The Free TierOctober 2026
Free AI tools in October 2026: what “free” really means across 766 tools
We sorted every tool in our directory by the kind of free it offers, what the vendor publishes about limits, and when we last checked it. Here’s what the data shows, and what it doesn’t show yet.
Data as of · catalog 0bd0796
The headline
4 in 10 top free AI plans don’t say how much you get.
116 of 286 researched free plans (40.6%) don’t publish how much you can use for free.
TL;DR
- 766 AI tools give you at least a month free, and 753 of them (98.3%) are free to keep.
- A free plan is the main kind of free for 630 tools (82.2%).
- 230 tools (30.0%) have a free allowance that refills, most of them monthly (183).
- 116 of 286 researched free plans (40.6%) don’t publish how much you can use for free.
- Only 112 of those 286 (39.2%) are good enough for regular use, and 67 (23.4%) say they may train on your content.
Key numbers
- AI tools with at least a month free
- 766
- of 286 researched free plans don’t publish their quota
- 40.6%
The rule
First, what counts as free
A tool is counted only if it gives you at least one month free: a free plan, free credits, or a free trial of 30 days or more.
Trials shorter than 30 days aren’t in the 766. The catalog holds 957 records in all: 766 meet the rule, 61 offer only a short trial, 90 are waiting for re-verification, 29 have ended their free tier and 11 are held back because the free plan can’t do the tool’s main job.
Kinds of free
Free plans rule (by a mile)
Each tool gets one main kind of free: the best free option open to everyone.
A free plan is the main kind of free for 630 tools (82.2%). Refilling credits come next at 65 (8.5%), then open source at 56 (7.3%). Here’s every tool in the directory as one square:
Chart 1 · The main kind of free
- Free plan630 · 82.2%
- Refilling credits65 · 8.5%
- Open source56 · 7.3%
- One-time credits7 · 0.9%
- Free trials6 · 0.8%
- Your own API key2 · 0.3%
Show the numbers
| Kind of free | Tools | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 630 | 82.2% |
| Refilling credits | 65 | 8.5% |
| Open source | 56 | 7.3% |
| One-time credits | 7 | 0.9% |
| Free trials | 6 | 0.8% |
| Your own API key | 2 | 0.3% |
We currently classify no tools as completely free, paid-plan-free-for-now or free-in-beta, so those rows are left out. Every kind is defined on What free means here.
- Free plan
630 tools · 82.2%
- Refilling credits
65 tools · 8.5%
- Open source
56 tools · 7.3%
- One-time credits
7 tools · 0.9%
- Free trials
6 tools · 0.8%
Examples
Refills
The allowance that comes back
230 tools (30.0%) give you a free allowance that refills: 183 monthly, 42 daily, 3 weekly and 2 yearly.
- 183refill monthly
- 42refill daily
- 3refill weekly
- 2refill yearly
Refilling credits as a main kind (65) is narrower than “has an allowance that refills” (230). A tool whose main offer is a free plan can still have a monthly quota that resets. Both numbers are correct, and they answer different questions. Dev Infrastructure & AI APIs and Vibe Coding have the most refilling-credit tools, with 10 each. Browse them on Refilling credits.
Free quotas
The fine print nobody prints
We researched the free plans of 286 tools in depth. 116 of them (40.6%) don’t publish how much you can use for free.
That’s 4 in 10. Each ? is a plan that doesn’t say how much you get.
We call this research Free Facts: an in-depth review of the top-ranked tools, from the vendor’s pricing page and terms. Each fact carries a quote and a URL.
Your data
Will they train on your stuff?
What the 286 researched vendors say about using your content to train AI models.
Guess first
Of 286 top free AI plans, what share say they may use your content to train AI models?
23.4%67 of 286 researched free plans
151 (52.8%) don’t say either way, 47 (16.4%) say they don’t, and for 21 (7.3%) we haven’t recorded an answer.
Usefulness
Good enough to actually use?
Our verdict on each of the 286 researched free plans: is it enough for regular use, occasional use, or just a try?
Guess first
What share of the 286 top free plans would we rate good enough for regular use?
39.2%112 of 286 free plans
154 (53.8%) suit occasional use and 20 (7.0%) are only good for a try.
Chart 3 · Free Facts at a glance (n = 286)
Good enough for…
- Regular use 112 · 39.2%
- Occasional use 154 · 53.8%
- Just a try 20 · 7.0%
Trains on your data?
- May train on your data 67 · 23.4%
- Say they don't 47 · 16.4%
- Don't say 151 · 52.8%
- Not recorded 21 · 7.3%
Free quota published?
- Quota published 170 · 59.4%
- Not published 116 · 40.6%
Show the numbers
| Finding | Tools | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Good enough for… Regular use | 112 | 39.2% |
| Good enough for… Occasional use | 154 | 53.8% |
| Good enough for… Just a try | 20 | 7.0% |
| Trains on your data? May train on your data | 67 | 23.4% |
| Trains on your data? Say they don't | 47 | 16.4% |
| Trains on your data? Don't say | 151 | 52.8% |
| Trains on your data? Not recorded | 21 | 7.3% |
| Free quota published? Quota published | 170 | 59.4% |
| Free quota published? Not published | 116 | 40.6% |
When free isn’t enough: for the 244 tools with a published USD price, the cheapest paid plan has a median of $15 a month, from $2 to $540.
