Top free SaaS tools for startups (with a budgeting worksheet)

Not every SaaS company has endless spare money. Maybe you’re bootstrapped. Maybe your runway is tight. Either way, you need to be economical. That’s just smart business.

When we think about what SaaS companies spend on, we tend to consider the big things:

• Hiring and salaries
• Equipment
• Taxes
• Office costs

Homebase created a great list of common business startup costs.

There’s one cost that often slips our minds. It’s the tools we use in our everyday work.

SaaS tools don’t always seem like big expenditures. However, SaaS companies and startups use a lot of tools for their everyday operations. Most of them aren’t outrageously expensive.

What’s another 20 bucks a month for a service that makes your life easier? But how many of these “only 20 bucks a month” tools do you already have? Do you know?

It adds up. Big time.

We all want quality tools to run our business, even if we’re on a budget. That doesn’t mean you have to necessarily empty your pockets for it.

Canny is a fully bootstrapped SaaS company. We know exactly what it’s like to be mindful of money.

In this post, we’ll explore:

1. Main operating areas of a SaaS company
2. Free SaaS tools to consider
3. Affordable alternatives (when free SaaS tools aren’t available)
4. A pre-formatted spreadsheet for easy calculations

You can make a copy of this spreadsheet to:

• Analyze your current tech stack costs and see where you can cut costs
• Outline your desired tech stack and predict future costs

Let’s roll!

TL;DR

• You can run a real SaaS startup on free tiers across product, support, marketing, design, and engineering.
• Most tools below offer a true free plan, not a trial.
• Watch the upgrade triggers. Higher contacts and seats are often where paid plans are needed
• Grab the free budgeting worksheet to model your real monthly spend.
• Tools we use at Canny are marked with ♥.

The SaaS tool categories

We’re going to be looking at the following big categories for SaaS tools:

Hopefully, you will find some new and cool tools to check out and save costs. Remember: only you know what is the right tool for your team. Use this article as a guide.

PS: there’s a little ♥ next to the tools we use or have used and/or would recommend. If you have questions about our experience with them, reach out to us!

Product management

These tools help you collect feedback, validate ideas, and ship the right thing. Your customers will tell you what to build if you give them a place to do it. For a deeper look, see our roundup of the best customer feedback management tools.

♥ Canny

Canny gives you a feedback portal, public roadmap, and changelog in one place. It’s built for SaaS teams who want to close the loop with customers.

The Free plan includes unlimited Autopilot Feedback Discovery. Autopilot pulls feedback automatically from Intercom, Zendesk, Gong, Zoom, and more.

You also get unlimited posts, unlimited boards, and unlimited admin seats. Track up to 25 users on Free before upgrading. Paid plans start at $19/month. See pricing.

Maze

Maze runs unmoderated usability tests on prototypes and live sites. It’s great for validating ideas before you ship. The free plan covers individual users with limited monthly testers. Paid plans start at $99/month. See pricing.

Lyssna

Lyssna handles surveys, five-second tests, first-click tests, and prototype testing. It was formerly known as UsabilityHub. The free plan includes their core methods with three seats. Paid plans start at $83/month. See pricing.

Statsig

Statsig combines feature flags, A/B testing, and product analytics in one platform. The free Developer tier covers 2 million events per month and unlimited seats. Paid plans start at $150/month. See pricing.

Internal communication

Pick one core chat tool and stick with it. Splitting messages across two apps is a recipe for missed context.

♥ Slack

Slack is the default chat tool for most SaaS teams. The free plan keeps 90 days of message history and connects up to 10 apps. Paid plans start at $7.25/user/month. See pricing.

Discord

Discord works well for community-led products and informal teams. Voice channels and bots are strong. Nitro paid plans start at $9.99/month. See pricing.

Twist

Twist is async-first messaging from the Doist team. It suits remote teams that want fewer notifications. Paid plans start at $6/user/month. See pricing.

