AI Tool Directory: The Best-Known Tools by Job
There are thousands of AI apps, but most people only need a few. This directory sticks to widely used tools, grouped by the job they do, with a link to each official site.
We only say a tool has a free tier when we confirmed it on the official site or pricing page. Plans and limits change often, so check before you sign up. There are no affiliate links on this page.
Everyday AI tools live on your phone and laptop: www.Pixel.la Free Stock Photos, CC0
Chat assistants
General helpers for writing, questions, brainstorming and analysis.
ChatGPT
OpenAI's chatbot handles conversation, writing, image creation and analysis of uploaded files. It is one of the most widely used AI apps in the world.
- Maker
- OpenAI
- Free tier
- Not verified on official site
Claude
Anthropic's assistant for writing, research, analysis and coding, available on the web, desktop and mobile. The free plan includes web search and file creation with lower usage limits.
- Maker
- Anthropic
- Free tier
- Yes
Gemini
Google's assistant, tied into Google apps, with image generation, Deep Research and live voice conversations. A free plan works with a regular Google Account.
- Maker
- Free tier
- Yes
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft's AI assistant, available on the web and built into Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint through paid plans.
- Maker
- Microsoft
- Free tier
- Not verified on official site
Images
Midjourney
Turns text prompts into detailed, stylized images. It started inside Discord and now also runs on its own website.
- Maker
- Midjourney, Inc.
- Free tier
- Not verified on official site
Adobe Firefly
Adobe's creative AI studio for images, video and audio, with access to Adobe's own models and several partner models. The free plan gives a small number of daily generations.
- Maker
- Adobe
- Free tier
- Yes
Video
Runway
A browser-based studio for generating and editing video with AI. New accounts get a one-time batch of free credits to try it.
- Maker
- Runway
- Free tier
- Yes, one-time credits
Google Veo
Google DeepMind's video model, which can create clips with sound from text or images. People use it through Gemini, the Flow filmmaking tool and Google Vids.
- Maker
- Google DeepMind
- Latest listed
- Veo 3.1
Audio and voice
ElevenLabs
Realistic text to speech, voice design, sound effects, dubbing and transcription. The free plan includes a monthly credit allowance.
- Maker
- ElevenLabs
- Free tier
- Yes
Suno
Creates full songs, with vocals and instruments, from a short text description. The free plan gives daily credits on its free models.
- Maker
- Suno
- Free tier
- Yes
Descript
Edits podcasts and videos by editing the transcript like a document, with AI tools for cleaning up sound and adding captions.
- Maker
- Descript
- Free tier
- Yes
Coding
GitHub Copilot
An AI pair programmer inside popular code editors that suggests code, answers questions and makes edits. The free plan caps monthly completions and chat requests.
- Maker
- GitHub (Microsoft)
- Free tier
- Yes
Cursor
A code editor built around AI, with an agent that can plan and make changes across a whole project. The Hobby plan is free with limited agent requests.
- Maker
- Anysphere
- Free tier
- Yes
Claude Code
Anthropic's coding agent that reads a codebase, writes and tests code, and can open pull requests from the terminal, code editors, Slack or the web. It comes with paid Claude plans.
- Maker
- Anthropic
- Free tier
- No, included with paid plans
Research
Perplexity
An AI answer engine that searches the web and writes a summary with links to its sources, so you can check the claims.
- Founded
- 2022
- Free tier
- Not verified on official site
Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)
Google's research notebook that answers questions only from the documents, sites and videos you add. It can turn your sources into podcast-style Audio Overviews. It was renamed from NotebookLM in July 2026.
- Maker
- Free tier
- Not verified on official site
Elicit
An AI research assistant for academic papers that searches, summarizes and pulls data out of studies. The Basic plan is free.
- Maker
- Elicit
- Free tier
- Yes
Productivity
Notion AI
AI built into the Notion workspace for drafting pages, summarizing notes and filling databases. Free and lower plans include a trial of Notion AI, and the Business plan adds the Notion Agent.
- Maker
- Notion
- Free tier
- Trial only
Otter.ai
Records, transcribes and summarizes meetings on Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. The Basic plan is free with a monthly transcription limit.
- Maker
- Otter.ai
- Free tier
- Yes
Grammarly
Checks spelling, grammar and tone wherever you type, with AI prompts for rewriting and drafting. The free plan includes a monthly allowance of AI prompts.
- Maker
- Grammarly
- Free tier
- Yes
Free tiers, limits and prices change often. We list free tiers only where we confirmed them on the official site as of October 1, 2026. Never paste private or sensitive information into an AI tool you have not vetted.
- Claude: Plans and pricing
- Google: Gemini subscriptions
- Microsoft: Copilot for individuals
- Wikipedia: ChatGPT
- Wikipedia: Midjourney
- Adobe: Firefly plans
- Runway: Pricing
- Google DeepMind: Veo
- ElevenLabs: Pricing
- Suno: Pricing
- Descript: Pricing
- GitHub: Copilot plans
- Cursor: Pricing
- Claude: Claude Code
- Wikipedia: Perplexity AI
- Wikipedia: NotebookLM
- Elicit: Pricing
- Notion: Pricing
- Otter.ai: Pricing
- Grammarly: Plans
Facts on this page were checked against these sources (updated Oct 1, 2026). Spot an error? Email hello@fireempireshop.com.
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