The copywriting tools guide: Write smarter, not harder

In the past, a writer’s only tools were a notebook, a pen, and an overflowing cup of coffee. But, that’s no longer the case. 

The modern day copywriter has an overwhelming amount of tools at their disposal. From AI to audience social listening tools, we’ve got a lot to work with to create a great, conversion-driven content piece.

Whether you're a freelance writer hustling for clients, an in-house marketing pro, or a startup founder wearing multiple hats, the right copywriting tools can mean the difference between blending into the noise and standing out like a neon sign. 

But here's the catch: not all tools are created equal. Some are revolutionary, some are just distractions, and others fall somewhere in the frustrating middle ground of "might be useful someday." 

In this guide, we'll break down the must-have copywriting tools that can actually move the needle for your copy, your skills, and your productivity. 

So, without further ado—here is a list of copywriting tools that’ll…

• Knock your socks off
• Make your life easier
• Help you write a killer copywriting resume
• Spur your creativity when it’s down in the dumps
• Help you sound more human (and less hoity-toity)
• A/B test your language until you forget what language is anymore

⛑️ The copywriter's emergency kit: essential tools

For crafting killer headlines

In the attention economy, your headline is the make-or-break moment. It's the difference between a scroll-past and a click-through. Thankfully, several tools have emerged to help you nail that perfect headline:

Sharethrough Headline Analyzer: This tool goes beyond word count, evaluating your headline's emotional impact, clarity, and potential to drive engagement. It provides a score and specific recommendations to make your headline more compelling. 

Pro tip: Aim for headlines that balance information with intrigue.

Advanced Marketing Institute's (AMI) Headline Analyzer: Specifically designed for marketing copy, this tool evaluates your headline's intellectual, empathetic, and spiritual appeal. It's particularly useful for B2B and thought leadership content where nuanced messaging matters.

CoSchedule Email Subject Line Tester: While marketed for email, this tool is a gem for all types of headlines. It provides a comprehensive score, suggestions for improvement, and benchmarks against successful subject lines.

For example, I tested 3 headlines for this article using Sharethrough and AMI’s tools  and here’s what happened:

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Unfortunately, Sharethrough also recommended the following as alternatives (which made me unleash my frustration):

• Master Copywriter's Toolkit: Unmissable Tools for Success
• Revolutionize Your Writing: Top Tech Tools for Copywriters
• Unleash Your Productivity: Essential Tools for Today's Copywriter

✍️ For grammar, style, and readability

Let's be real: good writing is about more than avoiding red squiggly lines. It’s about connecting with the reader—through simplicity, clarity, and emotion. It’s also about:

• Ditching complexity and writing content that’s easy for the reader to understand. That could look like using less acronyms, jargon, and “use” instead of “utilize”.
• Not trying to sound “smart” and using simple language, instead. Aim to write for a fifth grade reading level.

Here are some tools to help you simplify: 

Grammarly: Far more than a basic spell-checker, Grammarly has evolved into a comprehensive writing assistant that offers advanced suggestions on grammar, punctuation, clarity, plagiarism, and engagement. Its browser extensions go with you wherever you write, and the AI-powered suggestions help writers not just fix mistakes, but improve their overall communication strategy.

Hemingway App: This tool is the tough love your writing needs. It highlights complex sentences, passive voice, and unnecessary adverbs. The goal? Clear, direct communication that your audience can actually understand. Remember, if your grandma can't read it, neither will your customers.

🤓 Nerdy note: Ernest Hemingway, the writer, is known for his super objective, “plain”, and terse writing style that seems almost “too simple” on the outside—but actually says plenty. Hence, the name of Hemingway the app: it simplifies, clarifies, and leaves only the need-to-read bits. 

🤖 AI writing assistants: friend or frenemy?

An important note with writing assistants is that they should be used as brainstorming partners or sounding boards. They’re there to help you, but not to do the job for you.

⭐️ The AI copywriting hall of fame

The rise of AI writing tools has been nothing short of revolutionary—and terrifying—for copywriters. These tools are full of promises, but do they have the strength to back up their claims? Let's break down the top contenders:

Claude: Developed by Anthropic, Claude stands out for its nuanced understanding of context and ability to produce high-quality, coherent content. Unlike some AI tools that churn out generic text, Claude focuses on creating meaningful, contextually appropriate writing that feels more human-like and less robotic.

