By Vicky Sidler | Published 16 January 2026 at 12:00 GMT+2

We’ve all had that moment. You open ChatGPT, type a question, and get an answer that sounds polished—but also suspiciously like it was written by a bored committee of tech bros on Red Bull. You switch to Claude for a second opinion. Claude replies with 300 words of gentle reassurance and zero commitment. Gemini? It tries to do everything at once and ends up sounding like your overachieving cousin who never learned the word “no.”

If you’re feeling the chatbot fatigue, you’re not alone.

As Jose Enrico recently reported for TechTimes, most AI conversations still happen with the same three tools. But there’s a quiet rebellion brewing. Some business owners are turning away from the usual suspects and finding real utility in lesser-known platforms that weren’t built to entertain—they were built to work.

TL;DR:

• Zapier Agents run tasks for you in the background, not just answer questions

• Poe combines all the top AI models in one place and lets you build your own bots

• DeepSeek gives you strong reasoning performance for free, with optional self-hosting

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Table of Contents:

1. Zapier Agents—Automation With a Brain:

Most chatbots wait for your input. You say something, they respond. Then you go back to your day and hope you remembered to update the CRM, follow up with that lead, and email Susan back about the quote.

Zapier Agents do not wait. They do.

These bots are action-first, not chat-first. You tell them in plain English what you want—like logging form submissions, assigning leads to the right person, or updating spreadsheets—and they connect your favorite apps and get to work.

They don’t need supervision. Once running, they quietly execute tasks across 8,000+ apps. That includes your CRM, project management system, email tool, and more. You can group them, monitor them, and pause them when needed. But for the most part, they do what you tell them to—without asking twice.

Who it’s for:

Small businesses with lots of repetitive admin. Think: sales follow-ups, onboarding workflows, or customer support triggers.

Pricing:

Free plan available. Pro plans from $50/month.

Worth it if your team’s drowning in “did anyone send that email yet?” type of tasks.

2. Poe—All the Big AI Models in One Place:

Poe is what happens when someone finally admits that AI loyalty makes no sense. It combines GPT, Claude, Gemini, and others into a single tool. You use compute points to access whichever model you need, based on what you’re doing.

So you can use GPT to brainstorm headlines, Claude to tidy the tone, and Gemini to turn it all into a social post—without switching tabs, logging into five different tools, or giving up and doing it yourself.

Poe also lets you build your own bots. You can even monetize them. It’s like opening a lemonade stand on the AI playground, except your product might be a contract summarizer or a content planner instead of lemon-flavored sugar water.

Who it’s for:

People who don’t want to commit to one AI, and small business owners who experiment a lot with content, workflows, or research.

Pricing:

Free tier available. Premium plans start at $4.99/month.

This one is surprisingly good value if you juggle different tools daily.

3. DeepSeek—Free AI With Serious Brainpower:

DeepSeek doesn’t come with much hype. No flashy branding, no celebrity founders, and no PR budget that makes tech journalists swoon. But what it does have is reasoning power. And it’s free.

The hosted version includes deep thinking mode, document upload, and web search. The open-source version lets you host the models yourself, which is a dream for privacy-conscious teams or developers who like to tinker.

It’s not perfect. Image analysis is limited, and some topics are off-limits in the hosted version. But if you’re not trying to generate NSFW robot fanfiction, you’ll be fine.

Who it’s for:

Budget-conscious businesses, developers, or anyone who wants to run their own AI setup without monthly fees.

Pricing:

Free. Yes, really. Unless you self-host, in which case your only cost is time and tech know-how.

What This Means for Small Businesses:

Here’s the simple version.

If AI chat feels stale, it’s probably because you’re using it like a search engine with a personality. The newer tools don’t want to just chat. They want to work.

• Zapier Agents help you automate the boring stuff without lifting a finger.

• Poe gives you variety and flexibility.

• DeepSeek offers strong thinking power at zero cost.

