> Ideally under $20 a month—that handles both text and simple graphics.

Sooo I was in the same boat last year, literally drowning in browser tabs. +1 to what was said earlier! I actually started using Microsoft Designer recently... it's super easy for graphics and lowkey handles text too. It's basically free i think? Just be careful and always proofread what it spits out so you dont look silly! Lesson learned: simple is always better tbh gl!

oh man, i feel u... side hustles are literally a full-time job in disguise. honestly, i've tried so many of these tools over the years and most are either too pricey or just way too complex. for your situation, i would suggest sticking to one platform that does both to save your sanity lol.

here's what i recommend: you should highkey check out Canva Pro. i mean, basically everyone knows them for graphics, but their AI suite is legit. specifically, the Canva Magic Write tool is great for knocking out blog outlines or captions, and Canva Magic Media handles the AI image generation. it's usually around $15 a month, so it fits your budget with room to spare. wait no, i think it might be $14.99? anyway, its cheap.

if your looking for more advanced text, you could try ChatGPT Plus, but that's exactly $20/mo and i think the graphics part (which uses OpenAI DALL-E 3) is kinda harder to format for social posts compared to Canva. i mean, DALL-E is powerful but Canva is just... easier for beginners... i guess? i've used both and for a side hustle, speed is everything.

TL;DR: go with Canva Pro because it combines text and design in one UI for about $15/mo. its basically the best value for a solo creator. gl with the hustle! 👍

Nice, didn't know that

Honestly, to give you a decent recommendation based on the current market data, I need to know: what is your actual output volume like? Are we talking 20 plus social posts a week or just a couple of long-form blogs? It really changes which API-backed tool gives you the best bang for your buck. If you are looking at it from a technical specs perspective, most of these all-in-one tools are basically just skins for the same three or four LLMs anyway. Here are two quick tips for staying under that 20 dollar limit:

• ChatGPT Plus is still the most efficient generalist for a side hustle because you get DALL-E 3 for graphics and GPT-4o for text in one single bucket.
• Poe is an amazing technical workaround because it lets you toggle between Claude, GPT, and specialized image bots without paying for 3 different subscriptions. If you want the most human-sounding text, Claude is usually the benchmark for quality right now, but it lacks the native image gen tools that the OpenAI ecosystem offers. Just depends on where you want to spend your time tweaking prompts vs finishing the work!

@Reply #1 - good point! Canva is definitely the heavy hitter for a reason. Stumbled upon this discussion and figured i would throw in my two cents since i've been down this rabbit hole too many times. If you want something that feels a bit more streamlined for marketing, you should check out what Copy.ai or Jasper are offering lately. Comparing these brands is pretty interesting because some really focus on the brain of your content while others just want it to look pretty. It's basically a choice between a design tool that learned to talk or a writing tool that learned to paint... if that makes sense? Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of the big content automation platforms. Most of them have a starter tier that fits your budget perfectly. It kinda just depends on which interface feels less annoying to you... some are way too cluttered for my taste lol. Just pick one of the major brands and you will be set for your social posts.

Been thinking about this... Curious about one thing: do u need SEO features? Technical metadata helps blogs grow.

- Simplified Pro Plan
- Adobe Express Premium

Theyre pretty decent. GL!

Saved for later, ty!

I've been messing around with these tools for years now, basically since the first GPT models dropped. Over the years I've realized that the best tool usually depends on the specific output you're chasing. Quick question before I give a final verdict: what niche are you actually in? Performance for something like high-level B2B tech blogs is a different world compared to lifestyle social media content, and I'd hate to suggest a tool that sounds too robotic for your audience. In my experience, if you want high performance for exactly $20 or less, these are your best bets:

• ChatGPT Plus
• It's $20 a month and handles the heavy lifting for both text and graphics. Using GPT-4o with DALL-E 3 built-in is probably the most streamlined workflow you'll find for that price.
• Writesonic Small Team Plan
• This one usually lands around $15. It's very methodical about SEO and includes an image generator that's surprisingly decent for social posts.
• Claude Pro
• If your blog quality is the absolute priority, this is $20 well spent. The text feels way more natural than others, though you'll need a separate tool for graphics since it doesn't generate images directly yet. Honestly, sticking to one powerhouse tool usually beats juggling three different cheap ones once you factor in the time you save.