Top 12 AI Tools For Small Business And Startups

If you run a small business or startup, you already know how much there is to juggle, for example, writing content, building your website, helping customers, and trying to grow all at once. It can get overwhelming fast. That’s where AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools come in. AI tools for small business change how we work; they can write blogs, suggest domain names, assist customers, or even build a website. This guide explains some of the best AI tools for small business owners and startups. Whether you’re just starting or looking to speed things up, you’ll find tools here that fit your needs and help your business grow.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• AI tools for small business owners can minimize human effort, save time, write faster, and help you stay organized.
• Most tools offer free plans or trials, making them budget-friendly for startups.
• Choosing the right tools can help businesses grow without hiring extra staff.
• AI boosts productivity, but it’s still important to review content before using it.

How Can AI Help My Business?

When it comes to AI tools for small business, they use technology to do tasks that normally take time or human effort. These tools can answer customer questions, write emails or blog posts, plan marketing campaigns, or even organize your calendar. They learn from data and get better the more you use them.

Here’s why you should look at using AI for small business:

• Save Time: AI can handle tasks you do every day, so you can focus on big-picture work.
• Cut Costs: You don’t need to hire a big team when AI can help you as an assistant to do more with fewer people.
• Make Better Choices: Some AI tools analyze data and give smart tips that help you grow your business.
• Stay Ahead: Using AI early gives you an edge over other small businesses that wait too long.

Top 12 AI Tools for Small Business

Hosted’s AI Domain Name Generator

This tool is designed to help you find unique, brandable domain name ideas based on keywords you enter. Whether you’re launching a small business, blog, or ecommerce site, this tool makes brainstorming less stressful.

All you need to do is enter a word or phrase that describes your business, and the AI generates a list of creative domain suggestions. It also checks domain availability in real-time, so you don’t waste time on names that are already taken. This saves hours of manual searching and provides AI-generated domains that are concise, relevant, and easy to remember.

Key Features:

• AI-powered domain suggestions based on keywords.
• Real-time domain availability checker.
• Helps find short, brandable names.
• Simple and fast user interface.

Best for entrepreneurs, startups, small business owners, and individuals who need a domain name quickly without hiring a branding expert. It’s helpful for WordPress users who want to secure a professional domain name before building their site.

It is free to use, and all results include an Add to Cart button to instantly register your chosen domain.

ChatGPT (by OpenAI)

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI. It uses machine learning designed to understand and generate human-like text based on the input it receives. You type a message or ask a question, and ChatGPT responds in a natural, conversational way.

It’s powered by a language model trained on a large amount of text from websites, books, and conversations. That means it can help with a wide range of tasks, including:

• Writing blog posts, emails, or product descriptions.
• Answering questions or explaining difficult topics.
• Brainstorming content ideas or business names.
• Summarizing text or rewriting it.
• Helping with coding, grammar, and more.

Key Features:

• A clean, user-friendly chat window for typing prompts and reading AI responses.
• Easy to use with a little learning curve.
• Allows users to set preferences for response style, tone, and personal context.
• Remembers user facts, preferences, and past conversations to personalize future responses (this task can be turned on or off).
• Built-in prompt starters to help new users get ideas on what to ask.
• A built-in tool for running code, analyzing data, and working with files.
• Ability to upload files (e.g., PDFs, images) and have the model read, extract, or analyze content.
• Supports image inputs, users can upload images and ask questions about them (only available in GPT-4).
• Allows users to speak instead of typing using built-in voice recognition.
• Adjustable display settings for user comfort.
• Store past chats with search functionality to revisit old conversations.
• Access to third-party tools that extend capabilities (e.g., browsing, booking, or running external APIs) is available selectively.

Best for freelancers, marketers, content creators, and small business owners who need help with daily repetitive tasks. It’s also valuable for those who don’t have a full-time writer but want a professional-level content draft quickly.

ChatGPT offers a free version (GPT-3.5) that is powerful enough for most daily needs. If you require more advanced features, faster responses, or access to GPT-4, a paid plan (ChatGPT Plus) is available for $20 per month.

Jasper AI

Jasper AI is a powerful AI writing assistant designed to help users create high-quality content at scale. Unlike basic writing tools, Jasper specializes in long-form and marketing-focused content.

It can generate blog posts, landing pages, ad copy, email sequences, product descriptions, and more, all while keeping your tone and brand voice consistent.

What makes Jasper stand out is its library of templates that help you start quickly without typing full prompts. You tell Jasper what you’re working on, pick a template, and let it generate suggestions you can edit and refine.

