Compare AI services by use case
Use these tables to shortlist services by published pricing model and free option, then open a service page for fit and alternatives. The tables compare public facts only: no ratings, user counts, or vendor benchmarks.
If you already know the job, start with the matching table. The Free option column shows whether the provider publishes a free tier, free credits, a free trial, or an open-source edition.
| Service | Primary use | Pricing model | Free option | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | General-purpose assistant with chat, image, voice, research, and Codex access. | Free tier + subscription | Yes. The Free plan includes limited text, image, voice, research, and Codex usage. | Official pricing |
| Claude | Assistant for long-document work, writing, and agentic coding with Claude Code. | Free tier + subscription + usage-based API | Yes. The Free plan has limited usage; Claude Code is not included. | Official pricing |
| Gemini | Google's assistant across the Gemini app, Google apps, Search, and the Gemini API. | Free tier + subscription + usage-based API | Yes. The Free plan provides the Flash-Lite model and limited features; paid plans unlock Flash and Pro models. | Official pricing |
| DeepSeek | Free chat app and low-cost API with 1M-token context and off-peak pricing. | Free app + usage-based API | Yes. The chat app is free. The API is prepaid and usage-based. | Official pricing |
| Mistral Le Chat | European assistant and API platform with open-weight models and document AI. | Free tier + subscription + usage-based API | Yes. The Free plan includes limited chat, search, coding sessions, image generation, and Studio access. | Official pricing |
| Service | Primary use | Pricing model | Free option | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | AI coding assistant across GitHub, IDEs, the CLI, and pull-request review. | Free tier + subscription | Yes. The Free plan includes limited chat and agent usage. | Official pricing |
| Cursor | AI-first code editor and agent platform with pooled usage plans. | Free tier + subscription | Yes. The Free plan includes limited AI usage and agent requests. | Official pricing |
| Claude Code | Agentic coding tool for terminal and IDE workflows, included in paid Claude plans. | Subscription + usage-based API | No. Claude Code is not included in the Free plan. | Official pricing |
| OpenAI Codex | OpenAI's coding agent across ChatGPT, CLI, IDE, and cloud tasks. | Subscription + usage-based API | Yes, with limits. The Free ChatGPT plan includes limited Codex access. | Official pricing |
| JetBrains Air | Agent development environment for running multiple coding agents in IDEs, web, CLI, and mobile. | AI credits + bring your own keys | Not published as a standalone free plan. JetBrains AI usage is credit-based, and you can bring an existing provider subscription or API key. | Official pricing |
| Service | Primary use | Pricing model | Free option | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midjourney | Subscription image and short-video generation through a web app and Discord. | Subscription only | No. Midjourney does not publish a free tier or free trial. | Official pricing |
| OpenAI Image API | Image generation and editing API, also available inside ChatGPT. | Usage-based API + ChatGPT subscription | No separate free API tier. ChatGPT's Free plan includes limited image creation. | Official pricing |
| Stability AI | Credit-based API for Stable Image, audio, and 3D models, plus open weights. | Free credits + usage-based API | Yes. New API accounts receive 25 free credits. | Official pricing |
| Adobe Firefly | Generative image, video, and audio inside Adobe apps and the Firefly web app. | Free plan + subscription | Yes. Adobe offers a free Firefly plan with a limited generative-credit allowance. | Official pricing |
| Black Forest Labs FLUX | FLUX image and video models through a pay-as-you-go API or self-hosted weights. | Usage-based API + licensing | No published free API tier. Self-hosted use depends on the model license. | Official pricing |
| Service | Primary use | Pricing model | Free option | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runway | AI video and image generation with credit-based subscription plans. | Free tier + subscription | Yes. New accounts receive 125 one-time credits on the Free plan. | Official pricing |
| Pika | Consumer video generation with credit plans and one-time top-ups. | Free tier + subscription + credit top-ups | Yes. A Free plan is listed; paid plans add monthly credits and commercial use. | Official pricing |
| Luma Dream Machine | Creative agent for video and image generation with individual and team credit plans. | Free trial + subscription | Yes. Luma offers a free trial; ongoing use requires a paid plan. | Official pricing |
| Google Veo | Google's video generation model, available through Google AI plans and Google Cloud APIs. | Subscription access + usage-based API | No free API tier is published. Consumer access depends on the Google AI plan. | Official pricing |
| Kling AI | Video and image generation with a free daily credit allowance and subscription tiers. | Free daily credits + subscription + usage-based API | Yes. The free tier provides daily credits, with watermarks and non-commercial use restrictions. | Official pricing |
| Service | Primary use | Pricing model | Free option | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs | Text-to-speech, voice cloning, dubbing, music, and conversational voice agents. | Free tier + subscription + usage-based credits | Yes. The Free plan includes 10,000 credits per month. | Official pricing |
