Every paid AI tool, the free thing that replaces it, and where each one really stops. Including the free ones. Especially the free ones.
Tick what you pay for
You are spending, per year
$0
Tick one and watch.
The swaps
Tap any row. A free tool with a hidden wall is just a slower bill, so the real limit is written on every replacement too.
The free tier just got unlimited messages, but you are held to their weakest model. So the subscription now buys exactly one thing: a smarter brain.
REPLACE IT WITH
OllamaA top open model, on your laptop, offline
No signup, no API key, no account. Download it once and it keeps working with the internet switched off.
The real limit
It runs on your hardware. A small model is fine on an ordinary laptop, the biggest ones want real VRAM. Nothing is capped. Your machine is the ceiling.
Open sourceWorks offlineFree foreverYour own hardware
New accounts get 14 days of Pro. That is what people are actually reviewing. After it ends the free Hobby plan is limited completions and limited premium requests.
REPLACE IT WITH
Cline or Continue.devFree extension, and free intelligence if you want
Both are open source editor extensions. Point either at a local model through Ollama and the entire loop costs nothing.
The real limit
The extension is free, the model is not automatic. Either bring an API key and pay per call, or run it locally and accept your laptop's speed.
Open sourceFree extensionLocal modelsBring your own model
Free gives you about ten songs a day with no commercial rights, and subscribing later does not retroactively license the ones you already made. People build a catalogue and find out afterwards.
REPLACE IT WITH
ACE-StepOpen source, unlimited, no licensing trap
A music generation model you run yourself, so nothing you make is ever waiting to be reclassified.
The real limit
Instrumental only. No vocals. And it needs technical setup. If you need sung lyrics this does not replace Suno, and right now nothing free does.
150 tokens a day, no rollover, and the part nobody mentions: free plan images are owned by Leonardo and every other user can view, copy and remix your work. The money price is zero. You pay in ownership.
REPLACE IT WITH
FLUX, running locallyPrivate by definition. You keep what you make.
The same open model as row 02, on your own machine, where nothing ever leaves the building.
The real limit
You need the GPU. That is the entire trade: Leonardo costs you ownership, running it yourself costs you hardware.
AI avatar video and AI slide decks. Open alternatives exist but they are rough, and pretending otherwise would make everything else on this page worth less.
Synthesia gives you 3 minutes a month with a permanent watermark. HeyGen gives you 3 videos at 720p, also watermarked. Gamma gives you 400 credits that never refill. If you need these properly, you pay. That is the honest answer.
Credit where it is due: Kling
66 credits every day, and they actually reset. There is a watermark and a 5 second cap per clip, but it is a real free tier rather than a sample, and it is the only video tool here that behaves that way.
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Free tools, honest feedback on your work, and people who answer. Job hunters, builders and learners.