AI tools compared by task, price and usage limits
Compare the best AI tools for writing, design, meetings, SEO, support and other work. Each row shows the free plan, price, stated limits, who may suit it and who may not.
The fact matrix
Read each row by starting with the task, then checking free access, price and the vendor’s stated limits. Under each cell is the vendor page we read and the date. The order of the rows is not a ranking.
| Tool | Free plan | Price | Stated limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPTOpenAI | Yes, there is a Free plan at no charge chatgpt.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Plus, US$20/month billed monthly (OpenAI help centre). The cheaper Go plan exists, but its US-dollar price is not verified: the help centre gives no figure, and the pricing page we could load showed the Australian price (A$13/month) and says Go may include ads help.openai.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Unlimited text chats (subject to abuse guardrails); limited uploads, image creation, voice, deep research and memory chatgpt.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| ClaudeAnthropic | Yes, US$0 claude.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Pro, US$20/month billed monthly, or US$17/month on the annual plan (US$200 up front) claude.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Usage limits apply; the pricing page gives no message count. Free includes web search, file creation, code execution, memory and Artifacts claude.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| GeminiGoogle | Yes, US$0/month with a Google Account gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 | Google AI Plus, US$4.99/month (2x the free usage limits, 400 GB storage); Google AI Pro is US$19.99/month (4x the free usage limits, 5 TB storage) gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 | Access to the Flash model and varying access to the Pro model; image generation, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas and Gems; 15 GB storage gemini.google checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| GrammarlyWriting and email | Yes, US$0/month grammarly.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Pro, US$12 per member per month on annual billing (US$144 for 12 months); the monthly plan is US$30. Enterprise by quote grammarly.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Free: 100 AI prompts a month. Pro: 2,000 AI prompts per member a month. Enterprise: unlimited grammarly.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| CanvaDesign and social graphics | Yes: Canva Free (US$0) includes up to 20 uses a month of Standard or Premium AI tools; no access to Ultra AI tools. canva.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Pro US$144/year for one person; Business US$250/year per person (yearly billing, United States setting). Enterprise by quote canva.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Shared monthly AI allowance across AI tools: Free up to 20 uses; Pro up to 200 Premium uses or 20 Ultra uses; Business up to 400 Premium or 40 Ultra. Trial allowance equals Free. canva.com checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| MidjourneyAI image generation | No free plan listed; the help centre search snippet reads 'No free trial is currently' (cut off), with a limited trial on the niji journey app. All four plans are paid subscriptions. docs.midjourney.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Basic US$10/month, or US$96/year (US$8/month) billed upfront. Standard US$30, Pro US$60, Mega US$120 per month. docs.midjourney.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Basic: 3.3 hours of Fast GPU time a month (200 minutes), no Relax mode. Standard and above: unlimited images in Relax mode. Extra GPU time US$4/hour. docs.midjourney.com checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| NotionDocs, notes and a shared knowledge base | Yes, US$0 per member/month notion.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Plus US$10 per member/month; Business US$20 per member/month (the page offers a yearly discount; we did not capture which billing term the listed figures use) notion.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Free and Plus list only a trial of Notion AI. Custom agents: free to try, then US$10 per 1,000 Notion credits notion.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| ZapierConnecting apps and automating routine steps | Yes, US$0/month, described as free forever zapier.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Professional from US$19.99/month; Team from US$69/month; Enterprise by quote. Price rises with the task tier you choose zapier.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Free: 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps only. Multi-step Zaps and webhooks start on Professional. Team includes 25 users zapier.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| OtterMeeting notes | Yes, the Basic plan is labelled Free otter.ai checked 1 Oct 2026 | Pro US$16.99/user/month billed monthly, or US$8.33/user/month on the annual plan; Business US$30 monthly or US$19.99 annual. The page states prices are in USD and also showed time-limited discounts, which we left out otter.ai checked 2 Oct 2026 | Basic: 300 transcription minutes a month. Pro: 1,200 minutes, up to 90 minutes per meeting, 10 file imports a month otter.ai checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| HubSpot CRMCustomer records and sales follow-up | Yes, free tools with no credit card required hubspot.