What Free AI Tools Are and How They Work
Free AI tools are open-source programs you run on your own computer. They do tasks like making videos, cloning voices, and building apps. You do not need to write code. You copy a GitHub link, paste it into an AI agent like Codex, and the agent installs and runs the tool for you.
In this episode, Julian Goldie shows 10 free AI tools. All of them are open source. That means the software is free to use and modify. You keep your data on your machine, not on a company's cloud. These tools work with AI agents, so you can control them with plain English commands.
Top Free AI Tools for Video and Images
The first tool is OpenMontage. It is the first open-source agentic video production tool. You type one sentence, and it makes a finished video. It researches the topic, finds real footage, picks shots, adds transitions, grades color, and layers music. It can even write a script and record narration. It has over 35,000 stars on GitHub.
Next is Idiogram. It is famous for generating images with correct text. The new 4.0 model competes with paid tools like GPT Image2 and Google's Nanobanana. It is open source, so it is free. You get four images in about 10 seconds. Use it for thumbnails, ad graphics, and social posts where the text must be right.
Another tool is Easy Diffusion, which makes AI images on your PC. It has a simple browser window, no scary code. You can tell it what not to include in the picture. You get two versions of every image. Use it for blog images, website graphics, and product mockups.
How to Set Up These Free AI Tools
Setting up these tools is similar. You use an AI agent like Codex or Claude. Here are the steps for most tools:
- Copy the GitHub link of the tool you want.
- Paste the link into your AI agent.
- Tell the agent to install and run the tool.
- Wait for the agent to clone the repo and set everything up.
- Open the tool's interface, usually a local dashboard or app.
- Follow the tool's own setup, like logging in or creating an API key.
For example, OpenMontage needs just your one-line prompt. You walk away and come back later to see the finished video. Voicebox also installs itself. It picks the folder, downloads the app, and opens it for you.
How to Use the Free AI Tools Step by Step
Each tool has its own simple use. For OpenMontage, you type one sentence about your video topic. The tool does everything else. You get a complete video in a few minutes.
For Idiogram, you send a prompt. Four options come back in about 10 seconds. Pick the best one. You can use it for thumbnails with your title text.
For Voicebox, you import a short clip of your voice. Name it, then hit create. About a minute later, your voice is ready. Then you type anything, and it speaks in your voice.
For Nemotron 3 Ultra, you load the model into your coding agent with one command. Then talk to it in plain English. It builds landing pages, calculators, and internal tools. It checks its own code and fixes mistakes.
For Hyperframes, you give it a brief. It writes code to create motion graphics, then renders an MP4. You get glass, chrome, and cinematic lighting without opening After Effects.
Results and Comparisons of Free AI Tools
Julian compares these free tools to paid ones. He says he dropped a stack of paid tools after finding these. For example, Voicebox does the same job as 11labs, which charges monthly. But Voicebox is free and open source.
Idiogram goes head to head with paid image generators like GPT Image2 and Google's Nanobanana. It is open source and free, and it is fast.
Nemotron 3 Ultra has around 550 billion parameters. It is NVIDIA's newest and most powerful open AI model. NVIDIA open sourced the model and training data.
The episode shows actual output from some tools, but the main results are the time and cost savings. Every tool works without coding, and all run locally.
Tips, Limits, and Mistakes to Avoid
Here are some tips and warnings from the episode:
- Always copy the GitHub link correctly. A wrong link will not work.
- Some tools may need an API key. It is just a password. Copy it once and paste it.
- Easy Diffusion lets you tell the tool what you do not want. Use that to avoid unwanted elements.
- Generating new AI images or video inside Palmir Pro is a paid feature. The editor itself is free.
- Meetaly never sends your meeting audio to the cloud. That is good for confidential meetings, but it means the AI runs on your machine, so it may use more CPU.
- Not all tools are cross-platform yet. Palmir Pro is Mac only for now, with Windows coming.
Also, do not forget that these tools run on your own computer. That means your computer does the heavy work. Make sure you have enough memory and processing power.
Who These Free AI Tools Are For
These free AI tools are for anyone who wants to use AI without paying for subscriptions. Content creators can make videos and thumbnails for free. Small business owners can build landing pages and internal tools without hiring a developer. Marketers can generate ad graphics with exact text.
These tools matter because they put powerful AI in everyone's hands. You do not need a big budget or coding skills. You just need an AI agent and a GitHub link. The episode shows that you can do professional work—like video production, voice cloning, and app development—for zero cost.
If you want to learn how to use AI for business growth, Julian mentions his community, the AI Profit Boardroom, where he walks through workflows step by step.
