Tools for neurodivergent founders building with AI.
A free list of 46 apps that ADHD, autistic and dyslexic founders use to start tasks, write faster, think visually and build with AI. 37 are free or have a free plan. Picked by the neurodivergent team at Humble AI.
Updated
What's hard for you right now?
Pick one or more. We'll suggest a small set of tools to try. Start with one, not all of them.
Pick something above to see your stack.
Every tool, by what it helps with.
Humble
Humble is made by our neurodivergent team. It organises your AI chats, tasks, notes and people in one place, so you don't have to hold it all in your head.
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PaidBy Humble
Humble AIA second brain that organises your AI chats, tasks, notes and people in one place.
Helps with: Losing my place between tasksRemembering meetingsStarting tasks
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PaidBy Humble
Humble browser extensionAn add-on for your browser that keeps your ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini chats with your tasks.
Helps with: Losing my place between tasksBuilding with AI
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PaidBy Humble
Humble for workHumble inside the tools you work in, starting with Slack, where you can send or forward any message to Humble and it appears on your timeline.
Helps with: Losing my place between tasksToo much email
Browsers
Your browser is where most of your work happens. These less-known browsers cut clutter, block distractions and keep tabs under control.
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FreeWorks with Humble
ArcA browser with tabs in a sidebar, a separate space for each project and old tabs that tidy themselves away.
Helps with: Losing my place between tasksStaying focused
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FreeWorks with Humble
BraveA privacy-first browser that blocks ads and trackers by default.
Helps with: Staying focused
Alternatives Ecosia browser Eco
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FreeWorks with Humble
Ecosia browserA browser from Ecosia, the search engine that uses its profits for climate action, including planting trees.
Helps with: Staying focused
Alternatives Brave Privacy-first
Voice and writing
Talk instead of type, and let AI tidy it up. These tools help if writing is slow, tiring or hard to start.
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PaidBy HumbleHumble for notesNotes that link to the tasks, people and chats they're about.
Helps with: Writing and typingLosing my place between tasks
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Wispr Flow
Free planAffiliate linkA voice dictation app that works in any text box on your computer or phone.
Helps with: Writing and typingBuilding with AIStarting tasks
Alternatives Handy (opens in a new tab) Open sourceBuilt-in dictation (opens in a new tab) Free
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Free plan
GrammarlyA writing assistant that checks spelling, grammar and tone as you type.
Helps with: Writing and typingGetting the tone right
Alternatives LanguageTool (opens in a new tab) FreeHarper (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Hemingway Editor
Free planA writing editor that highlights long sentences and hard words.
Helps with: Writing and typingReading long text
Tasks and planning
Break big jobs into small steps and see your day at a glance. These tools help when a to-do list feels like a wall.
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PaidBy HumbleHumble for tasksA task list where every task keeps its own chats, notes, links and people.
Helps with: Starting tasksLosing my place between tasks
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Goblin Tools
FreeA set of small AI tools made for neurodivergent people, including Magic ToDo, which breaks any task into steps.
Helps with: Starting tasksGetting the tone rightLosing track of timeWriting and typing
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Free plan
TodoistA simple to-do list app that understands plain-English dates.
Helps with: Starting tasksLosing track of time
Alternatives Super Productivity (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Tiimo
Free planA visual daily planner made for neurodivergent people.
Helps with: Losing track of timeStarting tasksThinking in pictures
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Structured
Free planA day planner that puts your tasks and calendar on one timeline.
Helps with: Losing track of timeThinking in pictures
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Sunsama
PaidA calm daily planner that guides you through planning each morning.
Helps with: Losing track of timeStarting tasksStaying focused
Alternatives Super Productivity (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Free planWorks with Humble
LinearA fast, clean project tool for product and engineering teams.
Helps with: Building with AILosing my place between tasks
Alternatives Plane (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Free plan
NotionA flexible workspace for docs, wikis and simple databases.
Helps with: Writing and typingThinking in pictures
Alternatives AppFlowy (opens in a new tab) Open sourceObsidian (opens in a new tab) Privacy-first
Focus and time
Body doubling, focus sound and gentle blockers. These tools help you start, stay on task and notice time passing.
