At this point, AI is all the rage in the tech industry, and those who have tried AI tools can vouch that they are beneficial and can make life easier. However, there is a misconception that these AI tools can be quite expensive to use. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. That is why we have scoured the web and compiled the best free AI tools that you should definitely check out in 2026.
Best Free AI Tools for Images
In 2026, there is an abundance of AI image generators available online, but not all of them can churn out a Picasso. That is why we have tested and ranked some of our favourite free AI tools for images, which will blow you away.
1. Google Gemini Nano Banana Pro
Google’s Gemini Nano Banana Pro deserves the spot as the best AI image generator, given it has gone viral multiple times for creating some amazing images that blur the lines between real and AI with pretty basic prompt ideas. It is an excellent AI model that can create real-life figures from scratch, making characters or other wacky ideas in just a few seconds.
You can even share your own photos and turn them into whatever you like. Whether it is the Studio Ghibli version of yourself, or see how you would look wearing ethnic or traditional clothes, and even have your selfies taken with popular celebrities, with Nano Banana prompts. Nano Banana Pro is free to use for anyone with a Gmail account, and there is no limit on image generation in the free version.
Pricing: Free, AI Pro plan starts at $20/month
2. ChatGPT Image Generator
ChatGPT also has a free AI image generator that is as good as Gemini, and even tops it out sometimes with its AI artwork. This has become possible since OpenAI has replaced its earlier diffusion-based Dall-E model with a new image generator in ChatGPT.
And the results speak for themselves. The images look nothing short of photo-realistic, as if they were taken from a DSLR, and you can add further notes in your prompts to give them a distinct style. However, it is not that good in terms of creating human likeness, and it takes a while to generate images compared to Gemini Nano Banana, which is why I have placed it second.
Pricing: Free, ChatGPT Plus starts at $20/month
3. Seedream
Seedream is the solution for anyone looking for a free AI image generator that does not mess up the text part. It comes from TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and turns out to be quite a capable AI model. Seedream cannot just create AI artwork, but also lets you edit it later with prompts. It can take multiple images as a sample to push out a single well-rounded image.
Even as a free AI tool, you can use it to export 4K images and make precise changes for the best output. As mentioned earlier, it churns out excellent and accurate text with no AI mishaps to speak of. So whether you want to create a new design, come up with a poster, or a digital art idea. Seedream is the AI tool to check out.
Pricing: Free to Use
4. Meta AI
If you just want to fool around with AI image generators, to see what kind of unique creatures you can create, then the Meta AI app is the destination for you. This app was made by the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, where you can make silly or even fascinating AI creations for no cost whatsoever.
You can then share your work with other Meta AI users on its dedicated feed in the app itself. It is a decent AI image generator, but don’t expect the level of quality as Gemini or OpenAI.
Pricing: Free to Use
Best Free AI Tools for Writing/Research
With images wrapped up, it’s time to move on to the best AI tools to help you write and research like a pro and come in handy in your everyday workflow.
5. Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI hits 2 stones with one tool. Not only is it a great AI-powered solution for research, as it browses the internet to fetch the latest and most up-to-date information, with proper links to sources. So you can verify the validity of the data, but also write it in a simple and structured format that is easy to understand and learn.
It performs a deeper search than competitors like Gemini and ChatGPT. Its writing is also great for assignments, projects, and summarization of complex topics, like how I used to understand the concepts of deep learning in AI. So if you want the best AI tools for research and writing, for the price of one, then here’s your answer.
Pricing: Free, Pro plan starts at $20/month
6. Consensus
Consensus is an academic search engine powered by AI. It houses millions of research papers from various fields, and can fetch them for you, and breakdown them down on a moment’s notice. You can perform analysis on up to 20 papers at once with Consensus, and it also features something called a Consensus Meter. This shows whether any research leans towards your query or not.
It goes through tons of published papers to bring these answers. Consensus also performs a quick AI-powered Study Snapshot to show key information about a Scientific study. And of course, as an AI tool, it can generate summaries, key takeaways, and let you ask follow-up questions for detailed insights. It is genuinely the best free AI tool for research for academic studies.
Pricing: Free, Paid plan starts at $8.99/month
7. SudoWrite
Are you a creative writer who has hit a writer’s block? SudoWrite is the best AI tool for writing that can help you brainstorm ideas for a fictional story, complete incomplete sentences, and draft interesting narratives with just a prompt. You can even highlight a certain object or character, and SudoWrite can writeup a detailed background story for it and even help you make it a key plot element. It drafts multiple options so you can go with whichever suits your story best.
