"What are the best connectors to plug into Claude?" We get the question every week, often right after someone reads our guide to installing Claude in VS Code. And every time, the same answer: wrong question. There is no best connector, any more than there's a best tool in a workshop. There's the one that serves your job, and all the others that clutter the bench. Proof from our own setup: fifteen connectors plugged into our Claude, and not one at random.
Skill, connector, plugin: who does what?
Three words come up constantly and people mix them up all the time. The simple version, once and for all.
- A connector (MCP) plugs Claude into an outside tool: your CRM, your analytics, your inbox, LinkedIn. Claude reads and acts inside it, directly, with no copy-paste.
- A skill is a specialized playbook Claude loads on its own when the topic comes up. You talk SEO, it pulls out its SEO skill. It doesn't change the model, it changes its reflexes.
- A plugin is a bundle: several skills, commands and settings shipped together.
Why "the best tool" doesn't exist
A tool has no value in itself. It only has value relative to a job. The HubSpot connector is great if you work on HubSpot. Otherwise, it's a door onto nothing. A front-end design skill is precious for someone who ships websites, and perfectly useless for an accounting firm.
The tool is never the problem. It's the gap between the tool and what you actually do with your days. Same story as your SaaS subscriptions, half of which serve no one: it's not the number that counts, it's the fit.
The key idea
You don't pick a tool because it's "good." You pick it because it matches a task you already do, every week. The job decides, the tool follows. Flip the order and you stack impressive connectors you'll never open.
What we've actually plugged into our Claude
Rather than a theoretical list, here's our stack, for real. We're an AI, RevOps and B2B growth agency: our tools spell out exactly that job. Grouped by use.
CRM & customer data
HubSpot, Clay and Dropcontact. The RevOps core: clean and enrich a database, find the right contact, keep a CRM alive instead of a junk drawer.
Prospecting & social
LinkedIn (via ConnectSafely), Vibe Prospecting and Metricool. Spot prospects, drive the messaging, schedule and measure posts, without juggling ten tabs.
Analytics & ads
Supermetrics and Windsor.ai. We query real campaign data (Google, Meta, LinkedIn Ads) in plain language, instead of exporting CSVs by hand.
Visual & video creation
Canva, Figma and Motion. Visuals and videos produced from Claude, right after the content, without switching tools for every deliverable.
FR research & compliance
Pappers and data.gouv.fr. Check a company, pull official French data: essential when you address B2B SMBs in France.
Add Gmail and Google Drive as the productivity base, and on the skills side: the whole growth pack (SEO, copywriting, CRO, ads, social), plus a front-end design skill for the sites we ship. Fifteen connectors, around fifty skills. A lot? No: it's our job, line by line.
Every job, its own stack
The exact same assembly would be absurd for someone else. Here's how the same question — "which tools should I plug in?" — gives radically different answers depending on what you do.
| Your job | What actually matters | What's useless |
|---|---|---|
| Growth / RevOps B2B agency | CRM, enrichment, ad analytics, LinkedIn (HubSpot, Clay, Supermetrics) | Cybersecurity skills, back-end tools |
| Local shop / craftsperson | Customer reviews, visuals, social media (Canva, Metricool) | B2B prospecting, RevOps, multi-source data |
| Creator / solopreneur | Content creation, copywriting, video (Canva, Motion, copywriting skill) | Heavy CRM like HubSpot, agency analytics |
| Web / product studio | Design, page extraction, front-end (frontend-design, Defuddle, Figma) | Sales prospecting connectors |
Same tool, opposite verdict from one row to the next. That's the whole point: a connector is never "good" or "bad." It's fit for purpose, or it isn't.
The 3 questions before plugging in a tool
Before adding the smallest connector or skill, we ask the same three questions. If the answer to the first is "no," we stop there.
1. Does it touch what I do every week?
Not "what I might do one day." What you do now. A CRM connector for a RevOps agency: yes. The same for a photographer: no.
2. Will I be able to measure what it brings?
A good tool, you see its effect: time saved, one less task, a faster deliverable. If you couldn't even say what it changes, it changes nothing.
3. Is the source trustworthy?
Official connector, skill from a recognized author. When in doubt, we don't install. Security first, especially when you handle client data.
Read before plugging in
A connector isn't a gadget: it's access to your data. Plugging in HubSpot or Gmail means giving Claude the keys to your CRM and your inbox. Every connector is a door. So we only plug in what we actually use, we choose official sources, and we unplug what's dormant. Fewer open doors, less surface to watch.
plugged in
decides it all
adding one
The Growthappiness verdict
There's no ideal, universal AI stack. There's yours. The "best connectors" and "must-have skills" rankings sell you the opposite, because it's easier to read than real thinking about your job. But copying an agency's stack when you run a shop means paying for doors you'll never open.
The real differentiator in 2026 won't be "who has the most tools." It will be "who plugged in the right ones." That's exactly the work we do in our Claude AI Training pack: we start from what you do, plug in the strict minimum, and you walk away with a setup tailored to your job, not your neighbor's.