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ZDNET's key takeaways
My 2025 AI spend hit $1,665 across tools and upgrades.
$300 in agentic coding tools did years of coding in days.
Adobe was half the bill, then I cut it down drastically.
As we hurtle through 2026, the fourth year of generative AI's new wave of tools and applications, we're still trying to get a handle on the technology's ever-expanding role in our lives. The emergence of agentic AI in 2025 took the game to an entirely new level.
Leading the pack has been the rise in agentic coding tools. These tools, such as Gemini Jules, Claude Code, and OpenAI Codex, are capable of writing entire programs and products. I put both Codex and Claude Code to the test, creating four plug-in add-on security products for WordPress using Codex, as well as a full-featured iPhone app using Claude Code.
Also: I stopped using ChatGPT for everything: These AI models beat it at research, coding, and more
I use other AI tools, too. In fact, I've added a few new ones to the lineup this year. In this article, I'm going to show you the AI tools I entered the year with, the products I kept, the products I added, the products I dumped, and any that are currently on the chopping block.
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