Every "tools I use" list is secretly an affiliate link farm. This one isn't. These are the tools that survived daily use across design, development, content creation, and e-commerce for RAXXO Studios. If something didn't earn its place through actual utility, it got cut.
Code and Development
Claude (Anthropic)
The core AI tool for everything from writing Shopify Liquid sections to debugging Next.js routes to drafting content strategies. Claude Code specifically - the CLI version - integrates directly into the development workflow. It reads your codebase, understands context, and generates code that actually fits your project's patterns.
Not a replacement for knowing what you're building. But it's the best pair programmer available right now, and it's transformed what a solo developer can ship in an evening.
VS Code + Cursor
VS Code remains the editor. Cursor adds AI-powered code completion that's context-aware in ways that matter. The combination handles everything from React components to Liquid templates.
Vercel
Deployment for the RAXXO Studio SaaS. Push code, it builds, it deploys. The preview deployment feature is particularly useful - every branch gets its own URL for testing before merging to production.
Neon (Postgres)
Serverless Postgres that plays perfectly with Vercel's edge functions. The branching feature lets you test database changes without touching production data. Combined with Drizzle ORM, the developer experience is excellent.
Design and Creative
Figma
Still the design tool. For UI work, component libraries, and design system documentation. The AI plugins are getting interesting but aren't replacing manual design work yet - they're more useful for generating starting points you refine.
Midjourney
The primary image generation tool for product designs and character work. V6 produces consistent enough results for brand assets when you use character references and structured prompts. The quality ceiling is the highest of any consumer-available tool right now.
Freepik AI
Specifically for the video prompt pipeline. The RAXXO content library uses Freepik's AI video generation for short-form clips. Less control than Kling but faster iteration for certain content types.
Kling
AI video generation for longer, more controlled clips. The reference image feature is crucial for maintaining character consistency across multi-part video sequences. This is what makes episodic AI content possible.
Content and Marketing
RAXXO Studio
Yes, I use my own tool. Upload a video or image, get platform-optimized titles, captions, hashtags, and music suggestions. Built it because I needed it - generating good social copy for every post was eating too much time.
Canva
Quick graphic work - social media templates, presentation slides, simple mockups. It's not Figma, and it's not trying to be. But for speed on non-critical design tasks, nothing beats it.
CapCut
Video editing for short-form content. The auto-caption feature is genuinely good. For Reels and TikTok-length content, it handles 90% of what you need without opening Premiere or DaVinci.
E-Commerce
Shopify
raxxo.shop runs on Shopify. For the price point and feature set, nothing else makes sense for a solo operator. The custom Liquid section system is powerful enough to build unique pages without a developer (if you're willing to learn the basics).
Printful
Print-on-demand fulfillment. Connected directly to Shopify. Quality is reliable, mockup generator is excellent, and the integration just works without constant babysitting.
Infrastructure
Clerk
Authentication for the SaaS. Email codes, Google OAuth (when approved), user management. The React components drop right into Next.js with minimal configuration, and the webhook system handles user lifecycle events cleanly.
GitHub
Version control. The entire RAXXO Studios codebase - SaaS app, content pipeline, shop sections, documentation - lives in one monorepo. Makes it easy to reference anything from anywhere.
Zoho Mail
Custom email on the raxxo.shop domain. help@raxxo.shop for customer support, studio@raxxo.shop for app-related communication. Affordable for a custom domain setup and the admin panel is straightforward.
What Didn't Make the Cut
Equally important - tools I tried and dropped:
- Notion - too heavy for solo use. Markdown files in the repo work better when you're already in a code editor all day.
- Trello/Linear/Jira - project management for one person is a text file. Seriously.
- Zapier/Make - custom API routes handle the automations I need. Adding a no-code automation layer on top of code I already control adds complexity without benefit.
- Multiple AI subscriptions - I trimmed down to Claude + Midjourney as primaries. Having five AI tools means being mediocre at prompting all of them.
Want the complete blueprint?
We're packaging our full production systems, prompt libraries, and automation configs into premium guides. Stay tuned at raxxo.shop
The Philosophy
The best tool stack for a solo creator is the smallest stack that covers your needs. Every additional tool is another login, another subscription, another thing to maintain. Every tool on this list has survived the "would I miss this if it disappeared?" test.
Build with what you know. Add tools when you hit genuine friction, not because someone recommended them in a thread. Your stack should serve your workflow, not the other way around.
Dieser Artikel enthält Affiliate-Links. Wenn du dich darüber anmeldest, erhalte ich eine kleine Provision - für dich entstehen keine Mehrkosten. Ich empfehle nur Tools, die ich selbst nutze. (Werbung) Tools like Buffer make scheduling and publishing across platforms much easier.