data study · 114 tools
The AI Agent Pricing Index (2026)
We decoded the published pricing of all 114 AI agent tools in the Dirr dataset. The headline: there is no standard. Tools are billed 7 different ways — per seat, per minute, per resolution, per credit, per operation, or pure usage — and 48% blend two or more at once, so sticker prices don't compare one to one. 53% offer an ongoing free tier, but 17% publish no self-serve price at all and make you contact sales. For the 90 tools that do publish a price, the median entry plan is $29/mo, from $4/mo (eesel AI) to $2,417/mo (11x).
Computed from 114 tools, each verified 2026-05-30 against the vendor's live pricing page. Method below. Reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0).
Finding 1: the category has no pricing standard
How many tools bill on each unit. Most use several at once, which is why a flat "$/mo" comparison is misleading.
55 of 114 tools (48%) combine two or more of these units — e.g. a per-seat subscription plus usage credits, or a platform fee plus per-minute charges. That is the single biggest reason buyers can't compare AI agent tools on price.
Finding 2: the entry price spread is enormous
Lowest paid monthly plan, by use-case category. Cheapest published self-serve price per category.
Median entry across all 90 priced tools is $29/mo, but the range runs from $4/mo to $2,417/mo — a 604× spread. Usage-based and quote-only tools sit on top of this and are excluded from the median (see method).
Finding 3: free is common, but "free" is slippery
have an ongoing free tier (60 of 114). A further 5 offer a time-limited trial only, and 49 are paid from day one. Many "free" tiers cap usage so low they're really demos.
can be self-hosted (15 of 114) — the only way to run some agents at zero platform fee, paying just your own infrastructure and model API. The rest are cloud-only and metered.
Method
The dataset is the full Dirr tool index (114 AI agent tools as of 2026-05-30). For each tool we record the entry price, billing model, free tier, self-host support and metering unit, verified against the vendor's live pricing page and dated. "Median entry plan" is the lowest paid monthly subscription tier among the 90 tools that publish a self-serve price; usage-only (per minute, per resolution, per token) and quote-only tools are excluded from that figure and reported separately. Billing-unit counts detect each unit a tool uses, so hybrids count once per unit. List prices are shown in their original currency and not converted.
Want the raw data or a custom cut for a story? Get in touch — attribution (link to this page) is all we ask. Numbers update automatically as the index grows. See full methodology.
Questions
How much do AI agents cost?
Across the 114 AI agent tools we track, the median entry plan is $29/mo for the 90 tools that publish a self-serve price, ranging from $4/mo (eesel AI) to $2,417/mo (11x). 17% publish no self-serve price at all and require contacting sales. Usage-based tools (per minute, per resolution, per token) cost extra on top.
Why is AI agent pricing so hard to compare?
Because there is no standard billing unit. We found 7 different metering units in use across the category — per seat, per minute, per resolution, per credit, per operation, and pure usage — and 48% of tools combine two or more at once. A "$20/mo" plan and a "$0.99 per resolution" plan are not comparable without modelling your own volume.
How many AI agent tools have a free tier?
53% of the 114 tools offer an ongoing free tier (not just a trial). A further 5 offer a time-limited trial only, and 49 are paid from day one. 13% can be self-hosted, which is the only way to run some of them at zero platform cost.
What is the cheapest AI agent tool?
Of the tools that publish a price, eesel AI has the lowest paid monthly entry at $4/mo. Several open-source agents are cheaper still if you bring your own model API key, paying only provider usage. 15 tools can be self-hosted for no platform fee.