What is the cheapest tool in each software category?
Quick answer: Across the categories where we track four or more tools, entry prices vary more within a category than between them. The median entry plan is $20 a month, but the cheapest option in a category is often a third of its median.
Cheapest verified entry plan in each category we cover, with the category median beside it so you can see how far the floor sits below the middle.
| Category | Cheapest entry plan | Category median | Tools tracked |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Coding & Dev Tools | Devin at $2.25 | $17 | 7 |
| AI Image Generation | Leonardo AI at $8.33 | $12.5 | 4 |
| AI Meeting Assistants | Circleback at $15 | $18 | 5 |
| AI Search & GEO Tools | MaxAEO at $15 | $99 | 22 |
| AI Video, Audio & Image | Pika at $8 | $15.25 | 10 |
| AI Writing & Content | Wordtune at $6.99 | $10 | 11 |
| Accounting | Expensify at $5 | $19 | 7 |
| Analytics | Plausible at $9 | $24.5 | 4 |
| Automation & Workflows | Bardeen at $10 | $23.49 | 8 |
| Customer Support AI | Gorgias at $10 | $29 | 9 |
| Data & Enrichment | Hunter.io at $34 | $64 | 4 |
| Design & Creative AI | Penpot at $7 | $11 | 8 |
| Ecommerce Platforms | Ecwid at $5 | $27 | 4 |
| Email Marketing | Brevo at $8.08 | $17.5 | 8 |
| Forms & Surveys | Fillout at $15 | $28 | 7 |
| HR & Payroll | Gusto at $6 | $8 | 9 |
| Marketing Automation & CRM | HubSpot Marketing Hub at $7 | $13 | 5 |
| Productivity & Notetaking AI | Obsidian at $4 | $10 | 9 |
| Project Management | Trello at $5 | $9 | 9 |
| SEO & Content Optimization | Ahrefs at $29 | $49 | 7 |
| Sales CRM | HubSpot Sales Hub at $7 | $14 | 8 |
| Scheduling & Booking | YouCanBookMe at $7.2 | $12 | 9 |
| Social Media Management | Buffer at $5 | $24.17 | 9 |
| Website & No-Code Builders | Framer at $10 | $19 | 9 |
Cheapest is not the same as best value: several of these floors are per-seat or heavily limited, and the next tier up is where the feature people actually want tends to sit.
Computed from DigiJaws’ pricing dataset of 252 tools, each figure read from the vendor’s own pricing page on a recorded date. The data is open at /pricing-data.json.
Cite this answer:
DigiJaws. "What is the cheapest tool in each software category?" DigiJaws AI Answers, updated 2026-09-11. https://digijaws.com/answers/cheapest-software-by-category/Frequently asked
Why is the cheapest option often not the right one?
Because the entry tier is designed to be outgrown. The useful question is what the first upgrade costs over a year, which is what our pricing pages work out.How current are these figures?
Each carries the date it was read from the vendor's own pricing page, and the dataset is re-checked on a schedule.Related answers
Compare every plan →Last verified 2026-09-11. Published by DigiJaws, the AI-search readiness platform. · All AI answers · Free tools