July 2026 had more AI launches than anyone could reasonably try, so here are five that are worth the time, with an honest note on what each one actually costs versus what the landing page implies.
Grok 4.5: the one to try free right now
SpaceXAI's [Grok 4.5](https://www.questloops.com/blog/grok-4-5-is-out-pricing-benchmarks-and-how-to-try-it-free) launched July 16 and undercuts Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.6 on price ($2/$6 per million tokens versus $5/$25 and $5/$30). There's a limited-time free window in Grok Build and Cursor, which is the actual way to test it before paying for API access. We covered the pricing and the Hacker News backlash over political neutrality in more detail separately.
Mispher: dictation that never leaves your Mac
[Mispher](https://www.questloops.com/tools/mispher) is a genuinely free, MIT-licensed Mac app that transcribes and rewrites speech entirely on-device, no account, no cloud, no cost. It only runs on Apple Silicon with macOS 26, and the agent features are basic compared to a funded cloud assistant, but for anyone who wants dictation without sending audio anywhere, it's hard to beat on price.
PlugThis: extensions from a sentence, but no free tier
[PlugThis](https://www.questloops.com/tools/plugthis) builds real Chrome extensions, Manifest V3 code and all, from a plain-English description. It launched to a strong Product Hunt reception (#3 Day Rank, 540 upvotes) and reviewers say it produces working extensions in about an hour. The catch: there's no free plan at all, so budget $9.99 a month minimum before you get to try it.
ChatCut: an actual free tier for AI video editing
[ChatCut](https://www.questloops.com/tools/chatcut) lets you describe a video edit in plain English and runs it on a real timeline you can still adjust manually. Unlike PlugThis, it has a genuine $0 free plan, though heavy AI generation (video, images, voiceovers) burns through credits fast enough that most regular users end up on the $25/mo Pro tier.
Sim: the open-source one you can run yourself
[Sim](https://www.sim.ai/) is an open-source visual builder for AI agent workflows, Apache-2.0 licensed, with a free self-hosted option (Docker Compose or Kubernetes) alongside a hosted plan that starts with 1,000 one-time credits free and scales to $25/mo (Pro, 5,000 credits) or $100/mo (Max, 20,000 credits). If you want to own your agents' infrastructure and data outright, self-hosting Sim costs nothing but server time.
What's actually free, ranked
| Tool | Real free tier? | Cheapest paid entry |
|---|---|---|
| Mispher | Yes, fully free (MIT) | No paid tier exists |
| Sim | Yes (self-hosted) | $25/mo for hosted Pro |
| ChatCut | Yes, capped credits | $25/mo |
| Grok 4.5 | Time-limited only | $2/$6 per million tokens |
| PlugThis | No | $9.99/mo |
The takeaway
If your budget is zero, start with Mispher or a self-hosted Sim instance; both are free with no expiration date attached. If you have a little room to spend, ChatCut's free tier is generous enough to judge whether the paid plan is worth it before you commit. PlugThis is the one exception here: there's no way to test it without paying, so make sure you have a specific extension idea in mind before you subscribe.
Frequently asked questions
**Which of these tools works without an account?** Mispher and self-hosted Sim are the only two that don't require creating an account with the vendor.
**Are any of these free tiers permanent?** Mispher's is permanent since there's no paid tier at all. ChatCut and Sim's cloud free tiers are ongoing but limited by credits, not time.
**What's the best pick for someone with zero technical background?** ChatCut, since it needs no setup beyond a browser, while Sim's self-hosted option requires comfort with Docker.