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Starter from US$15/month per seat; Professional from US$50/month per seat; Enterprise from US$75/month per seat hubspot.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Free tools are for up to 2 users; 2,000 marketing email sends per calendar month with HubSpot branding; up to 3 email templates per account. Branding is removed from Starter up hubspot.com checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| TidioWebsite chat and customer support | Yes, $0/month tidio.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Starter $24.17/month; Growth from $49.17/month; Plus from $300/month plus usage. The page has monthly and annual views and we did not capture which one these figures belong to tidio.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Starter: 100 billable conversations and 50 Lyro AI agent conversations (one-off). Growth: from 250 billable conversations tidio.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| NotebookLM (shown on Google's pages as Gemini Notebook)Question-answering over your own sources | Yes. Google's help page says the standard tier is free of charge with a Gmail account. support.google.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | First paid tier is through Google AI Plus at US$4.99/month (US subscriptions page); Google AI Pro is US$19.99/month. gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 | Free tier: 100 notebooks per user, up to 50 sources per notebook, 50 chats/day, 3 Audio Overviews/day. Plus: 200 notebooks, 100 sources per notebook, 200 chats/day. Google says limits may change. support.google.com checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| SemrushAll-in-one SEO suite | Free plan at US$0/month with 1 demo project and 10 reports per day; paid plans show a free 7-day trial. semrush.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | SEO plan US$139/month billed monthly, or US$117.33/month billed annually. Starter (SEO + AI Search) US$199/month monthly. semrush.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | SEO plan: 5 websites to monitor and 500 keywords to track daily. Extra users start at US$45/month. semrush.com checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| GPTZeroAI-text detection | Yes. Text can be scanned without paying; a free account is needed for scans over 10,000 characters. gptzero.me checked 2 Oct 2026 | Not verified Not verified in US dollars: the pricing page showed Australian dollars (Premium A$17.99/month list, A$12.59 with a 30% promo, billed annually). gptzero.me tried 2 Oct 2026 | Premium: up to 300,000 words per month. Professional: 500,000 words per month. gptzero.me checked 2 Oct 2026 |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
About the prices. Vendor pages were read on 1 and 2 October 2026 from a connection in Australia. Where a vendor shows local prices, we took the US-dollar figure from its United States page or its help centre and link to that page. Where we could not read a US-dollar price, the cell says so and names the currency we saw. Prices in other countries can differ.
Who each one suits, and who it does not
These lines are drawn only from the facts we could read on vendor pages. We have not run our own tests, so nothing here ranks the tools on the quality of their output.
ChatGPTSource: chatgpt.com
- Best for
- The baseline. Its free plan lists unlimited text chats, so the reasons to switch are the limits on everything else.Based on: free-plan limits
- Not ideal for
- People who want a cheap ad-free tier: the plan below Plus is the one the vendor says may include ads.Based on: first paid plan
ClaudeSource: claude.com
- Best for
- Getting file creation and code execution without paying: both are listed on the free plan.Based on: free-plan limits
- Not ideal for
- Anyone who needs a published free message allowance to plan around: the page only says usage limits apply.Based on: free-plan limits
GeminiSource: gemini.google
- Best for
- Households already paying Google for storage: the paid tiers bundle 400 GB to 5 TB with the assistant.Based on: first paid plan, listed features
- Not ideal for
- A small team that only wants a few chat seats at consumer prices: the business edition starts at US$21 a seat.Based on: team seat
GrammarlySource: grammarly.com
- Best for
- Cleaning up emails and customer replies wherever you already type; the free plan has a stated monthly AI allowance.Based on: stated limits, listed features
- Not ideal for
- Drafting long documents from scratch on the free plan: 100 prompts a month is the cap.Based on: stated limits
CanvaSource: canva.com
- Best for
- Social posts, flyers and simple brand graphics without a designer; there is a free plan to start on.Based on: free plan, listed features
- Not ideal for
- Heavy AI image use on the cheaper plans: the monthly AI allowance is shared across tools and capped.Based on: stated limits
MidjourneySource: docs.midjourney.com
- Best for
- People who want unlimited Relax-mode image generation on a flat subscription from the Standard plan up.Based on: stated limits, price
- Not ideal for
- People who want a free plan, or private generations without paying for Pro or Mega.Based on: free plan, listed features