ChatGPT: The tool that launched a thousand think pieces, ChatGPT has become synonymous with AI writing. While incredibly versatile, it requires the most human guidance to produce truly high-quality content.

Jasper: As AI tools start leaning into their differentiators to win customers, Jasper has  chosen the marketing path. Jasper offers robust templates and is especially powerful for content marketers who need consistent, on-brand messaging across multiple platforms.

👀 When to use AI (and when to shut ‘er down)

AI writing tools are most effective when used strategically:

• Content planning (and busting writer’s block): Use AI to generate blog topic ideas, headlines, or meta descriptions quickly—instead of staring at a blank screen.
• Copy variations: Create multiple ad copy versions to test messaging, tone, or copy formulas.
• SEO optimization: Get suggestions for naturally (or unnaturally 😬) embedding keywords into your content.
• Research support: Find supporting statistics and data points (but always verify to avoid hallucinations!)
• Content repurposing: Transform lengthy videos or recordings into concise, structured summaries or alternate formats for social, video, and more.

And remember: the key to AI-assisted writing is maintaining your brand's authenticity. The best way to do so is twofold:

1. Have a comprehensive style guide, with examples, preferred language and phrases, no-go words, emotional undertones, and industry-specific jargon. 
2. Get a real, live, human editor. End of story.

And if you want to deepen your knowledge further, check out our Marketers Guide to AI.

💡 Pro copywriter tip: The best tools are those that make you a better writer, not just those that fix your mistakes. Use these tools as coaches, not crutches.

🔎 Research tools for copywriters

📈 Keyword, SEO, and trend research tools

I’m sure there are people out there who love keyword research, but for most of us, coming up with 17 prepositions that help you target people who are into organic cat litter just doesn’t *light us up*.

These tools, however, make the process almost enjoyable:

Ahrefs: The Swiss Army knife of SEO tools, Ahrefs offers deep-dive keyword analysis that goes beyond simple search volume—but it takes a minute to master. Once you do, you can figure out content gaps, competitor strategies, and potential ranking opportunities that can transform your content from good to presentation-to-the-promotion-committee worthy.

BuzzSumo: More than just a keyword tool, BuzzSumo helps you understand what content actually performs—and where your brand is mentioned. See which topics are trending, what's getting shared, and identify key influencers in your niche.

Answer the Public: This quirky tool visualizes search questions people are asking about your topic. It's like a mind-reading device for content ideation, showing you exactly what your audience wants to know. (It also helps with those prepositions you hate coming up with.)

SERP Simulator (Mangools): Preview how your titles and meta descriptions will look in search results. No more guessing if your headline will get truncated, or clicked—see it before you publish.

Here’s what it spit out for my first iteration of the meta title and description, after which I had Claude iterate, shorten, and improve!

Surfer SEO’s Keyword Extension: An AI-powered extension that allows you to see the search volume, and a complete list of keyword ideas with overlap score and search volume—all without leaving Google's Search Results Page.

Google Trends: The OG trend-spotting tool. See what's buzzing right now, track seasonal interests, and get insights into emerging topics.

SpuFu: See, historically, how your competitors’ SEO and PPC strategy has changed and shifted, so you can get one step ahead. 

🕵️ Audience and market research tools

Understanding your audience is half the copywriter’s battle. Once you “get” how, where, and when to get under your customer’s skin—you can create marketing strategies, and write copy, that makes them feel like you’re the only choice there is. 

SparkToro: SparkToro helps you dive deep into audience demographics, interests, and online behaviors. You can figure out where your audience hangs out, what they read, and how to reach them effectively—whether via podcast and LinkedIn or newsletter and certain industry influencers. If you want to reach your competitors’ audience, this is how you’ll find them. 

Wynter: The secret weapon for B2B copywriters. Conduct targeted audience research, get feedback on messaging, and validate your copy before it goes live.

Sprout Social or Mention: Comprehensive social analytics and brand monitoring that go beyond surface-level metrics and help you track conversations about your brand, competitors, and industry. Understand audience engagement, content performance, and uncover insights with social listening.

