Good morning. Here’s your weekly AI briefing from The AI Playbook.

This week: the honest breakdown on paid vs. free AI tools — and the $20/mo stack that handles 80% of what most business owners actually need.

THE QUESTION EVERY BUSINESS OWNER IS ASKING

Every week someone asks: “Do I really need to pay for AI tools, or is the free version good enough?”

The answer is: it depends on what you are trying to do. Here is the breakdown.

FREE TOOLS: WHERE THEY WORK FINE

ChatGPT Free (GPT-4o mini) handles most basic writing tasks — emails, social captions, quick summaries. If you are sending fewer than 20 AI-assisted messages per day, the free tier is enough.

Google Gemini Free is solid for anything tied to Google Workspace. Drafting in Docs, summarizing in Gmail, pulling data in Sheets. If your business runs on Google tools, start here.

Canva Free covers basic image creation and simple social graphics. The AI features in the free tier are genuinely useful for a small operation.

The honest truth: if you are just starting with AI, use free tools for 30 days first. Get comfortable with the workflow before spending money.

PAID TOOLS: WHERE THEY EARN THEIR COST