How to use this
Print the worksheet at the bottom. Open the AI tool in another tab and work down the list.
Anything you can't answer with a clear yes is a flag. Not always a deal-breaker - but something you can explain to whoever pays the bill.
We order the list by what catches Australian businesses out most, not by what the sales page leads with.
1. Can you see the price in Australian dollars?
Most AI tools price in US dollars. Some show you the AUD figure at the checkout; some never do.
If you can't see the real AUD price before you enter a card, assume it's higher than you think and budget for it. Tools that bill in AUD are easier to plan around.
2. Does the trial turn into a paid plan by itself?
A free trial that becomes a paid subscription on its own with no warning email is the biggest hidden cost in AI tools right now.
If the cancel window is seven days or shorter, put a reminder in your calendar five days out - before you sign up, not after the charge lands. This is the complaint we hear most from Australian owners, and a calendar entry on day one prevents it.
3. The refund - how long, and what voids it?
The number of days matters less than the catch attached to it.
Check three points: how long you have (7, 14, 30 days), whether actually using the tool voids the refund, and how you ask (email, not a button in the app).
A refund you can't claim because you tried the tool is not a refund.
4. Real AI, or a pretty front end on ChatGPT?
A lot of "AI" tools are ChatGPT in a nicer box with the prompts done for you. That can be worth paying for - the box saves you time.
It's not worth it if you're paying $99 a month for something that's doing about $5 a month of actual work.
Quick test: if the output sounds the same as free ChatGPT, with nothing specific to your trade built in, you're paying for the box. Decide if the box is worth it.
5. Where does your data go, and is that OK for customer info?
If you put customer information through it, Australian privacy law is your responsibility - no matter which country the company is in.
Ask: which country does the data sit in, who else do they share it with, and is it deleted when you cancel? If you can't get a straight answer, don't put customer details through it.
6. Do they use what you type to train their AI?
Most paid plans now say they don't. That can change, and free or trial versions often do.
Get it in writing, for the exact plan you're on. A free tier is fine for a hello-world test, not for anything with a customer's details in it.
7. Does it work inside your tools, or is it copy-paste?
If using it means copying text out, pasting into a chatbot, and pasting the answer back, the time it saves is small.
If it plugs into where you already work - your email, your booking system, your CRM - it saves a lot more. Ask which one it's before you pay.
8. Can a person check AI work before a customer sees it?
Australia's AI guidance expects a person to check AI output before it goes to a customer.
Some tools build that in - a "needs approval" step. With the ones that don't, that check is on you to remember every time.
9. If the AI writes something wrong to a customer, who pays?
An AI headline that overpromises. A generated image that misleads. A wrong line in an AI-written quote.
Under Australian consumer law that's on you, the same as if you had written it yourself. "The AI did it" isn't a defence. Tools that flag risky claims are worth more than ones that don't.
10. Does a real person answer support within a day?
Before you buy, email their support with a specific question.
A human reply inside a day is a good sign. A two-to-three-day bot reply with a help-article link tells you what cancelling will feel like.
11. Is the feature you actually want on the plan you're buying?
The classic trap: people sign up on the $29-49 plan and find the one feature they came for is on the $199 plan.
Name the single feature you're buying this for. Confirm it's on the plan you're about to pay for. Then sign up.
12. Can you get your data out if you leave?
If you cancel, what happens to everything you made and set up in it?
If getting it out is painful, you're stuck. If it exports cleanly to a normal file, you're free to leave. Test the export during the trial, not after.
13. "Unlimited" - or capped?
"Unlimited" often means unlimited making, while the parts you actually need - downloading, exporting, the finished file - sit behind credits.
Read what the credits cover on your plan, and work out whether a normal month fits inside them.
14. The 30-day check
Put a 30-day reminder on every paid tool the day you start it.
At day 30, one question: did this save me at least four times what it costs, in time or money? No, cancel. Yes, keep. That habit alone stops the slow leak of tools nobody uses.
Want a hand, or want it done for you
- Tools that pass go straight onto the 1-page AI policy as an allowed tool.
- Our AI Automations service sets a tool up properly inside the work (check 7) so it actually saves the time.
- Our AI Strategy service works out which tool to buy first for the best payback, and AI Search covers tools meant to get you found.
- How we test and what we disclose: our editorial standards.