The 80/20 AI writing stack
Six tools, one workflow. Skip the rest of the AI writing aisle.
The The 80/20 AI writing stack is a curated 6-tool stack. The handful of AI tools that cover 80% of real content work — drafting, editing, and shipping. All-in it runs about $75/mo at solo scale, and several picks start free, and it averages 88/100 on our 8020 rubric. Every tool covers one job in the workflow, with no overlap between picks.
What's in it, and why.
How the pieces fit.
The 80/20 AI writing stack runs the whole content pipeline — research, draft, edit, stage, and publish — through six tools you touch daily. It skips the rest of the crowded AI writing aisle, because most of those tools duplicate a job one of these already does well.
The flow is linear. You brainstorm and gather research in ChatGPT, then move to Claude for the long-context drafting and editing that keeps your voice intact. Grammarly catches the errors you would never spot in your own copy. Notion is the staging ground where drafts get reviewed and readied, Descript turns one recording into a post, a podcast, and clips, and Ghost ships the newsletter and blog with payments built in.
The reason to split drafting across two AI tools is that they are good at different things. ChatGPT casts a wide net for ideas and quick synthesis; Claude holds a long document in context and edits without flattening your tone. Using both is cheaper than fighting one tool to do a job it is weak at.
What to swap. Descript is optional if you never touch audio or video — drop it and the stack is a pure writing kit. Prefer Substack’s built-in discovery to Ghost’s ownership model? Swap the publish role and keep the rest. Each tool links to its category so you can weigh the alternatives we scored.
The discipline here is refusing to add a seventh tool for a job these six already cover. A single AI writing suite that promises everything usually does three things adequately; this stack does each one properly.
Frequently asked questions
What tools are in the The 80/20 AI writing stack?
The The 80/20 AI writing stack is 6 tools: Claude (draft), ChatGPT (brainstorm), Grammarly (polish), Notion (stage), Descript (repurpose), Ghost (publish). Each one owns a single job in the workflow, so the stack covers the whole loop without paying for two tools that do the same thing.
How much does the The 80/20 AI writing stack cost?
About $75/mo all-in at solo scale, and several tools ship a free tier you can start on. Each pick's entry price is in the cost breakdown; swapping any tool for a cheaper or free alternative in the same category lowers the total.
Who is the The 80/20 AI writing stack for?
The handful of AI tools that cover 80% of real content work — drafting, editing, and shipping. It is built for one operator or a small team that wants full coverage of the workflow without tool overlap or enterprise overhead.
Can I swap tools in the The 80/20 AI writing stack?
Yes. Each role — Draft, Brainstorm, Polish, Stage, Repurpose, Publish — can be filled by another tool in the same category. These are our 8020 defaults, not the only option; open any tool's page to compare it against its scored alternatives.
