Free AI

Yes. Almost all the well-known AIs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, DeepSeek and others) have a free version that's enough to try them out, ask questions, draft and summarise text. What they don't usually give away is heavy use or their most powerful models for very long. And there's another route few people know about: downloading open models and running them on your own computer, without paying anyone per question.

The catch is in what "free" means. With the unpaid version you run into message limits that run out just when you need them most, less capable models and features reserved for paying users. Sometimes you also pay in a different way: with your data, which may be used to improve the service unless you switch that off. AI on your own computer isn't entirely free either: the software is, but you need a machine with enough memory and the patience to set it up. The terms change often (I last checked this in September 2026), so check them on each service's website before deciding.

I work with several AIs at once: some paid, some on my servers and some local, with tools like Ollama or LM Studio. How I split that work I explain in "How I'm working with artificial intelligence". And what each of the ones I use gives you for free, how far it goes and where it cuts you off, I go through in "Can you work professionally with free AI tools?".