Each of these tools plays a different role. You don’t need to abandon ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini entirely. But if they’re starting to feel like the same three answers in slightly different fonts, now you’ve got more options.

And if your real goal is clarity—so your team knows what you do, your clients understand how you help, and your business finally feels like it has direction—AI tools can help. But the message itself needs to be clear first.

Start with one sentence. Make it count.

Download my free 5-Minute Marketing Fix and get a simple sentence that explains what you do and why it matters.

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Related Articles:

1. AI Search Is Replacing Google Traffic Faster Than You Think

The article you just read introduces tools like Poe and DeepSeek that help you work. This article flips the perspective to explain how your customers are using similar AI tools (Perplexity, ChatGPT) to find businesses like yours—and why your current SEO strategy might be invisible to them.

2. Storytelling Beats Coding in the AI Economy

While tools like Zapier Agents and DeepSeek can automate code and workflows, they cannot automate connection. This post reinforces the conclusion of the "Underrated AI" article: that clear messaging and human storytelling are becoming the ultimate competitive advantage in a world flooded with automated content.

3. OpenAI's $27B Loss Could Tank the Whole AI Industry

You’re looking for alternatives to the "usual suspects" (ChatGPT, Claude) because of fatigue. This article dives deep into the "AI bubble" mentioned in your reading, explaining the financial instability of the major models and why diversifying your toolset (as the "Underrated" article suggests) is a smart business move.

4. Schema Markup Boosts SEO Without Extra Content

Just as Zapier Agents run in the background to improve efficiency, Schema Markup is a "set-and-forget" technical layer that helps AI search engines understand your business. It’s the perfect practical next step for business owners who want to use technology to automate their visibility.

5. 10 Best Content Types for Small Business Marketing

Now that you have powerful tools like Poe to help you generate content and ideas, you need to know what to create. This guide ensures you don't just use your new AI powers to generate noise, but rather to build the specific content assets that actually drive business growth.

Frequently Asked Questions About Underrated AI Tools for Business

1. What is the best alternative to ChatGPT for business automation?

If you need automation, not just answers, Zapier Agents are a smart pick. They run workflows in the background across thousands of apps, helping you handle admin without needing to log in every five minutes.

2. Can I use multiple AI models in one place?

Yes. Poe lets you access GPT, Claude, Gemini, and others in one interface. You can switch between models or use several in a single project without jumping between tabs.

3. Is there a free AI tool that’s actually useful?

DeepSeek is a strong free option. It handles reasoning tasks well and even supports document uploads and web searches. If you’re tech-savvy, you can self-host it for more control.

4. What’s the difference between chatbots and AI agents?

Chatbots wait for instructions and reply. AI agents like Zapier Agents take your instructions once and then run tasks continuously across connected apps, without asking again.

5. Can I make my own chatbot with Poe?

Yes. Poe allows users to create and even monetize their own bots. You don’t need to design your own app or website—they host everything.

6. Which AI tool is best for small business owners?

There’s no one-size-fits-all.

• Use Zapier Agents for automation.

• Try Poe if you want flexibility across models.

• Use DeepSeek if you're on a tight budget but still want decent AI capabilities.

7. Do I need to know how to code to use these tools?

No. All three tools in the article (Zapier Agents, Poe, and DeepSeek) are designed to be user-friendly. Zapier is especially no-code friendly, and Poe’s interface is simple and clean.

8. Is DeepSeek safe to use for business data?

The hosted version is safe for general use, but for sensitive data, self-hosting gives you full control. That’s a big plus for businesses concerned with privacy or compliance.

9. How do I choose between ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and others?

If you're not sure which model fits your need, try Poe. It gives you access to all of them in one place, so you can test and compare easily.

10. What’s the smartest way to use AI in a small business?

Start by using AI for background tasks—automation, document handling, and content drafts. Don’t let it replace human thinking or strategy. And always begin with a clear message. Get help with that using the5-Minute Marketing Fix.