15 Best AI Apps for iPhone and Android (Free to Try)

The best AI apps in 2026 do far more than chat. On your iPhone or Android phone you can now ask questions out loud, turn a lecture into notes, fix your writing in any app, remove a photo background, translate a conversation as it happens and even get a scene described if you can’t see it. All 15 apps below are free to download and have a free way to try them, and we checked each one on its official site or app store page.

Quick answer: For an all-round AI assistant, start with ChatGPT or Google Gemini. Pick Perplexity for answers with sources, NotebookLM or Otter for study and meeting notes, Grammarly for writing, Adobe Firefly, Photoroom or Canva for images, and Google Lens, Google Translate and Be My Eyes for help with the world around you. Every one has a free tier, with paid plans that raise the limits.

Best AI Apps at a Glance

AI Chat and Search Apps

These are the general AI assistants: you type or talk, and they answer, write, explain and summarize. If you mainly want a chatbot, our list of free ChatGPT alternatives compares them in more depth.

1. ChatGPT

ChatGPT from OpenAI is still the app most people start with. You can type a question, snap a photo and ask about it, upload a file or just talk to it with your voice, which makes it handy for everything from recipes to emails to homework explanations.

• Best for: anyone who wants one assistant for almost everything.
• Free vs paid: the free plan is enough for everyday use, but it has usage limits; paid plans raise them.

New to it? Our beginner’s guide on how to use ChatGPT walks you through your first chats, and these ChatGPT prompts give you ready-made ideas to copy.

2. Google Gemini

Gemini is Google’s AI assistant, available as an app on iPhone and Android. It works well with Gmail, Docs and Drive, and its free plan includes Gemini Live voice conversations, image creation and Deep Research reports, according to Google’s plan page.

• Best for: people who already live in Google’s apps.
• Free vs paid: free with a Google account; paid Google AI plans add higher limits and Google’s top models.

3. Claude

Claude by Anthropic is known for careful writing and for working through long documents. Upload a PDF on your phone and ask for a summary, or ask it to rewrite an awkward email in a friendlier tone.

• Best for: writing, editing and summarizing long text.
• Free vs paid: Anthropic says the mobile apps are free to use, and some features need a paid plan. Free usage runs out faster than on paid plans.

4. Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s free AI assistant. The Copilot app for iPhone and the Android app let you chat, talk out loud, share photos and create images. Sign in with a free Microsoft account to save your chats.

• Best for: Windows and Microsoft account users who want the same assistant on their phone.
• Free vs paid: chat, voice and image creation are free; paid plans mainly offer higher usage.

Our step-by-step guide shows how to use Copilot free on your phone, the web and Windows.

5. Perplexity

Perplexity works like a search engine that writes the answer for you. Every answer comes with clickable citations, so you can check where each fact came from. The Perplexity iPhone app and Android app make it a quick way to research a product, a news story or a trip.

• Best for: research when you want sources, not just an answer.
• Free vs paid: the free plan limits how often you can use its more advanced Pro Search; Pro gives you much more of it.

AI Apps for Study, Notes and Writing

6. NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook)

NotebookLM, which Google has renamed Gemini Notebook, answers questions using only the sources you give it, such as PDFs, websites and YouTube videos. On the phone app you can add sources and listen to its podcast-style Audio Overviews, even in the background.

• Best for: students and anyone studying a fixed set of material.
• Free vs paid: free with a Google account, with usage limits for heavy use.

See our full guide on how to use NotebookLM to set up your first notebook.

7. Otter

Otter records and transcribes conversations on your phone, from lectures and interviews to in-person or online meetings. Instead of scribbling notes, you get a searchable transcript you can read back later.

• Best for: students, journalists and anyone in a lot of meetings.
• Free vs paid: the free Basic plan lets you try it with usage limits on recording and transcription; paid plans raise them.

8. Grammarly

Grammarly adds an AI-powered keyboard to your iPhone or Android phone, so it checks your writing in texts, emails and social apps as you type.

• Best for: catching typos and grammar mistakes before you hit send.
• Free vs paid: the free version covers spelling, grammar and punctuation, plus a tone detector and suggestions to tighten wordy sentences; paid plans add deeper rewrites and style suggestions.

9. Speechify

Speechify reads text out loud with AI voices, so you can listen to articles, documents and study notes on a walk or in the car.

