Let’s be real.
AI is everywhere.
You scroll past dozens of AI tools every day. Some promise to 10x your productivity, while others even run your business for you. But is that true?
Here’s the thing.
Most of us aren’t building robots or trading crypto. We just want to run our business better. Sound more professional, save time, and grow.
These 7 AI tools actually help small business owners like you. We’ve tested and recommended them to friends.
Let’s jump in.
Best AI receptionist: Allô
Allô helps us sound like we have a full-time assistant, without even having one. The AI answers the phone for me, talks to clients, takes notes, and sends me a full summary and transcript after every call.
If I want to jump in, I can. If I’m busy, the AI handles it. Every conversation is saved in the app so I can come back to it whenever I want. I can route calls to my team, use a voicemail with my custom greeting, or even let people go through an IVR menu.
Why we love it
- Call summaries & transcripts
No more rewinding and replaying. Allô turns every voicemail and call into clean, searchable text. - AI receptionist
It answers calls 24/7, qualifies leads, books appointments, blocks spam, and sends me a summary — straight to my mobile. - Whisper mode (call screening)
When someone unknown calls, Allô asks why they’re calling before I pick up. I get the context upfront and choose whether to take it or not.
Tarification
The Starter plan is perfect for solo founders or freelancers. It costs $13/month per number (billed yearly) and includes:
- Local or toll-free number
- Unlimited calls (US & Canada)
- AI call summaries
- 30 mins of AI receptionist
- Voicemail, IVR, call recording
The Business plan is ideal for scaling service businesses or teams that want AI on every call. It costs $25/month per number (billed yearly), and includes everything from Starter, plus:
- Unlimited texts & WhatsApp Business
- Unlimited AI receptionist
- Shared team numbers & device sync
- 1,000+ integrations
Demo
Best AI design tool: Canva
I’m not a designer. I don’t have time to learn Figma. And honestly, I don’t want to rely on someone else every time I need a social post, a pitch deck, or a flyer.
That’s why Canva Pro is the best money I spend every month.
I use it for everything:
- Slide decks for investors
- Product visuals for the App Store
- Ads, carousels, even invoices
And with the AI features, it’s not just drag and drop anymore. I’ve built entire pitch decks in 15 minutes thanks to their tool Write and presentation AI. I’ve turned rough screenshots into polished mockups with one click. It feels like cheating, in the best way.
Why we love it
- Generate visual assets in seconds
From Instagram stories to investor slides, it’s built for business owners who need stuff now. - Brand Kits & smart templates
Upload your fonts, colors, and logo, and Canva takes care of consistency across all assets. - Magic Write & text-to-image
Describe what you want ("a modern yoga studio logo with warm colors") and the AI creates it.
Tarification
Canva has its Free plan that’s super good for testing. Then you can upgrade for the Pro plan that costs $12.99/month and includes:
- 100+ million assets
- Premium templates
- Background remover
- Resize & Brand Kits
- AI features (Magic Write, text-to-image)
Demo
Best AI marketing tool: Jasper
Jasper is like having a junior copywriter who never gets blocked.
I’ve used it to write everything from landing page drafts to Instagram captions, and sometimes, I’m shocked at how decent the first version already is.
It’s not perfect, but that’s kind of the point: Jasper gets you to a “good enough” draft in seconds, and you just polish from there. Instead of spending 3 hours thinking about a headline, you spend 10 minutes improving the one Jasper gave you.
Why we love it
- Real content drafts in seconds
It’s not fluff. Jasper gives you usable content that’s 80% done. - SEO + marketing angle built in
It understands structure: H1s, CTAs, hooks, and even tone of voice. - Brand Voice memory
You train Jasper once, and it keeps your style in every copy block. - Templates for everything
From product descriptions to YouTube video scripts, it’s all pre-built.
My honest advice:
Don’t judge Jasper on the first 10 outputs. You need to customize your Brand Voice and show it what good writing looks like. Once you do that, it starts feeling like a real part of your marketing team.
Tarification
Jasper’s start tier is Creator that costs $39/month. Creator is best for solopreneurs. Then you can find the Pro at $59/month (recommended) and includes:
- Unlimited words
- SEO mode
- Brand Voice training
- Campaign workflows
- Chrome extension + docs editor
Demo
Best AI spellchecker: Grammarly
Grammarly has saved me from sending embarrassing emails, awkward investor updates, and messy pitch decks more times than I can count.
Grammarly’s AI rewrites full paragraphs, suggests better wording, adjusts tone, and even helps me sound more confident (or more polite) depending on the situation.
I use it every day inside Gmail, Notion, and Slack, and it follows me around like a quiet writing coach.
Why we love it
- Real-time corrections everywhere
Works inside your browser, Google Docs, Gmail, Slack, and even Notion. - AI rewrite suggestions
You can literally click “Improve It” and get a sharper, cleaner version of your sentence. - Tone detection
Want to sound friendly? Direct? Formal? Grammarly gives you a tone score before you hit send.
