Design + Firefly AIFree tier
Adobe Express
Adobe's quick-design app with Firefly generative AI built in. Templates for social, flyers and short videos.
Price: Free; Premium $9.99/mo.
For owners, solo founders & creators
The AI tools real business owners and creators actually use.
Sorted by business type. Real prices in USD, the catch with each tool, and no "10x your empire" nonsense. Picked by someone who runs a snack bar and tests this stuff between orders.
56 tools6 business types39 with a free tierPrices checked 2026-10-24
Pick your business
All tools
Newsletter platformFree tier
beehiiv
Newsletter, website and podcast in one, with growth tools and an ad network to monetise.
Price: Free forever plan; Lite from $49/mo and Pro from $95/mo (billed yearly, at 1,000 subscribers). Price scales with list size.
Booking app for barbers & salonsPaid only
Booksy
Booking app and marketplace with reminders, no-show protection and a client-facing app.
Price: $29.99/mo + tax for 1 staff, +$20/mo per extra staff; free trial. Boost: 30% of first-visit value (capped at $100).
Email, SMS & WhatsApp marketingFree tier
Brevo
Email, SMS and WhatsApp campaigns plus a simple CRM. Priced by emails sent, not contacts.
Price: Free (300 emails/day); Starter from $9/mo; Standard from $18/mo.
Social schedulingFree tier
Buffer
Simple, no-nonsense post scheduler with an AI assistant for ideas and rewrites.
Price: Free; Essentials $5/channel/mo billed yearly; Team $10/channel/mo billed yearly. 14-day trial.
Design + AI (Magic Studio)Free tier
Canva
Menus, flyers, posts, thumbnails and videos from templates, with Magic Studio AI and one-click background removal.
Price: Free; Canva Pro $144/yr for one person (US price).
Video editor with AIFree tier
CapCut
The go-to editor for TikTok and Reels: auto captions, templates, background removal and AI effects.
Price: Free; Pro $19.99/mo (cheaper billed yearly).
AI video editing & avatarsFree tier
Captions
Mobile-first app for talking videos: auto captions, eye-contact fix, AI edits and AI avatars.
Price: Free tier (basic editing, no AI credits); Max $24.99/mo; Frontier $69.99/mo.
AI assistantFree tier
ChatGPT
The all-rounder: emails, menus, quotes, captions, spreadsheets, brainstorms. Start here if you use one AI tool.
Price: Free; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro from $100/mo.
AI assistantFree tier
Claude
Anthropic's assistant. Very strong at writing in a natural voice, long documents and careful reasoning.
Price: Free; Pro $20/mo ($17/mo billed yearly); Max from $100/mo.
Job-site photo documentationPaid only
CompanyCam
Timestamped job photos organised by project automatically, plus AI-written reports, checklists and voice-note proposals.
Price: Core $63/mo billed yearly (1 user, +$29/user); Crew $119/mo (3 users); Scale $249/mo. Free trial.
AI translationFree tier
DeepL
Translation that sounds human. Use it for menus, product pages, emails and contracts in other languages.
Price: Free translator; DeepL Pro from $8.74/mo billed yearly ($10.49 monthly).
Edit video by editing textFree tier
Descript
Edit video and podcasts like a doc: delete words from the transcript and the footage follows. Removes filler words and fixes eye contact.
Price: Free; Hobbyist $16/mo yearly ($24 monthly); Creator $24/mo yearly ($35 monthly); Business $50/mo yearly ($65 monthly).
AI voice & dubbingFree tier
ElevenLabs
Realistic AI voiceovers, voice cloning and dubbing into other languages. Narrate a video without recording.
Price: Free; Starter $6/mo; Creator $22/mo; Pro $99/mo.
AI meeting notesFree tier
Fireflies.ai
Joins your calls, transcribes, summarises and pushes action items to your CRM or Slack.
Price: Free; Pro $10/seat/mo yearly ($18 monthly); Business $19/seat/mo yearly ($29 monthly).
