| Company | Category | Free Tier | Paid From | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | LLM | ✓ | $20/mo | 200M+ |
| Anthropic | LLM | ✓ | $20/mo | 50M+ |
| Midjourney | Image | ✗ | $10/mo | 20M+ |
| Google DeepMind | Platform | ✓ | $19.99/mo | 100M+ |
| ElevenLabs | Audio | ✓ | $5/mo | 3M+ |
For beginners, ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Claude (Anthropic) are excellent starting points. Both offer free tiers with intuitive interfaces for general AI tasks like writing, coding, and research. ChatGPT has 200M+ users while Claude offers 5x more usage on paid plans.
Stable Diffusion offers free self-hosted options with no usage limits. For cloud-based solutions, Midjourney starts at $10/month for 200 generations, Leonardo.AI provides 150 free tokens daily, and Ideogram offers 100 free prompts per day.
AI tool pricing varies widely: Free tiers are available for most services. LLM tools like ChatGPT and Claude cost $20/month for premium features. Image generators range from $8-60/month. Code assistants cost $10-40/month. Enterprise solutions require custom pricing.
Our comparison data is updated monthly and verified against official company sources as of February 2026. Pricing may change without notice, so we recommend verifying current rates with the provider before purchasing.
Both are leading AI assistants but differ in approach: ChatGPT (OpenAI) has 200M+ users and offers DALL-E image generation. Claude (Anthropic) focuses on safety, offers longer conversations, and includes features like Artifacts and Projects. Both cost $20/month for premium plans.