Top 15 New Tools Worth Trying in 2026
Fifteen new apps, services, and tools that are genuinely worth your time in 2026. Not the "year's best" listicle — a real tester's picks, with specific use cases for each.
Most “year’s best tools” listicles are written by PR agencies and recycling the same 20 apps every year. This list is different. Every tool below is something I have actually used, that I keep coming back to, and that I would pay for if the free tier disappeared. The list is short on purpose.
The categories are intentionally broad. Productivity, privacy, AI, writing, finance, home, health. One or two in each.
Productivity
1. Raycast (Mac, free + paid)
Raycast is a launcher and automation tool for Mac. It replaces Spotlight with a faster, more powerful launcher that includes clipboard history, window management, snippets, and hundreds of community extensions. The extensions turn the launcher into a calculator, a dictionary, a GIF search, a Twitter composer, a Jira ticket creator, a Notion search, and dozens more.
The killer feature: the extensions. The community has built hundreds of them, and the most useful are free. The clipboard history alone saves me 30 minutes a day.
Best for: anyone on Mac who uses the keyboard for everything.
2. Tana (free + paid)
Tana is a “supertag” outliner that combines notes, tasks, and a database. The “supertag” is a node in your outline that can be any structured type (a person, a project, a meeting). You can search, filter, and view any suptertag as a database, calendar, or kanban board.
The killer feature: the supertag templates. A “Meeting” supertag can include fields for date, attendees, agenda, and notes, and the entire meeting is searchable. The Tana AI features can summarize and structure your notes.
Best for: people who take a lot of notes and want them to be useful, not just stored.
Privacy and security
3. 1Password (paid)
1Password is a password manager. It generates strong passwords, stores them securely, autofills them on websites and apps, and syncs across devices. The password manager is the single most important security tool you can use, and 1Password is the best in the category.
The killer feature: the Watchtower. Watchtower alerts you to passwords that have been breached, passwords that are weak or reused, and sites that support two-factor authentication. The alerts are timely, the recommendations are clear, and the integration with the browser is seamless.
Best for: anyone who uses the internet. There is no good excuse for not using a password manager.
AI
4. Perplexity (free + paid)
Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine. You ask a question, and Perplexity searches the web in real time, synthesizes the information, and cites the sources. Unlike a traditional search engine, Perplexity gives you an answer, not a list of links. Unlike a chatbot, Perplexity is grounded in real, current information.
The killer feature: the sources. Every claim is cited. The “Pro” search uses multiple models and the “Focus” feature lets you restrict the search to specific sources (academic, Reddit, YouTube, etc.).
Best for: research, fact-checking, and quick deep dives. Perplexity is not a replacement for a primary source, but it’s the fastest way to get oriented.
5. Raycast AI (Mac, paid)
Raycast AI is a built-in AI in the Raycast launcher. You can use it to summarize text, translate, write, code, and chat — all from a keyboard shortcut. The killer feature is the integration with the rest of Raycast: you can summarize the article you’re reading, translate the text on your clipboard, or compose an email without leaving the keyboard.
Best for: Mac users who already use Raycast.
Writing
6. iA Writer (Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, paid)
iA Writer is a focused writing app. The interface is intentionally minimal: a single pane of text, a character count, and a focus mode that fades everything except the current sentence. The app syncs across devices (via iCloud, Dropbox, or your own WebDAV) and exports to Markdown, HTML, PDF, and Word.
The killer feature: the focus. The app does one thing (write) and does it well. There are no templates, no AI features, no formatting options to get distracted by. The writing is the work.
Best for: writers, bloggers, students, and anyone who writes long-form text.
Finance
7. Actual (free + paid)
Actual is a budgeting app based on the “envelope” method. You allocate your income to categories (groceries, rent, fun, etc.), and the app tracks your spending against the budget. The app is open source, syncs with most banks (via Plaid in the US, TrueLayer in the UK, or manual import in Europe), and runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.
The killer feature: the budget is real. Most budgeting apps show you a chart; Actual shows you what’s left in each category. The visual is a “spent” vs “budgeted” bar that makes the constraint obvious.
Best for: people who want to budget without giving up control of their data.
Home and life
8. Home Assistant (free + paid cloud)
Home Assistant is an open-source home automation platform. It runs on a Raspberry Pi or a small server, and it integrates with thousands of devices (lights, thermostats, locks, sensors, vacuums, etc.). The automations are powerful: “when I get home, turn on the lights, start the kettle, and play music.”
The killer feature: the local control. Unlike Alexa or Google Home, Home Assistant runs on your hardware. The data stays in your home. The automations don’t depend on a cloud service that can be discontinued.
