Costs and buying
Which AI apps are free to use?
ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Microsoft Copilot all have free plans for chat and writing, Perplexity and NotebookLM are free for research, and Canva, Gamma, Leonardo.ai and CapCut have free tiers for creative work. Every free plan has usage limits, and limits change often.
The full answer
Yes, many AI apps have a useful free plan. They are free to use, not unlimited.
- Chat and writing: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude and Microsoft Copilot.
- Research: Perplexity (cited web answers) and NotebookLM (questions about your own documents).
- Design, slides, images and video: Canva, Gamma, Leonardo.ai and CapCut.
Free plans cap how much you can use per day, week or month, often use a weaker model than paid plans, and in some cases show ads or keep your work public. They also change without notice.
Our guide to the best free AI apps lists what each free plan includes, with the source for each fact and a note where we could not confirm a limit.