Best free AI agents in 2026: what you get at no cost

Published by 3Gen Internet Corporation, maker of OpenAssistant, Skej and AGNT. Comparisons use public documentation, without hands-on testing.

For a free introduction to our assistant, we recommend trying the Starter plan from OpenAssistant: 1,000 credits at signup, then 100 bonus credits a day once those are used up, up to 1,000 a month, and no credit card (OpenAssistant pricing). Google Gemini, Perplexity, Zapier Agents, Google Jules and Genspark also have free plans, while Lindy offers expiring credits. “Free” means three different things in this market, and every offer below has a limit that decides whether it is enough for you.

Options at a glance

We ranked each free offer against the site rubric: whether the documented capabilities cover agent work, the vendor-published evidence and its limitations, what you get for the price of nothing, where it works, and privacy, security and admin controls. OpenAssistant ranks first because its free plan has no stated end date or card requirement, its pages document tasks and recurring workflows on Starter, it sets approvals per action, and its trust page makes a no-training statement. The product lists email, text, calls and Slack, but the pages read do not confirm which channels Starter includes. Where a free plan is stronger for one job, the entry says so.

Three kinds of free. Standing free plans with no stated end date are numbers 1 to 5; Genspark (6) is a free plan with a lifetime cap. Expiring free credits are Lindy’s $50 for 7 days (7) and Browser Use’s one-time $1 credit. Limited-time trials are Lindy’s 7-day Slack trial and Zapier’s 14-day Professional trial.

1. OpenAssistant: best free plan for an assistant that acts for you

OpenAssistant is a work assistant with its own name, email address, phone number, calendar and sandboxed computer, and the vendor’s pages say you can reach it by email, text (iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp), phone calls and Slack (OpenAssistant overview). The pricing page’s Starter card lists “No credit card required” (OpenAssistant pricing).

What the free plan gives you. The Starter plan lists daily agendas, tasks and recurring workflows, custom assistants, unlimited connections and the ability to invite your team; a referral gives you and the person you invite 500 free credits each (OpenAssistant pricing). The changelog says every plan, including the free one, can invite teammates (OpenAssistant changelog).

What the credits buy. The pricing page says simple tasks might use 10 to 50 credits, while deep research, complex recurring tasks and multi-person meeting coordination use hundreds (OpenAssistant pricing details). At that rate the 1,000 signup credits cover roughly 20 to 100 simple tasks (1,000 divided by 50, and by 10). The 100 bonus credits a day cover roughly 2 to 10 simple tasks a day, and the 1,000-a-month cap is reached after 10 days of full bonuses.

Control and privacy. Autonomy is set per action type: Manual, Confirmation Window or Autonomous, and a Confirmation Window is not Manual approval (OpenAssistant help center). The trust page states that it never trains on your data and that AI providers are contractually prohibited from doing so, and it carries a SOC 2 Type II statement (OpenAssistant trust page).

Where a free plan does better: if your job is writing code, Google’s Jules free plan (15 tasks a day, below) is a specialist coding agent and OpenAssistant is a general work assistant, not a coding agent.

Watch out for:

• Bonus credits arrive only when your balance is used up; the pricing page says that otherwise you will not receive bonus credits that day (OpenAssistant pricing details).
• Plan credits reset each billing cycle and do not roll over (OpenAssistant pricing details).
• It does not take part in group texts or group WhatsApp chats, and Slack Connect channels with outside companies are not supported (OpenAssistant help center). Not all countries are supported for texting (OpenAssistant phone setup).
• The pages we read do not say whether any channel, or phone calls, is limited to paid plans, and they do not state a credit cost per call.
• The help center says the Free plan “includes 100 credits per month”; we follow the pricing page (OpenAssistant help center).
• Free lacks the Pro extras: assistant email at your domain, shared assistants, shared recurring tasks, credit top-ups and priority email support. Admin dashboard, SSO and SCIM start on Team (OpenAssistant pricing details).