Categories
Where the free tools live
Dev Infrastructure & AI APIs is the largest category with 113 tools (14.8%), followed by AI Productivity (79), AI Agents & Automation (58) and Vibe Coding (58).
Chart 2 · Tools by category
- Dev Infrastructure & AI APIs113
- AI Productivity79
- AI Agents & Automation58
- Vibe Coding58
- AI Video49
- AI Research46
- AI Writing43
- AI Image Generation42
- AI Coding Assistants40
- AI Audio & Voice37
- Chatbots & LLMs36
- AI Design32
- Data & Analytics AI28
- AI Marketing24
- Sales & Support AI23
- Game Dev & 3D AI22
- AI Presentations22
- AI Social Media14
Show the numbers
| Category | Tools | Share | Free to keep | Free for a while |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dev Infrastructure & AI APIs | 113 | 14.8% | 107 | 6 |
| AI Productivity | 79 | 10.3% | 77 | 2 |
| AI Agents & Automation | 58 | 7.6% | 57 | 1 |
| Vibe Coding | 58 | 7.6% | 58 | 0 |
| AI Video | 49 | 6.4% | 49 | 0 |
| AI Research | 46 | 6.0% | 46 | 0 |
| AI Writing | 43 | 5.6% | 43 | 0 |
| AI Image Generation | 42 | 5.5% | 42 | 0 |
| AI Coding Assistants | 40 | 5.2% | 40 | 0 |
| AI Audio & Voice | 37 | 4.8% | 36 | 1 |
| Chatbots & LLMs | 36 | 4.7% | 36 | 0 |
| AI Design | 32 | 4.2% | 32 | 0 |
| Data & Analytics AI | 28 | 3.7% | 27 | 1 |
| AI Marketing | 24 | 3.1% | 24 | 0 |
| Sales & Support AI | 23 | 3.0% | 21 | 2 |
| Game Dev & 3D AI | 22 | 2.9% | 22 | 0 |
| AI Presentations | 22 | 2.9% | 22 | 0 |
| AI Social Media | 14 | 1.8% | 14 | 0 |
In 15 of the 18 categories, at most one tool is free only for a while. The exceptions are Dev Infrastructure & AI APIs (6), AI Productivity (2) and Sales & Support AI (2).
Changes
Free plans on the move
Our catalog logs 20 dated free-plan changes since 1 January 2026, 7 of them discontinuations.
Chart 4 · Free-plan changes, January 2025 to August 2027
Show the numbers
| Tool | Date | Type | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SambaNova Cloud | 8 Feb 2025 | Free plan changed | Developer Tier: pay per token; $5 free credit expiring in 3 months | sambanova.ai/blog/sambanova-cloud-developer-tier-is-live |
| Obviously AI | 11 Feb 2025 | Renamed | Zams | zams.com/blog/introducing-zams |
| Logically (formerly Afforai) | 2 Mar 2025 | Renamed | Logically | logically.app/blog/afforai-is-now-logically |
| Codeium | 4 Apr 2025 | Renamed | Windsurf (Codeium extensions renamed Windsurf Plugins) | devin.ai/blog/windsurf-rebrand-announcement |
| Sourcegraph Cody | 23 Jul 2025 | Discontinued | Discontinued; Cody Enterprise only (users pointed to Amp) | sourcegraph.com/blog/changes-to-cody-free-pro-and-enterprise-starter-plans |
| Async (formerly Podcastle) | 19 Jan 2026 | Renamed | Async | async.com/blog/podcastle-is-now-async |
| Vane (formerly Perplexica) | 9 Mar 2026 | Renamed | Vane | github.com/ItzCrazyKns/Vane/commit/39c0f198b5bd242192a1f4bd21dc2400301c9e62 |
| Google Flow Music (formerly Producer.ai) | 20 Apr 2026 | Renamed | Google Flow Music | 9to5google.com/2026/04/20/producerai-becomes-google-flow-music |
| Roo Code | 15 May 2026 | Discontinued | Extension shut down; team now builds Roomote | roocodeinc.github.io/Roo-Code |
| Rows | 31 May 2026 | Discontinued | Rows.com wound down after Superhuman acquired Rows | rows.com/blog/post/rows-is-joining-superhuman |
| Void | 2 Jun 2026 | Free plan changed | Void is no longer maintained: its GitHub repo was archived on Jun 2, 2026 (read-only); the released downloads still work | github.com/voideditor/void |
| Devin Desktop | 2 Jun 2026 | Renamed | Devin Desktop (devin.ai/desktop) | docs.devin.ai/desktop/changelog |
| Kortix (formerly Suna) | 6 Jun 2026 | Renamed | Kortix | kortix.com/blog/introducing-kortix |
| Tusk | 10 Jun 2026 | Discontinued | Tusk product sunset on Jun 10, 2026; the team recommends Devin | usetusk.ai/resources/tusk-is-sunsetting |
| MailerLite | 16 Jun 2026 | Free plan changed | Free plan: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 2 seats | mailerlite.com/help/free-plan-update-faq |
| Gemini Code Assist | 18 Jun 2026 | Discontinued | Replaced by Antigravity CLI and Antigravity | codeassist.google/products/business |
| Firebase Studio | 22 Jun 2026 | Discontinued | New workspace creation and user signup disabled; Firebase Studio sunsets on March 22, 2027 | firebase.google.com/docs/studio |
| Superhuman Docs (formerly Coda) | 8 Jul 2026 | Renamed | Superhuman Docs | blog.superhuman.com/introducing-superhuman-docs |