Salon booking & paymentsPaid only
Fresha
Booking, calendar, payments and a marketplace that sends you new clients. Popular with salons in the UK and beyond.
Price: US: Independent $19.95/mo (1 bookable member); Team $14.95 per bookable member/mo. 7-day trial.
AI presentations & one-pagersFree tier
Gamma
Type a prompt and get a decent-looking deck, doc or simple website. Good for pitches and proposals.
Price: Free; Plus $9/mo billed yearly ($12 monthly); Pro $18/mo billed yearly ($25 monthly).
AI in Gmail, Docs & SheetsFree tier
Gemini in Google Workspace
Google's AI inside Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Meet, plus the Gemini app, bundled with business email on your own domain.
Price: Business Starter $7/user/mo with a 1-year commitment ($8.40 flexible), includes Gemini in Gmail and the Gemini app. Gemini app is free for personal use.
Salon booking & paymentsPaid only
GlossGenius
Clean booking site, payments and marketing tools for beauty pros, in one app.
Price: Standard $24/mo, Gold $48/mo, Platinum $148/mo billed yearly ($28/$56/$168 monthly). Card fees 2.4% + $0.15 in person, 2.9% + $0.30 online. Free trial.
E-commerce helpdesk + AI agentPaid only
Gorgias
Helpdesk built for online stores: see the customer's orders next to the ticket and let the AI Agent handle 'where's my order'.
Price: Starter $10/mo (50 tickets); Basic $50/mo billed yearly ($60 monthly, 300 tickets); AI Agent is a paid add-on. No free tier.
AI writing assistantFree tier
Grammarly
Fixes grammar and tone everywhere you type, and rewrites or drafts with AI. Handy if English isn't your first language.
Price: Free; Pro $12/member/mo billed yearly ($30 monthly).
AI avatar videosFree tier
HeyGen
Make videos with an AI avatar (or a clone of you) speaking any script, plus video translation with lip-sync.
Price: Free; Creator $29/mo; Pro $49/mo.
Budget AI website builderPaid only
Hostinger Website Builder
Cheap AI website builder with hosting included. Describe your business and get a site in minutes.
Price: From $3.49/mo on a 48-month term (renews at $10.99/mo). No free plan.
Field service softwarePaid only
Housecall Pro
Scheduling, dispatch, invoicing and payments for home-service businesses, with an AI CSR that answers calls and chats.
Price: From $59/mo billed yearly (Basic); Essentials and MAX cost more. 14-day free trial, no card needed.
Field service softwarePaid only
Jobber
Quotes, scheduling, invoicing and payments for home-service pros. Optional AI Receptionist answers calls and texts.
Price: Core from $29/mo billed yearly ($49 monthly list); Connect and Grow cost more. AI Receptionist add-on $29/mo. Free trial, no card needed.
Email for creators (ex-ConvertKit)Free tier
Kit
Newsletter platform built for creators, with automations, paid newsletters, digital products and a recommendations network.
Price: Free Newsletter plan up to 10,000 subscribers; Creator from $39/mo ($33/mo billed yearly) for 1,000 subscribers.
Email & SMS marketing for storesFree tier
Klaviyo
E-commerce email and SMS with deep store data: abandoned-cart flows, segments and AI-written subject lines.
Price: Free up to 250 profiles and 500 emails/mo; Email plan from $20/mo (up to 500 profiles), scaling with list size.
Instagram & TikTok schedulingPaid only
Later
Visual planner for Instagram, TikTok and more, with link-in-bio, best-time-to-post and AI captions.
Price: Starter $18.75/mo, Growth $37.50/mo, Scale $82.50/mo (billed yearly). 14-day free trial.
Email marketingFree tier
MailerLite
Easy newsletters, automations, landing pages and an AI writing assistant at a fair price.
Price: Free up to 250 subscribers; Comfort $10.80/mo and Power $22.50/mo (billed yearly, up to 500 subscribers). 14-day trial.
