People keep asking about the tools behind this blog. And I get it — when someone says “I built this with AI,” the natural follow-up is “which AI?”
So here are the tools I am actually using for this side hustle. Not a sponsored list, not “top 10 AI tools you NEED in 2026.” Just the stuff that is open on my screen right now.
How I Put This List Together
Claude actually suggested I write this post. It said tool recommendation posts tend to rank well on Google and that my audience — developers interested in vibe coding — would want to know my actual stack. Fair point.
I told Claude: “Only include things I actually use. No filler, no padding the list to make it look bigger.” So this is five tools, not ten. Because I only use five.
1. Claude (by Anthropic)
Obviously. Claude is the backbone of this entire operation. It is the AI I am having this conversation with right now. Literally right now — as this post is being written.
What I use it for:
- Server setup and management (SSH access, installing packages, configuring services)
- Writing and editing blog posts (I direct in Korean, it writes in English)
- Publishing posts directly to WordPress (no copy-paste needed)
- SEO setup (Yoast configuration, Google Search Console, sitemap submission)
- Problem solving (when something breaks, I screenshot it and Claude fixes it)
What makes it different: I have tried ChatGPT, Gemini, and a few others. Claude is the one I keep coming back to for coding tasks. It is better at following complex instructions, it admits when it is unsure instead of confidently making things up, and the code it generates tends to work on the first try more often. It also has Claude Code, which is the CLI tool that gives it direct access to my terminal and file system — that is how it manages the server.
Cost: $20/month for the Pro plan. The single most valuable subscription I pay for.
2. Vultr
This is where the blog lives. A VPS (Virtual Private Server) in Los Angeles running Ubuntu 22.04.
What I use it for: Hosting WordPress, Nginx, PHP, and MariaDB. Everything the blog needs to run.
Why Vultr: Claude recommended it when I asked where to get a cheap server. The $6/month plan with 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, and 25GB SSD is plenty for a blog. The LA location is fast for US traffic. And the dashboard is straightforward — even when I had to set things up before Claude took over, I could navigate it by taking screenshots and asking for help.
Cost: $6/month.
3. WordPress + Yoast SEO
I am counting these as one because they are inseparable for me. WordPress is the CMS, and Yoast is the SEO plugin that makes sure Google can find and understand my content.
What I use it for: Publishing and organizing blog posts, managing pages, SEO optimization (meta descriptions, sitemaps, schema markup).
Why WordPress: I covered this in detail in my platform comparison post. Short version: it is free, it supports AdSense, it has a massive plugin ecosystem, and Claude can manage it entirely through the command line (WP-CLI). That last point is crucial — it means the AI can create posts, upload media, install plugins, and change settings without me ever opening the admin dashboard.
Cost: Free (both WordPress and Yoast SEO free tier).
4. Google Search Console
This is how I know whether Google is actually finding my content. It shows which pages are indexed, what search queries people use to find me, and if there are any errors preventing pages from showing up.
What I use it for: Monitoring search performance, submitting new posts for indexing, checking for crawl errors.
How I set it up: Claude told me to go to Google Search Console and add my domain. I took a screenshot of the verification page, sent it to Claude, and it added the verification code to my site through Yoast SEO. The whole process took about two minutes. I could have figured it out myself, but why spend ten minutes reading Google’s documentation when Claude already knows the steps?
Cost: Free.
5. Gabia (Domain Registrar)
This is where I bought the reapbountifully.com domain. Gabia is a Korean domain registrar — nothing fancy, just where I happened to already have an account.
What I use it for: Domain registration and DNS management (pointing the domain to my Vultr server).
How I set it up: This was another screenshot moment. I opened the Gabia DNS management page, screenshotted it, and sent it to Claude. It told me exactly which A records to add and what IP address to point them to. Two records, save, done. DNS propagated in a few minutes.
Cost: ~$10/year for the domain.
The Total Stack Cost
| Tool | Cost | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Pro | $20/month | Everything — coding, writing, publishing |
| Vultr VPS | $6/month | Hosting |
| WordPress + Yoast | Free | CMS + SEO |
| Google Search Console | Free | Search monitoring |
| Gabia domain | ~$10/year | Domain name |
| Total | ~$27/month |
$27/month for a fully functional, SEO-optimized, AI-powered English blog. Most of that cost is Claude, and I would be paying for that anyway because I use it for work too.
What I Am Not Using (And Why)
A few tools I considered but decided against, for now:
- Grammarly — Claude’s English output does not need grammar checking. Redundant.
- Canva / design tools — I am using screenshots for now, not custom graphics. May add later.
- Google Analytics — I will set this up once I have more traffic to analyze. For now, Search Console is enough.
- Email marketing tools — Not building a newsletter yet. One thing at a time.
I am a big believer in starting with the minimum viable toolset and adding things only when the need is real, not imagined.
How This Post Was Made
Claude suggested this topic as part of the content roadmap. I agreed and said: “Only list things I actually use. Keep it honest.” Claude asked me to confirm the pricing for each tool, wrote the draft, and I gave feedback to add the “What I Am Not Using” section — because what you choose not to use is sometimes as interesting as what you do use.
One round of revision, then straight to WordPress via SSH. Published and scheduled without me touching the dashboard.
This post was written with Claude AI. I provided the direction, topic, and key points in Korean — Claude turned it into the article you just read.