10 AI Tools That Will Help You Launch a Business for Under $100
Affordable, smart, and startup-ready (no venture capital needed)
Starting a business on a shoestring budget is like trying to build a spaceship using duct tape and dreams. But here’s the twist: in 2025, AI is your secret fuel. With the right tools, you can automate processes, craft content, scale customer support, and even analyze data — all without breaking your bank.
Below, I’ve rounded up 10 AI tools you can actually use to launch (or supercharge) a business—each with plans or usage that comfortably sit beneath the $100/mo mark (or even free!). These are not fluff picks; they’re battle-tested, accessible, and designed for scrappy founders. I think you’ll be surprised how powerful a lean tech stack can feel.
1. ChatGPT / OpenAI API
Why it matters: From drafting emails to ideating product names to writing marketing copy, the language models behind this beast are gold for bootstrappers.
Pricing & plan: The free tier gives you access to GPT-3.5, while the “Plus” tier (≈ $20/month) unlocks GPT-4. For heavier use or embedding AI into your product, OpenAI offers pay-as-you-go API pricing.
Tips: Use the free/premium mix: rely on GPT-4 for mission-critical tasks, keep GPT-3.5 or the free tier for drafts and brainstorming.
2. Zapier (with AI modules)
Why it matters: Imagine you get an email in Gmail and it triggers a LinkedIn post, a Slack alert, and an AI reply draft—without touching your keyboard. Automation magic.
Pricing & plan: Zapier’s free tier still gives you AI power (e.g., “Prompt Steps”), though multi-step and richer workflows require paid plans (~$19.99/mo for Professional)
Add-on modules (e.g. chatbots, Interfaces, etc.) may cost extra.
Tips: Build your most repetitive workflow first (e.g. lead collection → CRM) and scale slowly. Automation gives you “free hours.”
3. Tidio (for AI chat + customer support)
Why it matters: You can have AI chatbots on your site to answer FAQs, route conversations, and work while you sleep (or binge a show).
Pricing & plan:
Free plan: 50 chatbot conversations/month + live chat + basic features
Starter: ~$29/month for ~100 conversations and extra analytics
Growth: ~$59/month for more conversations and deeper AI features
Premium / enterprise plans exist, but you don’t need them early.
Tips: Use the free plan to validate what users ask. When you hit the cap, upgrade selectively. Let the AI absorb repetitive queries while humans handle nuance.
4. Copy.ai (content / copy generation)
Why it matters: Landing pages, Facebook ads, blog intros, taglines — done in moments rather than hours.
Pricing & plan: Copy.ai’s “Small Teams / Advanced” plan is ~$29/month for unlimited words in chat + creative features.
Tips: Use AI drafts as starting points, not final products. Always human-review for tone, clarity, and brand fit.
5. MagAI (50+ AI models in one plan)
Why it matters: You don’t have to subscribe to ten tools when one gives access to many — image creators, text models, etc.
Pricing & plan: Around $20–$40/month gives access to 50+ AI models.
Tips: Use it for testing various modalities (e.g. image generation, translation) without multiple subscriptions. Great for scrappy experimentation.
6. Toolzz AI (no-code AI chatbot builder)
Why it matters: If you want to embed a custom GPT-style agent into your app or website without coding, this is your lever.
Pricing & plan: Offers “no-code chatbot” capabilities with integrations to 400+ tools. (Exact pricing is less publicly transparent but positioned as SMB-friendly)
Tips: Prove the use case (e.g. customer support assistant) before scaling. The lower-cost plans often suffice early on.
7. JetBrains AI (for coding + dev support)
Why it matters: If your business involves software, this tool helps you code faster, spot bugs, and refactor — think “pair programmer in your IDE.”
Pricing & plan: JetBrains AI Pro is ~$10/user/month; Ultimate is ~$30/user/month.
Tips: Use it selectively for your core team. Don’t commit it to your entire org until ROI shows.
8. Google Vertex AI / Generative AI App Builder
Why it matters: For when you decide to build a custom AI-powered backend (e.g. search, recommendation, classification) with Google infrastructure.
Pricing & plan: Free trial: 10,000 queries/month on Vertex AI Search. Costs scale with usage (compute, inference).
Tips: Use this when your business model justifies custom AI. Before that, rely on higher-level wrappers to save time and overhead.
9. Mistral API / models
Why it matters: Open, high-performance models for text, coding, etc. You can call them under usage-based pricing.
Pricing & plan: Mistral’s “Medium 3” has pricing like ~$0.40 per million input tokens and ~$2 per million output tokens.
Tips: Use it as a backend engine if you’re comfortable wiring APIs. Combine with cheap orchestration tools (like Zapier above) to get a quasi-”product”.
10. Lumio AI (model comparison workspace)
Why it matters: Helps you compare GPT-4, Claude, Mistral models side-by-side in a unified environment, letting you get “best model for task” without paying for ten subscriptions.
Pricing & plan: Lumio offers multi-model switching; its ~$5/day plan is notable for affordability.
Tips: Use Lumio when deciding model strategies. When one model dominates, you can drop others and save.
🎯 Craft Your Stack (Without Overspending)
You don’t need all ten — pick a stack that covers your core needs. Here’s a lean starter combo:
Chat & content: ChatGPT / OpenAI
Automation: Zapier
Customer support chatbot: Tidio
Content / landing pages: Copy.ai
Model exploration / switching: Lumio AI
That’s five tools — and even if you upgrade some, you’ll still likely stay under $100/month in early days.
Also read: What I’d Do Today If I Had to Start Making Money Online from Scratch
Final Thoughts & Call to Action
We live in a rare moment: AI that once required a data center now fits into your monthly budget. But — and this is huge — tools don’t build a business, you do. Use AI to multiply your energy, not replace your instincts.
So here’s what I’d like you to do next:
Pick one small task (e.g. writing product descriptions) and run it through ChatGPT or Copy.ai.
Automate one repetitive flow using Zapier (e.g. new lead → Slack ping).
Add an AI chatbot (Tidio or Toolzz) to your site and watch what questions people ask.
Tell me your niche (e.g. SaaS, e-commerce, health, local biz), and I’ll help you tailor an AI stack that fits you — no fluff, no waste. Ready to assemble?