georgiagurl01
New member
I’ve seen a bunch of lists of the best AI tools that focus on paid/subscription tools that are harder to experiment with without paying, and wanted to compile the best completely free tools I've found. Some of these still have paid/Pro plans, but all can be used completely free without a time limited trial and don't require a credit card to do so.
If you're like me and looking to experiment with using AI to improve your business, check these out and let me know your thoughts. If there are any other AI tools or resources I’m missing, please comment them below and I can add them to the list!
1) NamingMagic: I know AI name generators are somewhat played out and most of you already know about them, but NamingMagic stands out as an option that automatically generates names with domain names you can actually register. It’s also completely free.
2) NameLix is another business name generator that's been around years. While it's a bit harder to find names for which non-dotcom domains are available with it, Namelix has the best interface here, and makes it easy to choose different styles of names.
3) Taskade: I use Taskade to organize everything from to-do lists, to outreach emails, meeting notes, and content creation. Similar to Notion, it’s an all-in-one content platform that lets you write, collaborate, and keep track of everything you need to get done. I find its AI functionality, which is actually powered by ChatGPT, to be much better than Notion’s.
Taskade also has GPT4 built-in to the free plan, so is a great way to get to use GPT4 without paying for ChatGPT’s pro plan (which is required to use 4 on their site). While they claim there’s a limit of 1000 monthly AI generations on the free plan, I have yet to run into the limit even using it for all of my content generation + ChatGPT prompts. Taskade also has hundreds of free templates that let you easily set up workspaces that integrate AI. Even if you don’t end up using a specific template, it’s a nice way to see what’s possible in integrating AI into your workflows and see how others are doing so.
To be honest, I continue to use WooCommerce for most of my sites as I’m familiar enough with it that I can use templates and build stuff quickly that way. If, however, you tend to get stuck when building sites, there are a few AI powered site generators that might be worth trying out:
4) Jimdo: I’ve heard people recommend Jimdo, which does offer a free plan, though you have to use their subdomains to do it. Jimdo has both a standard website and online store builder.
5) 10Web is another option that focuses on AI powered WordPress websites, and has a free trial that you can try.
I think where AI will really shine in web development is in A/B testing. For example, automatically identifying tests you can run and making tweaks to your site based on the results. I have yet to find a tool that does it well that isn’t expensive, but if any of you have seen examples of this, let me know and I can add them to the list.
6) Dall-E 2: Like ChatGPT, Dall-E is built by OpenAI and has a free plan that lets you try it out without paying. Essentially, Dall-E lets you create AI-generated images and illustrations in whatever style you want.
I find Dall-E especially useful for creating illustrations to put in the headers of articles that help catch readers’ attention, and generally create blog content that stands out more to readers (and search engines). You can see examples of illustrations and the prompts used to create them on OpenAI's site (https://openai.com/research/dall-e). While it's not my space, this could be a gamechanger for those doing things like writing illustrated kids books, or creating games that require large volumes of illustrations.
7) Murf: AI-powered text-to-speech that lets you choose from hundreds of different voices, tones, purposes, accents and so on. It also works with 15 different languages, so is perfect if you’re targeting non-English speaking markets.
If you’re like me and don’t have the gift of a golden voice, Murf is an excellent alternative that works for creating product videos, ads, and anything else where you need spoken audio.
8) Phind: I found this one on YC HackerNews. Phind bills itself as a search engine that tells you the answer. Something like a cross between ChatGPT and Google. I use it most for answering development related questions.
Where it really shines vs. ChatGPT vanilla is in showing you the sources it uses to generate answers, so you can explore things further yourself, vs. ChatGPT where it can be harder to tell when it’s “hallucinating”. That also means it gets sources that are up-to-date, vs. ChatGPT’s pre-trained model which is limited to data available before September 2021.
9) Unbounce: Unbounce's AI copywriting tool generates website content, including headings, descriptions and so on. In addition, it will generate matching email marketing campaigns and other offsite copy to match what's on your site.
While it's unlikely it'll do absolutely everything you need, with some tweaks Unbounce can save a bunch of time if you're looking to spin up a new site quickly to validate a new idea or product.
10) CopyAI: CopyAI has similar writing functionality to ChatGPT, but focuses specifically on business writing use cases like emails, marketing copy, and blog content. As a result it has some features ChatGPT doesn’t, like being able to scrape leads’ sites to personalize sales emails.
Its free plan is limited to 2000 words per month, but it’s still worth trying out if you’re looking for this kind of functionality.
11) Rytr is another similar option, that limits you to 10,000 characters per month.
I’ve tried both, and found them to be better than ChatGPT for certain specific use cases like generating email copy. YMMV, but it’s worth trying if you haven’t gotten the results you want with ChatGPT.
There are some purpose built tools for this, but I have yet to find one that does better than simply using ChatGPT/Phind/Taskade and prompting it with your ideas. You can then ask for feedback, either generally or on specific parts of your idea. One method I've found particularly useful when I'm exploring a new product/site idea is to use the prompt mind-map on Taskade to whip up a mind map of things to research for a new idea, then use Phind to research specific questions where I need recent URL sources (like research into competitors in a space). The template I used to build the mind maps is here: https://www.taskade.com/templates/featured/team-mindmap.
If any of you have tried one that’s worth using, let me know and I’ll add it. Also thinking of making this into a Google Sheet or GitHub if any of you would like to contribute to an ongoing list of AI tools that can be used entirely for free.
If you're like me and looking to experiment with using AI to improve your business, check these out and let me know your thoughts. If there are any other AI tools or resources I’m missing, please comment them below and I can add them to the list!