Key Features:

• Company Knowledge Hub to store brand assets and writing guidelines.
• 90+ AI apps for blogs, ads, emails, and social media.
• Brand Voice and Visual Guidelines for consistent content.
• Jasper Chat for real-time content creation and brainstorming.
• SEO Mode for optimizing content during writing.
• Supports content creation in 30+ languages.
• No-code and pro-code AI workflow builder (Agents, Canvas, Studio).

Best for marketing teams, agencies, and content-heavy businesses that publish at scale. Jasper is helpful for startups with limited writing staff who need to stay productive and on-brand across channels. It’s also great for copywriters seeking to streamline their workflow.

Jasper offers a 7-day free trial. Paid plans start at $49 per month (if you opt for a monthly plan) and vary based on word count limits, team access, and additional features, including SEO mode and brand voice.

Grammarly

Grammarly is a real-time writing assistant that helps improve your grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and overall clarity. It works in the background while you write, whether you’re typing emails, blog posts, or social media updates.

Grammarly is one of the AI tools for small business that doesn’t just fix mistakes; it also suggests better word choices, improves sentence flow, and adjusts tone for your audience. It integrates easily with:

• Web Browsers
• Google Docs
• Microsoft Word,
• WordPress.

Key Features:

• Grammar, spelling, and punctuation correction.
• Tone and clarity suggestions.
• Works across emails, docs, and web browsers.
• AI content detection.

Best for professionals, bloggers, students, and business owners who want to sound expert and confident in their writing, even if they aren’t professional writers.

Grammarly offers a free plan with basic spelling and grammar checks. The Premium version includes advanced suggestions for clarity, tone, and word choice, with pricing starting at $12/month when billed annually.

Pictory

Pictory is an AI-powered tool that transforms written content (blog posts or scripts) into engaging, short-form videos. Paste in your content, and Pictory will automatically select visuals, text overlays, background music, and transitions.

It’s ideal for sharing your content on Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, or Facebook, without needing any video editing skills.

Key Features:

• Converts written scripts, blog posts, or URLs into polished videos.
• Allows you to edit videos using plain text–cut scenes, remove filler, and trim easily.
• Automatically extracts highlight clips from longer videos for social sharing.
• Generates accurate captions and subtitles automatically for better accessibility.
• Includes a large media library with millions of royalty-free clips, images, and music.
• Transforms blog URLs directly into videos with synced AI voiceovers and visuals.

Best for content marketers, bloggers, coaches, and social media managers who want to repurpose their written content into shareable videos without spending hours learning complex tools.

This AI tool offers a free trial to test it out. Paid plans start at around $19/month if billed annually and unlock longer videos, branding options, and other export features.

Notion AI

Notion AI is a writing and productivity tool built into the Notion workspace. It helps users plan, write, and manage content in one place. You can use it to generate ideas, summarize long notes, rewrite messy text, or create fresh content without starting from scratch. Because it lives inside Notion, you can keep your writing, planning, and project tracking together.

Key Features:

• Summarizes long notes, documents, or meeting records into concise overviews.
• Brainstorm ideas, titles, and outlines for blogs, projects, or meetings.
• Writes first drafts for emails, posts, and more, then lets you refine them.
• Checks and corrects grammar, spelling, clarity, and tone in real time.
• Translates text into different languages instantly.
• Analyzes content from PDFs and images, then summarizes or extracts insights.

Best for solopreneurs, remote teams, content planners, and creators who already use Notion or want an all-in-one space for writing and project management. Notion itself has a free plan. Notion AI is available as an add-on for each user.

Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai is a smart presentation builder that automatically formats your slides as you work. You add your content, and it handles layout and design, so everything looks clean and professional without changing fonts or manually aligning boxes. It’s ideal for creating business presentations, reports, and pitch decks with ease.

Key Features:

• Auto-formatting for clean slide design.
• Smart templates for pitch decks, reports, and more.
• Team collaboration tools.
• Custom branding options.

It’s one of the AI tools for small business founders, marketers, and small teams that regularly need to create slide decks but don’t have time for graphic design.

Beautiful.ai offers a 14-day trial; paid plans start at $12/month and include advanced templates, team collaboration, and branding tools.

Tidio

Tidio is an AI-powered live chat and chatbot tool designed for websites. It helps you chat to visitors, answer common questions, track orders, and even collect email leads in real-time. It’s easy to install on WordPress, Shopify, and other platforms. The chatbot can be trained using your FAQ content to provide more intelligent replies to customers without requiring your constant input.