Tarification
Grammarly has its Free version that only corrects Grammar and spelling. Then, the Premium plan costs $12/month and includes:
- Full rewrite suggestions
- Tone adjustments
- Formality level changes
- Style and clarity improvements
- Works across 500,000+ websites
Demo
Best AI note taker: Fireflies
I used to finish Zoom calls thinking, “Wait… what did they say about next steps?”
Now I don’t worry about it because Fireflies takes notes for me, even when I’m half-asleep or multitasking during a call.
It joins your meetings automatically (Google Meet, Zoom, Teams), records everything, transcribes it with surprising accuracy, and gives you a summary with key action items. You can even search by keywords later, like “budget” or “timeline,” and jump to the exact moment they were mentioned.
It’s basically my meeting memory. And if you run calls with clients, sales prospects, or your team, this is a must-have.
Why we love it
- Set it and forget it
Once connected to your calendar, Fireflies auto-joins your calls and records/transcribes without you lifting a finger. - Accurate transcripts + AI summaries
It doesn’t just spit out raw text, you get highlights, decisions, questions, and next steps. - Search everything
Forgot what someone said 3 weeks ago? Just search for a keyword and jump right to that part of the conversation.
Tarification
Fireflies has a Free plan with 800 mins of storage, really good for solo entrepreneurs or small teams with low volume of videocalls.
Then you can find the Pro plan that costs $10/month and includes:
- Unlimited transcriptions
- AI-powered summaries
- Calendar sync
- Zapier, Slack & CRM integrations
- Search across all past meetings
After this you have the Business plan at $19 with 40% discount and the Enterprise at $39 per seat/month.
Demo
Best AI fraud prevention tool: Veille.io
Fraud sucks, especially when it’s silent.
Veille.io runs quietly in the background, flags shady behavior, and sends me a ping before things get messy.
We had fake users hitting our onboarding flow, burning server costs and triggering support tickets. Veille caught patterns we didn’t even know to look for like fake email domains, weird device fingerprints, repeat IPs behind VPNs, etc.
Now we block them instantly or review manually before they mess up our metrics.
Why we love it
- Live fraud detection
Spot fake signups, risky payments, and suspicious sessions in real-time. - Smart scoring
Each user or action gets a “risk score” so you know what to act on, and what to ignore. - Fully integrated
Works with Stripe, Chargebee, and most CRMs. You can also sync alerts to Slack.
Tarification
Veille.io Starter tier is Free forever and it is perfect for small teams just getting started.
Then you can find the Pro plan at $99/month perfect for growing teams, and includes:
- 200,000 requests/month
- Bulk email & domain validation
- Custom blocklist
- Email & priority support
There are more tiers like Advanced at $499/month and Enterprise, for high-scale startups.
Demo
Best AI support tool: Crisp
Support is tricky. You will love to answer fast, stay helpful, and not spend your entire day in live chat hell.
That’s why I use Crisp.
It centralizes all our conversations — website chat, Instagram DMs, WhatsApp, email — everything goes into one clean interface. And here’s where it gets really good: The AI kicks in to answer basic questions, suggest replies, and even detect user feelings, so it recognises if someone’s getting frustrated before it escalates.
Why we love it
- Shared inbox across all channels
WhatsApp, IG, Messenger, email, website chat. - AI Assistant
Auto-replies to common questions, suggests replies to your team, and gets smarter over time. - CRM built in
You get full context on each user: what they clicked, where they came from, how many times they’ve contacted you.
Tarification
Crisp start tier is Free at €0/month and it is perfect if you’re solo and just need a shared inbox.
The Essentials tier at €95/month per workspace, is perfect for small teams who want a full-featured customer support setup and includes:
- 10 seats
- 50,000 user profiles
- AI chatbot (omnichannel)
- Knowledge base
- Email & chat campaigns
- Real-time translation
- Phone integration
- Co-browsing
- Routing & assignment rules
- CRM integrations
- Basic analytics
⚠️ This plan doesn’t include advanced AI, ticketing, or multi-inbox setup.
Finally, you can find the Plus plan at €295/month per workspace, but this one is a bit overpriced for SMBs in my opinion.
Demo
FAQ
How can AI be used for small businesses?
AI can automate repetitive tasks (like scheduling or customer support), improve marketing (with smarter copy or targeting), and help you stay organized (think: note taking, transcription, reminders). It saves time and makes you look more professional.
What are the top 5 generative AI tools?
- ChatGPT (for content and ideas)
- Jasper (for marketing copy)
- Canva (for visuals)
- Allô (for call summaries and phone automation)
- Fireflies (for meeting notes)
How do I automate my business with AI?
Start with tools that plug into your workflow:
- Use Allô to automate call handling
- Use Grammarly to clean up your emails
- Use Fireflies to transcribe meetings
- Use Jasper to write your next email campaign
