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AI costs and free plans

What AI tools cost in the UK, what the free plans include and what you can claim against tax.

• Are AI tools free?
  Many AI tools have a free plan, but almost all of them limit messages, images, seats or features. ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot all offer free access; paid upgrades raise limits. "Free forever" usually means enough for light use, not unlimited heavy business use.
• Can ChatGPT Plus make videos?
  No. ChatGPT Plus can't make videos itself. OpenAI's video tool, Sora, closed its app and website on 26 April 2026 and its API on 24 September 2026, so no ChatGPT plan now includes OpenAI video generation. ChatGPT can still write scripts, shot lists and captions, and make still images.
• Can I claim ChatGPT as a business expense in the UK?
  Usually, yes. If you're self-employed and use a ChatGPT, Copilot or similar subscription for your business, GOV.UK treats subscriptions related to the business as allowable expenses. If you also use it personally, claim only the business share. You can't claim expenses if you use the £1,000 trading allowance instead. Keep the invoices.
• Can more than one person use ChatGPT Plus?
  No. ChatGPT Plus is designed for one person. OpenAI's pricing page says Free, Go and Plus "are designed to be used by individuals", and its terms prohibit sharing account credentials. You can use one Plus subscription on all your own devices. For two or more people, ChatGPT Business starts at two users.
• Does ChatGPT Plus have usage limits?
  Yes. ChatGPT Plus gives you far more than the free plan, but it isn't unlimited. OpenAI says Plus "may include usage limits such as message caps", and reasoning models, image creation, deep research, uploads and Codex each have their own allowances. When you hit one, ChatGPT shows when it resets and you can switch to another model meanwhile.
• Does Claude have a free trial or a family plan?
  No. Claude has a permanent free plan, but Anthropic doesn't offer a standing free trial of Pro. It says it occasionally runs limited-time promotions. There is no family plan either. Claude Pro is £20 a month or £199.99 a year in the UK App Store (checked 17 October 2026), and each person needs their own account.
• Does DeepSeek have a paid version?
  No. DeepSeek doesn't sell a monthly subscription for its chat app: the web chat and phone app are free, and the UK App Store listing has no in-app purchases. The only paid product is the developer API, which charges per use from a prepaid balance. For UK businesses, the bigger question is privacy, not price.
• Does Gemini Pro have a limit?
  Yes. Gemini uses compute-based limits rather than a fixed number of prompts. Google AI Pro, £18.99 a month in the UK App Store, gets four times the standard limits. Your allowance refreshes every five hours until you hit a weekly cap. Deep Research, image and video generation use it up fastest.
• Does Meta AI cost money?
  No, Meta AI is free to use in WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and the Meta AI app. Meta now sells optional Meta One bundles that add more AI image and video generation, starting at $7.99 a month. Meta says availability varies by country, and on 17 October 2026 the UK Meta AI App Store listing showed no paid plans.
• How many messages can I send on free ChatGPT?
  For ordinary text chats there's no daily number: OpenAI says Free users get "unlimited everyday text chats, subject to abuse-prevention safeguards". Uploads, image creation, voice, data analysis and deep research still have separate limits. When you hit one, ChatGPT tells you and shows when it resets. Upgrading resets your limits straight away.
• How much does AI cost for a small business?
  Often nothing to start. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity all have free plans. Paid individual plans in the UK App Store mostly cost £6.99 to £20 a month, and business plans with admin controls and stronger data terms cost about £15 to £25 per user a month. Specialist tools such as AI phone answering cost extra.
• How much does an AI video generator cost?
  AI video generators cost from about £5 to £35 a month for a small business. Google AI Plus, which includes video generation in Gemini, is £4.49 a month in the UK App Store, Runway Standard is £14.99, and HeyGen Creator is £29 (checked 17 October 2026). Free plans exist, but they usually add watermarks or tight limits.
• How much does ChatGPT Business cost?
  ChatGPT Business costs $25 per user a month on monthly billing, or $20 per user a month billed annually, for a Standard seat. You need at least two seats. Premium seats, with five times the usage and no five-hour limit, cost $125 a month or $100 billed annually. OpenAI says prices vary by country and currency.
• How much does Claude cost in the UK?
  Claude is free to use, with usage limits that reset every five hours. Anthropic's pricing page lists Pro at $20 a month billed monthly, or $17 a month on a yearly plan ($200 up front), and Max from $100 a month. Prices are in US dollars and exclude tax, so the amount on your card will vary.
• How much does Google AI Studio cost?
  Google AI Studio is free. Google says AI Studio usage stays free unless you link a paid API key, and the free tier needs no billing account. You pay only when you upgrade a project to the paid Gemini API, which for new accounts usually means prepaying at least $5 of credits. Charges are per token.
• How much does Otter.ai cost?
