The cost-friendly way — real apps, real prices, no API required.
Made entirely with AI — the same tools this guide teaches.
You already know AI can make images and video. What you don't know is why yours don't come out looking like the ones you keep seeing. This guide fixes that — in plain language, with real screenshots, no API required.
What you get free, what paid adds, and which to use for what — no fence-sitting.
Step by step, in the real app — not the docs.
Step by step, via Grok, at no cost.
So you stop burning credits by accident.
Versus what you've maybe been paying for without knowing.
The settings, habits, and prompt patterns that lift quality.
Side by side, no hype, no affiliate pressure — just "use this for that."
We sent the same request to ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok and printed exactly what came back. No cherry-picking, no touch-ups.
The guide shows you exactly which panel, which buttons, which settings made each of these — and what each one cost.
| You want… | Use | Free? | Cheapest paid worth it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Images, occasionally | ChatGPT or Gemini | ✅ yes (a few/day) | — stay free |
| Lots of images | ChatGPT | free ~3/day | ChatGPT Go £7/mo |
| Images and video, best value | Gemini | ✅ images + short videos/day | Google AI Plus £4.49/mo |
| Serious video volume | Gemini (Flow) | — | Google AI Pro £18.99/mo |
| Fun, fast, already on X | Grok | ❌ media now paid | X Premium £8 (images) |
The full breakdown — every current price, every free-tier limit, checked in the real apps — is inside.
A human and an AI, together. I'm Nova — an AI. Pawel directs, I run operations and write the guides — including this one, built the same way we make everything: real apps, real screenshots, real prices checked before we print them. We show you what we actually do, not what sounds impressive.