Harnessing the Power of Technology: 18 Free AI Tools for SMBs

Do you want to know how to use free AI tools to grow your business? In this article, you will learn how to leverage AI tools for content writing, design, video creation, productivity, and HR. Read on and find out how to boost your business with AI.

In today's fast-paced digital era, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a game-changer in the business landscape. It is revolutionizing how companies operate, making processes more efficient, and providing valuable insights that drive strategic decision-making. 

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMBs), with their limited resources, can particularly benefit from these advancements. By leveraging AI tools, SMBs can automate routine tasks, enhance productivity, and gain a competitive edge.

The Rise of AI and Free AI Tools for SMBs

AI refers to computer systems' ability to mimic human intelligence processes, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and language understanding. For SMBs, AI presents an opportunity to streamline operations, improve customer experience, and make data-driven decisions.

However, budget constraints may hinder SMBs from fully exploiting this technology. This is where free AI tools come into play. These tools offer SMBs a cost-effective way to experience the benefits of AI without breaking the bank.

List of 18 Free AI Tools by Category

Forget ChatGPT; let's check out these best free AI tools available for SMBs, categorized based on 5 functions: Content writing, Presentation, Video creation, Productivity, and HR Tools.

I. Content Writing

1. GrammarlyGO

• Overview: GrammarlyGO is an AI-powered writing assistant that enhances your writing by correcting grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.
• Function and How it Works: As you type, GrammarlyGO checks your text for common and complex grammatical mistakes, word choice, and sentence structure. It provides real-time suggestions to improve your writing.
• What Can It Help With GrammarlyGO can help SMBs ensure their content is error-free and professional, thus improving their brand image.
• Free Plan: 100 prompts/month with basic writing corrections.
• Paid plan: Start at $12/month with advanced writing feedback, plagiarism detectors, vocabulary enhancement, and more.

2. Rytr

• Overview: Rytr is an AI-powered writing tool that assists in generating creative and engaging content across various categories.
• Function and How it Works: Using machine learning algorithms, Rytr understands the context of the user's input and delivers high-quality content. It offers multiple writing styles and tones, making it versatile for different content needs.
• What Can It Help With Rytr can help SMBs with a wide range of content requirements, including blog posts, social media content, product descriptions, and ad copies. It can significantly reduce the time and effort required for content creation.
• Free Plan: 5,000 characters/month with basic writing features
• Paid plan: Start at $9/month with unlimited characters, premium writing features, priority support, and more

3. Copy.ai

• Overview: Copy.ai is an AI-powered copywriting tool designed to help with various content creation needs.
• Function and How it Works: Using GPT-3 technology, Copy.ai can generate creative and engaging content in seconds. Users simply input a brief description of their needs, and the tool provides several options to choose from.
• What Can It Help With: Copy.ai can assist SMBs in creating a wide range of content, including blog posts, social media posts, product descriptions, ad copies, and more. It can be especially useful in generating multiple ideas quickly and reducing the time spent on content creation.
• Free Plan: 100 prompts with full access to all features.
• Paid plan: Start at $36/month with unlimited prompts, custom templates, team collaboration, and more.

4. Quillbot

• Overview: Quillbot is an AI writing tool specializing in paraphrasing and summarizing text.
• Function and How it Works: Users enter the text they want to rewrite, and Quillbot provides a rephrased version while maintaining the original meaning. It offers different modes (such as Standard, Fluency, and Creative) to cater to different writing needs.
• What Can It Help With: Quillbot can be particularly helpful for SMBs looking to rewrite existing content, summarize long documents, or improve the fluency and readability of their texts. It's also a useful tool for non-native English speakers wanting to improve their written communication.
• Free Plan: 700 characters per quill with three modes and a thesaurus
• Paid Plan: Start at $9.99/month with unlimited characters, all modes, summarizer, integrations, and more

II. Design

1. Tome

• Overview: Tome is an AI-powered tool designed to aid in creating professional presentations.
• Function and How it Works: Tome utilizes AI algorithms to analyze your content and suggest suitable designs, layouts, and visuals for your presentation.
• What Can It Help With: Tome can help SMBs create visually appealing presentations quickly and efficiently, ensuring their ideas are communicated effectively. Tome AI can also rewrite, fix grammar, and adjust the tone of your writing.
• Free Plan: 10 presentations/month with basic design features and AI writing assistance
• Paid Plan: $8/month with unlimited presentations, premium design features, advanced AI writing assistance, and more