Visual automationFree tier
Make
Visual drag-and-drop automations. Cheaper than Zapier for multi-step flows, with AI modules.
Price: Free (1,000 credits/mo); Core from $9/mo billed yearly ($10.59 monthly).
Social scheduling & analyticsFree tier
Metricool
Plan, schedule and analyse posts across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and more, with AI copy help.
Price: Free; Starter from $20/mo yearly ($25 monthly); Advanced from $53/mo yearly ($67 monthly).
AI in Word, Excel & OutlookFree tier
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Copilot inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams: summarise threads, draft proposals and analyse spreadsheets.
Price: Copilot Business add-on $21/user/mo paid yearly (currently promoted at $18); Business Standard with Copilot $23.50/user/mo yearly. The basic Copilot app is free.
Automation & AI agents (self-hostable)Free tier
n8n
Open-source workflow automation with strong AI-agent building blocks. Free if you host it yourself.
Price: Community Edition free to self-host; Cloud Starter $20/mo billed yearly ($24 monthly).
Workspace + AIFree tier
Notion
Notes, docs, wikis, content calendars and client portals in one place, with Notion AI to write, summarise and search.
Price: Free; Plus $10/member/mo yearly ($12 monthly); Business $20/member/mo yearly ($24 monthly), which includes Notion AI.
AI clipping for shortsFree tier
OpusClip
Feed it a long video. It finds the best moments and turns them into captioned vertical shorts with a virality score.
Price: Free; Starter $15/mo; Pro $29/mo ($14.50/mo billed yearly); Business custom.
AI transcription & meeting notesFree tier
Otter.ai
Live transcription and meeting summaries. Also good for recording interviews or voice memos on your phone.
Price: Basic free (300 min/mo); Pro $8.33/user/mo billed yearly; Business $19.99/user/mo billed yearly.
Restaurant website & direct orderingPaid only
Owner.com
Builds your restaurant a website, commission-free online ordering app and automated marketing, with AI doing the SEO and promos.
Price: Plans at $249/mo and $499/mo, no per-order restaurant fees. No free tier.
AI search engineFree tier
Perplexity
Ask a question, get an answer with sources linked. Great for researching suppliers, competitors and content ideas.
Price: Free; Pro $17/mo billed yearly; Max $167/mo billed yearly.
AI product photosFree tier
Photoroom
Snap a product on your counter, get a clean studio-style shot with AI backgrounds and shadows. Batch-edit a whole catalogue.
Price: Free plan (personal use); Pro $12.99/mo or $7.50/mo billed yearly; Max $34.99/mo; Ultra from $99/mo.
Construction defect & task managementPaid only
PlanRadar
Pin defects, tasks and photos to your floor plans on your phone, then generate reports for clients and subs.
Price: Basic $32/mo (1 user), Starter $107/mo, Pro $159/mo. Free trial.
Remote podcast & video recordingFree tier
Riverside
Studio-quality remote recording with each guest recorded locally, plus AI transcripts, clips and editing.
Price: Free (limited, watermark); Pro $24/mo billed yearly ($29 monthly); Grow $34/mo yearly; Webinar $79/mo yearly.
Online store & POSPaid only
Shopify
The default way to sell online. Store, checkout, POS, and Sidekick, an AI assistant that writes product copy and builds reports for you.
Price: Basic $29/mo billed yearly ($39 monthly); Grow $79/mo yearly; Advanced $299/mo yearly. 3-day free trial, then $1/mo for 3 months on selected plans.
AI phone host for restaurantsPaid only
Slang.ai
AI voice host that picks up your restaurant phone, answers the 'are you open / do you have parking' calls and takes or routes bookings.
Price: From $399 per location/mo (Core) and $599 (Premium); now quote-based on the site. No free tier.
AI receptionist with human backupFree tier
Smith.ai
AI answers your business line 24/7, qualifies leads and books appointments, and can hand off to a live North America-based receptionist.