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PaidBy HumbleHumble for switching tasksA quick way to get your context back after a break or an interruption.
Helps with: Losing my place between tasksStaying focusedStarting tasks
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Focusmate
Free planA site that pairs you with a stranger on video so you both work at the same time.
Helps with: Starting tasksStaying focused
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Flow Club
PaidGroup body-doubling sessions with a host, music and a shared goal list.
Helps with: Starting tasksStaying focused
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Brain.fm
PaidMusic designed to help you focus, with a setting for ADHD.
Helps with: Staying focused
Alternatives myNoise (opens in a new tab) Free
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one sec
Free planAn app that adds a short pause before you open distracting apps.
Helps with: Staying focused
Alternatives ScreenZen (opens in a new tab) Free
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Freedom
PaidA blocker that turns off distracting sites and apps on all your devices at once.
Helps with: Staying focused
Alternatives LeechBlock NG (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Llama Life
PaidA to-do list where every task has a countdown timer.
Helps with: Losing track of timeStaying focusedStarting tasks
Visual thinking
Infinite canvases for people who think in shapes, maps and spaces, not lists.
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Free plan
FigmaA design tool and whiteboard (FigJam) for arranging ideas in space.
Helps with: Thinking in picturesBuilding with AI
Alternatives Penpot (opens in a new tab) Open sourceExcalidraw Open source
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Free plan
MiroAn online whiteboard with sticky notes, templates and AI.
Helps with: Thinking in pictures
Alternatives Excalidraw Open sourcetldraw Free
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Free
ExcalidrawA free whiteboard with a hand-drawn look.
Helps with: Thinking in pictures
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Free
tldrawA fast, free whiteboard that opens instantly in your browser.
Helps with: Thinking in pictures
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Whimsical
Free planA tool for mind maps, flowcharts and wireframes.
Helps with: Thinking in pictures
Alternatives draw.io (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Heptabase
PaidA note-taking app where notes live as cards on visual whiteboards.
Helps with: Thinking in picturesReading long text
Alternatives Obsidian Canvas (opens in a new tab) Privacy-first
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Napkin AI
Free planAn AI tool that turns your text into diagrams and visuals.
Helps with: Thinking in picturesReading long text
Reading and research
Listen instead of read, and get to the point faster. These tools help with long documents, research and learning.
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PaidBy HumbleHumble for researchA one-click way to save the pages, docs and AI chats you find while researching to the task they're for.
Helps with: Reading long textLosing my place between tasks
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Speechify
Free planA text-to-speech app that reads any web page, PDF or doc out loud.
Helps with: Reading long text
Alternatives Microsoft Immersive Reader Free
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Microsoft Immersive Reader
FreeA free reading mode in Microsoft Edge and Office that removes clutter and reads text aloud.
Helps with: Reading long textStaying focused
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Free plan
Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM)Google's tool, formerly called NotebookLM, that answers questions about your own documents and can turn them into a podcast-style audio summary.
Helps with: Reading long textBuilding with AI
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Free plan
PerplexityAn AI search engine that gives short answers with sources.
Helps with: Reading long textStaying focused
Alternatives Ecosia search (opens in a new tab) EcoKagi (opens in a new tab) Privacy-first
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Readwise Reader
PaidA read-later app that saves articles, PDFs and newsletters in one place.
Helps with: Reading long textStaying focusedToo much email
Alternatives wallabag (opens in a new tab) Open source
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OpenDyslexic
FreeA free font designed for readers with dyslexia.
Helps with: Reading long text
Email and meetings
Fewer emails to hold in your head, and notes from every meeting without having to write them.
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PaidBy HumbleHumble for meetings and teamsA shared timeline where your meetings, tasks and team's work appear by themselves.
Helps with: Remembering meetingsLosing my place between tasks
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PaidBy HumbleHumble for workHumble inside the tools you work in, starting with Slack, where you can send or forward any message to Humble and it appears on your timeline.
Helps with: Losing my place between tasksToo much email
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Superhuman
PaidA fast email app for Gmail and Outlook with AI drafts and keyboard shortcuts.