Pricing: Free, Paid plan starts at $10/month
8. Rytr AI Writing App
Content creators and SEO writers will love Rytr. This is an AI writing app that not only helps you write, but also featuresa plethora of templates for writing blogs, articles, and outlines for SEO friendly content. You can select the kind of content you want to draft, pick the tone and the language, and how many copies you want it to generate.
However, the thing that I loved about this free AI tool is how beginner-friendly it is. You can just hop on Rytr and start using it without any learning curve.
Pricing: Free, Unlimited plan starts at $9/month
9. Semantic Scholar
Semantic Scholar is another useful AI research tool, which features a database of over 200 million academic papers from different fields of study. This vast database helps it perform deep research on almost any subject or topic you are looking for. You can also look up journals, publication dates, authors, and even find the references for them.
It’s also completely free to use, which makes Semantic Scholar one of the best free AI tools if you want a reliable option for research and studies.
Pricing: Free to Use
Best AI Tools for Students
One of the audiences making the most use of free AI is students, utilising these tools for writing, learning, revisions, and homework help.
10. Google NotebookLM
If there is one AI tool that I wish I had access to as a student, then it would be Google’s NotebookLM. It lets you upload your lessons, chapters, PDFs, or link to websites, and it will create instant insights from them using advanced Gemini models. And it breaks down any topic into easily understandable paragraphs and even generate an audio overview of the entire lesson.
It will feature 2 AI hosts explaining the topic in the style of a podcast, and you can even ask follow-up questions like a guest caller on the show. Now it has also gained the ability to search the web and make video overviews, too. And Google was kind enough to keep all the features available for free to everyone, so you can enjoy NotebookLM to its full extent without worrying about payments.
Pricing: Free to Use
11. Thetawise.AI
Thetawise.AI is your personal AI maths assistant that will demonstrate how to solve complex mathematical equations and problems. You can give it the question, and it will not only show the answer, but also give you a complete step-by-step breakdown on how it solved it right away.
And like NotebookLM, you can use it to create videos for certain problems if you are having trouble understanding it. Thetawise.AI also features practice sessions to help you practice what you have learned, so those maths concepts don’t haunt you at night.
Pricing: Free, Pro version available for $19.99/month
12. AskCodi
AskCodi is another great AI helper for students who are struggling to learn code. It is one of the best AI tools to teach you how to code, understand what a string of lines means, and what is causing an error. It supports over 55 different coding languages, so you can use it even as a professional to learn new programming languages.
Moreover, it makes you a pro at finding and solving bugs, too. So if you need a personal tutor for learning to code, then AskCodi is the best AI tool for coding you could ask for.
Pricing: Free, Premium plan starts at $20/month
13. Kickresume
One of the most challenging tasks to do as a student is creating a resume. However, free AI-powered tools like KickResume make this process much more manageable. The freemium AI tool allows users to create detailed and actionable resumes, all with the help of artificial intelligence. Enter your basic details, and it will draft full job summaries and pointers. It is the perfect tool for those wanting to boost their career without confusion.
Pricing: Free, Premium plan available for $24/month
Best AI Music and Voice Generator
Besides image generation, AI has become creative enough to create some soulful symphonies and head-rocking banger tracks. So if you want to check out some of the best free AI tools to generate music, then here are the ones we have found.
14. Suno AI
When it comes to AI music generation, there is no better AI tool than Suno. It can create catchy songs and hiptracks in seconds with some basic prompts. You just have to provide the genre style, lyrics (optional), select a vocalist, and add influence if you want to. In just a minute, it will output music that will leave you listening again and again. It is extremely proficient in its sound production and even allows you to remix tracks with other users’ songs.
Pricing: Free, Pro plan starts at $10/month
15. ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs also serves 2 jobs as a single AI tool. It is one of the most versatile AI voice generators that can output human-like speech with added nuances, pauses, and dialects that will have even the experts guessing. ElevenLabs supports multiple languages and a variety of AI vocal artists, even including some key historical figures that you can use for documentaries and school projects.
It can also create free AI music with the help of a well-described prompt. And within seconds, it produces some decent AI tracks with lyrics and vocals. However, unlike Suno, there is no option to select the vocalists, voices, or pre-defined genres to pick from for now.
