u/Ok_Cartographer_8302

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Needed something to help with lead follow-ups for my business last week. Ended up with 11 tabs open, three "best AI tools 2026" listicles that were clearly SEO garbage, and a spreadsheet comparing pricing that I gave up on halfway through because half the sites don't even show pricing without a demo call.

What got me was how much of it felt priced for a completely different market. Saw a decent tool, got excited, then saw it was $99/month which is a real chunk of change once you convert it and think about what that means for a small business here.

Is this just me? How do you guys actually find AI tools when you need one — do you have a go-to method, or is it always this messy? Genuinely curious if I'm missing an obvious resource everyone else already knows about.

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Doing research before building anything. Curious how people actually discover and pick AI tools right now.

• Last time you needed an AI tool for something (leads, support, content, etc.) — how did you find it? Google, Reddit, a friend, a directory?
• Did you end up buying the wrong tool, or wasting time comparing options?
• Was pricing ever a blocker (e.g. tools priced in USD for a market that needs INR/local pricing)?
• If you run a business outside the US — did that change how hard it was to find something that fit your budget or language?