Underrated tools for creative people

Finding the right tool can spark new ideas and make the creative process flow. Beyond the obvious choices like Canva or Photoshop, there are plenty of underrated platforms that can help you think differently, stay organized, or even turn your skills into income.

Here are some worth exploring:

Milanote – A visual workspace for moodboards, storyboards, and messy brainstorming. Great for writers, designers, or anyone who thinks in images.

Excalidraw – A playful, hand-drawn style whiteboard tool. Perfect for sketching quick concepts that feel approachable rather than polished.

Descript – Lets you edit audio and video just by editing text. Podcasters, storytellers, and YouTubers love it.

Oblique Strategies (digital decks) – Brian Eno’s famous creative prompts turned into apps and sites. When you’re stuck, a random constraint can push you forward.

Are.na – A platform for curating ideas, images, and links in a way that feels calmer and more thoughtful than Pinterest.

Krita – A free, professional-grade digital painting app with tools that rival paid software. Especially loved by illustrators.

Miroverse templates – Community-made templates inside Miro that cover everything from worldbuilding to visual journaling.

Wavtool – A browser-based music production app powered by AI, built for experimenting with sound quickly.

And when you’re ready to take your creativity beyond experimentation, the next step is monetization. That’s where platforms like Whop come in. It’s a platform built for selling online—whether that’s digital products, memberships, or creative resources. The advantage is simplicity: you can set up shop quickly, then focus your energy on making and growing instead of wrestling with tech.

The right mix of tools doesn’t just help you produce more—it helps you stay inspired and eventually build a system where your creativity sustains itself.