Content Curation Tools - GT #24
40+ tools and 10 collections to monitor, capture, collect, organize, visualize and publish curated collections, libraries, directories and more.
Welcome to a new edition of Good Tools.
I write this newsletter to help indie entrepreneurs like me, find alternative, free or quasi-free tools that can help us save significant time and money.
This issue focuses on readers’ preference from the last poll: content curation tools.
Content curation is indispensable when trying to create value out of existing resources and when in need to build visibility, authority and credibility.
There are many tools that can assist in curating, but the most critical one is your
experience,
familiarity and
sensitivity
for the subject you want to curate.
The more of these, the better you can curate.
Think art gallery, think museum, think bookstore, think DJ.
Tools can help curators, but the value they create comes from their know-how.
In this issue:
a. Content Curation Essence
b. Content Curation Tools
1) RSS Source Monitoring
2) Trends Monitoring
3) Content Discovery
4) Search
5) Re-search
6) Capture & Organization
7) Data Enrichment, Scraping & Data Extraction
8) Directory & List Builders
9) News Curation
10) Visualizing Mapping
11) Preservation & Archiving
12) Social Media Distribution
13) All-in-One Content Curation
Content Curation Essence
1) Content curation is an art that requires no dedicated tools. You don’t need any specific platform or tool to do great curation.
2) Curating it’s like researching, critically analysing and presenting all bundled together.
3) Like for writing, it’s not which tool you use that makes you a great at it.
4) The key critical asset in curation is your ability to see beyond the surface of whatever you’re taking care of.
5) You can build this skill over time by systematically engaging and interacting with something you’re very interested / passionate about.
6) It could be tools, books, people, ideas, methods, frameworks, you name it.
7) Key kills required to curate any content:
deep, insider-familiarity with the subject at hand
research, search, ability to find things
critical thinking and analysis (ability for criteria setting, vetting and filtering)
pattern recognition
synthesis
insights extraction
presentation, information design
8) There’s no tool or AI that can replace this skillset.
Content Curation Tools
The one that follows is a hand-curated collection of what I consider the best curation tools for indie entrepreneurs with an eye for those who do offer a free plan and that I have had the opportunity to use or test out.
1) RSS Source Monitoring
Feedly
The professional reference app lets you collect and organize RSS feeds, articles, blogs and news updates from across the web on desktop and mobile.∎ Free plan - monitor up to 100 feeds and up to 3 folders
∎ Pro starts at $6.99/mo - 1000 feeds, notes, highlights, share and distribute
TheOldReader
RSS feeds reader lets you follow and organize updates from your favorite websites, newsletters and blogs in one place.∎ Free plan - monitor up to 100 feeds
∎ Pro starts at $3/mo - Full-text search - Up to 500 feeds subscriptions
Creates custom RSS feeds from most any website, social media, or news source that do not have an RSS feed available.
∎ Free 7-day trial - 30 feeds
∎ Pro $4.95/mo - 25 feeds / $9.95/mo - 100 feeds
FetchRSS
Netherlands-based online RSS feed generator allows you to create RSS feeds out of almost any web page.∎ Free plan - up to 5 feeds of max 5 posts ea
∎ Pro $29.9/year - 50 feeds
2) Trend Monitoring
Monitor and analyze any interest, topic or industry, over time and locations.
∎ 100% Free
Glimpse + Chrome extension
Google Trends supercharged with unique features like:Real-time keyword search volume
Alerts on trending topics
Trending searches in any category
Keyword difficulty
CPC
Competition statistics
Real-time list of People-Also-Search for…
Export to Google Sheets and CSV
.
∎ 100% Free
Exploding Topics
Finds rapidly growing topics in any sector or niche, before they take off.∎ Free plan
∎ Pro starts at $39/mo for 100 tracked trends
Find viral stories, evergreen classics and monitor real-time trends. Analyze between 15 minutes-five years’ worth of data and access 8bn articles archive.
∎ Free trial
∎ from $199/mo
✅ Trend Trackers Collection
40+ tools to find out where we are headed, what’s next, what content, product and services are going to break it next.