Google Chat

Google Chat ships with Google Workspace. Use it if you already live in Gmail and Drive. Workspace plans start at $7/user/month. See pricing.

Microsoft Teams (free)

Microsoft Teams free covers chat, calls, and basic meetings. It’s strong for teams already on Microsoft 365. Paid plans start at $4/user/month. See pricing.

Video and async meetings

Live calls and recorded videos cover different jobs. Use both to cut down on long meetings.

Zoom

Zoom remains the default for client calls and webinars. The free plan caps group meetings at 40 minutes. Paid plans start at $13.33/user/month. See pricing.

Google Meet

Google Meet is included with Workspace and works well in-browser. It suits Google-first teams. Paid plans start at $7/user/month through Workspace. See pricing.

Loom

Loom captures quick screen-and-camera videos. Async demos beat scheduling another sync. The free plan caps videos at 5 minutes. Paid plans start at $15/user/month. See pricing.

Marketing and email

Email is still the highest-ROI channel for most SaaS startups. Pick one shared inbox and one broadcast tool.

♥ Missive

Missive turns shared inboxes into a real collaboration tool. It suits founders and small support teams. Paid plans start at $14/user/month. See pricing.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is the household name in email marketing. The free plan now covers 250 contacts and 500 monthly sends. Paid plans start at $13/month. See pricing.

EmailOctopus

EmailOctopus is a budget-friendly newsletter tool. The free plan supports 2,500 subscribers. Paid plans start at $9/month. See pricing.

♥ HubSpot email marketing

HubSpot’s free email tools work alongside its free CRM. The free tier sends up to 2,000 emails per month. Paid plans start at $20/month. See pricing.

Brevo

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) bundles email, SMS, and basic CRM. The free plan allows 300 sends per day. Paid plans start at $9/month. See pricing.

Loops

Loops is built for SaaS lifecycle and product email. The clean editor and developer-friendly setup are highlights. Paid plans start at $15/month. See pricing.

Beehiiv

Beehiiv is the go-to for newsletter creators who want monetization built in. The free plan supports up to 2,500 subscribers. Paid plans start at $49/month. See pricing.

Social media management

Schedule once, post everywhere. These tools save hours every week.

Buffer

Buffer is the cleanest scheduler for small teams. The free plan covers 3 channels with 10 queued posts each. Paid plans start at $5/channel/month. See pricing.

Typefully

Typefully is laser-focused on X and LinkedIn threads. Writers and founders love it. Paid plans start at $12.50/month (billed annually). See pricing.

Publer

Publer covers a long list of networks at a low price. It’s a strong Buffer alternative. Paid plans start at $12/month. See pricing.

Customer support, service, and success

Pick one ticketing tool and one feedback channel. Layer on a survey tool when you need satisfaction scores.

Freshdesk

Freshdesk has one of the most generous free tiers in support software. The free program covers up to 2 agents. Paid plans start at $15/agent/month. See pricing.

HubSpot Service Hub free

HubSpot’s free service tools include tickets, live chat, and a shared inbox. They sit on top of the free CRM. Paid plans start at $20/seat/month. See pricing.

♥ HubSpot CRM

HubSpot’s free CRM supports up to 1,000,000 contacts at no cost. It’s a strong starting point for sales tracking. Paid plans start at $15/seat/month. See pricing.

Zoho CRM free

Zoho CRM offers a free tier for up to 3 users. Pipeline tracking and lead capture are included. Paid plans start at $14/user/month. See pricing.

Delighted

Delighted runs NPS, CSAT, and CES surveys with minimal setup. The free tier handles small monthly response volume. Paid plans start at $224/month. See pricing.

Project and task management

Project management tools keep work organized and on track. Most have free plans that cover small teams well.

♥ ClickUp

ClickUp packs tasks, docs, and dashboards into one tool. The free plan supports unlimited members. Paid plans start at $7/user/month. See pricing.

