Guides › AI budget planner
Build my AI stack under $X a month
Pick what you need AI for and how much you want to spend. We pick the best mix of ToolPick's top-ranked tools that fits your budget, count a tool once if it covers two jobs, and show the next upgrade worth paying for. 54 paid plans and 44 free plans, read on official pricing pages on 2026-10-30.
1. What do you need AI for? (4 of 6 picked)
AI Assistants
Video
Audio
Presentations
Marketing & SEO
Productivity & Meetings
Chatbots & Agents
Research
Images
Coding
Writing
2. Your monthly budget
Your AI stack: $14.99/mo
4 of 4 jobs covered (1 paid, 3 free) · $5.01 left of your $20 budget · about $180 a year
- an everyday AI assistant (chat)Le Chat (Mistral) Pro planOur #1 pick, paid plan · $14.99/mo billed monthlyPrice checked 2026-10-30 on the official pricing page for Le Chat (Mistral) (opens in a new tab): “Pro ... $14.99 /mo Excluding taxes”
- making YouTube Shorts & TikToksOpus Clip Free planFree plan of our #1 pick · Free forever plan ($0)Free plan confirmed 2026-10-30 on the official pricing page for Opus Clip (opens in a new tab)
- meeting notesFireflies Free planFree plan of our #1 pick · Free forever: $0Free plan confirmed 2026-10-30 on the official pricing page for Fireflies (opens in a new tab)
- social media graphicsCanva Free planFree plan of our #1 pick · Free plan availableFree plan confirmed 2026-10-30 on the official pricing page for Canva (opens in a new tab)
Prices are each tool's entry paid plan in US dollars before tax, read on the official pricing page on 2026-10-30. First-month promos, add-on credits and team minimums aren't counted. Check the linked page before you buy. Rankings are ToolPick's job picks, how we pick.
How the planner picks
- For each job, it looks at our top 3 tools for that job.
- Best is a paid plan of our #1 pick, then #2, then #3. A confirmed free plan comes next, and “no pick” is last.
- It tries every combination and keeps the best one that fits your budget. A tool that covers two of your jobs is only paid once.
- It also shows the next upgrade, so you can see what an extra few dollars buys.
Every job: free plans and entry prices
All 36 jobs with our top 3 picks. Checked 2026-10-30.
| Job | #1 pick | #2 pick | #3 pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| An everyday AI assistant (chat) | Le Chat (Mistral) Free plan Pro: $14.99/mo monthly | ChatGPT Free plan Paid price not verified tonight | Claude Free plan Pro: $20/mo monthly or $17/mo yearly |
| Making YouTube Shorts & TikToks | Opus Clip Free plan Starter: $15/mo monthly | CapCut Free plan Paid price not verified tonight | Captions Free plan Max: $24.99/mo monthly |
| Editing a podcast | Descript Free plan Hobbyist: $24/mo monthly or $16/mo yearly | Riverside Free plan Pro: $24/mo yearly | Krisp Core: $16/mo monthly or $8/mo yearly |
| Voiceovers & text-to-speech | ElevenLabs Free plan Starter: $6/mo monthly or $5/mo yearly | Murf Paid price not verified tonight | Speechify Free plan Premium: $29/mo monthly or $11.58/mo yearly |
| Making a pitch deck | Pitch Free plan Paid price not verified tonight | Beautiful.ai Pro: $14.50/mo yearly | Plus AI Basic: $15/mo monthly or $10/mo yearly |
| Writing SEO blog posts | Frase Solo: $49/mo monthly or $39/mo yearly | Surfer Paid price not verified tonight | Writesonic Starter: $79/mo yearly |
| Meeting notes | Fireflies Free plan Pro: $18/mo monthly or $10/mo yearly | Otter Free plan Pro: $16.99/mo monthly or $8.33/mo yearly | Fathom Free plan Paid price not verified tonight |
| A customer-support chatbot | Botpress Free plan Plus: $150/mo yearly | Chatbase Hobby: $32/mo yearly | Lindy Credits: $29.99/mo monthly |
| A literature review | Elicit Free plan Pro: $49/mo yearly | Scite Basic: $12/mo yearly | Consensus Free plan Pro: $12/mo yearly |