| Flowise | 31 Aug 2026 | Discontinued | Operations wound down; end of life | flowiseai.com/sunset |
| GitHub Spark | 31 Aug 2026 | Discontinued | Retired: no new users or apps from Aug 4, 2026; access ended Aug 31, 2026 | github.blog/changelog/2026-08-04-upcoming-deprecation-of-github-spark-on-github-com |
| Weights & Biases (CoreWeave Forge) | 30 Sept 2026 | Renamed | Weights & Biases in CoreWeave Forge (forge.coreweave.com/wandb) | docs.coreweave.com/forge-whats-moved |
| Airtop | 13 Nov 2026 | Shutdown announced | Airtop says it shuts down on 13 Nov 2026 and no longer accepts new signups | portal.airtop.ai/shutdown |
| remove.bg | 1 Dec 2026 | Shutdown announced | remove.bg says its standalone site closes 1 Dec 2026, 9:00 CET (background removal moves to Canva) | remove.bg/faq |
| Amazon Q Developer | 30 Apr 2027 | Shutdown announced | AWS says it will discontinue support for the Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins on 30 Apr 2027 (points users to Kiro) | aws.amazon.com/q/developer |
| InstantDB | 31 Aug 2027 | Shutdown announced | Instant says its services continue until 31 Aug 2027, then end (open-source self-hosting stays) | instantdb.com |
Ended in 2026
- FlowiseOperations wound down; end of life
- GitHub SparkRetired: no new users or apps from Aug 4, 2026; access ended Aug 31, 2026
- Firebase StudioNew workspace creation and user signup disabled; Firebase Studio sunsets on March 22, 2027
- Gemini Code AssistReplaced by Antigravity CLI and Antigravity
- TuskTusk product sunset on Jun 10, 2026; the team recommends Devin
- RowsRows.com wound down after Superhuman acquired Rows
- Roo CodeExtension shut down; team now builds Roomote
Free plan changed
- MailerLiteFree plan: 250 subscribers, 2,500 emails/month, 2 seats
- VoidVoid is no longer maintained: its GitHub repo was archived on Jun 2, 2026 (read-only); the released downloads still work
Getting in
Cards and signups
Cards
0 of 766 verified
We only say what a signup asks for once we’ve completed it ourselves. We haven’t done that for any tool yet, so this report says nothing about cards.
Signups
We’ve recorded how you sign up for 272 tools (35.5%). Of those, 9 work with no account at all, 238 need a free account and 13 are self-hosted. 195 of the 242 tools with recorded signup methods accept Google sign-in. We don’t track signup for the other 494 tools yet.
Methodology
- Data: the Free AI For That catalog (
data/tools.json, 957 records, sha2564857c604…, commit0bd0796, 19 October 2026). A script recomputes every number using the same functions the site uses to list a tool and to assign its kind of free. - Free rule: listed status “active”, plus a free plan, free credits or a trial of 30 days or more.
- Kind of free: one main kind per tool, from the offer type, the credit refill period and how the tool is accessed (self-host, own key).
- Free Facts: an in-depth review of the top-ranked 286 tools, from the vendor’s pricing page and terms. Each fact carries a quote and URL. “Not published” means the vendor doesn’t say. It doesn’t mean no.
- Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Each one states its denominator.
How tools are ordered on the site is on How we rank.
How we checked
- Free offer: every one of the 766 tools has a recorded check of its free offer against the vendor’s own page. All 766 checks are dated 18 October 2026 (100.0% within the last 7 days as of 19 October 2026). This was the full launch check. We keep only each tool’s latest check date, so we can’t yet show how often a tool has been re-checked.
- Signup and card: signup methods are recorded for 272 tools from vendor pages, on 18 October 2026. We only report what a signup asks for once we’ve completed it ourselves. That count is 0 so far, so this report says nothing about cards.
- Changes: each event in the changes log has a date, a vendor source URL and usually a quote. The 4 announced shutdowns were recorded on 18 October 2026.
- Limitations: Free Facts covers 286 of 766 tools (37.3%), so those findings describe the most-used tools, not the whole directory. Signup data covers 35.5% of tools. We don’t compare credit amounts because units differ (images, minutes, requests, tokens). Prices are list prices in USD, and 1 non-USD price is excluded. We don’t have a history of past checks yet.
- Corrections: see something wrong? Tell us. We’ll re-check it and log any change on Free plan changes.
