The Free Tier Index
94 of the 238 tools we hand-researched have a real free tier (39%). Here's every one, what you actually get free, and the ones where free is a doorway to a paid ceiling.
A tool is listed here only if our research found a genuinely free plan, version or tier — the evidence sentence is shown under each. The ⚠ watch the ceiling badge marks free tiers on tools that also meter usage, charge per seat or gate features behind add-ons — where "free" is the doorway, not the house.
Communication & Voice (8)
CloudTalk⚠ watch the ceiling
Lite about $19, Essential $29, Expert $49 per user/mo billed annually (higher monthly), plus AI add-ons (conversation intelligence ~$9/user, AI voice agents from ~$350/mo or $0.50…
CometChat⚠ watch the ceiling
MAU-based (2026): a free Build tier (~100 MAU); Basic around $299/mo billed annually (1,000 MAU); scaling tiers toward ~$1,249-1,579/mo at 10k-50k MAU; overages about $0.10/MAU.
CrankWheel⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) A free plan (1 user, 15 meetings/mo), Solo about $29/user/mo (unlimited screen sharing, ~48% off on annual), Team about $89–$99/mo with shared meeting pools; Enterprise cus…
Fireflies.ai⚠ watch the ceiling
Free plan with unlimited transcription (limited AI); Pro ~$10/seat/mo and Business ~$19/seat/mo in 2026.
Freshchat⚠ watch the ceiling
A free plan for up to 10 agents; paid Growth about $19, Pro $49, Enterprise $79 per agent/mo billed annually (a little more monthly), with Freddy AI billed as a usage-based add-on…
Readymode⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Two plans, $0 setup: Starter about $199/user/mo (1–4 users) and iQ about $249/user/mo (5+ users), both with unlimited outbound minutes.
Salesmessage⚠ watch the ceiling
The compliance layer bills on top: 10DLC registration (~$4.50 brand + $1.50-10/mo campaign fee), carrier surcharges (~$0.0025-0.005/text), extra users ~$10/mo, extra numbers ~$5/m…
ZenZap⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Free plan with unlimited users, chats and built-in to-dos; Pro about $3/user/mo (integrations, storage); Business+ ~$8/user/mo (roles, audit trails, SLAs); Enterprise custo…
Financial Operations (6)
Aspireclean free tier
$0 monthly fee, no minimum balance and no deposit to open; you pay per use — FX conversion markups on international transfers and a per-transfer fee on outbound SWIFT — with a pai…
Bill.com⚠ watch the ceiling
Transaction fees stack on top (ACH ~$0.49, check ~$1.99, international wire ~$9.99, card 2.9%).
Melioclean free tier
A free Go plan (5 free ACH/mo, then $0.50 each); paid Core about $25/mo (20 free ACH), Boost $55, Unlimited $80 (2026).
Payoneerclean free tier
Free to open; the cost is in the fees — receiving via local details up to about 1%, card payments up to roughly 3.99% + $0.49, currency conversion around 0.5% in-network rising to…
Tax1099⚠ watch the ceiling
Pay-as-you-go per-form e-filing that drops with volume — as low as about $0.68/form at high volume; a free Essential account to create payers and recipients and run TIN matching, …
Zeffyclean free tier
Genuinely $0 for nonprofits (2026): no platform, transaction or card-processing fees on donations, ticketing or payments.
Growth & Revenue (39)
ActiveCampaign⚠ watch the ceiling
No free plan (trial only): Starter from about $15/mo and Plus from roughly $49/mo at 1,000 contacts, scaling with your list — 10,000 contacts on Plus runs near $189/mo billed annu…
Apollo⚠ watch the ceiling
A free plan (limited credits, ~250 emails/day fair use); paid Basic about $49, Professional $79, Organization $119 per user/mo billed annually — higher monthly (2026).
AWeberclean free tier
A genuinely free plan (up to 500 subscribers, full feature set); Lite from about $15/mo and Plus from $20-30/mo (500 subs), both scaling by subscriber count, plus a flat Unlimited…
Beefree⚠ watch the ceiling
The free tier is honestly useful (real HTML export included), and the main watch-item is fit: Beefree designs emails, it doesn't send them — you're adding a builder on top of your…
Bookyourdata⚠ watch the ceiling
Pay-as-you-go, no subscription (2026): from $99 one-time for 250 contacts (~$0.40 each), dropping toward $0.05-0.08 per contact above 10k credits.
Brevo⚠ watch the ceiling
Free forever (300 emails/day, unlimited contacts); paid Starter from about $9/mo and Business from $18/mo, scaling by monthly send volume rather than contact count (2026).
CallRail⚠ watch the ceiling
Prices assume tight limits (~250 local minutes, 5 numbers, 25 SMS); overages meter (~$0.05/local minute, ~$3 per extra number).
