Use cases

Concrete things a UK person can hand to an AI agent this week, and the free options for each.

Triage your inbox

Let an AI sort email, surface what needs a reply and draft answers you approve. Start with a tool that drops to a free plan after the trial.

Try: Fyxer (no card), Shortwave, Hark Pro (no card), Lindy (no card), Google AI Pro (Gemini), Microsoft 365 Personal (Copilot), n8n Cloud (no card)

Protect your calendar

Block time for runs, family and focus automatically, and stop meetings eating your week.

Try: Reclaim.ai (no card), Motion, Lindy (no card), Google AI Pro (Gemini)

Train for a 5K, 10K or half

AI coaches build a plan around your race date and adapt it from your Garmin or Strava data.

Try: Runna, AI RunCoach (no card), Flow State Endurance (no card), Nduro, Aera

Get better at chess

Analyse your own games, find recurring mistakes and drill them.

Try: Aimchess (no card), Chess.com Diamond

Research shares

Read company financials with sources linked, without paying for a pro terminal. Not financial advice.

Try: Fiscal.ai, Plum

Cut bills and subscriptions

UK open-banking apps spot forgotten subscriptions and price rises on energy, broadband and insurance.

Try: Microsoft 365 Personal (Copilot), Snoop, Emma, Plum, Cleo, Cobalt (no card)

Family admin

School forms, renewals, appointment booking and shopping lists handled by an agent that asks before it acts.

Try: Twinly (no card), Hark Pro (no card), ChatGPT (no card), Claude (no card), Notion AI (no card), n8n Cloud (no card)

Deep research

Hand off a question and get a sourced report: holidays, big purchases, history rabbit holes.

Try: Perplexity Comet (no card), Manus (no card), ChatGPT (no card), Claude (no card), Google AI Pro (Gemini), Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM) (no card), Speechify (no card)

Meeting and voice notes

Transcribe and summarise calls so you don't take notes.

Try: Granola (no card), Otter.ai (no card), Fireflies.ai (no card), Krisp (no card), Read AI (no card)

Learn a language

Practise speaking with an AI tutor.

Try: Duolingo Max, Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM) (no card), Speechify (no card)

Compare and shop

Browser agents can compare prices across UK retailers in your own browser.

Try: Perplexity Comet (no card), Twinly (no card)

Build a voice assistant

For tinkerers: build an agent that answers your phone or makes routine calls.

Try: ElevenLabs Agents (no card), Retell AI (no card)