The $0 AI Stack
A free guide by Kamran Imam — Instagram · TikTok · YouTube
You can run a genuinely capable AI setup for zero dollars a month. Free tiers change constantly — companies raise and lower them monthly, so I’m giving you the categories and the rules, with current picks you should verify:
The stack by job
- Daily thinking partner: the free tiers of Claude and ChatGPT — and use BOTH. Different strengths, and two free tiers stack into decent daily capacity. Set up custom instructions in each (/r/setup).
- Research with sources: free tiers of AI search tools (Perplexity and friends) for anything where you need citations to check.
- Writing cleanup: your main chat AI already does this — you don’t need a separate subscription; you need the REWRITE prompt (/r/codes #11).
- Images: free tiers of the big image models cover occasional social graphics and mockups. Watch the watermark rules for commercial use.
- Transcription: your phone’s built-in voice-to-text has gotten quietly excellent, and free transcription tiers cover the rest.
- Automation: the free tiers of Make/Zapier-class tools run 1-2 simple automations (/r/automate) forever.
The honest rules of free tiers
- Free = limited messages of the good model, then a downgrade. Learn where the cliff is on each app and save the strong model for the work that deserves it.
- Spread the load. Draft with one app, critique with the other (/r/codes #2 — THE SECOND OPINION — makes this a feature, not a workaround).
- Never put sensitive data in any tool you haven’t vetted — free or paid. Random free AI websites with no reputation are a hard no (/r/safety).
- Free tiers are for finding out what you’d pay for. That’s their actual job.
When to start paying (the honest math)
The day you hit limits on work that makes or saves you money, the $20 pays for itself in a week — it’s the cheapest employee you’ll ever hire. Pay for ONE first: whichever app you instinctively opened most last month. If you’re not sure which, that’s your answer that free still fits. My decision guide: /r/choose.
The upgrade path
$0 (both free tiers) → $20 (your main app’s paid tier) → $20 + specific tools your work actually needs (transcription hours, automation runs). Skip the $200 “all the AI tools” phase — everyone who does that uses three of them.
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