• Best for: people who learn better by listening, and anyone with a long reading list.
• Free vs paid: Speechify says its free plan has no time limit and includes a set of basic voices at up to 1.5x speed; Premium adds many more natural voices, faster speeds and extras such as AI summaries.

AI Apps for Photos and Design

For more image tools, including web-based ones, see our list of free AI art generators.

10. Adobe Firefly

The Adobe Firefly app brings Adobe’s generative AI to your phone. Type a description to create an image or a short video, or edit your own photos with Generative Fill, Generative Expand and Generative Remove.

• Best for: creating original images and quick photo fixes.
• Free vs paid: free to download with a limited number of free generations each day; a Firefly subscription gives you more.

11. Photoroom

Photoroom removes photo backgrounds in a tap and can place a product in a new, studio-style scene with realistic shadows. It’s popular with online sellers who photograph items on a phone.

• Best for: sellers on marketplaces and anyone making clean product shots.
• Free vs paid: a free account gives you a limited version, with limited AI credits and exports; paid plans raise both.

12. Canva

Canva for iPhone and Canva for Android let you design social posts, flyers and invitations from templates, with built-in Canva AI tools to help generate designs and text.

• Best for: quick, good-looking designs without design skills.
• Free vs paid: Canva says a range of AI tools work on the Free plan; paid plans offer more usage and more advanced features.

AI Apps for Everyday Help

13. Google Lens

Google Lens lets you search with your camera. Point it at a menu to translate it, at a plant to find out what it is, at a math problem to find explainers, or at a pair of shoes to find where to buy them.

• Best for: travelers, students and curious minds.
• Free vs paid: free. On iPhone it comes inside the Google app; on Android, get the Google app or Google Lens on Google Play, and some Android phones have it in the Camera app.

14. Google Translate

The Google Translate app now uses AI for live translation: you can have a back-and-forth conversation with someone in another language, with spoken and on-screen translations. Google says live translate supports more than 70 languages and launched for users in the US, India and Mexico.

• Best for: travel and talking with people who speak another language.
• Bonus: a Practice feature (in limited beta) builds AI listening and speaking lessons for some language pairs, such as English speakers learning Spanish or French.

15. Be My Eyes

Be My Eyes helps blind and low-vision people with everyday tasks. Its Be My AI feature describes photos and scenes in detail and answers follow-up questions, any time of day. You can also connect with a sighted volunteer on a live video call.

• Best for: blind and low-vision users, and their families.
• Free vs paid: free for users and volunteers, on iPhone and Android.

How to Choose the Right AI App

• Start with one assistant: ChatGPT or Gemini covers most everyday questions. Add Perplexity when you need sources.
• Then add one app for your main job: Otter or NotebookLM for study and work, Grammarly for writing, Firefly, Photoroom or Canva for pictures.
• Check the free limits: almost every AI app has a cap on free use. When you hit one, switch to another free app before paying.
• Download only the official app: app stores are full of copycat “AI chat” apps with similar names and icons. Check the developer name (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, Adobe and so on) before you install.

Stay Safe With AI Apps

• Don’t share passwords, bank details or ID numbers with any AI app.
• Check important facts, especially health, money and legal answers, with a trusted source. AI makes mistakes.
• Look at each app’s privacy settings; most let you delete your history.
• Watch for paid subscriptions after free trials. If you need to stop one, here is how to cancel subscriptions on iPhone.

FAQ

What is the best AI app right now?

For most people, ChatGPT or Google Gemini, because each handles chat, voice, photos and files in one free app. The best AI app for you depends on the job: Perplexity for research, Otter for meeting notes, Grammarly for writing and Adobe Firefly for images.

What are the best free AI apps for iPhone?

Every app on this list is free to download on iPhone. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and Perplexity are the best free AI apps for iPhone for chat; Google Lens works through the Google app, and Be My Eyes is completely free.

What are the best AI apps for Android?

The same 15 apps are on Android through Google Play. Android phones also have extras built in: on some phones Google Lens is in the Camera app.

Are AI apps safe to use?

The official apps from well-known companies are generally safe for everyday use. Download them from the App Store or Google Play, check the developer name, and avoid sharing personal or sensitive information in your chats.

Photo by Yue Ma on Unsplash