Machine (Luma Labs): Industry-leading high-quality image and video generation with an intuitive interface.
Pika: Industry-leading video generation + easy-to-implement visual effects with unique physics-defying animations.
Freepik: Suite of industry-leading AI-powered creative tools for image generation, video generation, and more.
VEO 2 (Google): Industry-leading video generation (now in YouTube app for Shorts creation and via Freepik and Fal, with more availability soon).
Sora (OpenAI): Industry-leading video generation.
Adobe Firefly: Generative AI tools with licensed training data for image generation, video generation, and more.
Recraft: Image model with platform for creating logos, icons, custom graphics and beyond.
Ideogram: Image generation platform focused on typography and image composition.
Leonardo.ai: Image generation platform with various tools, styles, and customization.
Kaiber Superstudio: Video generation with a suite of creative tools, access to third party and/or open source source models.
Letz AI: Image generation platform with character consistency capabilities.
Krea: Real-time image generation, video generation, access to third party and/or open source source models.
Hotshot: Video generation with options for character consistency.
HeyGen: Generative video avatars and clones with a suite of AI editing features.
Wonder Studio (Autodesk): AI VFX tool for animating and compositing CG characters.
Viggle: Text-to-animation, character customization, and physics-based realism.
Audio
ElevenLabs: Industry-leading realistic AI voice creation and cloning with customizable emotional tones + industry-leading generative SFX.
Udio: AI music generation.
MusicML (Google): AI music generation.
Jen: AI music generation. Licensed training data.
Stable Audio: AI music generation and SFX. Licensed training data.
3D
Genie (Luma Labs): 3D object generation.
Capture (Luma Labs): 3D object capture (NeRFs and Gaussian Splats).
Polycam: 3D object capture (NeRFs and Gaussian Splats).
Pre-Production
ChatGPT (OpenAI): Collaborative AI for writing, coding, advanced reasoning, and more.
Claude (Anthropic): Similar to ChatGPT, collaborative AI for text-based tasks.
Perplexity: AI research tool designed to provide grounded information with reliable sources.
NotebookLM (Google): AI podcast generation and research tool.
Post-Production
Adobe Creative Cloud: AI-enhanced production tools including Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, and Audition.
Captions: AI-powered video editing tool best known for its word-by-word subtitle generation, now enhanced with advanced AI video editing features.
Descript: AI-powered editor that allows you to edit videos and podcasts by typing + additional AI features such as voice cloning.
Capsule: Browser-based video editing for non-experts.
DreamCut: Browser-based video editor with AI media generation tools.
Opus Clip: Automatically generates highlights and clips from longer videos, optimizing for social media formats.
VideoGen: Platform for 1-click video creation focusing on text-based and graphical elements.
Troveo: AI content licensing. Creators/producers paid for video submissions and they handle clipping, dubbing, and annotation to license content to AI firms.
Unreleased AI Tools
Simulon: Mobile-based VFX with real-time rendering.
AI Ethics & Legal Considerations
This commentary reflects my perspective and research. It is not intended as legal advice. If you have specific questions about copyright or AI usage, consult a legal professional.
For over a decade, I’ve been immersed in creative production and since 2019 closely tracking the rapid evolution of AI. My goal for the Creative Workflow Lab is simple: to keep you on the cutting edge of creative workflows and creative tech, without all the noise.
As AI continues to evolve, it’s changing how I edit, create, and tell stories. This page is a collection of some of the most innovative AI-powered creative tools I’ve come across. From real-time visual effects to voice cloning and 3D design, these tools are here to help you experiment, save time, and bring new ideas to life.
That said, I want to address the ongoing legal and ethical debates around AI, especially regarding training data and copyright. Here we go…
I’ll share my thoughts on several of the concerns I’ve seen. First, let's be clear about how this technology actually works: generative AI technology doesn't store or directly copy media like people often assume, instead it learns from general patterns in the training data, much like a human absorbs inspiration from everything they've seen and heard. Yes, this technology does rely on vast amounts of data, but that data isn't intended to be stored or reused directly in the outputs.
The courts may not accept the argument that training models with public data is fair use. We'll see how that turns out. It's true that there are examples of individual users misusing these tools with brute-force prompting. In addition, model regurgitation errors are a big issue. However, AI companies are actively working to reduce instances of model regurgitation to zero and stop user misuse. That's because none of the major AI models have been designed to steal work; technically they are designed to generate something new.
Another major misconception about AI is that it will replace artists and creatives. I think this is misleading. The reality is that AI isn't just going to "do the work for you." These tools need goals, guidance, and validation to create anything meaningful. They work best when you understand how to collaborate with them, maintaining control while benefiting from the partnership. This isn't about replacement, it's about learning to work with new tools that can enhance our creative capabilities.
While some fear AI will flood the web with low-quality content, it's important to remember that the internet already has its fair share of that. What AI tools offer are an opportunity to democratize high-quality media production. For too long, only large studios with big budgets could achieve professional results. AI can put extremely powerful creative tools in the hands of more people, allowing them to produce high-quality media with just a phone and internet connection. The notion that AI will simply replace human creativity overlooks the real potential here, AI can elevate new voices and enhance existing workflows.
There are ethical ways to use AI, and this isn’t only hype. Platforms like Bria (available via Fal), Adobe Firefly, and Stable Audio all ensure that training data is properly licensed. Upcoming AI tools, such as OpenAI's 'Media Manager' expected in 2025, will provide producers with new ways to manage and safeguard their work. While AI can be misused, I believe the vast majority of AI media production workflows aren't about replacing humans or stealing work, they're about giving us more creative freedom.
I believe that ideally creators/artists should have the opportunity to give consent and receive fair compensation if their work is used to train these models. That’s my ethical perspective. At the same time, I understand there’s a good argument that training with publicly available data should be considered fair use. The courts may eventually decide that. I also recognize the practical reality: AI tools are becoming essential for anyone working in media today. If we avoid them, we risk losing our jobs as AI advancements reshape the industry.
Personally, I’m committed to leveraging all available tools, as long as I do so responsibly. For me, that means being transparent about my methods and always creating original work. Yes, it’s daunting to see how technical skills I’ve honed over a decade might become irrelevant after dedicating my time to mastering them. But the upside is clear: what truly matters, creative direction, storytelling, and the ability to collaborate with these advanced tools to bring my vision (or a client’s vision) to life, will require human goals, guidance, and validation.
Update - Feb. 2025: The U.S. Copyright Office recently ruled that AI-generated work can be copyrighted if it is sufficiently modified and integrated in a unique way. That adds another layer to the discussion, but it does not directly address whether training with unlicensed “publicly available data” impacts the legal status of companies releasing AI models. That issue is still being litigated between major companies, although not against individual users.
This ruling provides much-needed clarity for industries like film and TV, where AI is increasingly used in post-production workflows, from de-aging actors to removing unwanted objects from shots. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) welcomed the decision, emphasizing that AI-enhanced tools are already benefiting filmmakers and should not face unnecessary legal barriers.
I think more copyright and legal clarity and access to licensed models are all wins for creatives who use AI responsibly in their workflows.