Key Features:

• AI chatbots and live chat support.
• Tracks orders and collects leads.
• Integrates easily with WordPress and WooCommerce.
• Customizable chatbot flows.

It is the best AI tool for small businesses, ecommerce stores, and service providers who wish to automate customer support and boost engagement without a big support team. Tidio provides a free plan with basic chatbot features. Paid plans with advanced automation and higher chat volumes start at $29/month.

Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is a content optimization tool that helps you write blog posts and articles that rank higher on Google. As you write, it gives real-time suggestions on keyword usage, content length, headings, and structure. It also analyzes top-ranking competitors and shows you what’s working for them, to improve your content accordingly.

Key Features:

• Real-time SEO scoring for your content.
• Competitor analysis and keyword suggestions.
• Help with topical maps.
• Google Docs and WordPress plugin integration.
• SERP analyzer and content planner.

Best for bloggers, SEO writers, marketing teams, and agencies that write content that performs well in search engines.

Surfer’s premium monthly plan starts at $29 and varies depending on how many content queries and features you need. You also get a 7-day money-back guarantee.

Mailmodo

Mailmodo is an email marketing platform with built-in AI features that help you create, design, and send interactive emails quickly. Its AI can write subject lines, generate email content, and suggest templates that match your campaign goals. It also supports AMP emails, allowing users to interact with forms, polls, and calendars directly within the email itself.

Key Features:

• Drag-and-drop, no-code email builder for both AMP and HTML emails.
• AMP-powered interactive email elements (forms, carousels, polls, calendars, spin-the-wheel).
• Automated email journeys and transactional campaigns with prebuilt flows.
• AI-powered subject line and template generator for smarter copy.
• Smart segmentation and deliverability tools to improve targeting and inbox placement.
• Real-time analytics, A/B testing, and campaign optimization insights.

This is best for small teams, startups, and marketers who want to send modern, engaging emails without hiring a copywriter or designer. You can try a 21-day free trial; however, its paid plans start at $149/month.

Instant.ai

Instantly.ai is designed for outbound sales teams that rely on cold emails. It automates the full outreach process, including cleaning email lists, personalizing messages, scheduling sends, and improving response rates. The AI adapts each email to feel more human and relevant, even at scale.

Key Features:

• Automated cold email creation and scheduling.
• List cleanup and email validation.
• Personalization engine for higher open and response rates.
• Built-in analytics to track performance.

This is one of the best AI tools for small business owners, founders, sales teams, and lead generation specialists who send high volumes of cold outreach emails and want to improve efficiency and conversion rates.

Its premium plans start at $37/month, which includes core features. Higher tiers offer increased outreach volume and advanced targeting capabilities.

Upmetrics

Upmetrics is one of the AI tools for small businesses that helps you build strong business plans, pitch decks, and financial projections. It’s perfect for people who aren’t familiar with planning tools or need help organizing their ideas. You just fill in details about your business, and the tool creates a draft plan with clear sections and goals.

Key Features:

• AI-generated business plans and pitch decks.
• Financial forecasting tools.
• Collaborative editing.
• Ready-to-use templates for different industries.

This tool is helpful for startups, entrepreneurs, or small businesses preparing to raise funds or present to investors. It saves hours of writing and helps you look professional from the start. Upmetrics pricing plans start at $9/month, depending on features and user access, and include a 15-day money-back guarantee.

Risks of Using AI for Small Businesses

Using AI tools for small businesses is useful, but it also comes with risks, especially if you’re relying on free or third-party platforms:

• When AI is integrated into purchased software, the provider is typically responsible for its functionality.
• Always have a second person review AI-generated content to ensure it aligns with your business values and security needs.
• Consult your business attorney to confirm that AI use complies with legal and ethical standards.
• Check for intellectual property issues. Ensure AI content doesn’t copy copyrighted or trademarked material.
• Avoid sharing sensitive or private data with AI tools to reduce exposure to security threats.
• Watch for phishing or scams created using AI and train your team to recognize them.
• AI-generated content may be flagged as spam or inauthentic, which can reduce customer trust.
• Always review automated messages before sending them to your audience.
• Ensure AI content supports your brand’s voice, values, and tone.
• While disclosure isn’t legally required, publicly sharing how your business uses AI is becoming a best practice.

FAQS

Other Blogs of Interest

– AI Website Builders: Sacrificing Creativity For Speed?

– Hosted.com’s NEW AI Domain Name Generator Is Here!

– 5 AI Tools That Can Help Your Business

– 4 Tips for Registering a Domain Name for your Small Business

– Exploring AI Domains: The Future of Web Addresses