# FreeTier Source: https://customlabs.io/products/freetier/ Updated: 2026-08-27 Live Developer directory # FreeTier Ship on a budget. Problem ## What problem does it solve? Free tiers are buried in pricing pages and change constantly, so it's hard to know what's genuinely free before you commit to a paid plan. Who it's for ## Who is it for? Developers and founders shipping on a budget who want to compare free tiers before paying. Why we built it ## Why did we build it? Every client engagement starts with a build-vs-buy call. That call keeps hinging on the same question: is there a free tier that gets us to a working prototype before we commit budget? Answering it meant digging through a dozen pricing pages that get restructured every quarter. FreeTier started as our own internal reference before it was a product. It was a place to check what's actually free, not a 14-day trial dressed up as one, before we recommended a stack to a client. How it works ## How does it work? - Curated, not scraped Every entry is reviewed for what's actually free versus a time-limited trial, so the directory stays trustworthy as free-tier terms shift. - 590+ tools, one comparable format Every tool is normalised into the same fields: what's free, what the limit is, what happens after. That makes entries comparable, not merely listed. - Built for the build-vs-buy moment The directory is structured around one decision: checking the free option before committing to a paid plan. It's not built to drive traffic to any one vendor. The hard part ## What's the hard part? Free tiers change constantly and silently. A provider quietly tightens a limit, or converts what was a real free tier into a time-boxed trial. The hard part is keeping 590+ entries honest as terms shift underneath them, rather than publishing once and letting the directory go stale. Features ## What does it do? - Curated directory of 590+ cloud, SaaS, and developer tools - Clear comparison of what is genuinely free - Focus on substantial free tiers, not trials - Check the free option before committing to paid What it proves ## What does this prove we can do for you? We apply the same build-vs-buy judgment to scope a client's stack: knowing what's genuinely free, what's a trap, and what's worth paying for from day one. FreeTier is built to make that judgment self-serve. Capability [Document & data extraction](https://customlabs.io/capabilities/#capability-03) Service [Custom Development](https://customlabs.io/services/custom-development/) Related reading ## Where this shows up in client work - [Build, buy, or skip](https://customlabs.io/insights/build-buy-or-skip/) - [What AI actually costs](https://customlabs.io/insights/what-ai-actually-costs/) Questions ## Questions, answered. The questions we get asked most, answered plainly: no hedging, no marketing copy. 01 What counts as a "free tier" on FreeTier? + A tier substantial enough to build or run something real on, not a 14-day trial. Time-boxed trials dressed up as free tiers are excluded or clearly labelled. 02 Is FreeTier free itself? + Yes. It's a free directory; no account is required to browse it. 03 How often is it updated? + Entries are reviewed on an ongoing basis as providers change their terms, since a stale free-tier directory is worse than no directory at all. See it live A curated directory of 590+ cloud, SaaS, and developer tools with substantial free tiers. Compare what's genuinely free before committing to a paid plan. [Visit freetier.co →](https://freetier.co/?utm_source=customlabs.io&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=portfolio) Building something like this? This is the same discipline, real architecture decisions and an honest account of the hard part, that we bring to client engagements. [Book a Ship Audit →](https://customlabs.io/diagnostic/ship-audit/)