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- Honest, plain-English reviews of five free AI tools — what each one does, who it's for, and whether it's actually worth your time
- The one tool we recommend starting with if you've never used AI before
- Which tools are genuinely free vs. which ones nudge you toward a paid plan quickly
- Our overall verdict: which tools make the short list and which ones you can skip
Why free tools are the right place to start
There's no reason to spend money on AI before you know whether you'll actually use it. Every tool on this list has a meaningful free tier — not a three-day trial, not a one-question demo, but a real free version you can use regularly to decide if AI is useful for you.
We spent time with all five tools, testing them on the kinds of tasks real people care about: writing help, answering questions, making graphics, doing research. No synthetic benchmarks, no technical tests. Just: does this thing actually help?
The five tools, reviewed honestly
ChatGPT is the tool that started the modern AI era, and it's still the best all-around option for most people. The free version is genuinely capable — you can write emails, get explanations, brainstorm ideas, and have useful back-and-forth conversations without paying anything. If you only use one tool from this list, make it this one.
- Best conversational AI available on a free tier
- Excellent at writing, editing, and explaining
- Remembers context within a conversation
- Huge range of uses — works for almost any language task
- Free tier uses an older model than the paid version
- Can hit rate limits during busy periods
- Can "hallucinate" — state incorrect facts confidently
- No real-time web access on the free tier
Gemini is Google's answer to ChatGPT, and it's a solid choice — especially if you already live in Google's ecosystem. Its biggest advantage is that it has access to current web information, which means it's less likely to give you outdated answers. It also integrates directly with Gmail and Google Docs if you have a Google account, which can be genuinely useful for productivity tasks.
- Real-time web access for current information
- Integrates with Gmail, Docs, and Google Drive
- Very capable free tier with no obvious rate limits
- Easy to use if you already have a Google account
- Conversational quality slightly behind ChatGPT
- Less useful if you don't use Google's other tools
- Can be overly cautious and hedge its answers
- Less intuitive interface than ChatGPT
Canva has been a popular design tool for years, and its AI features make it even more powerful for people who don't consider themselves "creative." You can generate images, write copy, resize designs for different platforms, and create professional-looking graphics with no design experience. If you ever need to make anything visual — a flyer, a social media post, a presentation — Canva with AI is hard to beat on the free tier.
- Incredibly easy to use even with zero design experience
- AI image generation, writing, and design suggestions built in
- Thousands of free templates for every occasion
- Works in the browser — nothing to download
- AI features more limited on the free tier than paid
- Some templates and assets require Canva Pro
- Not useful if you don't need to make visual content
- AI image generation credits limited per month on free plan
Perplexity is the most underrated tool on this list. Think of it as a search engine that actually answers your question instead of giving you ten links to sort through. It searches the web in real time, cites its sources, and gives you a direct, readable answer. For anyone who uses Google to research something and finds themselves clicking through multiple sites to find the real answer, Perplexity is a genuine upgrade.
- Real-time web search with cited sources
- Reduces the "link clicking" frustration of traditional search
- Great for fact-checking and current events
- Clean, easy-to-read interface
- Less useful for writing tasks — not as conversational as ChatGPT
- Free tier limits how many "Pro" searches you get per day
- Less well-known so fewer tutorials available if you get stuck
- Not the right tool if you want help drafting or creating
Microsoft Copilot is powered by the same technology as ChatGPT (OpenAI's models), which means the quality of the AI itself is strong. Its best use case is for people who are already deep in the Microsoft ecosystem — using Windows, Word, Excel, Outlook. The free version is capable and includes web access. If you use a Windows computer and Microsoft Office regularly, Copilot is worth exploring simply because it's already baked into tools you're already using.
- Built into Windows and Edge — no separate sign-up needed
- Powered by strong OpenAI models
- Web access included on the free tier
- Integrates with Word, Excel, and Outlook for Microsoft 365 users
- Less useful if you're on a Mac or don't use Microsoft tools
- Interface feels more corporate and less friendly than ChatGPT
- Full Office integration requires a paid Microsoft 365 subscription
- Less intuitive to get started with compared to ChatGPT
Our honest verdict
If you have to pick just one tool to start with, pick ChatGPT. It's the most capable all-around AI assistant available for free, and almost everything you'd want to do with AI — write, explain, brainstorm, plan — it handles well.
Once you're comfortable with ChatGPT, add Perplexity to your toolkit for research and fact-checking. The two tools together cover a huge range of everyday tasks without costing you anything.
If you ever need to make a graphic, a flyer, or a social media post, Canva is the obvious answer. It's genuinely easy and the free tier is generous.
Gemini is worth trying if you're heavily invested in Google's ecosystem — the Gmail and Docs integration is legitimately useful. And Copilot makes sense if you spend most of your day in Microsoft Office.