Capsule⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Free tier (250 contacts, 2 users); Starter about $21/user/mo, Growth ~$38, Advanced ~$60, Ultimate ~$75; annual saves ~15-20%.
Clay⚠ watch the ceiling
From ~$185/mo (Launch, 2,500 credits) to ~$495/mo (Growth); a dual-currency credit system where each lookup costs credits (~$0.15–1+/lead), so waterfall enrichment can burn budget…
Gelatoclean free tier
(2026) A free plan ($0 forever) with core print-on-demand; Gelato+ is about $29.99/mo (or $19.99 annual) adding premium mockups, a stock-image library and year-round product disco…
GetResponseclean free tier
A free plan (up to 500 contacts); paid Starter from about $19/mo (1k subscribers), Marketer $59, Creator $69, scaling by contact count (2026).
Hello Barclean free tier
(2026) A free version and trial exist; paid tiers scale by monthly popup VIEWS — sources list Growth around $29-39/mo (~50k views), Premium ~$49-69/mo (~150k) and Elite ~$99-129/m…
Iconosquare⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) A free plan (1 user, 2 profiles), then Launch around €33/mo, Scale around €69/mo and Excel from about €116/mo (white-label, API, dedicated CSM); roughly 17% off annual, cus…
iContactclean free tier
The free plan is now tiny — about 250 contacts and 500 emails a month after a January-2026 cut.
Keapclean free tier
From ~$249–299/mo (no free plan), plus required onboarding that often runs $500–1,500 before you send a single email; extra users ~$39/mo and extra contacts ~$36 per 1,000 (2026).
Kitclean free tier
And the ~35% price hike in 2025 changed the value math: the free tier is still arguably the best in creator email, but paid tiers now deserve comparison shopping rather than defau…
Leadfeederclean free tier
(2026) Free tier (up to 100 identified companies, 7-day retention); paid from about €99/mo billed annually (€165 monthly) scaling by identified companies to ~€1,199/mo at high vol…
LearnWorlds⚠ watch the ceiling
Stripe ~2.9%+$0.30) charges on top regardless.
lemlist⚠ watch the ceiling
No free plan; paid runs roughly $39/user/mo (Email Starter) up to ~$159/user/mo (Outreach Scale) as of 2026.
LettrLabsclean free tier
Robotically handwritten pieces start around $0.49 each including postage (2026).
Livestormclean free tier
The free plan is capped (20-minute webinars, up to 30 attendees); real use lands on paid plans around $99–$299+/mo, billed by 'active contacts' — the people who register or join y…
ManyChat⚠ watch the ceiling
The free tier is now tiny (25 contacts after the March-2026 change); paid from $14/mo (Essential), most land on Pro ~$29/mo, up to Business ~$69/mo — and the bill scales with cont…
Notify Meclean free tier
(2026) A free plan to start, then Kickstart around $9.99/mo for new stores and a Standard tier around $39.90/mo, scaling by notification volume; 7-day trial and a 30-day money-bac…
Printify⚠ watch the ceiling
A free plan ($0 — you pay only product base cost plus shipping per order); Premium about $39/mo monthly or ~$24.99/mo annual (up to ~20% off catalog costs), plus custom Enterprise…
PushOwl⚠ watch the ceiling
Shopify-only, usage-based (2026): the Free Basic bundle at $0/mo covers 500 web-push notifications and 500 emails a month with price-drop and back-in-stock automation; Plus at $19…
Rank Math⚠ watch the ceiling
A genuinely capable free version; PRO from about $6.99/mo billed annually adds rank tracking, Content AI and advanced schema, with Business and Agency tiers for multiple client si…
Riverside⚠ watch the ceiling
It's built for local, high-quality remote recording, and the good stuff (4K, watermark-free, real transcription hours) sits on paid tiers — the free plan's watermark and limits ma…
Seamless.ai⚠ watch the ceiling
Free plan with 50 credits; paid is sales-led/quote-based — third-party guides report an entry around ~$147/mo for ~250 credits, ranging up to $150–500/user/mo (2026).
Sellfyclean free tier
0% transaction fees on all plans; 14-day trial, no free tier.
Shorbyclean free tier
(2026) Rocket about $15/mo, Pro ~$29/mo (analytics, custom domains), Agency ~$99/mo (multi-client); 7-day trial, no permanent free tier.
Stamped⚠ watch the ceiling
No free plan anymore: reviews, loyalty and lifecycle are separately-priced products from about $199/mo each, with the full suite approaching $798/mo before bundle discounts (2026).
Stampezee⚠ watch the ceiling
The category is honest and proven (digital stamp cards beat lost paper cards), and the platform is young with limited public pricing and review coverage — so start on the free pla…
Streak⚠ watch the ceiling
And note the trajectory: the free tier is gone and per-seat prices sit at real-CRM levels now, so the 'lightweight Gmail add-on' framing no longer matches the invoice.
