AI productivity tools: 40 of 54 start free, and top plans reach $200

Search for AI productivity tools 2026 and you get lists of names. The prices say more. We went through all 187 plans of the 54 services in our AI catalogue, checked on 12 October. That same day Cursor moved to a new ladder that runs from $8 to $200, which is the shape most of the catalogue already had: a free way in, a first paid step around $12, and a top rung several times higher.

The catalogue in six numbers

• 40 of 54 services have a $0 plan.
• $12 is the median entry price across the 44 services that publish a monthly or per-seat price in dollars.
• $10 and $20 are the most common entry prices, with seven services at each.
• 17 services start at $10 or less, and 10 start above $20.
• Perplexity, Manus, Genspark and Devin price their top plan at exactly ten times their entry plan.
• 11 plans are one-off licences, and 11 more carry no public price.

Four services landed on the same multiple, three of them in our search and agents group. Perplexity and Manus go from $20 to $200, Genspark from $24.99 to $249.99, and Devin, the AI agent in our code group, from $20 to $200 per seat. ElevenLabs stretches furthest, from $6 to $330.

Cursor is the one that puts the trade-off in numbers. Its Ultra plan at $200 gives 50 times the usage of Plus at $8. You pay 25 times as much for 50 times the usage, so per unit of usage Plus costs twice what Ultra does, and the price of each request falls the more you work.

What changed on 12 October

SpaceX launched The X Subscription that day and put Cursor in it next to Grok and X. Cursor's own pricing page now lists Plus at $8, Premium at $30, Super at $100 and Ultra at $200, with team seats from $30. Our catalogue still showed Cursor Pro at $20 when we checked, which tells you how fast these ladders move.

“X Premium is now part of The X Subscription. Get your X benefits plus AI usage in Grok and Cursor, starting at $8/month.”

— The X Subscription account on X, 12 October 2026, as quoted by Business Today · businesstoday.in

Business Today reports that Premium at $30 covers what used to cost about $90 a month across SuperGrok, Cursor Pro and X Premium+, and that third-party models inside Cursor bill outside the shared pool. A bundle saves money only if you wanted all three products.

How young the list is

Of the 48 services with a known founding year, 16 started in 2022 or later. Manus, founded in 2025, is the youngest, and it already sells a $200 plan.

This piece closes our series. The first mapped professions to tools for what is the best AI tool for my job, the second sorted AI tools by job into types, and the third asked how do I find the right AI tool for my workflow and priced one chain. When a tool you pay for changes its ladder, divide the price of the plan above yours by the price of your plan, and compare that with what the bigger plan adds.

This piece is informational, not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any asset. Catalogue prices were checked on 12 October 2026, Cursor's come from its pricing page after the change that day, and bundle details come from Business Today.