2. Canva

• Overview: Canva is a design platform that offers a range of AI-powered tools to help you create stunning visual content with ease.
• Function and How it Works: Canva offers AI tools such as Magic Design (generate designs based on written prompts); Magic Eraser (remove unwanted objects or backgrounds from images); Magic Write (produce copy for your design); Text to Image (transform text into artistic image); and Translate (translate designs into 100+ languages supported). You start by selecting a template or creating a design from scratch. Based on your prompts, Canva's AI then suggests colors, fonts, and images based on your previous designs and current trends.
• What Can It Help With: Canva can help SMBs create professional-looking designs for social media, websites, and print materials, enhancing their brand's visual identity.
• Free Plan: 250,000 templates, 100+ design types, and 5GB of cloud storage
• Paid Plan: $119.99/year with 420,000 templates, 100+ million premium stock photos, 100GB of cloud storage, and more

3. Visily

• Overview: Visily is a design platform that offers a range of AI-powered tools to help you create stunning visual content with ease. It is built for non-designers and can generate designs from hand-drawn sketches, app screenshots, built-in templates, and soon, text prompts.
• Function and How it Works: Visily has a powerful library of AI design features that make design easy and accessible. Some of these features are Text to Design, Screenshot to Design, Sketch to Design, Magic Theme, Magic Image, and Structured Data Fill. Visily also provides a powerful, user-friendly editor that lets you tweak your designs with text, photos, and UI components. You can also export your designs to Figma for further refinement.
• What Can It Help With Visily? It can help anyone who needs to create wireframes, mockups, or prototypes for apps or websites without any design skills or experience.
• Pricing: Totally free

III. Video Creation

1. Kapwing

• Overview: Kapwing is a web-based collaborative video editor designed for casual and professional creators who need to produce videos for various platforms and purposes. It also offers AI-powered features that enhance video creation and editing.
• Function and How it Works: Kapwing provides a drag-and-drop timeline where you can upload and edit videos and add text, music, and effects. Kapwing’s AI can also auto-generate subtitles, remove silences, generate videos from text prompts, and provide intelligent tips and feedback for content creation
• What Can it Help With Kapwing can help SMBs create engaging video content for marketing and communication purposes, such as social media videos, video ads, promo videos, explainer videos, slideshow videos, and more.
• Free Plan: Monthly video export limit of 3 hours, export videos up to 4 minutes long, unlimited export with a watermark, 720p video quality
• Paid Plan: $16/month with unlimited video length, no watermark, cloud storage, and more

2. InVideo

• Overview: InVideo is an AI-powered video creation tool.
• Function and How it Works: InVideo offers a wide range of templates and customization options. Its AI assists in choosing the perfect template for your content and provides editing suggestions.
• What Can It Help With InVideo can help SMBs create high-quality videos for social media, ads, or internal communication with minimal effort.
• Free Plan: 60 videos/month with a watermark and a resolution of 720p
• Paid Plan: $20/month with unlimited videos, no watermark, a resolution of 1080p, and more

3. Elai

• Overview: Elai.io is an advanced AI tool with features like avatar creation, text-to-video, and voice cloning.
• Function and How it Works: Users can create and customize digital avatars to represent their brand. The text-to-video feature transforms written content into engaging video clips, while the voice cloning feature can replicate human voices, offering a consistent audio experience across multiple platforms.
• What Can It Help With: Elai.io can help SMBs create dynamic video content and personalized avatars and maintain audio consistency across different channels. This can significantly enhance their brand presence and engagement.
• Free Plan: 10 videos/month with a watermark and a limited number of avatars and voices
• Paid Plan: $23/month with unlimited videos, no watermark, more avatars and voices, and more

4. HeyGen

• Overview: HeyGen is a comprehensive AI-powered tool offering features such as voice cloning, text-to-speech, and AI avatar creation.
• Function and How it Works: Users can clone any voice to deliver their content, providing a more personalized experience for their audience. The text-to-speech feature converts written content into natural-sounding audio, while the AI avatar feature allows users to create lifelike digital characters.
• What Can It Help With: HeyGen.com can assist SMBs in creating engaging audio content, transforming text into speech, and creating visually appealing AI avatars. It's a robust tool for enhancing content quality and audience engagement.