Best for: tech-comfortable users who want to automate their home without giving up privacy.
Reading and research
9. Reader (paid)
Reader is a read-later app that also handles RSS, podcasts, YouTube, and newsletters. The interface is clean, the sync is fast, and the AI features (summarization, recommendations, highlights) are the best in the category.
The killer feature: the unified inbox. You can save articles, RSS feeds, YouTube videos, and newsletter emails to one place, and read them across devices. The Reader AI can summarize a long article in three sentences or extract the key points.
Best for: people who read a lot across many sources.
Health and fitness
10. MacroFactor (paid)
MacroFactor is a nutrition tracking app that uses a scientific algorithm to calculate your daily calorie and macro targets based on your actual data. The app tracks your weight and intake, and the algorithm adjusts your targets over time. The result is a calorie target that’s personalized, not a generic estimate.
The killer feature: the algorithm. Most nutrition apps use a generic formula (BMR × activity factor) that over- or under-estimates. MacroFactor’s algorithm learns from your data and adjusts. The result is more accurate targets and less guesswork.
Best for: people who track their nutrition and want accurate, personalized targets.
Travel
11. LoungeBuddy (free)
LoungeBuddy is a lounge access app for airport lounges. You search for your flight, the app shows you the lounges available at your departure and arrival airports, and the access method (priority pass, credit card, paid, free with status). The app is free; the lounges are paid (or included with a credit card).
The killer feature: the lounge map. You can see every lounge in the airport, with photos, reviews, and access methods. The “free with status” or “included with credit card” lounges are often the best value.
Best for: frequent flyers who don’t have a lounge habit yet.
Home and productivity
12. Tody (paid)
Tody is a home maintenance app. You add the systems in your home (HVAC, water heater, smoke detectors, gutters, etc.), and the app generates a maintenance schedule. The schedule shows what’s due soon, what’s overdue, and what’s coming up. The chores are quick (most are 5–15 minutes).
The killer feature: the schedule is personalized. The app calculates when each system needs attention based on usage and manufacturer recommendations. The notifications are timely, the chores are specific, and the history is searchable.
Best for: homeowners who want to maintain their home without remembering everything.
Photo and video
13. Photomator (Mac, iOS, paid)
Photomator is a photo editor for iOS and Mac. The interface is closer to Lightroom than to Photoshop: it focuses on the essentials (exposure, color, detail, cropping) and does them well. The AI features (denoise, upscaling, masking) are the best in the category at this price.
The killer feature: the speed. The app opens large RAW files instantly, the editing is real-time, and the export is fast. For most photographers, Photomator replaces both Lightroom and a separate AI denoising tool.
Best for: photographers who want a fast, focused editor.
Code and developer
14. Warp (Mac, paid)
Warp is a terminal for Mac (and Linux, recently) that replaces the default Terminal. The interface is modern, the input is intelligent (autocomplete, suggestions, AI), the rendering is fast, and the integration with the shell is seamless. The AI features (translate natural language to shell commands, explain errors) are the best in any terminal.
The killer feature: the input. The terminal suggests commands, completes paths, and integrates with the AI for “what would find do if I wanted X?” The workflow is faster than any other terminal.
Best for: developers and command-line users.
Reading and listening
15. Pocket Casts (paid, optional)
Pocket Casts is a podcast app. The interface is clean, the playback is reliable, the discovery is good, and the sync across devices is seamless. The paid tier is optional; the free tier is enough for most.
The killer feature: the playback controls. The app has the best variable speed playback, the best silence trimming, the best volume boost, and the best voice boost of any podcast app. The playback is the differentiator.
Best for: podcast listeners who want the best playback experience.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the best way to try these tools?
Most have a free tier or a free trial. Start with the free tier, use it for 2–4 weeks, and decide if it’s worth paying for. The free tier is the best way to evaluate a tool.
What if I already use similar tools?
These are the tools I use and prefer, but the category is competitive. If you already have a tool you love, keep it. The point isn’t to switch for the sake of switching.
Are there tools that didn’t make the list that I should know about?
Yes. The list is short on purpose. The tools I didn’t include are either not as good as the ones I included, or they’re so well-known that you already know about them (Notion, Obsidian, 1Password is in the list, etc.).
The bottom line
A new tool is only worth your time if it changes how you work. The fifteen above are the ones I keep coming back to. The categories cover productivity, privacy, AI, writing, finance, home, health, travel, maintenance, photo, code, and podcast — the breadth of a real toolkit. Try the ones that fit your work, drop the ones that don’t, and keep the rest of your current stack.