Pricing: Free, Paid plan starts from $5 per month
16. Murf.AI
Murf.AI is a competent AI voice generator that features hundreds of varying voices, ages, tones, and genders, ranging from different languages and dialects. It is mostly well-suited for AI voiceover for commercials, meetings, and other business and commercial purposes. Murf.AI lets you adjust the pitch, tone, and emotional state to better bring out the results you were looking for. But while it is mostly a free AI tool, some advanced voice features and models are locked behind a paywall.
Pricing: Free, Creator plan starts from $29 per month
Best AI Tool for Video Generation
If you are looking for a free AI tool to help you come up with entire videos, then these are our top picks you should check out.
17. Google Gemini Veo 3.1
Google Gemini isn’t just a conversational AI; it also now includes AI video generation capabilities that work on Android, web, and desktop. You can simply type a prompt or upload an image and ask Gemini to generate a video. It uses the new Veo 3.1 model, which is more advanced in generating videos and also has a better understanding of real-world physics. The final output looks as good as something actually shot by someone in most cases.
Gemini tries to understand what’s in the photo and create contextually relevant movement, whether it’s subtle scene motion, adding floating elements, or generating transitions that feel organic. That said, there is a limit of only 3 video generations per day.
Pricing: Free, Paid plan starts at $20 per month
18. Runway ML
Runway ML is one of the more capable and flexible free AI video generation tools available. It leverages advanced generative models like Gen-2 and other engines to turn static images or text prompts into dynamic video footage. Runway has a strong control over motion, scene continuity, and stylistic direction.
You can provide an image or a sequence of images and use text prompts to define how the scene flows, including camera work, object motion, lighting, and other stylistic effects. It is a great AI video generation option if you want to do some expressive storytelling for social media platforms.
Pricing: Free with limited credit, Paid plan starts at $15 per month
19. OpenAI Sora 2
In attempts to catch up with Google’s Gemini Veo, OpenAI launched its latest model called Sora 2. This AI video generator is only available as an app for now, where you can give some prompts and create tons of cool, aesthetic, funny, and random AI videos. It also features Cameos, where you can use the likeness of other users in your own AI video, similar to tagging someone on Instagram.
Sora 2 also enhances realism, physics motion, and controls the outcome more accurately with your prompts. The model aims to produce videos with consistent scenes and lifelike transitions, but you will need an invite to be able to use the app for free.
Pricing: Free, Paid plan starts at $20 per month
Best Free AI Tools for Chatting
There are many free AI tools out there that can serve as your chatting companion and get a whole lot more done. Let’s go through the list.
20. ChatGPT
And, of course, how could we even start this category without mentioning ChatGPT, the one that started all this? Its latest model is 5.2, which is much more conversational and quite capable of carrying out long, natural, and meaningful conversations with you. Plus, you can use ChatGPT on any device you have. Even access ChatGPT on WhatsApp, Siri, and even the Apple Watch.
Many people have started to use it as their AI buddy to listen to them, as a sort of a therapist, and get some much-needed guidance from the AI. So if you want an AI buddy to chat casually with, try out ChatGPT.
Pricing: Free, Paid plan starts at $20 per month
21. Replika
Long before chatbots like the ones above came to the scene, there was Replika. The AI bot is built for more personal companionship and relationships. You start as mere acquaintances with the bot, but can elevate your relationship to greater heights. Users can even make Replika their significant other and host video calls. Replika even keeps a journal where the AI records its feelings. Try out the free version and see if it takes your fancy.
Pricing: Free, Pro Plan starts at $14.99/month
22. Character AI
While the other AI chatbots don’t exactly have a personality, Character AI gives not just one but multiple personalities to talk to. These include all the famous ones like Elon Musk and Tony Stark, to well as Greek characters like Socrates and Plato. Depending on the person you choose, the AI changes its mood accordingly. If you feel Character AI isn’t good enough, you can create your own character with a built-in image generator.
Pricing: Free, Paid plan starts at $9.99 per month
At this point, artificial intelligence has practically taken over the entire conversation online. AI chatbots have flooded the market. If that’s not enough, we even have many of the best AI tools for mobiles. But that all aside, I hope you enjoyed this list of the best free AI tools, and in case we missed any crucial ones, then let us know in the comments down below.