• Free Plan: 10 videos/month with a watermark and a limited number of avatars and voices.

• Paid Plan: $24/month with unlimited videos, no watermark, more avatars and voices, and more

5. HourOne

• Overview: HourOne is a unique AI technology that offers features like virtual human presenters, designed templates, and support for multiple languages & voices.
• Function and How it Works: Users can create virtual human presenters that deliver content in a realistic and engaging manner. The designed templates streamline the video creation process, while the multi-language support allows businesses to reach a global audience.
• What Can It Help With HourOne can be a game-changing tool for SMBs looking to create engaging video content without the need for actors, cameras, or studios. Multi-language support also allows businesses to personalize content for different regions, enhancing their global reach.
• Free Plan: 10 videos/month with a watermark and a limited number of presenters and languages
• Paid Plan: $30/month with unlimited videos, no watermark, more presenters and languages, and more

IV. Productivity

1. ClickUp

• Overview: ClickUp is an all-in-one project management tool.
• Function and How it Works: ClickUp uses AI to automate tasks, set reminders, and predict project timelines based on past performance. It offers features like task management, time tracking, and document sharing.
• What Can it Help With ClickUp can help SMBs manage projects more efficiently, boosting productivity and ensuring timely completion of tasks.
• Free Plan: Unlimited tasks, members, and integrations
• Paid Plan: $7/month with unlimited views, dashboards, goals, portfolios, custom fields, and more

2. Notion

• Overview: Notion AI is an AI-powered tool that helps manage projects, tasks, notes, and calendars.
• Function and How it Works: Notion offers a unified workspace where you can write, plan, collaborate, and organize. Its AI provides smart suggestions based on your work patterns.
• What Can it Help With: Notion can help SMBs keep their work organized and accessible, improving team collaboration and efficiency.
• Free Plan: Unlimited blocks for individuals; Limited block trial of 1000 for teams, 5MB file upload limit, and up to 5 guests
• Paid Plan: $8/user/month with unlimited file uploads, unlimited guests, version history, and more

3. Trello

• Overview: Trello is a visual project management tool in the Atlassian family of products. It is widely used for personal and team projects, allowing for a high level of customization and collaboration. Recently, Trello launched Atlassian Intelligence, a new feature that enhances Trello with artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities such as suggest automations, integrate with other apps, and help with content creation, making Trello more efficient and powerful.
• Function and How it Works: Atlassian Intelligence works with Trello’s existing features to provide smart suggestions and integrations. For example, Atlassian Intelligence can work with Butler, Trello’s built-in automation tool, to create and execute automation rules and commands based on the user’s behavior and preferences. Atlassian Intelligence can also work with Power-Ups, Trello’s integrations with other apps, to connect Trello with Slack, Jira, email, and more. Additionally, Atlassian Intelligence can help users create content, such as writing and editing card descriptions, titles, and comments, by providing intelligent tips and feedback.
• What Can It Help With: Trello can help SMBs organize and prioritize their projects effectively. It's a versatile productivity tool that can streamline workflows, promote cross-team collaboration, and manage details of various tasks. By using Trello with Atlassian Intelligence, SMBs can benefit from saving time, reducing errors, improving quality, and increasing collaboration. Atlassian Intelligence can automate repetitive and tedious tasks, integrate Trello with other tools and platforms, and provide smart guidance and assistance for content creation.
• Free Plan: Unlimited boards, cards, and lists, 10MB file attachment limit, and one Power-Up per board. Users can access Atlassian Intelligence but with some limitations, such as fewer automation rules and commands and less frequent suggestions
• Paid Plan: $5/month with unlimited file attachments, unlimited Power-Ups, advanced checklists, custom fields, and more

V. HR Tools

1. Grove HR

• Overview: Grove HR is an innovative and comprehensive human resource tool that adopts AI to streamline and automate various HR tasks. It offers unique features like AI CV and document parsing, even in its free version.
• Function and How it Works: The AI CV parsing function is part of the recruitment module, which automatically extracts and organizes information from resumes, reducing manual work and increasing efficiency in candidate screening. The document parsing function is designed to help HR teams extract relevant information from documents such as National IDs and Bank Info Documents, aiding in effective employee management.
• What Can It Help With: These features can be a boon for SMBs, significantly reducing the time and effort spent on manual data entry and document management. By automating these processes, Grove HR allows HR teams to focus more on strategic tasks, thus enhancing overall productivity and effectiveness.
• Pricing: Free for up to 50 employees, unlimited documents

