What can you do with free AI tools?

What can you do with free AI tools?

by Sarah MacPherson, a product manager, ai enthusiast trying to find the best and most interesting ways to work with this new frontier

Free AI tools are genuinely useful

The free versions of AI tools aren't just limited demos. They provide real, meaningful functionality that many people never outgrow.

What you can do for free with chatbots

ChatGPT Free, Claude Free, Gemini Free, and Copilot Free all let you:

  • Have unlimited or high numbers of conversations per day
  • Ask questions and get detailed answers
  • Draft emails, essays, reports, and other writing
  • Brainstorm ideas and solve problems
  • Learn new topics with explanations and examples
  • Get help with homework and studying
  • Plan projects and organize information
  • Translate text between languages
  • Debug simple code or get programming help

AI prompt: "Help me create a weekly meal plan for a family of four with a $150 budget"

AI prompt: "Explain the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning with examples"

The main limitation of free chatbot tiers is access to the most advanced AI models. Free versions use slightly older or less powerful models, which means responses may be less nuanced or sophisticated. But for everyday tasks, free versions work great.

What you can do for free with writing tools

Grammarly Free catches:

  • Grammar errors
  • Spelling mistakes
  • Basic punctuation issues
  • Tone detection (tells you if writing sounds formal, casual, etc.)

This is enough for most casual writing. You'll miss advanced style suggestions and plagiarism detection, but basic error-checking works well.

Hemingway Editor (web version):

  • Completely free
  • Highlights complex sentences and passive voice
  • Suggests simpler alternatives
  • Assigns readability scores

What you can do for free with image generation

Bing Image Creator (completely free):

  • Unlimited AI-generated images
  • Powered by DALL-E
  • Standard quality and resolution
  • Slower generation after daily "boosts" run out

Craiyon (completely free):

  • Unlimited images
  • Lower quality than DALL-E or Midjourney
  • No account required

These free options let you experiment with AI image generation without paying anything.

What you can do for free with transcription

Otter.ai Free:

  • 300 minutes of transcription per month
  • Real-time transcription
  • Speaker identification
  • Searchable transcripts

300 minutes per month covers roughly 4-5 hours of meetings or lectures, which is enough for many students or occasional users.

Google Recorder (Android, completely free):

  • Unlimited transcription
  • Works offline
  • No account required
  • Private (doesn't send audio to servers)

What you can do for free with research tools

Perplexity AI Free:

  • Unlimited basic searches
  • Answers with source citations
  • Follow-up questions
  • Real-time web search

The free version is powerful enough for most research needs. Pro adds more advanced AI models but isn't necessary for general use.

Free is enough if...

You can stay on free tiers indefinitely if:

  • You use AI tools a few times per week (not daily)
  • Your tasks are straightforward (basic writing, simple questions, occasional research)
  • You don't need the absolute best quality or speed
  • You're patient with usage limits or slower response times
  • You're budget-conscious

Many users never upgrade from free versions and are perfectly happy.

When free isn't enough

Consider upgrading if:

  • You hit usage limits regularly and find it frustrating
  • You need higher quality responses for professional work
  • You want faster response times or priority access
  • You need specific premium features (like plagiarism detection, advanced image generation, or document uploads)

Combining multiple free tools

Instead of paying for one premium tool, you can use multiple free tools together:

  • Use ChatGPT Free for drafting
  • Use Grammarly Free for error-checking
  • Use Hemingway Editor for simplifying
  • Use Perplexity Free for research

This "mix and match" approach gives you robust AI capabilities without subscription costs.

Related resources

Trying to decide when to upgrade? See When is free enough vs when to upgrade?. Want to stretch free limits? Check out How to maximize free usage limits. For detailed tool comparisons, visit Which chatbot should I use?.