We Tried Many AI Tools for Technical Writing—Here Are the Ones That Actually Worked

The list below includes AI tools that we have used at our workplace. Each tool deserves a deeper review, which I plan to publish as separate posts and link here over time. For now, this post provides a concise list with one-line reviews based on our hands-on experience.

Documentation from code

• Promptless: This is the best tool that I have used so far. The idea is simple: it looks at code changes and suggests documentation drafts. It works for both API and UI documentation (UI without images). I am yet to find a similar tool that does this well.

Documentation from video / walkthroughs

• Clueso: Helps you create tutorial videos and how-to articles at the same time by uploading a recorded demo session or doing a live walkthrough of the product.
• Zenious: Just got a demo and tried a very basic guide. Similar to Clueso.
• Guidde: Another tool with a similar offering.

Note: In general, there are thousands of tools with this feature—creating documentation from walkthroughs. Most of them are Chrome extensions.

Image and diagram generation

• Mermaid: Useful for creating entity relationship diagrams, flowcharts, and block diagrams. You can use any LLM to generate the flow structure and Mermaid code, then reuse that code in your documentation tool if it supports Mermaid.
• Whimsical: The first tool I came across that introduced a “Generate with AI” option. You can use prompts to create flow diagrams and similar visuals.
• Lucidchart: Similar to Whimsical, but better suited for more complex diagrams.
• Napkin: Enables you to create visual representations by providing context about features.

Grammar and writing assistance

• Grammarly: Now comes with AI features to humanise content, proofread, and more.
• ProWritingAid: Slightly cheaper than Grammarly and works in a similar way. Offers more features geared towards creative writing.

Documentation assistants

• NotebookLM: Allows you to add different input sources such as meeting transcripts, reference documents, and more. It can generate rough documents, FAQs, podcast-style knowledge-sharing content, and more.
• Any LLM model: You don’t need to list specific ones here. Use Gemini, custom GPTs, or similar tools by providing your documentation as a source and querying it to get answers.

Meeting note takers

• Granola: Can be started anytime, even when you are already talking to someone. Creates very good AI notes. No need to invite it to the meeting.
• Otter.ai: Needs to be invited to the meeting. Listens and generates detailed AI notes.

Analysing code

• VS Code–based tools (Cursor, Antigravity, etc.): These tools get access to the repository, clone it, and allow you to query the codebase to get answers based on the actual code.

Slides and presentations

• Gamma: Helps you create slides quickly.
• Presentation.ai: Creates Amazon webpage–style slides using prompts.

Building small AI apps for your tasks

• Google AI Studio: Enables you to create small, task-specific AI apps for your own needs without building full products. Examples include style guide checkers or document review tools.

AI newsletters and discovery

• The Neuron: Almost sold out now, but still useful at times.
• Product Hunt: Good for tracking new documentation and AI tools.
• There Is An AI For That: Lists a large number of AI tools across categories.

Documentation tools (CMS/Platforms)

• Theneo: Has impressive AI features, but loads slowly when documentation is large.
• ReadMe: Trying to catch up with AI features. Not ideal for very large documentation sets.
• Documentation.ai: Another documentation tool with AI features. Tried it. Not great.
• Velu: Yet to try.

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P.S. We are always looking for new things to experiment with. If there’s a tool you use and love that isn’t on this list, please let us know. We’d love to try it out.