Price: Free: 25 calls/mo ($3 per extra call); Pro $150/mo for 75 calls; Enterprise from $500/mo. Month-to-month.
AI captions for shortsPaid only
Submagic
Adds animated, emoji-heavy captions, B-roll and zooms to short videos in a couple of minutes.
Price: Starter $12/mo, Pro $23/mo, Business $41/mo (per member, billed yearly).
Restaurant analytics & forecastingPaid only
Tenzo
Pulls your POS, labour and delivery data into one dashboard and forecasts sales so you can staff and prep to match.
Price: Price on request (book a demo). No free tier.
Live chat + AI support agentFree tier
Tidio
Website chat, email, Instagram and WhatsApp in one inbox, with the Lyro AI agent answering the repeat questions.
Price: Free (50 conversations/mo); Starter $29/mo ($24.17 billed yearly); Growth from $59/mo; Lyro AI from $39/mo for 50 AI conversations.
AI meeting recorderFree tier
tl;dv
Records Zoom, Meet and Teams calls and writes notes and follow-ups. EU-based company.
Price: Free (unlimited recordings, AI notes on 10 meetings); Pro $18/user/mo billed yearly ($29 monthly).
Restaurant POS with AI featuresFree tier
Toast
US restaurant POS that runs orders, payments, online ordering and staff, with built-in AI reporting help.
Price: Starter Kit from $0/mo (you pay through processing rates); Point of Sale plan from $69/mo; Build Your Own from $69/mo + $9 per employee/mo.
YouTube SEO toolkitFree tier
TubeBuddy
Browser extension for YouTube: keyword scores, A/B tests on thumbnails and titles, bulk edits.
Price: Free; Pro $12/mo billed yearly ($15 monthly); Legend $26.39/mo yearly ($32.99 monthly).
Salon, spa & fitness softwarePaid only
Vagaro
All-in-one booking, POS, marketing and payroll-ish features for salons, spas and studios, with a consumer marketplace.
Price: US: $30/mo for 1 bookable calendar (intro rates often lower, e.g. $23.99), +$10/mo per extra calendar.
Browser video editor + AIFree tier
VEED
Online video editor with auto subtitles, translations, AI avatars and screen recording. Nothing to install.
Price: Free (watermark, 720p); Creator $12/user/mo, Pro $22/user/mo, Studio $39/user/mo (billed yearly).
YouTube growth & AI ideasFree tier
vidIQ
Keyword research, AI video ideas, titles and competitor tracking for YouTube.
Price: Free (150 AI credits); Boost $19/mo ($199/yr); Max $49/mo ($468/yr).
Food-waste trackingPaid only
Winnow
Camera and scale over your kitchen bin that uses AI to log what gets thrown away, so you can cut prep and food cost.
Price: Price on request (hardware + subscription). No free tier.
Website builder with AIFree tier
Wix
Website builder whose AI drafts your whole site from a chat, plus bookings, online ordering and stores.
Price: Free (Wix branding); Light $17/mo, Core $29/mo, Business $39/mo billed yearly (US).
No-code automationFree tier
Zapier
Connects thousands of apps so 'new booking → add to sheet → send text' happens on its own, with AI steps built in.
Price: Free; Professional from $19.99/mo; Team from $69/mo.
How tools make the list
- Real use, real businesses. Small shops, crews and creators are already using it, not just enterprise demos.
- Honest pricing. US-dollar prices taken from the vendor's own pricing page, with the date we checked.
- The catch, up front. Every tool gets a "watch out" line, because every tool has one.
- No pay-to-play. Nobody pays to be listed. Get-featured requests are reviewed like any other tool.
Newsletter
One AI move a week. Tested, priced, no fluff.
A short email with one tool that saved a real owner time or money, plus price changes worth knowing about.
You're in! Check your inbox to confirm.
Sent with MailerLite. You'll get a confirmation email first, and you can unsubscribe any time. Privacy