Helps with: Too much emailWriting and typing
Alternatives Proton Mail (opens in a new tab) Privacy-firstSpark (opens in a new tab) Free
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Granola
Free planAn AI notepad that writes up your meetings without a bot joining the call.
Helps with: Remembering meetingsWriting and typing
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Otter
Free planA meeting recorder that transcribes calls and in-person chats.
Helps with: Remembering meetings
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Free plan
LoomA screen recorder for quick video messages.
Helps with: Writing and typingRemembering meetingsToo much email
Alternatives Cap (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Cal.com
Free planAn open-source booking page so people can pick a time to meet.
Helps with: Too much emailLosing track of time
Build with AI
AI assistants and app builders that turn ideas into working products. No coding needed for most of them.
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Free planWorks with Humble
ClaudeAn AI assistant from Anthropic for writing, thinking and building.
Helps with: Building with AIWriting and typingStarting tasks
Alternatives Ollama (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Free planWorks with Humble
ChatGPTOpenAI's AI assistant for answers, writing, images and voice chat.
Helps with: Building with AIWriting and typingGetting the tone right
Alternatives Lumo by Proton (opens in a new tab) Privacy-firstOllama (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Free planWorks with Humble
GeminiGoogle's AI assistant, built into Gmail, Docs and Drive.
Helps with: Building with AIToo much emailReading long text
Alternatives Lumo by Proton (opens in a new tab) Privacy-first
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PaidClaude CodeAn AI coding agent that reads your codebase and builds features for you.
Helps with: Building with AI
Alternatives Aider (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Free plan
CursorA code editor with AI built in.
Helps with: Building with AI
Alternatives Zed (opens in a new tab) Open source
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Lovable
Free planAn AI app builder that turns a description into a working web app.
Helps with: Building with AIThinking in pictures
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Free plan
ReplitA browser-based place to build and host apps with an AI agent.
Helps with: Building with AI
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Free plan
v0Vercel's AI tool for building web interfaces and apps from a prompt or a screenshot.
Helps with: Building with AIThinking in pictures
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Free plan
RaycastA launcher that lets you open apps, search files and ask AI from one keyboard shortcut.
Helps with: Staying focusedLosing my place between tasks
Alternatives PowerToys Run (opens in a new tab) Open source
How we pick tools: our neurodivergent team uses these tools, or founders in our community told us they help. Some links are affiliate links, marked "Affiliate link". If you sign up through one, we may earn a small fee at no cost to you. It never changes what we list.
Questions founders ask.
What are the best tools for neurodivergent founders?
It depends on what's hard for you. For starting tasks, try Goblin Tools and Focusmate. For writing, try Wispr Flow. For losing your place between AI chats and tasks, try the Humble browser extension. For thinking visually, try Figma or Excalidraw. Use the stack builder on this page to get a list for your own needs.
What are the best free tools for ADHD founders?
Goblin Tools, Excalidraw, tldraw, OpenDyslexic and Microsoft Immersive Reader are free. NotebookLM, Wispr Flow, Focusmate, Tiimo, Todoist, Granola and Claude all have free plans.
What is the best dictation app for ADHD?
Many ADHD founders use Wispr Flow. It works in any text box on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, removes filler words and fixes punctuation, so you can talk instead of type. It has a free plan.
Is Goblin Tools free?
Yes. The Goblin Tools website is free. The iPhone and Android apps have a small one-off price, which helps pay for the service.
What is body doubling?
Body doubling means working alongside another person, even on a video call. Many people with ADHD find it easier to start and keep going when someone else is working too. Focusmate and Flow Club offer online body doubling.
Who made this list?
The team at Humble AI, a neurodivergent-first company in London. We build Humble, a second brain for people whose ideas move fast. We update this list as we try new tools.
Do you earn money from these links?
Some links are affiliate links and are marked "Affiliate link". If you sign up through one, we may earn a small fee at no cost to you. It never decides what we list.
Stop losing your best work in old chats.
Add Humble to your browser (opens in a new tab)Works in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc and Ecosia.