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Made by the NavBoth team. Listing summaries are checked against public product pages. They are not endorsements or live access tests. Full note

A reading list, not a ranking

Free AI tools to start with

Use this page when you want a free way to start and you want the tool to already be in the index. A good fit is a listing marked free, freemium, or source-available. Paid-only products stay on their own pages.

The twelve cards are a path across jobs: two general assistants marked not offered in mainland China, two chat listings marked offered, then search, an editor, slides, a voice, translation, meeting notes, 即梦, and a self-hostable workflow. The order is not a score.

On Browse, the price filter “Free to start” is the full set. It includes free, freemium, and source-available products. A free tier still has caps, and it is a separate fact from the mainland China mark.

How to choose

  • Read the price shape on the card before the brand. Every card here is freemium or source-available. Jasper, Midjourney, Intercom Fin, and Airtable AI are paid in the index and are absent on purpose.
  • Read the China mark second. ChatGPT and Claude are freemium and marked not offered. DeepSeek, Kimi, and 即梦 are freemium and marked offered. A free signup does not change a “not offered” mark.
  • Follow the job if you already know it. Writing, coding, images, video, meetings, voice, translation, support, and sheets each have their own page.
  • Treat source-available as a license shape, not as a promise of a free hosted product. n8n can be self-hosted and also sells a cloud. The model you connect may be a separate bill.

Shortlist

Twelve listings with a free way in. The line under each card is the job, not a rank.

Head to head

  • ChatGPT vs Claude

    Two freemium chat assistants. Both are marked not offered for ordinary use in mainland China. The page is the job, not a price.

  • DeepSeek vs ChatGPT

    Both are freemium. DeepSeek is marked offered in mainland China. ChatGPT is marked not offered. A free tier is not an access mark.

Questions

  • Is this a list of the best free tools?

    No. The address is a common way to ask the question. The page is a reading list of listings that already show a free tier or a source-available edition. Nothing here is ranked, scored, or sold as a placement.

  • Does free mean I can use it in mainland China?

    No. ChatGPT and Claude are freemium and marked not offered for ordinary use in mainland China. DeepSeek, Kimi, and 即梦 are freemium and marked offered. The other cards are not confirmed. The two marks are different fields.

  • Why are some well-known tools missing?

    Paid listings are missing on purpose. Midjourney, Jasper, and Intercom Fin are in the index and on other pages. A tool that is not in the seed is not on this page either. Browse is the full set, with the “Free to start” filter.

  • What does “free to start” include?

    On Browse, that filter includes free, freemium, and source-available products. “Paid plans only” is the other price filter. This shortlist is twelve examples, not every freemium row in the seed.

  • Are the free tiers unlimited?

    The index does not say that. It records a price shape and leaves quotas, watermarks, and commercial terms on the vendor’s site. A free tier is a way to start, and it is still the vendor’s plan.

Limits

NavBoth is a directory of public products already in the index. These pages help you choose a listing. The product itself runs on the vendor’s site. Mainland China marks come from public offers reviewed with the seed; they are not a live connection test. No listing on these pages has a paid badge. Names belong to their owners.

Caps, watermarks, and what a free account may publish stay on each vendor’s site. This page is an editorial reading list. It is not a coupon page and not a claim that any tool is the best.

Full note

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