Hey Reader,

Let me guess what’s in your marketing tool stack:

• Jasper AI ($59/month)
• ​Copy.ai ($49/month)
• Writesonic ($19/month)
• Maybe Surfer AI ($89/month)

You’re spending $200+ monthly on AI writing tools that are basically just ChatGPT with a fancy interface.

And here’s the kicker: You could get better results for $20/month.

Today, I’m going to save you thousands by showing you what actually works and what’s just overpriced markup.

The AI Writing Tool Markup Problem

Here’s what most AI writing companies won’t tell you:

They’re all using the same underlying models.

You’re paying 300-500% markup for:

• A prettier interface
• Some pre-written prompts
• “Brand voice” features that barely work
• Customer support for a tool you could learn in 10 minutes

It’s like paying $50 for a burger when you could get the same ingredients for $10 and make it better yourself.

What I Actually Use (And Recommend)

After testing every AI writing tool on the market, here’s my actual stack:

1. Claude AI Projects

This is hands-down the best AI writing tool I’ve used, and it’s not even marketed as one.

Why Claude beats everything else:

• Better writing quality - More natural, less robotic than ChatGPT
• Longer context windows - Can handle much more training data
• Project feature - Create custom AI assistants trained on YOUR content
• No arbitrary limits - Unlike tools that cap your “credits”

2. TypingMind (Alternative to Claude)

If you hit Claude’s usage limits or want more control:

• Bring your own API - Connect directly to Claude or OpenAI
• No usage restrictions - Only limited by your API budget
• Clean interface - Better than raw API access
• One-time purchase - No monthly subscriptions

3. ZimmWriter

If you want a dedicated AI writing tool, this is the only one worth considering:

• Bring your own API - Use your own API credits instead of their markup
• Actually designed for content - Built specifically for long-form blog posts
• Transparent pricing - Much cheaper than enterprise AI tools
• No word limits - Only pay for what you actually use

The Secret Sauce - Training Data

Here’s what separates good AI content from garbage:

It’s not the tool. It’s the training data.

Most people use AI tools with default settings and wonder why their content sucks. The magic happens when you feed the AI YOUR specific context.

How to Train Claude for Your Brand

1. Create a Claude Project for your business
2. Upload your best content:
   • Your top 10 blog posts
   • Your website copy
   • Customer testimonials
   • Product descriptions
3. Add competitor analysis:
   • Your competitors’ best content
   • Industry reports
   • Case studies from your niche
4. Include style guidelines:
   • Your brand voice examples
   • Writing dos and don’ts
   • Industry-specific terminology
5. Test and refine:
   • Generate content samples
   • Adjust training data based on outputs
   • Keep feeding it better examples

Real Example

Here’s what I fed Claude for a SaaS client:

• 15 of their best blog posts
• 10 competitor articles that performed well
• Their product documentation
• Customer interview transcripts
• Industry case studies

Result? Claude started producing content that sounded like their team wrote it, using their specific examples and terminology.

The difference was night and day.

The Bottom Line

Stop paying enterprise prices for repackaged APIs.

The AI writing tool industry is built on artificial scarcity and fancy interfaces, not necessarily better results.

What actually matters:

1. Quality training data (your content + competitor research)
2. Good prompts (which you can write yourself)
3. Consistent editing process (no tool replaces human judgment)

What doesn’t matter:

• Fancy interfaces
• “Brand voice” features that don’t work
• Enterprise support
• Arbitrary content limits

Your action plan:

1. Cancel your overpriced AI writing subscriptions
2. Set up Claude Projects with your training data
3. Experiment with ZimmWriter if you want a dedicated tool
4. Invest the money you save in better content promotion

Real Talk

I’ve spent thousands testing every AI writing tool on the market.

The expensive ones aren’t better. They’re just better at marketing.

The tools that actually work are the ones that give you direct access to the underlying AI models with your own training data.

Everything else is just markup and fluff.

- Nick