NotionSource: notion.com
- Best for
- Keeping procedures, notes and project lists in one place; the AI features sit on the Business tier.Based on: listed features
- Not ideal for
- Getting ongoing AI on the cheaper tiers: Free and Plus list a trial only.Based on: stated limits
ZapierSource: zapier.com
- Best for
- Passing data between the apps you already use, starting with simple two-step automations at no cost.Based on: free plan, stated limits
- Not ideal for
- Anything beyond a two-step flow on the free plan: multi-step Zaps need Professional.Based on: stated limits
OtterSource: otter.ai
- Best for
- Teams that want published minute allowances to plan against.Based on: stated limits
- Not ideal for
- Meetings that run past 90 minutes on Pro.Based on: stated limits
HubSpot CRMSource: hubspot.com
- Best for
- A first shared customer list and deal pipeline at no cost, with an AI assistant included.Based on: free plan, listed features
- Not ideal for
- Getting the AI customer agent cheaply: it is listed from the Professional tier.Based on: listed features, price
TidioSource: tidio.com
- Best for
- A small shop that wants live chat and an AI agent on its website with a stated conversation allowance.Based on: stated limits, listed features
- Not ideal for
- High chat volumes on Starter: it covers 100 billable conversations.Based on: stated limits
NotebookLM (shown on Google's pages as Gemini Notebook)Source: notebooklm.google
- Best for
- People who want answers and study aids drawn from their own uploaded documents, with a free tier that has stated daily caps.Based on: free plan, sources, stated limits
- Not ideal for
- People who need more than 50 sources in one notebook without paying, since the free tier caps sources per notebook.Based on: stated limits
SemrushSource: semrush.com
- Best for
- Small businesses and freelancers that want keyword research, site audit and rank tracking for up to 5 websites in one subscription.Based on: stated limits, listed features
- Not ideal for
- Businesses that want a low monthly cost, since the first paid plan is US$139/month on monthly billing.Based on: price
GPTZeroSource: gptzero.me
- Best for
- People who want to try detection without paying first and may later need a monthly allowance in the hundreds of thousands of words.Based on: free plan, stated limits
- Not ideal for
- Anyone who wants a single result to settle a dispute, since the vendor itself says results should not be the final verdict.Based on: accuracy_claim
How to choose from this table
Start with the task you need to complete. Grammarly covers writing and email, with 100 AI prompts a month on its free plan. Canva handles design and social graphics, with up to 20 uses a month of Standard or Premium AI tools on Canva Free. Otter is listed for meeting notes, with 300 transcription minutes a month on its Basic plan.
Choose the budget step that matches your usage. ChatGPT Plus is US$20/month billed monthly, while Claude Pro is US$20/month billed monthly or US$17/month on the annual plan. Google AI Plus is US$4.99/month and Google AI Pro is US$19.99/month. NotebookLM’s first paid tier is through Google AI Plus.
Check stated limits before committing. Claude says usage limits apply but gives no message count. Canva uses a shared monthly AI allowance across tools, while Midjourney Basic includes 3.3 hours of Fast GPU time a month and no Relax mode. Gemini lists access to Flash and varying access to Pro, plus 15 GB storage.
Match the plan to your team and workflow. Zapier Free supports two-step Zaps, while multi-step Zaps and webhooks start on Professional. HubSpot free tools are for up to 2 users, and its AI customer agent is listed from Professional. HubSpot Starter starts at US$15/month per seat, while HubSpot Business starts at US$20/month per seat.
Treat not verified as a reason to check, not a mark against the product. It means the vendor page did not show us the detail on the day. Every figure, with its source and date, is also in the fact ledger.
Related: Find an alternative to ChatGPT for everyday work, Business AI plans compared by cost and limits, Free AI tools and their plan limits, Compare image generation plans, prices and limits.
Questions people ask
Which AI tools have a free plan?
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grammarly, Canva, Notion, Zapier, Otter, HubSpot CRM, Tidio, NotebookLM and Semrush all list free access. GPTZero allows text to be scanned without paying, with a free account needed for scans over 10,000 characters. Midjourney lists all four plans as paid subscriptions.
What ChatGPT paid price is verified?
The verified price shown is ChatGPT Plus at US$20/month billed monthly. A cheaper Go plan exists, but its US-dollar price is not verified. The pricing page we could load showed A$13/month and says Go may include ads.
Which tools publish usage limits for meetings or documents?
Otter lists 300 transcription minutes a month on Basic and 1,200 minutes on Pro, with up to 90 minutes per meeting on Pro. NotebookLM lists 100 notebooks per user, up to 50 sources per notebook, 50 chats/day and 3 Audio Overviews/day on the free tier.
What does GPTZero cost?
We could not verify GPTZero’s price in US dollars. The Premium allowance is up to 300,000 words per month, while Professional allows 500,000 words per month. The vendor says detection results should not be the final verdict when settling a dispute.