Business + Domain name generation:
1) NamingMagic: I know AI name generators are somewhat played out and most of you already know about them, but NamingMagic stands out as an option that automatically generates names with domain names you can actually register. It’s also completely free.
2) NameLix is another business name generator that's been around years. While it's a bit harder to find names for which non-dotcom domains are available with it, Namelix has the best interface here, and makes it easy to choose different styles of names.
Project management + integrating AI into your workflows:
3) Taskade: I use Taskade to organize everything from to-do lists, to outreach emails, meeting notes, and content creation. Similar to Notion, it’s an all-in-one content platform that lets you write, collaborate, and keep track of everything you need to get done. I find its AI functionality, which is actually powered by ChatGPT, to be much better than Notion’s.
Taskade also has GPT4 built-in to the free plan, so is a great way to get to use GPT4 without paying for ChatGPT’s pro plan (which is required to use 4 on their site). While they claim there’s a limit of 1000 monthly AI generations on the free plan, I have yet to run into the limit even using it for all of my content generation + ChatGPT prompts. Taskade also has hundreds of free templates that let you easily set up workspaces that integrate AI. Even if you don’t end up using a specific template, it’s a nice way to see what’s possible in integrating AI into your workflows and see how others are doing so.
AI site builders:
To be honest, I continue to use WooCommerce for most of my sites as I’m familiar enough with it that I can use templates and build stuff quickly that way. If, however, you tend to get stuck when building sites, there are a few AI powered site generators that might be worth trying out:
4) Jimdo: I’ve heard people recommend Jimdo, which does offer a free plan, though you have to use their subdomains to do it. Jimdo has both a standard website and online store builder.
5) 10Web is another option that focuses on AI powered WordPress websites, and has a free trial that you can try.
AI powered A/B testing
I think where AI will really shine in web development is in A/B testing. For example, automatically identifying tests you can run and making tweaks to your site based on the results. I have yet to find a tool that does it well that isn’t expensive, but if any of you have seen examples of this, let me know and I can add them to the list.
Image and illustration generator for your non-product content:
6) Dall-E 2: Like ChatGPT, Dall-E is built by OpenAI and has a free plan that lets you try it out without paying. Essentially, Dall-E lets you create AI-generated images and illustrations in whatever style you want.
I find Dall-E especially useful for creating illustrations to put in the headers of articles that help catch readers’ attention, and generally create blog content that stands out more to readers (and search engines). You can see examples of illustrations and the prompts used to create them on OpenAI's site (https://openai.com/research/dall-e). While it's not my space, this could be a gamechanger for those doing things like writing illustrated kids books, or creating games that require large volumes of illustrations.
Text-to-speech and voiceover content generation:
7) Murf: AI-powered text-to-speech that lets you choose from hundreds of different voices, tones, purposes, accents and so on. It also works with 15 different languages, so is perfect if you’re targeting non-English speaking markets.
If you’re like me and don’t have the gift of a golden voice, Murf is an excellent alternative that works for creating product videos, ads, and anything else where you need spoken audio.
Researching and answering technical questions with sources:
8) Phind: I found this one on YC HackerNews. Phind bills itself as a search engine that tells you the answer. Something like a cross between ChatGPT and Google. I use it most for answering development related questions.
Where it really shines vs. ChatGPT vanilla is in showing you the sources it uses to generate answers, so you can explore things further yourself, vs. ChatGPT where it can be harder to tell when it’s “hallucinating”. That also means it gets sources that are up-to-date, vs. ChatGPT’s pre-trained model which is limited to data available before September 2021.
Written content and copy generators:
9) Unbounce: Unbounce's AI copywriting tool generates website content, including headings, descriptions and so on. In addition, it will generate matching email marketing campaigns and other offsite copy to match what's on your site.
While it's unlikely it'll do absolutely everything you need, with some tweaks Unbounce can save a bunch of time if you're looking to spin up a new site quickly to validate a new idea or product.
10) CopyAI: CopyAI has similar writing functionality to ChatGPT, but focuses specifically on business writing use cases like emails, marketing copy, and blog content. As a result it has some features ChatGPT doesn’t, like being able to scrape leads’ sites to personalize sales emails.
Its free plan is limited to 2000 words per month, but it’s still worth trying out if you’re looking for this kind of functionality.
11) Rytr is another similar option, that limits you to 10,000 characters per month.
I’ve tried both, and found them to be better than ChatGPT for certain specific use cases like generating email copy. YMMV, but it’s worth trying if you haven’t gotten the results you want with ChatGPT.
Business Ideas, Research, and Feedback:
There are some purpose built tools for this, but I have yet to find one that does better than simply using ChatGPT/Phind/Taskade and prompting it with your ideas. You can then ask for feedback, either generally or on specific parts of your idea. One method I've found particularly useful when I'm exploring a new product/site idea is to use the prompt mind-map on Taskade to whip up a mind map of things to research for a new idea, then use Phind to research specific questions where I need recent URL sources (like research into competitors in a space). The template I used to build the mind maps is here: https://www.taskade.com/templates/featured/team-mindmap.
If any of you have tried one that’s worth using, let me know and I’ll add it. Also thinking of making this into a Google Sheet or GitHub if any of you would like to contribute to an ongoing list of AI tools that can be used entirely for free.
TL;DR:
- NameLix/NamingMagic for finding business names with domain names you can register
- Taskade for integrating ChatGPT/AI into your workflows, projects, and task management
- Murf for AI-powered text-to-speech and voiceovers
- Dall-E for AI generated images/illustrations
- Phind for researching topics and getting sourced, AI-powered answers
- CopyAI/Rytr for copy/marketing/sales specific content generation.