SurveySparrowclean free tier
A free plan (limited); paid survey plans from about $19-39/mo (Basic) through Starter ~$59 and Business ~$149, with higher CX and reputation suites custom-quoted; billed quarterly…
TicketTailor⚠ watch the ceiling
No subscription (2026): pay-as-you-sell about $0.85/ticket (+VAT), or prepaid credits down to ~$0.30/ticket; free events are genuinely free for most organizers (under ~5k tickets/…
VidPal⚠ watch the ceiling
A free plan (one video, no auto-posting); paid tiers run roughly $19/mo (Starter) to $69/mo (Master) as of 2026, and credits don't roll over.
WhatConverts⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Single-account plans: Call Tracking $30/mo, Plus $60 (forms/chat/e-com), Pro $100 (HIPAA, API), Elite $160 (full journey attribution); overages ~$0.10 per lead action past …
ZoomInfo⚠ watch the ceiling
Sales-gated — no public rates, no monthly billing and no free plan.
IT & Productivity (17)
Airiaclean free tier
(2026) A free tier, Individual about $50/mo and Team about $250/mo are published; the Enterprise tier — where most real deployments land — is custom-quoted (SSO/SAML, audit logs, …
Blinq⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Free plan (2 cards, unlimited QR sharing); Premium ~$7.33/mo (5 cards, branded QR, export); Business ~$4.99/user/mo annual ($6.99 monthly, 5-user minimum) with CRM sync and…
Bright Dataclean free tier
Usage-based (2026): residential proxies from roughly $5-8/GB pay-as-you-go, dropping to ~$3/GB on committed plans ($499+/mo) and ~$2/GB at enterprise scale; datacenter from ~$0.60…
Claudeclean free tier
Free tier at $0 with daily usage caps (2026); Pro at $20/mo (about $17 billed annually) lifts the limits and adds Projects; Max at $100/mo (roughly 5x Pro usage) or $200/mo (aroun…
Consensusclean free tier
(2026) Free tier with essential search; Pro about $15/mo (or ~$10/mo billed annually) with unlimited Pro searches and 15 Deep searches; a Deep tier adds ~200 Deep searches for pow…
Devs.aiclean free tier
A free plan exists and paid tiers scale with data/usage (2026), but detailed public pricing is thin — verify current plans on their pricing page before committing.
Emergent⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Free $0 (10 credits/mo), Standard $20/mo (100 credits), Pro $200/mo (750 credits), Team $300/mo (1,250 shared credits); ~17% off annual.
Expertise AIclean free tier
(2026) A free plan (limited sessions, 1 agent, HubSpot integration), Pro about $150/mo (unlimited sessions, 2 agents, channel integrations), Business about $1,000/mo (visitor inte…
Getscreenclean free tier
Free plan (2 devices); paid tiers add one-time quick connections (Advanced) and white-label, roles and mass-device management (Enterprise) — plus a one-time Personal Lifetime Deal…
Hoppclean free tier
A free tier exists (2026); public pricing beyond that is fragmented across Hopp-branded products — verify the exact product and current plans on their site before committing.
MindStudio⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Free tier (~1,000 runs/mo, 200+ models); Individual about $20/mo ($16 annual) with unlimited agents; Pro ~$60/mo ($48 annual, 25,000 runs, API); Business/Enterprise custom.
QuickSignerclean free tier
A genuine free tier to start; paid from ~$5/mo with unlimited documents and no per-envelope caps — ISO/IEC 27001:2022-certified and AATL, legally binding across the US, UK and EU …
RunPodclean free tier
Pay-per-use GPU cloud (2026): on-demand pods from about $0.12/hr (RTX A2000) to ~$2.89/hr for an H100 and more for top-end cards; serverless bills per second (~$1.91/hr effective …
SMTP.com⚠ watch the ceiling
Add-ons (Reputation Defender, Insight Engine) run ~20% of plan cost; verification ~$0.01/address.
SMTP2GO⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Free 1,000 emails/mo (200/day); Starter about $15/mo (10,000 emails, overage ~$1/1k); Professional ~$75/mo (100,000, dedicated IPs, ~$0.85/1k overage); custom above ~3M/mo.
Softr⚠ watch the ceiling
Generous free plan (one published app, 10 users, AI credits); Basic about $49/mo annual (roughly $59 monthly), Professional around $139/mo, Business about $269/mo (2026).
WebCatalog⚠ watch the ceiling
It solves a real annoyance — dozens of web apps and multiple accounts per app as tidy desktop windows — and the honest question is whether you need the paid tier at all: the free …
Operations & Workflow (24)
Assembly⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) A free plan, then a Recognition plan around $2–$3 per member/month (cheaper annually), scaling to Engagement, Culture Suite and custom Digital-HQ tiers.