| Logos & text in images | Ideogram Plus: $20/mo monthly or $15/mo yearly | Recraft Free plan Basic: $10/mo yearly | Leonardo Free plan Essential: $12/mo monthly |
| E-commerce product photos | Photoroom Pro: $7.50/mo yearly | Magnific Premium: $20/mo monthly or $14.50/mo yearly | Leonardo Free plan Essential: $12/mo monthly |
| Learning to code / beginners | GitHub Copilot Free plan Pro: $10/mo monthly | Bolt Free plan Pro: $25/mo monthly | v0 Free plan Paid price not verified tonight |
| AI avatar / training videos | HeyGen Free plan Creator: $29/mo monthly or $24/mo yearly | Synthesia Free plan Starter: $19/mo monthly or $14/mo yearly | Captions Free plan Max: $24.99/mo monthly |
| Text-to-video generation | Runway Standard: $15/mo monthly or $12/mo yearly | Pika Free plan Starter: $10/mo monthly or $8/mo yearly | Luma Dream Machine Plus: $30/mo monthly or $25/mo yearly |
| Easy video editing for beginners | CapCut Free plan Paid price not verified tonight | Descript Free plan Hobbyist: $24/mo monthly or $16/mo yearly | InVideo Starter: $20/mo monthly or $10/mo yearly |
| Explainer videos from a prompt | InVideo Starter: $20/mo monthly or $10/mo yearly | Synthesia Free plan Starter: $19/mo monthly or $14/mo yearly | HeyGen Free plan Creator: $29/mo monthly or $24/mo yearly |
| Grammar & spelling checks | Grammarly Free plan Pro: $12/mo yearly | Wordtune Free plan Paid price not verified tonight | Superhuman Free plan Pro: $15/mo monthly or $12/mo yearly |
| Rewriting & paraphrasing | Wordtune Free plan Paid price not verified tonight | Rytr Free plan Lite: $9/mo monthly | Claude Free plan Pro: $20/mo monthly or $17/mo yearly |
| Long-form writing & drafts | Claude Free plan Pro: $20/mo monthly or $17/mo yearly | ChatGPT Free plan Paid price not verified tonight | Google Gemini Free plan Google AI Plus: $4.99/mo monthly |
| Building a web app without coding | Lovable Free plan Pro: $25/mo monthly | Bolt Free plan Pro: $25/mo monthly | v0 Free plan Paid price not verified tonight |
| Code autocomplete in your editor | GitHub Copilot Free plan Pro: $10/mo monthly | Cursor Free plan Plus: $8/mo monthly | Windsurf Free plan Pro: $20/mo monthly |
| AI code review | Qodo Paid price not verified tonight | GitHub Copilot Free plan Pro: $10/mo monthly | Cursor Free plan Plus: $8/mo monthly |
| AI art & illustrations | Midjourney Basic: $10/mo monthly or $8/mo yearly | Leonardo Free plan Essential: $12/mo monthly | Krea Free plan Basic: $9/mo monthly |
| Social media graphics | Canva Free plan Pro: $12/mo yearly | Magnific Premium: $20/mo monthly or $14.50/mo yearly | Ideogram Plus: $20/mo monthly or $15/mo yearly |
| Making AI music & songs | Suno Free plan Pro: $8/mo yearly | Udio Free plan Standard: $10/mo monthly or $8/mo yearly | ElevenLabs Free plan Starter: $6/mo monthly or $5/mo yearly |
| Removing background noise from calls | Krisp Core: $16/mo monthly or $8/mo yearly | Descript Free plan Hobbyist: $24/mo monthly or $16/mo yearly | Riverside Free plan Pro: $24/mo yearly |
| Transcribing audio | Otter Free plan Pro: $16.99/mo monthly or $8.33/mo yearly | Fireflies Free plan Pro: $18/mo monthly or $10/mo yearly | Descript Free plan Hobbyist: $24/mo monthly or $16/mo yearly |
| School & class presentations | SlidesAI Free plan Pro: $10/mo yearly | Canva Free plan Pro: $12/mo yearly | Pitch Free plan Paid price not verified tonight |
| AI in Google Slides | Plus AI Basic: $15/mo monthly or $10/mo yearly | SlidesAI Free plan Pro: $10/mo yearly | Pitch Free plan Paid price not verified tonight |
| Scheduling social media posts | Buffer Free plan Essentials: $5/mo monthly | Ocoya Starter: $29/mo monthly | Predis.ai Rise: $79/mo monthly or $39.50/mo yearly |
| Ranking in AI search (GEO) | Writesonic Starter: $79/mo yearly | Surfer Paid price not verified tonight | Frase Solo: $49/mo monthly or $39/mo yearly |
