One assistant, one automation tool, one design tool and a free layer. Real prices, three sample setups and the subscriptions you can safely skip.
This is how a small business quietly ends up paying $80 a month for AI. Someone signs up for ChatGPT. A colleague swears by Claude. The team lives in Google Workspace, so Gemini gets added too. Then a researcher brings in Perplexity. Each one costs about $20, so the bill is four times higher, and in practice everyone only opens one of them.
Official plan pages, checked on Nov. 1, list ChatGPT Plus at $20, Claude Pro at $20, Google AI Pro at $19.99 and Perplexity Pro at $17 on annual billing. Together that comes to roughly $77 a month for four assistants (one November price check). Throw in a design tool and an automation tool and you're easily past $100.
You can do much better. A small business can cover writing, research, design and automation for under $50 a month, as long as every tool has its own job and nothing overlaps. Below is the stack, the prices behind it and three versions you can copy as they are.
The rule: one of each, and a free layer underneath
The stack has four layers. A main assistant takes care of writing, thinking and everyday questions. An automation tool passes information from one app to another. A design tool produces whatever your customers actually see. And a free layer handles research and the odd extras.
Pay for one tool in each paid layer. If two tools do the same job, cancel one. The biggest waste in small business AI usually isn't a bad tool. It's a second tool doing work the first one already does.
All prices here are monthly, in US dollars, before tax. They come from price comparisons published over the past few weeks. Plans change often, so look at the official page before you pay.
Layer one: your main assistant, about $20
The four big paid plans cost almost the same. ChatGPT Plus is $20, billed monthly only. Claude Pro is $20 a month, or $200 a year, which is about $16.67 a month. Google AI Pro is $19.99. Perplexity Pro is $20 monthly, or about $17 if you pay annually.
Since price won't make the choice for you, go by the work you do most. Here is what published reviews usually say:
ChatGPT Plus packs the widest range of features into one subscription, including image generation, voice and research tools. Claude Pro is often praised for its writing and for handling long documents, and it comes with Claude Code. Google AI Pro brings Gemini into Gmail and Docs and adds 5 TB of storage, which fits a business that already runs on Google's apps. Perplexity Pro starts from search and shows its sources.
One is enough. Try the free versions of two or three for a week, see which one you reach for without thinking, and pay for that one.
There's also a cheaper way in. Google AI Plus costs $4.99 a month and gives entry-level Gemini access, according to recent comparisons. If a free plan is almost enough for you, it fills the gap for a fraction of the price.
Layer two: automation, about $9 to $12
Automation is where a small business wins back the most time. Copying an order into a spreadsheet, sending a follow-up, filing an invoice: each task takes a minute, but together they eat hours.
On a tight budget, Make is the cheapest hosted option I've come across. Its Core plan lists 10,000 credits for roughly $9 to $12 a month, depending on billing and which comparison you read. Zapier's free plan includes 100 tasks a month, with two-step workflows only, and its Professional plan starts at $19.99 a month on annual billing for 750 tasks. n8n Cloud's Starter plan runs about €20 for 2,500 executions.
Every tool counts usage in its own way, so the same workflow can cost very different amounts. For simple, low-volume jobs, Zapier's free plan may be all you need. If your workflows have several steps, Make's Core plan usually gives you more for your money.
Automate the boring job you do every week, not the clever job you might do someday.
Layer three: design and content, about $13
If you make social posts, flyers, menus or product images, a design tool pays for itself quickly. Recent roundups put Canva Pro at around $13 a month, and Canva has AI features built into its design tools.
Still, don't buy it on autopilot. Canva's free tier covers more than you'd expect. Upgrade only if you post visual content every week and the free limits are getting in your way.
Layer four: the free layer, $0
This layer costs nothing, yet it does real work. Perplexity's free plan is good for quick research with sources. NotebookLM, Google's tool for working from your own documents, has a free plan reported at 100 notebooks and 50 sources per notebook. The free versions of ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude all work too, within daily limits. Microsoft Copilot comes built into Windows, and Meta AI offers free image generation.
The catch is the limits. Free plans cap how much you can send, and those caps change often. Think of this layer as your overflow and your backup, so that hitting a limit on one tool never stops your day.
Three stacks under $50
Here are three combinations with the math written out. They use the top of each price range, so your real total may come out lower.
The solo service provider, such as a consultant, coach or freelancer. One main assistant at $20, Make Core at up to $12, and the free layer for research and design. Total: about $32 a month. If you pick Claude on annual billing at $16.67 and Make at $9, it falls to about $26.
The online shop or content business. One main assistant at $20, Make Core at up to $12 and Canva Pro at about $13, with the free layer for research. Total: about $45, which leaves a few dollars of room for taxes or a price rise.
The Google-first business. Google AI Pro at $19.99 for Gemini inside Gmail and Docs, plus Make Core at up to $12, with free tools covering the rest. Total: about $32.
And if even that feels like too much, the bare-bones option is Google AI Plus at $4.99 and Make Core at $9, plus the free layer. That comes to under $14 a month.
What to skip
Skip the second and third $20 chatbot. Pay for four and you're spending about $77 to $110 a month, and most of it overlaps.
Skip the $100 and $200 plans unless you're certain you'll use them. Some include API credits, and those only help if you build or run software that calls the API. A bakery or a consulting firm usually doesn't.
Skip annual billing until you've used a tool for a month. The savings are real, about $40 a year on Claude Pro and Perplexity Pro according to one comparison, but an annual plan for a tool you drop in week three saves you nothing.
The catches for business use
Every price in this post is for an individual consumer plan. Team and business plans are priced differently, and I haven't verified those numbers. If several people on your team need access, check the team price before you multiply a $20 plan by headcount.
Find out what each tool does with your data. Look in the settings for an option that lets your conversations be used to improve models, and turn it off if you can. Don't paste client contracts, customer lists or passwords into a consumer tool until you've read its terms.
Read the terms as well if you plan to sell or publish what an AI makes for you. And keep your important files somewhere you control, so a changed plan or a closed account can never hold your work hostage.
A 30-day plan to build your stack
Week one: write down the five tasks that eat the most time, and note which layer each one belongs to.
Week one: run the free versions of two assistants on those tasks, then pick the one you actually prefer.
Week two: pay for that assistant monthly, not annually, and set up one automation for your most repetitive task.
Week three: add a design tool only if the free version is slowing you down.
Week four: look at what you really used. Cancel anything idle, then decide whether annual billing makes sense for what's left.
Spend on jobs, not logos
The stack isn't the point. The jobs are. A business that knows which five tasks cost it the most hours can choose its tools in an afternoon. One that doesn't will keep adding subscriptions and wondering why nothing changes.
Begin with the free layer, pay for one assistant, add one automation and review the bill every month. If it stays under $50, you got it right. If it creeps higher, you'll know exactly which line to cut.
The cheapest tool is the one you actually use.
Enjoyed this read? Be sure to follow me for more stories that make people feel things. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn or Telegram @kawsarlog for more updates on my work.
I do freelance scraping projects, so if you need some data collected feel free to contact me on LinkedIn or email at hi@kawsarlog.com
Top comments (0)