🥊 Competitor analysis tools

Do you have a solid grasp of:

• What your competitors are doing?
• The types of customers you best serve (and why)?
• How to differentiate yourself from the competition?

These are some of the tools that my copywriting peers use to get a better idea of what others in their space are doing:

SEMrush and SimilarWeb: Digital marketing insights that reveal your competitors' strategies, from keyword rankings to content performance—and where they’re vulnerable.

Visualping: Have you ever wanted to know if a competitor is changing up their website (and therefore their copy, messaging, positioning, etc)—without having to subscribe to all their social channels and RSS feeds? This is how you do it. 

Competitors app: Not only does this tool let you monitor website pages, but it lets you keep track of blog posts, social posts, ad performance, and keyword and email changes. “Big tings”, as we say in Toronto. 

vidIQ: The best way to reverse-engineer your competitor’s success on YouTube—and create competitive content to go to battle. 

Mailcharts: Monitor your competitors email and SMS strategies—and take notes.

🚀 Productivity boosting tools for copywriters

🗂️ Project management tools

Knowing where you are for each piece of content (1.0 final or 1.3.2.4 final FINAL 🥴) is an important part of how you show up in the world, so if your company or clients don’t use one of these, you certainly should. 

ClickUp: The powerhouse project manager that adapts to your workflow. Build custom templates, track time, use AI templates, and collaborate on documents—all in one place. Its free plan is surprisingly robust, making it perfect for solo copywriters or small teams.

Asana: Team-focused project management with stellar visual organization. Excels at timeline views and task dependencies, making it ideal for content calendars and editorial workflows. The learning curve is worth it for complex projects.

Notion: Your digital second brain. Part wiki, part database, part document editor. Create everything from content calendars to client portals. The blank-slate approach means endless customization possibilities, though it requires initial setup time.

Dubsado: A business management platform built specifically for freelancers. Handles everything from contracts to invoicing, with automated workflows that save hours of admin time. Worth the investment if you're juggling multiple clients.

💆 Focus tools (because TikTok won't watch itself)

Some of us focus best when we’re about 24 hours pre-deadline, but for the rest of us who don’t thrive in fight-or-flight, there’s focus tools. 

Pomodoro Timer Apps: Focus@Will pairs timer functionality with productivity-optimized music. Forest adds a gamification element by growing virtual trees during focus sessions. Both make the classic Pomodoro technique more engaging.

Toggl Track: Time tracking that doesn't feel like surveillance. The Chrome extension makes it nearly effortless to use as you task-hop your way to the end of your week.

Apple Focus Mode: Native iOS/MacOS feature that creates distraction-free environments. Set up custom profiles for writing, editing, and client calls. Syncs across devices to help you focus even though you’re surrounded by 17 screens.

🎨 Swipe files and templates for inspiration

Bored? Exhausted? Burned out? Here’s where you go to get inspired (or steal some strategies from competitors).

Swipefiles.com: A curated library of marketing inspiration. Find everything from landing pages to email sequences, carefully selected for their effectiveness. The premium tier offers deeper analysis of why each piece works.

Facebook Ad Library: Free access to current advertising across Meta platforms. Search by brand or industry to study successful ad copy in your niche. Invaluable for understanding what's working right now—both for competitors, industries, and across the world in general.

LinkedIn Ad Library: B2B copywriting gold mine. Study how successful companies position themselves through advertising. Particularly useful for professional services copywriting.

📊 Analytics and testing tools for copywriters

🧪 A/B testing tools

You've probably heard "we should test that" being thrown around in marketing meetings. But... yeah, you actually need to test that. And the best way to go about A/B testing is with tools like these:

Wynter (again): Helps you get detailed feedback from your exact target audience on how your copy resonates. Expensive but worth it for high-stakes B2B content.

PickFu: Closely following SpyFu (for SEO research) is PickFu, a rapid polling platform for quick copy decisions. Get feedback within hours. Perfect for testing headlines, product descriptions, and email subject lines with your target demographic.

