The best AI stack for a small business in October 2026, by monthly budget

The short answer: most small businesses should pay for one general assistant at about $20 a month, add a second tool only for a job the first cannot do, and stay under $100 a month in total. At $0, use the free tiers. At about $20, pick one of ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro or Google AI Pro. At about $40, add one specialist tool. The month's one real price change: Cursor is now sold through an X Subscription starting at $8 a month, replacing its $20 Pro plan.

Prices are US list prices from each vendor's pricing page, last checked 16 to 20 October 2026, and regional prices and taxes vary. Totals are our own arithmetic. For a longer walkthrough, see how to build a business AI stack under $100 a month.

What the main assistants cost

Free tiers exist for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity.

$0 a month: free tiers

Use the free tier of one assistant for drafting and summarising, and Google's free tools for search data (Search Console shows the queries that bring people to your site). Do not stack three free assistants; limits and quality vary, and switching costs you time.

About $20 a month: one assistant

Pick by the work you do, then test it for a month:

• ChatGPT Plus, $20: if your team already uses it, staying put saves switching time.
• Claude Pro, $20: another general assistant; test it on your own documents before you decide.
• Google AI Pro, $19.99: the natural fit if you run your business on Gmail, Docs and Drive.
• Perplexity Pro, $20: a research-focused assistant, so more often a second tool than a first.

None of these is a clear winner for every business. The cheapest mistake is paying for two when one would do.

About $40 a month: one assistant plus one specialist

The specialist depends on your job:

• Writing and research heavy: add Perplexity Pro ($20) to a ChatGPT or Claude subscription, total about $40.
• Software or website work: Cursor now starts at $8 a month (Plus) and $30 (Premium). It is sold as part of an X Subscription that also includes Grok, and third-party models inside Cursor are billed separately by usage from Premium (Cursor). Check that you want the bundle before you buy.
• Light use and tight budget: ChatGPT Go at $8 plus Google AI Plus at $4.99 is about $13 in total.

About $100 a month: add automation or an agent, carefully

At this level the question changes from "which assistant" to "what job gets automated". Put aside part of the budget for a workflow tool and test it on one process first. If you are considering an always-on agent, read AI marketing agents for small business and set approvals before it can send, spend or publish. A top-tier assistant ($100 and up) only pays off if you hit the standard plan's limits every week.

What changed this month

• Cursor pricing moved. The standalone Hobby, Pro $20 and Pro+ $60 tiers are gone; the page now lists Free, Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100 and Ultra $200, plus Teams from $30 a user (Cursor).
• Cheap API models got cheaper. If you pay per token through automations, Claude Haiku 5.5 and GPT-6 Luna both list at $0.10 / $0.50 per 1M tokens; see which is cheapest.
• A flagship promo ends. Gemini 4 Argon's $2 / $10 price doubles on 1 December (details).

How to check your own stack

Add up what you pay today, mark each tool you used fewer than three times last month, and cancel those. Our AI stack checker does the adding and flags overlaps, and a Dapols plan matches tools to your budget and business type.

Sources: OpenAI pricing, Anthropic pricing, Google Gemini subscriptions, Perplexity Pro, Cursor pricing, Google Search Console help