Free AI tools: what each free plan actually includes
Most AI tools let you start for free. The catch is in the limits: how many credits, prompts, minutes or exports you get before you have to upgrade.
Here is every tool in the FloPilot database that has a free plan, with the free plan’s limits as published by the vendor and the price of the first paid plan.
Free plans at a glance
| Tool | Category | Free plan includes | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Firefly | Image Generation | Limited daily generations | $9.99/month |
| Canva | Design | Core design tools | $18/month |
| ChatGPT | AI Assistants | Limited image creation and deep research | $8/month |
| Claude | AI Assistants | Chat, search, Artifacts with usage limits | $20/month |
| Cursor | Coding | Limited agent and chat requests | $8/month |
| Descript | Video Generation | 60 media minutes/month | $24/month |
| ElevenLabs | Audio | 10k credits/month | $6/month |
| Gamma | Productivity | 400 credits at signup, up to 10 cards | $12/month |
| GitHub Copilot | Coding | 2,000 completions/month | $10/month |
| Google Gemini | AI Assistants | Flash-Lite model, 15 GB storage | $4.99/month |
| Grammarly | Writing | Grammar and spelling, 100 AI prompts/month | $12/month, billed yearly |
| HeyGen | Video Generation | 3 watermarked videos/month | $29/month |
| Ideogram | Image Generation | Weekly slow credits | $15/month |
| Make | Automation | 1,000 credits/month | $11/month, billed yearly |
| n8n | Automation | Free, self-hosted | €20/month, billed yearly |
| Notion | Productivity | 5 MB uploads, 7-day history | $10/month, billed yearly |
| Otter.ai | Productivity | 300 minutes/month | $16.99/month |
| Perplexity | Research | 3 Pro Searches/day, 1 Research query/month | $20/month |
| Runway | Video Generation | 125 one-time credits | $15/month |
| Synthesia | Video Generation | 500 credits/month (~10 min video) | $19/month |
| Tidio | Customer Support | 50 conversations | $24.17/month, billed yearly |
| Zapier | Automation | 100 tasks/month | $19.99/month, billed yearly |
Free-plan limits as published by each vendor. They change often; check the official pricing page before relying on them.
Getting the most out of free plans
- Use free plans for jobs you do occasionally. Pay only for the tool you use every day.
- Free plans often limit exports, watermarks or commercial use. Check before you publish anything made on a free plan.
- Credits usually reset monthly. If you hit a limit, the cheapest fix is often waiting for the reset, not upgrading.
- Combining two or three free plans can cover a whole workflow. FloPilot’s budget strategy does exactly that.
Things to know
- Adobe Firefly: Generation is credit-based; free plan has limited daily generations
- Canva: Pro price covers up to 5 people; extra members are billed per month
- ChatGPT: Free plan has limited image creation and deep research
- ChatGPT: Go may include ads (per OpenAI's plan page)
- Claude: Free plan has usage limits that reset every 5 hours and weekly
- Claude: Max and Ultra are monthly billing only
- Cursor: Plus plan uses Grok models only (per Cursor's pricing page)
- Cursor: Third-party models on Premium are billed at API list price
- Descript: Free plan: 60 media minutes/month
- ElevenLabs: Free plan: 10k credits/month
- ElevenLabs: Commercial license starts on Starter
- Gamma: Free plan: 400 AI credits at signup, up to 10 cards per generation
- GitHub Copilot: Free plan: 2,000 completions/month
- Google Gemini: Free plan uses the Flash-Lite model
- Google Gemini: Ultra pricing starts at $99.99/month
- Grammarly: Free plan: 100 AI prompts/month, no tone or rewrite features
- HeyGen: Free plan: 3 watermarked videos/month up to 1 minute
- Ideogram: Free accounts get weekly slow credits
- Make: Free plan: 1,000 credits/month
- Make: Most actions cost 1 credit
- n8n: Cloud has no free plan (trial only); the free Community Edition is self-hosted
- n8n: Cloud prices are in EUR and billed annually
- Notion: Free plan: 5 MB uploads, 7-day page history, Notion AI trial only
- Notion: Notion Agent is on the Business plan
- Otter.ai: Free plan: 300 transcription minutes/month
- Perplexity: Free plan: 3 Pro Searches/day and 1 Research query/month
- Runway: Free plan: 125 one-time credits
- Synthesia: Free plan: about 10 minutes of video per month
- Tidio: Free plan: 50 billable conversations and 50 one-off Lyro AI conversations
- Zapier: Free plan: 100 tasks/month, two-step Zaps
- Zapier: Paid prices start at the listed amount and rise with task volume