Building My AI Stack with Toolify.ai: A 2025 Playbook

Why I Needed a Better Discovery System

By early 2025, my feed was bursting with AI noise. Every morning there was a “must-try” AI tool trending on Twitter, a new launch on Product Hunt, or yet another YouTube video titled Top 10 AI Tools You Didn’t Know About. I spent more time collecting tool names than actually testing them.

It became clear: discovery was broken. There were too many lists, too much hype, and no consistency. That’s when I started looking for directories—centralized platforms that claim to organize AI tools in one place. This search eventually led me to Toolify.ai.

But once I landed there, the real challenge became understanding how to use its massive database without drowning in options.

How Toolify.ai Fits Into the AI Discovery Market

Toolify isn’t the only AI directory, but it is one of the most aggressive in scale. It positions itself as a living catalog, not a curated top 10 list. The homepage highlights 26,000+ tools across 450+ categories, along with rankings like Most Used, Most Saved, and Top by Revenue.

This approach is both its strength and weakness. On one hand, you can see the sheer diversity of AI—from image generators to finance bots. On the other, it’s like walking into a giant warehouse: unless you know how to navigate, you risk getting lost.

That’s when I realized I needed a structured playbook. So, I began testing Toolify step by step, starting with its New Tools feed.

Step 1: Starting with the “New Tools” Feed

My first stop was the New Tools section. Instead of chasing hype on social media, I could see what had just been added to the directory itself.

Spending a week on this feed taught me a few lessons:

• Many new entries were small startups testing early versions.
• Some listings duplicated existing categories, showing Toolify’s scraping wasn’t always perfect.
• A few apps appeared here days before trending elsewhere, giving me first-mover insight.

This section became my “early warning system.” Before a tool went viral, I often spotted it here first.

After getting a feel for “what’s new,” my next step was figuring out how these tools could integrate directly into my browser or everyday workflow—so I turned to extensions and GPTs.

Step 2: Exploring Chrome Extensions & GPTs

The apps/extensions hub turned out to be my second stop. Most directories ignore lightweight add-ons, but Toolify bundles them with larger apps.

Here’s what I discovered:

• Chrome extensions that could summarize PDFs, scrape structured data, or rewrite drafts—all in minutes.
• Custom GPTs designed for niche cases, like preparing résumés or analyzing contracts.
• Smaller, independent projects that weren’t yet polished but were highly creative.

These extensions and GPTs filled gaps in my workflow. They became my “quick hacks,” saving me time without requiring major adoption shifts.

With my browser toolkit set, I wanted to know which of these tools would stay with me outside my laptop—so I tested Toolify’s mobile app tagging.

Step 3: Mobile AI Apps and On-the-Go Usage

One of Toolify’s underrated features is its tagging of iOS and Android availability. For someone who shifts between laptop and phone, this saved me time. Instead of checking the App Store or Google Play manually, I could see at a glance which tools had mobile versions.

For example, I found an AI transcription app through Toolify that I now use daily for recording interviews. Without the mobile tag, I probably wouldn’t have discovered it until much later.

Once my mobile stack was in place, I wondered—what does AI adoption look like globally? That’s when I explored Toolify’s regional rankings.

Step 4: Using Regional Rankings for Global Insights

Toolify’s regional rankings opened a window into adoption differences across countries.

Some insights stood out:

• Design AIs dominate in Asia.
• Productivity tools topped Europe.
• Certain GPTs had surprising traction in South America

Even though the data wasn’t perfect, it gave me context I wouldn’t have found elsewhere. For developers, this could even guide international launches.

Seeing geographic variety made me curious about consistency over time—so I turned to Toolify’s monthly charts.

Step 5: Tracking Winners Through Monthly Charts

The Most Used this Month ranking became my way to separate hype from staying power. If a tool appeared in multiple months, it likely had a real user base.

For instance, an AI design platform I first spotted in New Tools reappeared in the monthly rankings twice in a row. That was my signal it had moved beyond hype into adoption.

But discovery was only half the story—Toolify was also spreading beyond its own website into third-party ecosystems.

Beyond Discovery: How Toolify Extends Its Ecosystem

One clue to Toolify’s reach is its availability on WebCatalog, where it can be used as a desktop app. This suggests its dataset is valuable enough to be repurposed into different formats.

For me, this meant I could keep Toolify open like a dedicated application, which reinforced its role as a daily workspace tool, not just a directory.

But Toolify is still very different from curated lists or polished newsletters—so I compared them directly.

Toolify vs. Curated AI Lists

Curated platforms like Creati.ai or personal newsletters focus on quality and filtering. Toolify focuses on scale and breadth.

The difference is obvious in practice:

• Toolify shows you everything, fast—but leaves filtering to you.
• Curated lists give fewer but more reliable recommendations.

To get the best of both worlds, I combined them. But I needed a system—so I built my own workflow.

My Workflow for Testing Tools from Toolify

Here’s how I turned Toolify’s sprawl into a manageable playbook:

• Start with New Tools.
• Shortlist by region and category.
• Check for iOS/Android availability.
• Pick 3 promising tools.
• Test them in parallel for a week.
• Keep only the one that genuinely improves my work.

With this method, Toolify stopped being overwhelming—it became a structured discovery pipeline. Still, I wanted to know how it stacked up against competitors from my perspective.

Comparing My Experience with Competitors

When I compared Toolify with other directories, the differences became sharper:

• Toolify.ai felt like walking into an AI supermarket—huge, sprawling, and full of everything. But like any supermarket, not everything is fresh, and ads sometimes push products you don’t need.
• There’s An AI For That (TAIFT) felt like a library—organized, trusted, but not always up-to-date. It’s great for looking up established tools but slow with new ones.
• TopAI.tools reminded me of a boutique store—small, neat, uncluttered. Easier to browse, but limited stock.
• Creati.ai felt like a personal shopper—it brings you polished picks, but you don’t get the full range.

For me, Toolify was the best starting point because I wanted to see everything. But once I narrowed my list, I often relied on Creati.ai or newsletters for final curation.

That made me think: what would Toolify need to fix to truly stand out?

Where Toolify Needs to Improve to Stay Relevant

From my experience, three things stood out:

• Reduce ad clutter – Sponsored tools should be clearly labeled and separated.
• Simplify updates – Developers shouldn’t need “coins” to correct outdated info.
• Improve accuracy – Duplicate and broken links reduce trust.

If Toolify made these changes, it could evolve from being a compass into something closer to a trusted guidebook.

Until then, I keep using it—but carefully.

Final Thoughts: My Personal Takeaway on Toolify

For me, Toolify has been like an atlas of the AI world. It shows me where everything is happening, but it doesn’t tell me which city to move to. That’s up to me.

The real value is in how you use it. If you wander aimlessly, you’ll get lost in noise. But if you build a workflow—like I did—you can turn Toolify into a powerful discovery system.

Would I recommend it? Yes, but with caution. Treat Toolify as your compass, not your destination. It works best for explorers, not settlers. And as someone who enjoys experimenting with AI, that’s exactly what I needed.

FAQs About Toolify.ai

1. How often does Toolify update its listings?
The New Tools feed is updated daily, but older entries can remain outdated.

2. Does Toolify verify the tools it lists?
Not fully. It aggregates and relies on developers to keep info current.

3. Can I filter tools by device type?
Yes, tags indicate iOS and Android support.

4. Why do people criticize Toolify?
Common complaints include scraping, ad clutter, and the coin-based update system.

5. What makes Toolify different from Creati.ai?
Toolify is about breadth and speed; Creati.ai is about polish and curation.