Read time: 4 minutes
Open your subscriptions page. Count the AI tools you’re paying for and barely using.
I did this last quarter and found 11 active subscriptions across content, research, scheduling, and “AI assistants” that all did roughly the same job. Around $340/mo for tools I touched once a week, if that.
The bloat doesn’t just cost money. It costs decisions. Every tab, login, and half-finished workflow is friction between you and shipping.
You’ve been adding tools to solve workflow problems instead of role problems.
The Lean 4-Tool Core
Every creator AI stack needs four roles filled. Not five. Not seven. Four.
→ The Brain. Writes, researches, ideates, plans.
→ The Memory. Holds content, ideas, SOPs, CRM in one place.
→ The Connector. Runs the workflows between everything else.
→ The Distribution. Owns the audience and sends to it.
Three steps to consolidate.
Step 1: Name your roles before you shop
Open a blank doc. List the work that repeats every week. Writing, research, idea capture, scheduling, sending, follow-up.
Group each item under the four roles above. If a piece of recurring work doesn’t fit a role, you don’t need a tool for it yet. You need clarity on what the work actually is.
The role defines the tool.
Not the other way around.
Step 2: Fill each role with one tool
Mine, after the audit:
→ Brain → Claude. Writing, research, prompts, strategy. Replaced ChatGPT, Harpa AI, three “AI for X” tools, and Google AI Pro (Gemini 3).
→ Memory → Notion. Content DB, roadmap, CRM, SOPs. Replaced ClickUp and a stack of Google Docs.
→ Connector → Make.com. Triggers between Notion, Kit, Tally, Bitly. Replaced Zapier plus six manual handoffs.
→ Distribution → Kit. Newsletter, segmentation, broadcasts. Owned audience.
Four tools. Each one earns its keep by carrying a role no other tool can.
Step 3: Run the cut list
Open your subscriptions page. List every AI/productivity tool you pay for.
Sort each one:
→ Keep. Fills one of the four roles, used weekly.
→ Cut. Doesn’t fill a role, or duplicates one you have.
→ Park. Used once a month. Cancel and re-subscribe if it comes up.
I cut 7 tools, parked 2, kept the four above. The monthly burn dropped. The decisions dropped harder.
The payoff
You sit down Monday morning, open one tab, and start writing. No “which tool for this?” No 12-app context-switching tax.
The next post is out by 10am because the system already chose the tool for each step.
Hit reply and tell me: which tool are you cutting first? I read every response.