  Otter.ai has a free Basic plan with 300 transcription minutes a month. Otter's pricing page lists Pro at $16.99 per user a month, or $8.33 a month billed yearly, and Business at $30 a month on monthly billing. In the UK App Store, Pro is £99.99 a year and Business £229.99 a year (checked 17 October 2026).
• How much is Canva Pro in the UK?
  Canva's UK pricing page lists Canva Pro at £100 a year for one person and Canva Business at £180 a year per person, excluding applicable tax. Canva Free costs nothing and includes templates, 5 GB of storage and a small monthly AI allowance. Pro is for one person only; teams need Business.
• How much is ChatGPT Go in the UK?
  ChatGPT Go is listed at £6.99 a month in the UK App Store (checked 17 October 2026). On the web, OpenAI bills in US dollars in most countries and shows the price at checkout. Go is the cheapest paid plan: it raises the free limits on uploads, images, data analysis and memory, but it doesn't include Plus's advanced reasoning models.
• How much is ChatGPT Pro in the UK?
  ChatGPT Pro has three monthly tiers. OpenAI lists Pro 100 at $100, Pro 200 at $200 and Pro 500 at $500 a month in US dollars. In the UK App Store the same tiers are £88.90, £200 and £444.99. Pro is billed monthly only, and even Pro has usage limits on its most powerful models.
• How much is Perplexity Pro?
  Perplexity is free to use for quick searches with sources. Its pricing page lists Perplexity Pro at $17 a month billed annually and Max at $167 a month billed annually, both in US dollars. The page doesn't show a month-to-month price for Pro, so check the amount at checkout before you pay.
• How much do you pay for ChatGPT in the UK?
  ChatGPT is free to use in the UK. Paid plans in the UK App Store are Go at £6.99, Plus at £19.99 and Pro from £88.90 a month (checked 17 October 2026). On the web, OpenAI lists Plus at $20 a month and bills in US dollars in most countries, so check the figure at checkout.
• How do I cancel ChatGPT Plus?
  Cancel ChatGPT Plus wherever you bought it. On chatgpt.com, go to Settings, then Billing, then Cancel plan. If you subscribed in the iPhone app, cancel in your Apple subscriptions; on Android, use Google Play. Do it at least 24 hours before renewal. Uninstalling the app doesn't cancel, and you keep Plus until the period ends.
• How do I cancel a Perplexity subscription?
  Cancel Perplexity where you subscribed. On the web, open Settings, find Perplexity Pro, select Manage Subscription, then Cancel Subscription. If you subscribed in the iPhone app, cancel through your App Store subscriptions; on Android, use Google Play. Your account drops back to the free plan when the current billing period ends.
• How much does Apple Intelligence cost?
  Apple Intelligence is free. It comes with the 27 software updates on eligible devices, such as iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 and later, and M1 iPads and Macs. Features that run on Apple's servers, such as Siri AI and Image Playground, have daily limits. Apple says expanded access to those features "will be available for a fee in the future".
• Is ChatGPT free in the UK?
  Yes. ChatGPT has a free plan in the UK with unlimited everyday text chats, subject to OpenAI's abuse safeguards, plus limited uploads, image creation, voice and deep research. Paid plans (Go, Plus and Pro for individuals; Business and Enterprise for teams) raise those limits. OpenAI's help centre lists Plus at $20 a month.
• Does Gemini cost extra in Google Workspace?
  No extra charge for the basics. Gemini is now included in Google Workspace business plans: Business Starter gets Gemini in Gmail and the Gemini app, and Business Standard and above add Gemini in Docs, Sheets, Meet and more. Google lists Starter at $7 and Standard at $14 per user a month on flexible billing.
• Is Google Gemini free?
  Yes. Gemini is free with a Google account and includes chat, image generation and editing, Deep Research, Gemini Live voice chat, Canvas and Gems, with usage limits. Paid Google AI plans (Plus, Pro and Ultra) raise the limits, unlock stronger models and add Gemini inside Gmail and Docs. Google showed Pro at $19.99 a month when we checked.
• Is Grok free to use?
  Partly. Grok offers limited free access on grok.com and in its iPhone and Android apps, and paid SuperGrok plans unlock more. In the UK App Store, the listed in-app purchases are SuperGrok Lite at £10, SuperGrok at £30, SuperGrok Plus at £100 and SuperGrok Heavy at £300 (checked 17 October 2026). The app shows the billing period at checkout.
• Is Microsoft Copilot free?
  Yes. Microsoft offers a free version of Copilot for chat, writing help, web answers and image creation, with usage limits. Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook needs a paid Microsoft 365 plan. Microsoft's UK pricing page listed Microsoft 365 Personal at £8.49 and Family at £10.49 when we checked; business plans cost more.
• What is ChatGPT Business, and should I use personal or business?
  ChatGPT Business is the version of ChatGPT for teams of two or more. It adds a shared workspace, central billing, admin controls, single sign-on and, OpenAI says, no training on your workspace data by default. Standard seats cost $25 per user a month, or $20 billed annually. It includes image creation, ChatGPT Work, projects and GPTs.
• Which Microsoft Copilot is best for a small business?
  For most UK small businesses already on Microsoft 365, start with Copilot Chat, which is free with eligible business plans. If you want Copilot inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, working with your own files, Microsoft sells Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot at £18.10 per user a month, paid yearly, or adds Copilot Business to an existing plan.

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