Bokun⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) A free version plus paid plans from about $49/mo (Start).
Breezy HRclean free tier
The jump from free (one position) to the first paid tier is steep if you only hire occasionally — the free plan is genuinely usable, so live in it until you're filling several rol…
ClickUp⚠ watch the ceiling
A Free Forever plan (unlimited members, limited storage/features); Unlimited about $7/user/mo, Business $12/user/mo billed annually (higher monthly), plus custom Enterprise (2026).
Contractor Foreman⚠ watch the ceiling
Free trial, no permanent free tier.
Databoxclean free tier
Since Databox retired its free plan, the cheapest tier is Professional at ~$159/mo; extra data sources run ~$5.60–7 each per month, with cheaper per-source rates on agency plans (…
Gamma⚠ watch the ceiling
The free tier's watermark pushes you to paid quickly.
Hive⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Free tier (10 members); Starter about $5/user/mo annual ($7 monthly); Teams ~$12/user/mo annual ($18 monthly); Enterprise custom.
InVideo⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) Free plan (limited AI minutes, watermarked); Plus around $28/mo (removes watermark, ~50 AI minutes, commercial rights); Max around $50–60/mo (~200 AI minutes, 4K); a higher…
Katana MRP⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) A free plan (limited to ~30 SKUs, Shopify only), then Core from about $299/mo (unlimited SKUs and users); manufacturing management, lot tracking and routings are paid add-o…
Lindy.ai⚠ watch the ceiling
A free plan (400 credits/mo); paid from about $49.99/mo (Pro, ~5,000 credits) up to Business ~$299.99/mo, with overage at roughly $10 per 1,000 credits and voice billed separately…
Murfclean free tier
(2026) Free plan (10 minutes, no downloads); Creator about $29/mo ($19 annual) with 24h of generation/year and commercial rights; Business about $99/mo ($66 annual, 96h/year); Ent…
Pangram⚠ watch the ceiling
(2026) A free tier (~4–5 credits/day); Individual about $20/mo (~600 credits, each covers ~1,000 words), Professional roughly $35–$65/mo (more credits, API, batch, teams); develop…
QuillBot⚠ watch the ceiling
The free version is deliberately limited (word cap, few modes), and the value case is narrow — it's a paraphrasing and grammar assistant, not a full writing suite, and general AI …
Reclaim.ai⚠ watch the ceiling
Free forever (limited); Starter/Plus about $8-10/seat/mo, Business about $12-15/seat/mo, Enterprise custom, with roughly 29% off annual (2026).
Sendcloud⚠ watch the ceiling
A genuine Free plan (no subscription, no per-label fee — you pay only the carrier cost, but limited to 1 user, 2 integrations and manual returns).
Shippoclean free tier
(2026) Starter is free (discounted carrier rates, but $0.05/label when connecting your OWN carrier accounts); Pro from ~$19/mo (200 labels, fee removed, branded tracking) stepping…
SmartSuite⚠ watch the ceiling
A free plan (up to 3 users, limited storage); Team about $12, Professional $30, Enterprise $45 per user/mo on annual billing (a little more monthly), plus a custom Signature tier …
SurveyMonkey⚠ watch the ceiling
Free is nearly useless (10 questions, 25 responses); individual paid ~$39/mo (annual) or $99/mo monthly; team plans ~$30–92/user/mo — plus $0.15 per response over your cap (2026).
Switcher Studioclean free tier
14-day trial, no free plan.
Todoist⚠ watch the ceiling
The free plan's 5-project cap and missing reminders push most serious users to Pro quickly — but Pro is genuinely cheap.
Toggl⚠ watch the ceiling
Toggl's honesty problem is the good kind: the free tier is so capable that many teams never need to pay — the paid line is drawn exactly at 'do you bill clients' (budgets, rates, …
Turbotic⚠ watch the ceiling
A Professional tier around $10-15 per seat/mo (bundling automation-execution credits, roughly 1,500/mo) plus custom Enterprise pricing; trials but no permanent free tier (2026).
Wrike⚠ watch the ceiling
A permanent free plan (up to 5 users); Team about $10/user/mo, Business $25/user/mo on annual billing, with higher Pinnacle and Apex tiers custom (roughly $50-80/user) (2026).
More honest breakdowns
The Per-Seat Tax — what team software really costs as you growThe Quote-Only Club — the tools that won't show you a priceThe Honest Software Atlas — all 238 tools, every cost-trap flag with its evidence
Every claim on this page is pulled from our hand-researched review of each tool, with the evidence sentence shown. Some links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you, and it never changes our take. How we review →