| OpenAI Audio API | Speech-to-text and text-to-speech APIs billed by usage. | Usage-based API + ChatGPT subscription | No separate free API tier. ChatGPT plans include voice features with plan limits. | Official pricing |
| Deepgram | Speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and voice agent APIs with per-minute billing. | Free credit + usage-based API | Yes. New accounts receive a US$200 free credit with no expiration according to Deepgram. | Official pricing |
| AssemblyAI | Speech-to-text, audio intelligence, and voice agent APIs with per-hour pricing. | Free credits + usage-based API | Yes. New accounts receive US$50 in free credits according to AssemblyAI. | Official pricing |
| Azure AI Speech | Enterprise speech-to-text, neural TTS, translation, and speaker recognition. | Free tier + usage-based | Yes. The F0 free tier includes monthly quotas for speech services. | Official pricing |
| Service | Primary use | Pricing model | Free option | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI Embeddings | Text embedding models billed per input token for search and RAG. | Usage-based API | No separate free API tier is published. | Official pricing |
| Cohere Embed | Embed 5 Pro and Fast models with separate indexing and query pricing. | Usage-based API | A trial API key is available with usage limits and is not intended for production. | Official pricing |
| Voyage AI | Embedding and reranking models for RAG, with domain-specific variants. | Free token allowance + usage-based API | Yes. Each account gets a one-time free allowance, such as 200M tokens for current models. | Official pricing |
| Pinecone | Managed vector database for RAG and semantic search. | Free tier + subscription + usage-based | Yes. The Starter plan is free with storage and usage limits. | Official pricing |
| Weaviate | AI-native vector database available as open source or managed cloud. | Open source + free cloud tier + usage-based cloud | Yes. Weaviate Cloud includes one free cluster per user. | Official pricing |
| Service | Primary use | Pricing model | Free option | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI Agents SDK | Open-source framework for multi-agent workflows with handoffs, guardrails, and tracing. | Open source + model usage | The SDK itself is free. You pay the model provider for inference. | Official pricing |
| LangGraph | Low-level orchestration framework for stateful, long-running agents, plus a managed platform. | Open source + paid platform | The framework is free. The Developer platform tier is free with limits. | Official pricing |
| CrewAI | Framework and platform for role-based multi-agent crews. | Open source + free cloud tier + enterprise | The open-source framework is free, and the Basic cloud plan is free. | Official pricing |
| Dify | Open-source LLM app platform with visual workflows, RAG, and agents. | Open source + free cloud tier + subscription | The community edition is free to self-host, and Dify Cloud has a free Sandbox. | Official pricing |
| n8n | Workflow automation platform with AI and agent nodes, available self-hosted or cloud. | Open source + subscription + free cloud trial | The Community Edition can be self-hosted for free. n8n Cloud offers a free trial rather than a permanent free tier. | Official pricing |
| Service | Primary use | Pricing model | Free option | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LangSmith | Tracing, evaluation, and observability for LLM and agent applications. | Free tier + per-seat subscription + usage | Yes. Developer is free with 1 seat and 5,000 base traces per month. | Official pricing |
| Braintrust | Evaluation, logging, and prompt playground for AI products. | Free tier + subscription + usage | Yes. The free tier requires no credit card and includes model credits. | Official pricing |
| Arize Phoenix | Open-source LLM tracing and evaluation, with a managed cloud. | Open source + free cloud tier + subscription | Yes. The open-source project is free, and Phoenix Cloud has a free tier. | Official pricing |
| W&B Weave | Tracing and evaluation for LLM apps inside the Weights & Biases platform. | Free tier + subscription | Yes. The W&B Free plan includes AI application evaluations, tracing, and scorers. | Official pricing |
| Ragas | Open-source evaluation framework for RAG and LLM pipelines. | Open source | Yes. The library is free under Apache-2.0. | Official pricing |
Comparison FAQ
Which AI services in this directory have a free tier?
Free tiers, free credits, free trials, or free open-source editions are published by ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Mistral Le Chat, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Stability AI, Adobe Firefly, Runway, Pika, Luma, Kling AI, ElevenLabs, Deepgram, AssemblyAI, Azure AI Speech, Voyage AI, Pinecone, Weaviate, OpenAI Agents SDK, LangGraph, CrewAI, Dify, n8n, LangSmith, Braintrust, Arize Phoenix, W&B Weave, and Ragas. The table marks each service's free option.
Which AI coding tools use a subscription?
GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, and JetBrains Air are sold through subscriptions, plan-based access, or credits rather than a single per-token price.
Which services bill by usage?
Usage-based billing appears in API products and includes OpenAI API models, DeepSeek, Mistral, Stability AI, FLUX, Google Veo, OpenAI Audio, Deepgram, AssemblyAI, Azure AI Speech, OpenAI Embeddings, Cohere Embed, Voyage AI, Pinecone, Weaviate Cloud, and LangSmith, among others.
Are the prices in this directory current?
The directory was checked on 2026-10-25. Prices change frequently, so each row links to the provider's official pricing page instead of copying every regional price.
How entries are written and corrected: About this directory.