3 AI Tools That Save Me 10+ Hours a Week (And Pay for Themselves)

I learned the hard way that you need a backup plan when recording interviews.

I was 20 minutes into a call with a bank executive, getting incredible insights for a client article, when my phone’s recording app froze.

Everything gone.

I had to call him back the next day and ask for a do-over.

Embarrassing doesn’t even cover it.

That disaster taught me something important: if you’re serious about freelance writing right now, especially if you’re doing any kind of interview-based or research-heavy work, the right AI tools for freelancers aren’t optional anymore.

They’re what keep you from looking like an amateur and wasting hours on tasks that should take minutes.

I’ve been freelancing for over a decade now, and I’ve tried a lot of tools. Most of them were a waste of money. But these three? They’ve genuinely changed how I work and saved me 10-15 hours every single week.

Here’s what I actually use and why they’re worth it.

Otter.ai: Never Lose an Interview Again

Cost: $8.33/month (Pro plan, billed annually at $100/year)

After my phone recording disaster, I found Otter. Now I have it on both my phone and laptop and use it for every interview (always confirm the person you’re interviewing is cool with you recording first, I’ve never had anyone say no).

Here’s what used to happen: I’d record a 20-30 minute conversation with a subject matter expert. Then I’d spend 3-4x that long transcribing it manually. That’s 60-120 minutes of typing for every 30-minute call. Or I’d pay a transcription service and wait days to get it back.

Now? Otter transcribes everything instantly while I’m on the call.

Is it perfect? No.

But the transcript is synced to the audio. If something looks off, I just click on that section and listen to verify, then edit the transcript. Takes seconds instead of hours.

Beyond the obvious time savings, Otter has features that make my life easier:

• I can highlight key parts during the call to find them later
• The AI chat function lets me search for specific topics (“find where they talked about loan growth”)
• Every recording gets an automatic summary with bullet points so I can scan quickly

Time saved: About 1-2 hours per interview. And when I’m writing articles that require 2-3 expert interviews, that’s 3-6 hours saved on a single piece.

Otter.ai: The Ultimate Tool for Real-Time Voice Transcriptions

Never lose an interview again. Otter transcribes in real-time and saves you 2+ hours per call.

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I also use it at conferences. During keynote presentations, I’ll record the whole thing. Then I’ll feed the transcript into ChatGPT or Claude and ask: “Pull out 3-5 ideas I could pitch as article concepts.”

And even better, sometimes the speaker becomes a source later. Sometimes they become a client. I once interviewed a VP of marketing for an article, then about a year later, when I was prospecting clients, she hired me. I worked with that life insurance company for 2 years.

Perplexity Pro Comet: Research That Doesn’t Waste Hours

Cost: $21.25/month

Every writer has done this: you find a great stat, click through to the source, and it links to another roundup post. After five rounds of clicking, you eventually discover the original data is from some study in 2013.

Useless.

I write B2B fintech and financial services content. My clients need accurate, current data. I try to keep all my stats within the last 2 years max.

Perplexity Pro’s Comet browser changed how I research.

Instead of Googling “regional bank small business loan revenue” and sifting through 50 crappy SEO posts, I can tell Comet exactly what I need:

“Give me key stats on regional bank revenue from issuing small business loans between 2023 and 2025. Only use data from governmental sources, banking industry trade publications, or big consulting firms like Deloitte or McKinsey.

This search gave me 67 sources and summarized the findings with citations. I can verify each stat, dig deeper into specific data points, and find new high-quality trade publications I didn’t know about (which also helps with finding future potential clients).

You can also keep asking more detailed questions in the same search. Like if I only wanted data on banks from California or Texas, I wouldn’t have to start fresh. And if you frequently cover the same topic, you can save your query as a shortcut to come back to it later, speeding up your research process even more.

Time saved: 1-2 hours per article. When you’re writing multiple pieces a week, that adds up fast.

Perplexity Pro Comet

Stop wasting hours hunting for current data. Perplexity Pro finds verified stats in minutes with full citations.

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Claude Projects: Stop Starting from Scratch Every Time

Cost: $21.25/month (Pro plan)

I like Claude and the way it thinks, but one huge negative that drives me crazy is it’s not great at remembering conversations like ChatGPT does. Every new chat started from zero, which is super annoying if you need to give a lot of context.

Then I discovered Claude Projects.

I created a project specifically for my business planning. I uploaded files with:

• My ideal client profile
• My revenue goals for the year
• Services I currently offer
• Ideas for new offerings I’m testing
• My real income numbers and projections
• Prompts I’ve refined over time

Then I asked Claude to write a custom instruction that says: “At the start of every new conversation, perform these tasks.” Now I never start from scratch.

Instead of having 47 different chats scattered everywhere — some about website copy, some about my resume, random thoughts about LinkedIn strategy — everything business-related lives in one project.

When I open a new conversation in that project, Claude already knows my goals, my numbers, my positioning, everything. We can cut right to the chase.

What I use it for:

• Business planning and strategy (with my real numbers so it can help me hit my goals, analyze my best clients, and how much time I spend on projects, etc.)
• Saving prompts that work well for outreach, social posts, and website copy updates
• Reviewing job descriptions I find online to see if they’re worth pitching
• Iterating on ideas without losing track of the thread
• Getting 80/20 breakdowns and actionable advice

I also specifically told Claude in my instructions: don’t just agree with everything. I want real, actionable feedback — not a tool that’s all rainbows and butterflies when I’m making stupid decisions.

Time saved: 1-2+ hours per week, maybe more. Not having to search through old conversations or re-explain my entire business every time is huge.

$51 a Month for 10+ Hours a Week Back

Let’s do the math on these AI tools for freelance writers:

• Otter: $8.33/month
• Perplexity Pro: $21.25/month
• Claude Pro: $21.25/month
• Total: $50.83/month

In exchange, I get back 10+ hours every week. Even at a conservative $100/hour rate, that’s $1,000-1,500/week in value. These tools pay for themselves many times over.

But beyond the time savings, here’s what really matters: I can take on more strategic, higher-paying work because I’m not drowning in transcription, research rabbit holes, and scattered business planning.

If you’re a mid-career freelancer looking to scale without working more hours, start here. Pick one of these best AI tools for freelancers and really learn it. Spend the $20-25/month. Master the prompting. Build your workflows.

The freelancers who figure out how to use AI strategically are the ones who’ll thrive in the next few years.

Liz Froment

Liz Froment is a full-time freelance writer and the one who keeps Location Rebel running like a well-oiled machine. If she's not writing something informative or witty for her clients, she can most likely be found reading a good book.