Previous research suggests that solving a problem comes with positive affect. Is positive affect also induced if we solve problems with the help of cognitive tools? We first demonstrate that affective priming, an easy to apply behavior-based paradigm, can capture positive affect of own problem solving. This validates previous research which had revealed such affect by means of subtle changes of face muscle activity. We then used affective priming to investigate differences between problem solving with and without cognitive tools for two different tasks: rotation and alphanumeric tasks. In the rotation task, participants had to indicate whether a left shape can be rotated so that it matches a right shape. In the alphanumeric task, participants had to indicate whether counting up the alphabet starting form a left letter results in the right letter (e.g., A + 3 = D is correct). Results suggest that solving problems with cognitive tools is indeed associated with less positive affect than without, but only for alphanumeric problems. We suggest that the nature of tools might cause this disparity. The tool used for rotation was engaging because it allowed to continuously rotate a stimulus on screen to inform the answer. Contrarily, the tool used for alphanumeric equations only allowed participants to access the correct answer (e.g., only showing “D” in the example above). Further directions of researching the affective consequences of cognitive tool use are being discussed.