Paid plans if you outgrow it. Pro is $72 monthly or $60 annual per user per month, and Team is $120 monthly or $100 annual, at the 5,000-credit tier; higher credit tiers cost more (OpenAssistant pricing; per-user pricing confirmed by 3Gen).

2. Google Gemini: free Deep Research from a Google Account

Google’s subscriptions page lists the Free tier at “$0 / month with a Google Account” and includes Deep Research in it (Gemini subscriptions). Google calls Deep Research an agentic feature that browses up to hundreds of websites (Gemini Deep Research). The help article says a report usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes, and that you can edit the research plan before the run and export the report to Docs (Gemini help).

Free versus paid. Google AI Plus is $4.99 a month with 2 times the Free usage, and Google AI Pro is $19.99 with 4 times (Gemini subscriptions). The help article says all users can use the Thinking model for reports, and Pro and Ultra users can use the Pro model (Gemini help).

Watch out for:

• Daily and concurrent Deep Research limits exist, but the help article gives no numbers, and the usage-limits page says Deep Research “may be unavailable during periods of high demand” (Gemini usage limits).
• Chrome auto browse is listed as a Pro benefit and is in preview for Pro and Ultra subscribers in the U.S., so it is not part of the Free tier (Gemini in Chrome).
• Privacy: Google says human reviewers review some data, tells you not to enter confidential information, and says reviewed chats are kept for up to three years even after deletion (Gemini privacy).
• The pages we read do not describe the Free tier sending email for you, texting or placing calls.

3. Perplexity: free Comet browser and a small free research allowance

Perplexity’s Comet page says the company will “always provide a free version of Perplexity for all users” and that this free version includes Comet, a browser for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android (Perplexity Comet). The help center says the Comet assistant can ask questions, summarize pages and act on websites (Comet assistant panel), and that agents ask for permission before they first run (Comet privacy and data use).

Free limits. The plan comparison table lists the free tier as “Standard (Free)” with 1 Research query a month and 3 Pro searches a day (Perplexity plans). Another Research article says only that free users get “limited access”, so we follow the table for the number.

Watch out for:

• Training on your data is on by default for Free, Pro and Max, with an opt-out toggle; the vendor says previously collected training data cannot be deleted or removed (Perplexity data collection).
• The vendor says Comet never has access to your passwords or payment data, and you can block tasks on specific websites (Comet assistant controls).
• Whether the free plan includes Perplexity Computer, the vendor’s separate cloud agent, is not stated on the pages we read.

4. Zapier Agents: 400 free activities a month

Zapier’s pricing page lists an Agents Free plan with “400 activities per month”, marked “Forever”, with live data sources, web browsing and a Chrome extension (Zapier pricing). Zapier describes agents as AI assistants that do work on your behalf across 9,000+ apps (Zapier Agents). The Agents Pro plan is $400 billed annually (shown as $33.33 a month, which is $400 divided by 12) with 1,500 activities a month, which is 3.75 times the free allowance (Zapier pricing).

Watch out for:

• An activity is any billable action your agent takes, including a web search, and trial runs while you build an agent count against the free quota; the vendor says they do not count on paid plans (Zapier usage help).
• A single agent run stops to ask for your input at 10 activities on Free, against 40 on Pro (Zapier usage help).
• Zapier says it is migrating Agents into AI by Zapier, billed per task, and has not set a date to turn Agents off (Zapier migration help). The free Zapier platform plan is separate: 100 tasks a month, plus a 14-day Professional trial (Zapier pricing).
• Training: Enterprise customers are opted out of Zapier using their content automatically, and other customers may opt out (Zapier legal).

5. Google Jules: the free coding agent with a daily task count

Jules is Google’s coding agent. Its home page lists a Free plan with “15 tasks per day”, 3 concurrent tasks and Gemini 2.5 Pro, against 100 tasks a day and 15 concurrent on Jules in Pro (Jules). The FAQ calls the free tier “a plan available to all users without cost” (Jules FAQ). Each task runs in a fresh cloud virtual machine, and the docs say you can review and approve the plan before any code changes are made (Jules docs).