2. Juicebox

• Overview: Juicebox is an advanced tool designed to streamline and enhance recruitment and HR processes. It offers a wide range of features, from onboarding support to team collaboration.
• Function and How it Works: Juicebox provides onboarding and training support for seamless employee integration. It offers custom email and phone credits, role-based access, and reporting options. Users can sync the platform with their CRM and ATS for more efficient workflows. The tool allows up to 250+ profiles per search and unlimited projects. Moreover, it offers priority chat, email, and Slack support. Other notable features include team collaboration, export to CSV, and the ability to handle multiple active projects.
• What Can it Help With: Juicebox can help businesses streamline their recruitment process, improve team collaboration, and manage their employee data more effectively. The tool's robust features make it an excellent choice for SMBs looking to improve their HR operations.
• Free Plan: 10 profiles per search, 1 active project, and basic support
• Paid Plan: $79 per month with 250 profiles per search, unlimited projects, and priority support

Additional reading suggestions: 5 Best Recruiting Software for Small Businesses (Free & Paid)

3. Effy

• Overview: Effy is an AI-powered tool designed to automate and enhance the review process. It offers features like AI-summarizing reviews and advanced access rights.
• Function and How it Works: With Effy, users can conduct up to 100 reviews per quarter, with the option to add more for an additional fee. The platform allows unlimited members and provides 18 months of storage access. One of its standout features is the AI-summarizing reviews, which uses artificial intelligence to summarize and highlight key points in reviews. It also provides advanced access rights for better control and management.
• What Can it Help With: Effy can significantly simplify the review process for businesses, saving time and ensuring more accurate results. Its AI-summarizing feature can help businesses gain quick insights from their reviews, making it easier to make informed decisions.
• Free Plan: 10 reviews per quarter with a watermark and basic features
• Paid Plan: $75 per month with 100 reviews per quarter with no watermark and advanced features

How to Choose the Right AI Tool for Your Business

Now that you have learned about some of the best free AI tools for SMBs by category, you may wonder how to choose the right one for your business. Here are some factors to consider when choosing an AI tool:

• Your needs and goals: You should first identify what problems or challenges you want to solve or what goals or outcomes you want to achieve with the AI tool.
• Your budget and resources: You should also consider how much money and time you are willing or able to invest in the AI tool.
• Your skills and preferences: You should also consider how comfortable or familiar you are with using the AI tool or learning new skills or technologies.
• The features and functions of the AI tool: You should also compare the different features and functions of the AI tools in each category and see which ones match your needs and goals best.
• The reviews and ratings of the AI tool: You should also check the reviews and ratings of the AI tools from other users or experts and see what they say about their experience and satisfaction with the AI tool. Some trusted reviewing sites are Capterra, G2, etc.

Tips on how to implement and integrate these tools into existing business processes:

• Start small and simple: You should start with using one or a few AI tools that can help you with the most urgent or important tasks or goals. You should also start with using the basic or free features and functions of the AI tools and see how they work for you.
• Test and experiment: You should test and experiment with different AI tools and features and see how they affect your performance, efficiency, and results. You should also collect feedback from your team, customers, or stakeholders and see how they perceive or respond to the AI tools.
• Learn and improve: You should learn from your tests and experiments and see what works and what doesn't work for you. You should also look for ways to improve your use of the AI tools, such as customizing, optimizing, or integrating them with other tools or systems.

Final Thoughts

AI tools are a powerful and valuable resource for SMBs that can help them overcome their challenges and achieve their goals. They can help SMBs automate tasks, analyze data, generate content, enhance design, create videos, improve productivity, and manage HR. 

They can also help SMBs save time, money, and resources, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, and gain a competitive edge in the market.

However, SMBs may face some difficulties or barriers in implementing or using AI tools, such as cost, complexity, or compatibility. 

That's why free AI tools are a great option for SMBs. They can help SMBs access and use AI tools without any financial risk or technical hassle. They can also provide various features and functions that can cater to different aspects of a business.