| Research answers with citations | Perplexity Free plan Paid price not verified tonight | Consensus Free plan Pro: $12/mo yearly | Scite Basic: $12/mo yearly |
| Chatting with PDFs | Humata Free plan Expert: $9.99/mo monthly | SciSpace Paid price not verified tonight | Claude Free plan Pro: $20/mo monthly or $17/mo yearly |
| Auto-scheduling your calendar | Motion Paid price not verified tonight | Reclaim Free plan Starter: $12/mo monthly or $10/mo yearly | ClickUp Free plan Paid price not verified tonight |
| Automating workflows | Zapier Agents Free plan Professional: $19.99/mo monthly | n8n Starter: $20/mo yearly | Lindy Credits: $29.99/mo monthly |
| Email & inbox help | Superhuman Free plan Pro: $15/mo monthly or $12/mo yearly | Lindy Credits: $29.99/mo monthly | Google Gemini Free plan Google AI Plus: $4.99/mo monthly |
Left out tonight
Paid plans we didn't use because the official page wasn't clear on 2026-10-30. Their free plans can still appear if we confirmed them.
- ChatGPT: the pricing page didn't show prices to our check tonight (plans listed without amounts).
- Perplexity: the Pro page showed no price tonight.
- CapCut: the pricing page showed only per-second video rates and a sale banner, not a clear plan price.
- Surfer: the cheapest plan (Discovery, 49 USD per month) doesn't say whether it's billed monthly or yearly.
- v0: the Plus plan shows $30 per user with $90 struck through, so we're waiting to see which price sticks.
- Wordtune: two different price sets showed tonight ($6.99/$4.89 and $6.99/$9.99 billed annually).
- ClickUp: the plans changed (now Core $9 and Business $17 per user billed yearly); we'll update the tool data first.
- Motion: the Pro AI plan showed "This plan is not available".
- Pitch: priced in euros only.
- Fathom: no single starting price on the page.
- Qodo: a team code-review plan, not a single-user plan.
- Murf: the pricing page needs JavaScript we couldn't read.
- SciSpace: no price showed on the page tonight.
Related: AI stacks by role · Help me choose · AI cost calculator · Free AI tools · Team plans
FAQ
What's the cheapest way to get good AI tools?
Start with free plans: 44 of the tools we rank have a free plan we confirmed on 2026-10-30. Pick your jobs in the planner with a $0 budget to see a free-only stack, then raise the budget to see which single upgrade helps most.
How does the planner choose?
For each job you pick, it looks at ToolPick's top 3 tools for that job. A paid plan of our #1 pick scores best, then #2 and #3, then free plans, then nothing. It tries every combination and returns the best one whose monthly total fits your budget. If one paid tool covers two of your jobs, you only pay for it once.
Are these prices current?
Every paid price was read on the tool's official pricing page on 2026-10-30, and each card quotes the words we saw. We use the cheapest paid (entry) plan. Taxes, add-on credits, promos for the first month and seat minimums aren't included. Prices change, so check the linked page before you buy.
What does “Yearly billing OK” change?
Many tools are cheaper per month when you pay for a year up front. With yearly billing on, the planner uses the lower per-month price and shows what you'd pay for the year. Some plans are only sold yearly, so they only appear with this option on.
Why is a tool missing?
We leave a paid plan out when its official page didn't show a clear US-dollar price on 2026-10-30. The list is on this page under “Left out tonight”. The tool's free plan can still be used if we confirmed it.
Is ChatGPT in the planner?
Yes, its free plan is (unlimited text chats on GPT-6, with limits on other features, per OpenAI's pricing page on 2026-10-30). Its paid plans aren't, because the pricing page didn't show amounts to our check tonight. For a paid everyday assistant the planner can pick Le Chat Pro ($14.99/mo) or Claude Pro ($20/mo, or $17/mo yearly).