Lissna (prev. UsabilityHub): Comprehensive user testing platform that goes beyond simple A/B tests. Run first-click tests, preference tests, and full user flows. The free tier is great for occasional testing.

Five Second Test (owned by Lissna): Specialized tool for testing first impressions. Find out what people remember after seeing your page for just five seconds. Invaluable for landing page optimization.

Optimizely: Enterprise-grade experimentation platform. Full-stack testing capabilities with sophisticated targeting and analytics. Overkill for freelancers but perfect for large marketing teams.

VWO (Visual Website Optimizer): End-to-end testing platform with an intuitive visual editor. Run everything from simple copy tests to complex multivariate experiments. Great middle ground between basic and enterprise tools.

🔥 Heat mapping & user behavior tools

When you need to better understand how people are behaving on your website, there’s:

Hotjar: Olympic-level user behavior tool. Heatmaps show where users click and scroll, while session recordings reveal how they interact with your copy. The free tier is surprisingly useful.

Clarity: Microsoft's free alternative to Hotjar. Clean interface, unlimited pageviews, and AI-powered insights. Particularly good at identifying user frustration points.

📉 Analytics tools

For everything you didn’t get above, there’s also some web analytics and user journey tools that could help you determine how well your copy is performing. 

Matomo: Privacy-focused Google Analytics alternative—especially now that every marketer has a hate-on for GA4. Own your data while getting actionable insights. Great for working with privacy-conscious clients or European markets.

Fathom: Simple, privacy-first analytics that focus on what matters. No cookie banners needed. Perfect for copywriters who want clean data without the complexity.

Pendo: To help you get a better idea of user journeys, and understand how users flow through your copy and where they drop off. Overkill for simple sites but invaluable for complex user flows and lifecycle marketers collaborating with copywriters. 

Pro Tip: The best analytics are the ones you actually use. If you’re not ready to use them to adjust your copy, then don’t worry about collecting that data..

🏗️ Building your copywriting command center

Tool stack recommendations by budget

[$] Bootstrap budget (Under $50/month) 

Start lean but mighty with these essentials:

• Google Docs for writing and collaboration (Free)
• Grammarly for basic editing (Free)
• Five Second Test for A/B testing (Free)
• Notion for project management (Free)
• Hemingway App for readability (Free) 
• Claude ($20/month)

Total: $0-50 

[$$] Growth stack ($100-300/month) 

Level up your game with more sophisticated tools, depending on your area of focus:

• Grammarly Premium ($30/month)
• Claude for AI magic ($20/month)
• Ahrefs or Surfer for SEO ($99/month vs. $59/month)
• ClickUp Business for project management ($19/user/month)
• Hotjar Plus for heatmaps, user testing, and surveys ($80/month)

Perfect for established freelancers or small agencies.

[$$$] Enterprise arsenal ($500+/month) 

When ROI justifies premium tools:

• Jasper AI ($99/month)
• SEMrush Guru ($230/month)
• Wynter for message testing ($200/month or as needed)
• Optimizely (Custom pricing)
• ClickUp Business for project management ($19/user/month)

Ideal for agencies and in-house teams.

The future of copywriting tools

The elephant in the room isn't just standing there—it's dancing. With a wig on. And a trumpet.

AI is reshaping copywriting tools at breakneck speed, but here's the reality check: AI won't replace copywriters, but copywriters who use AI will replace those who don't.

What to watch for:

• More sophisticated AI writing assistants that understand brand voice
• Enhanced personalization tools using predictive analytics
• Improved testing tools that provide instant feedback
• Integration of multimodal AI (text, voice, image) into copywriting workflows
• Better collaboration between human creativity and AI assistance

The key won't be finding tools that write for you—it'll be mastering tools that amplify your unique human insights and creativity.

Ready to level up?

Tools are great, but they're just that—tools. The real magic happens when you know how to use them strategically. That's where our Conversion Copywriting Mini-Course comes in.

In this comprehensive program, you'll learn:

• How to use psychology to write copy that appeals to your customer's motivations
• Structure your landing page, website, and ads
• Create contextual experiences for your customers
• Develop your style and personality as a writer
• Understand how to work with AI as a friend, not a foe

Join hundreds of successful graduates who've transformed their careers—and access the course today!