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I personally use Skyscanner and Google Flights because they're the fastest and they show you prices from a ton of different airlines right away. With two kids I don't have time to go around five different websites, so I like having everything on one screen. Skyscanner especially is convenient because you can set "any day" if you're flexible and see where it's worth going.
That said, I always check the low-cost airline websites directly before booking, like Ryanair or EasyJet, because sometimes they have promotions you don't see on the other apps. Like it happens that EasyJet has the cheapest flight but on Google Flights it shows it slightly more expensive. I dunno, maybe it's something on their end, but it's always better to check. Oh, and I also use Kayak when I want to monitor prices over time, like if I need a flight in a couple months I turn on the alert and it notifies me when prices drop.
One piece of advice I'll give you: clear your cookies before searching or use incognito mode, because I swear if the website figures out you're looking for specific flights the prices tend to go up. I've noticed it more than once and now it's become a habit of mine. Then fly in non-summer periods if you can, right now in July the prices are insane and I'm already canceling vacation plans with the family (sigh).
I honestly find myself doing well with a combination of tools these days. Skyscanner and Google Flights are solid, sure, but lately I also use Kayak which has this price alert function that's really useful - it notifies you when the price drops for a specific route, so you don't have to keep checking every day.
What I've learned is that it's not enough to look at just one platform, especially for budget flights. Sometimes Ryanair or EasyJet have deals that you don't see immediately on Skyscanner, so once I find a flight I'm interested in, I go straight to the airline's website to verify the price. It seems like an extra step, but honestly it takes me like two minutes now and I often find differences of 10-15 euros per ticket. For long flights though, it's true that aggregators work better.
Another thing I'd recommend is trying with flexible dates - the apps let you see prices for an entire week so you can choose the most convenient day. I usually do that when I don't have fixed dates. Oh, and don't forget to clear your cookies or use your browser's incognito mode when you search for the same flight multiple times, because some sites tend to raise prices if they see you're searching for the same route repeatedly.
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