∎ 100% Free
3) Content Discovery
✅ Content Discovery Tools Collection
80+ places and tools where to find news, content, data.∎ 100% Free
✅ Content Finder Toolkit
One-stop webpage to find any content you may need. Directory of 500+ sources to find all types of content from news, to images, stock music, video footage, icons, sounds, trends, data.∎ 100% Free
4) Search
Exa.ai
Uses advanced AI to give more accurate and relevant answers by understanding the meaning behind your questions, rather than just matching keywords.∎ Free
∎ Pro for API access starts at $1/1k searches
Mojeek
Alternative search engine not using Google or Bing search indexes. Independent results and ranking algorithm. Does not track users.∎ 100% Free
∎ Ad-supported
ChatGPT own independent AI-based search engine
∎ Free - limited use
∎ Pro starts at $20/mo
✅ Alternative Search Engines Collection
60+ tools to find faster what you are looking for.∎ 100% Free
5) Re-Search
Consensus
AI-powered tool helps you find answers from scientific research by summarizing key insights from multiple studies, making complex topics easier to understand.∎ Free plan - unlimited searches
∎ Pro starts at $11.9/mo
Perplexity
AI-based search engine provides direct, concise answers from reliable and verifiable sources. Fast and accurate.∎ Free plan - unlimited quick searches
∎ Pro $20/mo for 300+ Pro searches/day + choose model + upload and analyze
AI-powered research engine alllows to dive deep, connect concepts,
and augment research with mind maps.
∎ Free plan - unlimited searches, blocks and database access
∎ Pro $20/mo adds unlimited AI queries, uploads, and graph/formulas
6) Capture and Organization
Allows you to share key ideas from online articles. Highlights, captures, facilitates annotation and organization of what you find online. Turns your reading into a searchable and shareable knowledge library. Summarizes videos and PDFs.
∎ Free plan - unlimited public highlights/captures
∎ Pro starts at $12/mo
Wakelet
Capture and save any kind of content from the web, and organize it into powerful, visual collections.∎ Free plan - unlimited captures & collections
∎ Pro starts at $5.99/mo
eLink
Collect and save any web content. Organize it, share it and publish it through thematic collections.∎ Free plan - unlimited bookmarks
∎ Pro starts at $15/mo
Clip and collect any text or image, add your notes, tag and organize into collections. Collaborate with others. AI Search. Social curation. Infinite canvas.
∎ Paid - $125/year
Arena
Collect and save images, documents, PDFs, videos and organize / showcase them through your public / private channels.∎ Free plan - up to 200 collected items
∎ Pro starts at $7/mo
Capacities
Collect, save, organize and share links, notes, images and resources of any kind. Web, desktop, mobile. Highly customizable as a personal knowledge library.∎ Free plan - Unlimited spaces, objects, and blocks. Sync across devices.
∎ Pro starts at $12/mo
Cross-platform app excels at note-taking and info-organization. Captures and interlinks ideas, notes, and thoughts together in a flexible, visual way.
∎ Free for personal use
∎ Sync feature is $8/mo
✅ Information Organizers Collection
40+ tools to collect, categorize, sort and organize ideas, notes, info and resources of different kinds.∎ 100% free
7) Data Enrichment, Scraping & Data Extraction
Ottogrid
AI-assisted AI-agents based platform allows to populate directories, find and verify specific information and automatically update curated collections.
∎ Free plan - 500 credits
∎ Pro starts at $49/mo
Jsonify
AI-assisted AI-agents can capture and organize complex data from any website into an easy-to-read format, that can be re-used in many ways.
∎ 7-day free trial∎ Pro starts at $6/mo
✅ Web Scrapers and Data Extractors Collection
40+ tools and resources to extract data from any website (and convert it into a database file).∎ 100% Free
8) Directory & List Builders
Start.me
List and directory builder, can also be used as start page and RSS feeds news and content monitoring tool.∎ Free plan
∎ Pro is $24/yr
Airtable
Simple as a spreadsheet powerful as a database. Helps to organize and manage projects, data, or workflows collaboratively and to publish them online.
∎ Free plan - Unlimited databases + 1,000 records per base - 5 editors∎ Pro starts at $24/user/mo
Trello
Helps you organize, collaborate and publish lists of resources, links, tasks and projects using customizable Kanban boards, lists, and cards.
∎ Free plan - unlimited cards - up to 10 boards / workspace -∎ Pro starts at $6/mo user/mo
✅ Directory Builders Collection (Premium)
70+ dedicated tools to build directories - 10 real-world examples of trust-building directories - directory building with Ottogrid AI and agents: video tutorial
∎ Paid
✅ Collection Builders
50+ zero-cost tools to create and share public collections.∎ Free
9) News Curation
HN Plus
Little-known news publishing platform makes it easy to curate news-radars on a specific topic and to create a community of registered members.
∎ Free plan∎ Pro starts at $6/mo
Substack
Independent web and email publishing platforms hosts many news curation channels on specific topics.
∎ Free∎ Publishers pay a 10% commissions on optional subscription revenues
Flipboard
Established news aggregator offers indie news curators features to create their topic-focused magazines.
∎ 100% free
10) Visualizing - Mapping
Miro
Infinite canvas on which to position and organize, images, ideas, artefacts or links to create curated collections, presentations or showcases.