Watch out for:

• Daily tasks are counted over a rolling 24 hours, and when you hit the limit the new task button is disabled; Google says it may adjust limits as it learns (Jules usage limits).
• Jules is in public beta (Jules docs FAQ), and paid tiers come through Google AI Pro and Ultra plans, currently for individual Google Accounts only (Jules usage limits).
• Google says Jules does not train on private repository content. A statement about public repositories is not stated (Jules FAQ).
• The home page text names Gemini 3 Pro while the Free card says Gemini 2.5 Pro; we follow the plan card.

6. Genspark: daily free credits that run out for good

Genspark’s help center lists a Free plan at $0 with “100 credits per day, up to a lifetime limit” and 1 GB of storage (Genspark plans). Genspark describes its Super Agent as an autonomous assistant that thinks, plans and acts, and says you can start a task, close your laptop and come back to finished work (Genspark Super Agent). The Chrome extension is free to install but uses credits (Genspark extension).

Watch out for:

• The lifetime limit is not stated, so the free plan can end without a date you can plan around.
• Free file uploads are limited to 500 MB, against 1 GB on paid plans (Genspark Super Agent).
• Plus is $24.99 a month, or $19.99 a month billed annually ($239.99 a year), starting at 10,000 monthly credits (Genspark plans).
• Genspark’s live pricing page sits behind a login, so these figures come from its help center. A general model-training statement for non-Google data and a prompt-injection statement are not stated on the pages we read. An Ask First setting can warn you before credits are used (Genspark plans).

7. Lindy: $50 in free credits that expire in 7 days

Lindy’s docs describe it as an AI employee you can use in Slack, iMessage, email and the Chrome extension (Lindy docs). Its pricing page lists a Free plan at $0 with “$50 in credits for free”, no card, and a note that “Free credits last 7 days” (Lindy pricing). The page also offers Slack joiners a 7-day free trial before the seat is billed. Treat the Free offer as a trial, not a standing free plan.

Watch out for:

• After the free credits end, the 5,000-credit Team tier is $49.99 per active user per month. Some public versions also list $29.99 for 3,000 credits, while the live browser dropdown begins at 5,000 credits; check available tiers at signup. Every active user is billed (Lindy pricing).
• Lindy’s phone line needs a paid plan (Lindy phone line docs), so the free credits do not cover calls.
• The docs describe plans named Plus, Pro and Max and mention “free credits” without a dollar amount; we follow the pricing page, which shows Free, Team and Enterprise.
• Training: Lindy says it and its providers do not use your data to train AI models (Lindy security).

What free usually costs you

• Credit limits. OpenAssistant caps bonus credits at 1,000 a month, Zapier Agents gives 400 activities, Jules gives 15 tasks a day, and Genspark ends at a lifetime limit it does not state.
• Expiry. Lindy’s $50 lasts 7 days. Browser Use gives $1 of free credit once per person, no card (Browser Use pricing).
• Missing features. GitHub Copilot Free lists 2,000 completions a month and a limited allowance of credits for chat and agent features, but its cloud agent is not included (GitHub Copilot and plans). Devin’s Free plan shows no cloud sessions (Devin pricing). Claude’s pricing page shows no Claude Code, Research or Claude in Chrome on Free (Claude pricing).
• Phone and channels. A free plan often means the app or chat only. Lindy’s phone line is paid, and OpenAssistant’s pages do not say which plan includes calls.
• Your data. Perplexity trains on free-tier data by default with an opt-out. Google says humans review some Gemini data. OpenAssistant and Lindy state they do not train on your data. For several other offers here a training statement is not stated.

