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Free alternatives to AI subscriptions

Local and open-source replacements for paid AI chat, coding, image, voice, writing and transcription tools. Most run on your own computer.

Replacing all 12 paid apps saves up to $2,688 USD a year

Last verified

Each paid app, its best free pick and what switching saves
Paid appBest free pickYou stop paying
ChatGPTLM StudioTop pickLicense: Free tier$240 a year
ClaudeLM StudioTop pickLicense: Free tier$200 a year
Google GeminiLM StudioTop pickLicense: Free tier$240 a year
GitHub CopilotOpenCodeStrongLicense: Open source$120 a year
CursorZedStrongLicense: Open source$192 a year
MidjourneyComfyUITop pickLicense: Open source$96 a year
PerplexityVaneTop pickLicense: Open source$240 a year
ElevenLabsPiperTop pickLicense: Open source$60 a year
Otter.aiBuzzTop pickLicense: Open source$100 a year
GrammarlyLanguageToolTop pickLicense: Open source$144 a year
JasperOllamaStrongLicense: Open source$708 a year
Copy.aiOllamaStrongLicense: Open source$348 a year
Total for all 12 apps$2,688 USD a year

Savings are list prices for each app on its own plan, checked on the dates shown on each app’s page. Apps sold in the same subscription are counted once in the total, and a bundle can cost less than the sum.

  1. Instead of ChatGPT

    All 5 alternatives to ChatGPT

    Swap ChatGPT Plus for a local model in LM Studio or Ollama.

    LM Studio

    Best for a polished local chat app

    License: Free tier
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    • Self-hosted
    Status: Verified

    Saves $240 USD a year vs ChatGPT ($300 CAD)

    Also good: Open WebUI, Jan, Ollama.

  2. Instead of Claude

    All 5 alternatives to Claude

    Swap Claude Pro for a local model in LM Studio or Ollama.

    LM Studio

    Best for a polished local chat app

    License: Free tier
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    • Self-hosted
    Status: Verified

    Saves $200 USD a year vs Claude (≈$285 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: Open WebUI, Jan, Ollama.

  3. Instead of Google Gemini

    All 5 alternatives to Google Gemini

    Swap the paid Gemini plan for a local model in LM Studio, Jan or Ollama.

    LM Studio

    Best for a polished local chat app

    License: Free tier
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    • Self-hosted
    Status: Verified

    Saves $240 USD a year vs Google Gemini ($324 CAD)

    Also good: Open WebUI, Jan, Ollama.

  4. Instead of GitHub Copilot

    All 3 alternatives to GitHub Copilot

    Swap for OpenCode or Cline with a local or bring-your-own-key model.

    OpenCode

    Best for a terminal-first agent that works with many models

    License: Open source
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    • Command line
    Status: Active

    Saves $120 USD a year vs GitHub Copilot (≈$171 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: Cline, Tabby.

  5. Instead of Cursor

    All 4 alternatives to Cursor

    Swap for Zed, or Visual Studio Code with Cline.

    Zed

    Best for a fast editor with an agent and your own keys

    License: Open source
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    Status: Active

    Saves $192 USD a year vs Cursor (≈$274 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: Cline, Visual Studio Code, OpenCode.

  6. Instead of Midjourney

    All 4 alternatives to Midjourney

    Swap for ComfyUI with an open image model on your own GPU.

    ComfyUI

    Best for full control over local image and video models

    License: Open source
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    • Self-hosted
    Status: Active

    Saves $96 USD a year vs Midjourney (≈$137 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: InvokeAI, Fooocus, Stable Diffusion WebUI Forge.

  7. Instead of Perplexity

    All 2 alternatives to Perplexity

    Swap for Vane, a self-hosted answer engine that cites its sources.

    Vane

    Best for a self-hosted answer engine with cited sources

    License: Open source
    • Web
    • Self-hosted
    Status: Active

    Saves $240 USD a year vs Perplexity (≈$342 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: SearXNG.

  8. Instead of ElevenLabs

    All 3 alternatives to ElevenLabs

    Swap for Piper or Kokoro for local text to speech.

    Piper

    Best for fast offline speech in many languages

    License: Open source
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    • Self-hosted
    • Command line
    Status: Active

    Saves $60 USD a year vs ElevenLabs (≈$86 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: Kokoro TTS, Coqui TTS.

  9. Instead of Otter.ai

    All 4 alternatives to Otter.ai

    Swap for Buzz, which transcribes on your own computer with Whisper models.

    Buzz

    Best for offline transcription in a desktop app

    License: Open source
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    Status: Active

    Saves $100 USD a year vs Otter.ai (≈$143 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: MacWhisper, whisper.cpp, Whisper.

  10. Instead of Grammarly

    All 2 alternatives to Grammarly

    Swap for LanguageTool, or Harper for fully local checking.

    LanguageTool

    Best for multilingual checking in browsers and Office

    License: Open source
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    • Web
    • iOS
    • Self-hosted
    Status: Active

    Saves $144 USD a year vs Grammarly (≈$205 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: Harper.

  11. Instead of Jasper

    All 2 alternatives to Jasper

    Swap for a local model in LM Studio or Ollama with your own prompt templates.

    Ollama

    Best for scripted drafting with local models

    License: Open source
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    • Self-hosted
    • Command line
    Status: Active

    Saves $708 USD a year vs Jasper (≈$1,009 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: LM Studio.

  12. Instead of Copy.ai

    All 2 alternatives to Copy.ai

    Swap for a local model in LM Studio or Ollama with your own prompt templates.

    Ollama

    Best for scripted drafting with local models

    License: Open source
    • Windows
    • macOS
    • Linux
    • Self-hosted
    • Command line
    Status: Active

    Saves $348 USD a year vs Copy.ai (≈$496 CAD, estimated)

    Also good: LM Studio.