∎ Free plan∎ Pro starts at $6/mo
Ideogram.ai
My favorite AI for image generation. Fast, easy-to-use, versatile and capable of understanding how to manage any text on top of images.
∎ Free plan∎ Pro starts at $6/mo
Mindomo
Mindmapping tool with lots of valuable features. Excellent for curating topics, timelines, collections and websites / resources and presenting them.
∎ Free plan∎ Pro starts at $5.5/mo
Whimsical Diagrams GPT
Easy-to-use custom GPT transforms text and documents into visual diagrams and mindmaps that summarize the key points.
∎ Free
Best-of-class information organizer allows you to create and visually organize complex collections and libraries integrating links, resources, images and docs.
∎ Free plan
∎ Pro starts at $5/mo
11) Preservation / Archiving
The official Internet Archive offers tools and browser extensions to save and preserve any web page or digital document online. Indispensable.
∎ Free
Perma.cc
Creates permanent records of any web source you cite.
∎ 100% Free for individuals∎ Paid for libraries and organizations
Amber
Open source Wordpress/Drupal plugin for web publishers automatically preserves a snapshot of every page linked to as a fallback if links become inaccessible.
∎ 100% Free for individuals∎ Paid for libraries and organizations
✅ Archivers Collection
20+ zero-cost tools to preserve websites and other online content from disappearing.
∎ 100% Free
12) Social Media Distribution
Metricool
10 socials + 50 posts/mo (excluding LinkedIn) including Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Threads, Twitter/X, TikTok, YouTube, Google Business Profile, Twitch and more. Social media scheduling and auto-publishing. Analytics. AI.∎ 100% Free -
∎ Pro starts at $22/mo -
Postpickr
Social media scheduling tool works across all major platforms. Collaborative. Supports content creation, scheduling, curation, and real-time analytics.
∎ Free plan - unlimited posts to 3 social media accounts∎ Pro starts at $19/mo - supports 12 social media channels
✅ Social Media Assistants Collection
20+ free and low-cost social media scheduling tools to automate content posting across multiple social media accounts.
∎ 100% Free
13) All-in-One
Scoop.it
Complete content curation platform allows to monitor, search and uncover relevant content, organize it, curate it and distribute it/ schedule it on your website and on multiple social media platforms.∎ Free plan - unlimited posts on 1 topic
∎ Pro starts at $17.99/mo - 5 social channels
ContentGems
Helps marketers and businesses discover, curate, and share relevant online articles and content.∎ Free plan - includes 2 filters, 2 automations and 2 social media channels
∎ Pro starts at $10/mo - supports 10 filters, 10 automations and 10 social media
Curatora
Helps marketers discover, organize, and share relevant content across multiple channels. Includes AI-powered content suggestions and engagement tracking, and the ability to create custom streams with your sources.∎ Free 7-day trial - unlimited posts
∎ Pro starts at $49/mo - supports 9 social media channels
Helps discover engaging content, curate it and schedule posts across multiple social media. It also offers analytics, content publishing, and team collaboration, automated campaigns, content approval and competitor analysis.
∎ Free trial
∎ Pro starts at $25/mo - supports 5 social media channels - 10GB storage - AI
My Curation Credentials
Curator since I was in my early teens.
Love to collect, select, organize and juxtapose.
Have been curating free or quasi-free tools for indie entrepreneurs since 2001.
Have been critically analzying and writing about content curation since 2004.
Started curating as a club and radio DJ first, graduated to station music director, and accumulated 15+ years experience.
Graduated from SFSU with a short 16mm film curated mashup (think Koyanisqaatsi) to create a unique audio-visual journey of emotions.
Wanted to become a film director but ended up curating moving images, by producing station-breaks and video trailers for major TV networks.
Have extensively written about curation since 2003:
N.B.: If you have found errors or inaccuracies in any of the tools reported, please let me know through the comments or by replying to this email.
If you know of tools and apps that would fit this collection but which I did not include, please do let me know.
I have been searching and reviewing tools for communication professionals for over 20 years.
I do this because I enjoy searching, verifying and organizing.
I love to create lasting information resources that can be useful to others.
Please consider supporting this work (like, recommend, subscribe).
I’d love to keep on searching.
from sunny Koh Samui (TH)
Robin Good
I love Exa.ai. When framed correctly, it’s able to bring up hyper-local and very specific results that I’ve never found before, even when some of the queries are ones I have searched for for years in various outlets and methods (libraries, journals, databases, common search engines, indie search engines, academic search engines, local directories, historical societies, public records, etc.). If you know exactly what you’re looking for, then Exa.ai is an invaluable tool.
Pure gold here!