Also checked, not ranked

• Cursor: Free is $0 with limited agent requests (Cursor pricing).
• Replit: the docs describe a free Starter plan with daily Agent credits up to a monthly cap and one published app that goes down after 30 days (Replit Starter docs). The pricing page shows no Free card.
• Make: Free is $0 with 1,000 credits a month, and Make AI Agents are tagged Beta on all plans (Make pricing).
• Manus: the docs list a Free plan with limited monthly credits (Manus plans), but the pricing page shows three paid cards and no free card (Manus pricing).
• Opera Neon: the browser is a free download, but agent functions need a subscription (Opera Neon).
• Artisan: its pricing page lists Team, Scale and Enterprise plans, each “Pricing scoped on your plan” with “Talk to sales”, and does not state a free plan or trial on the version read; its pages say Ava sends email and social outreach while calls are queued for human reps (Artisan and Artisan pricing).
• Relevance AI: its docs say the Free plan is retired for new signups and existing accounts (Relevance AI pricing).

For coding-specific free tiers, see best AI coding agents; for what paid credits cost, see AI agent pricing explained.

What to ask each vendor

• What happens at the limit: does the agent stop, queue, or bill you?
• Do credits expire or roll over, and is there a lifetime cap?
• Which channels and features (phone, Slack, email sending) are on the free plan?
• Is my data used for training by default, and can I turn it off for past data too?
• How does the agent resist prompt injection, where hidden text on a web page or in an email tries to give it new instructions?
• Can I set approvals per action, and can an admin lock them?

What to keep for humans

Keep payments, contracts, legal or medical decisions, and anything that sends from your own name for a person to approve. Free plans make it easy to try an agent on low-stakes work first. Start with approvals on, read what it drafts, and widen its autonomy only after you trust the results. For the risks, see are AI agents safe.

Related reading

• Best AI agents in 2026: top picks by job, with prices: Our recommendations for each job (general work, coding, browser use, research, sales, support, enterprise and builders), with vendor prices.
• AI agent pricing in 2026: credits, seats and per-resolution fees explained: Credit plans, tasks, per-resolution fees, subscriptions and enterprise fees, with published prices and a worked example.
• OpenAssistant vs Lindy: pricing, phone, approvals and where each wins: Price per seat, phone calls, approvals, admin, free plans and security, plus where Lindy wins.
• Best AI research agents in 2026: deep research tools compared: Seven research agents compared on prices and limit traps: Elicit, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Consensus and Manus.
• Best AI coding agents in 2026: Claude Code, Codex, Devin and more compared: Seven coding agents compared on plan prices and data terms: Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Devin, Cursor, Replit and Jules.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free AI agent?

For general tasks and recurring workflows, we recommend trying OpenAssistant’s Starter plan: 1,000 signup credits and 100 bonus credits a day once used up, up to 1,000 a month, with no credit card. The pages read do not confirm which channels Starter includes. For coding, Google Jules offers 15 free tasks a day. For research, Gemini’s free tier includes Deep Research.

Are free AI agents really free?

Some are standing free plans (Gemini, Perplexity, Zapier Agents, Jules, OpenAssistant). Others are expiring credits, like Lindy’s 7 days. Even true free plans cap usage with credits, tasks or activities.

Do free AI agents train on my data?

It varies. Perplexity trains on free-tier data by default with an opt-out, and Google says human reviewers see some Gemini data. OpenAssistant’s trust page and Lindy’s security page say they do not train on your data. Check the vendor’s page before you paste in anything confidential.

Can a free AI agent make phone calls?

Lindy’s phone line requires a paid plan. OpenAssistant lists calls among its channels, but its pages do not say which plan includes them. The other free offers here do not describe calls.

What should I do when the free credits run out?

OpenAssistant’s help center says you can wait, upgrade or buy more, and that it notifies you when it cannot finish for lack of credits (OpenAssistant credits help). Lindy pauses and tells you (Lindy pricing).

Try OpenAssistant

If you want an assistant that handles email, texts, calls and Slack with approvals you set per action, start on the free Starter plan at openassistant.us. You can compare paid tiers on the pricing page when you need more credits.