To help you keep up to speed with AI and the steady stream of new tools, the IAB New Zealand Emerging Technology Council's AI Working Group has updated their AI Tools Tracker for Q4 2026. This is a live document that will be updated quarterly.
Designed to be a helpful reference guide, this report contains hyperlinks to AI tools and platforms, a brief description of their main functions, and costs where available. Thank you to Niko Batinica, Partner, Team Circle and Vice Chair, IAB NZ Emerging Technology Council and Remo Clarison Performance Director, PHD Aotearoa, both members of the IAB New Zealand AI Working Group for this update. This report was current at the time of publication on the 13 October 2026, and will be updated again by end Q1 2027.
| Product Link | Type of AI / Main Function | Description | Access Type | Cost (NZD approx.) |
| Core LLMs & Assistants | ||||
| Claude (4.8 Opal, 5 Fable) | Generative AI: Strategy/Copy/Coding | Preferred by marketers for high-fidelity, human-sounding copy and large-scale document analysis. | Open | Free; Pro $34/mo |
| ChatGPT Plus (5.5, 5.6 soon) | Generative AI: Text/Multimodal/General Use | The industry standard for complex reasoning, multi-step planning, and multimodal task execution. | Open | Free; Plus $34/mo |
| Gemini AI Pro | Assistive AI: Google Workspace | Deep integration with Docs/Sheets. Best for research using Google Search live-web data. | Open | $34/mo (incl. 5TB) |
| Perplexity Pro | Search/Research AI | Combines LLM reasoning with real-time web citations; effectively replaces traditional search for research. | Open | Free; Pro $34/mo |
| Meta AI | Generative: Social/Conversational | Native integration across Meta apps; best for quick creative brainstorming and trending topics. | Open | Free |
| Kimi (K3) | Coding | Highly powerful Chinese platform built for cost effective coding. | Open | Free; low-cost API (pay-as-you-go) |
| Content & Ad Creative | ||||
| Canva Magic Studio | Generative: Full-Suite Design | Now the primary creative hub for non-designers, using "Magic Media" for text-to-graphics. | Open | Pro from $26/mo |
| AdCreative.ai | Generative: Performance Ads | High-volume ad variant generation with a focus on conversion data and creative scoring. | Open | From $45/mo |
| Jasper Business | Generative: Brand Content | Enterprise-grade content creation with "Brand Voice" memory for consistency across teams. | Open | From $68/mo |
| Video & Audio | ||||
| Seed by Bytedance | Generative: Video & Audio | Seedance 2.5 coming soon promises the next big step in AI video generation. Seedaudio can add sound effects to scenes | Open | Free |
| Higgsfield | Generative: Video & Audio | Aggregator of a number of different models, allowing testing across multiple models | Open | Free, Paid from $19/mo |
| Fal | Generative: Video & Audio | API aggregator that can access several of the latest models on a cost-per-usage rate rather than monthly fee. | Open | Pay As You Go API Call (from $0.01) |
| ElevenLabs | Generative: Speech Synthesis | The gold standard for voice cloning and multilingual localized audio (32+ languages). | Open | Free; Pro from $9/mo |
| Topaz Studio | Generative: Video/Image Upscaler | Upscale videos to professional grade, closely resemble 4k quality with the help of AI to improve visuals | Open | From $37/mo |
| Suno | Generative: Music | Create high quality music with or without lyrics to fit your need | Open | Free, Paid from $15/mo |
| HeyGen | Generative: Video/Avatars | Lifelike AI avatars for personalized video messages at scale and high-end cinematic video. | Open | From $42/mo |
| Google Veo 3.1 | Generative: Cinematic Text-to-Video | Cinematic text-to-video with native synchronized audio (dialogue + SFX in one pass). Accessed via Google AI Pro or Google Flow (see Core LLMs). | Open | Via Google AI Pro (~$34/mo) |
| Agentic & Workflow Automation | ||||
| n8n | Agentic: Multi-Agent Workflows | Workflow automation tool that can connect applications, APIs, and databases in an easy to use platform | Open | From $40/mo |
| CrewAI | Agentic: Multi-Agent Workflows | A Python framework for orchestrating specialized AI "crews" to handle complex, multi-stage business tasks. | Open | Free (Open Source) |
| Gumloop | Generative: No-Code Automation | Visually build "AI agents" that interact with your existing tech stack (CRM, Email, Sheets). | Open | From $25/mo |
| Manus AI | Generative: Autonomous Agent | A general-purpose autonomous agent capable of executing complex end-to-end projects independently. | Open / Beta | Pricing varies |
| Sales & Research Intelligence | ||||
| NotebookLM | Assistive: Deep Research | Uses your uploaded sources to create "Audio Overviews" and structured insights grounded in your data. | Open | Free |
| Apollo.io | Assistive: Sales Intelligence | Comprehensive B2B database with AI-driven outreach and lead scoring. | Open | Free; Paid from $85/mo |
| SparkToro v2 | Predictive: Audience Research | Essential for finding where your specific NZ audience spends time online without cookies. | Open | Free; Paid from $85/mo |
| Productivity & Specialist | ||||
| Microsoft 365 Premium (replaces Copilot Pro) | Assistive: 365 Integration | Embedded AI inside Excel, PPT, and Outlook for rapid deck creation and email management. | Open | $34/mo |
| Replit Agent | Generative: App Development | Allows non-technical users to build and deploy web applications through chat interface. | Open | From $15/mo |
| Gamma | Generative: Presentations/Decks | AI generator for pitch decks, presentations, and one-page sites from a prompt; strong for marketing collateral. | Open | Free; Plus ~$15/mo, Pro ~$31/mo |
| Cursor | Generative: AI Code Editor | The dominant AI-native coding IDE for professional developers; agentic multi-file editing inside a VS Code-style app. | Open | Free (Hobby), Pro ~$34/mo |
| Lovable | Generative: App Development | Creates clean frontend websites and apps that require limited backend architecture through chat interface. | Open | Free; Paid from $25/mo |
| Whimsical AI | Assistive: Mapping/Diagrams | Generates flowcharts and product maps from text; excellent for UX/UI planning. | Open | Free; Paid from $18/mo |
| Image Generation | ||||
| Midjourney | Generative: AI Art/Images | The aesthetic/editorial-illustration leader for cinematic, on-brand imagery. Subscription-only (Discord + web); no free tier or API. | Paid Only | Basic from ~$17/mo |
| Google Nano Banana / Nano Banana Pro | Generative: Photorealistic Images | Best-in-class photorealism and legible in-image text; ideal for product and ad imagery. Free in the Gemini app; Pro image models via Google AI Pro. | Open | Free (Gemini); Pro models via Google AI Pro (~$34/mo) |
| Adobe Firefly | Generative: Commercially-Safe Images | Trained only on licensed data so output is commercially safe for client work; integrates with Creative Cloud. | Open | Standard from ~$17/mo |