Trello

Trello is the simplest kanban board to learn. The free plan allows 10 boards per workspace. Paid plans start at $5/user/month. See pricing.

Asana

Asana suits cross-functional teams running formal projects. The free plan covers up to 10 collaborators. Paid plans start at $10.99/user/month. See pricing.

Linear

Linear is the modern issue tracker for product teams. The free plan caps at 250 issues across 2 teams. Paid plans start at $10/user/month. See pricing.

Height

Height blends task tracking with AI-driven project workflows. The free plan covers small teams. Paid plans start at $6.99/user/month. See pricing.

Documentation and knowledge

Write things down once. Future you will thank present you.

♥ Notion

Notion handles wikis, project databases, and meeting notes in one place. The free plan is genuinely useful for small teams. Paid plans start at $10/user/month. See pricing.

♥ Google Workspace

Google Workspace covers email, docs, sheets, and storage for the whole team. Most startups already use a chunk of it. Paid plans start at $7/user/month. See pricing.

Confluence Free

Confluence pairs naturally with Jira for engineering teams. The free plan covers up to 10 users. Paid plans start at $5.42/user/month. See pricing.

Coda

Coda mixes docs and databases with deep formula logic. The free plan supports unlimited Doc Makers with size limits. Paid plans start at $10/Doc Maker/month. See pricing.

Analytics and metrics

Pick one source of truth per question. Don’t drown the team in dashboards.

ChartMogul

ChartMogul tracks SaaS metrics like MRR, churn, and LTV. The free plan covers up to $10K MRR. Paid plans start at $129/month. See pricing.

♥ Airtable

Airtable is a spreadsheet-database hybrid for ops, content, and CRM workflows. The free plan covers small teams. Paid plans start at $20/seat/month. See pricing.

♥ Mixpanel

Mixpanel tracks product events, funnels, and retention. The free plan handles up to 1 million events per month. Paid Growth plans start around $28/month. See pricing.

♥ Google Analytics

Google Analytics is the standard for free web analytics. GA4 is the current version. Most teams can use the free version indefinitely.

PostHog

PostHog combines product analytics, session replay, and feature flags. The free tier is generous. Usage-based pricing kicks in after that. See pricing.

Plausible

Plausible is a privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative. It offers a 30-day free trial. Paid plans start at $9/month. See pricing.

Fathom

Fathom is another privacy-first web analytics option. Paid plans start at $15/month, but it offers a free trial. See pricing.

Hotjar

Hotjar shows you heatmaps, recordings, and surveys. The free plan covers up to 35 daily sessions. Paid plans start at $32/month. See pricing.

Design

Free design tools have come a long way. These options cover most early-stage needs.

♥ Figma

Figma is the industry default for product design. The Starter plan is free for up to 3 design files. Paid plans start at $12/editor/month. See pricing.

♥ Canva

Canva is the fast option for marketing graphics, decks, and social posts. The free plan is genuinely usable. Paid plans start at $15/month. See pricing.

Penpot

Penpot is a free, open-source design and prototyping tool. Self-hosting is supported. Paid plans start at $7/user/month. See pricing.

Pixlr

Pixlr is a browser-based photo editor with AI tools. The free plan covers basic edits. Paid plans start at $7.99/month. See pricing.

Engineering

Free credits and free tiers go a long way for early-stage teams. Many of these will carry you to product-market fit. We wrote about that journey in our ramen profitability post.

♥ AWS

AWS offers a 12-month free tier plus always-free services. Activate startup credits if you qualify. Usage-based pricing applies after. See pricing.

Cloudflare

Cloudflare’s free plan covers DNS, CDN, DDoS protection, and Workers. It’s hard to overstate the value. Paid Pro plans start at $25/month. See pricing.

Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud gives new accounts $300 in credits plus always-free tiers. Usage-based pricing applies after. See pricing.

Vercel

Vercel hosts modern frontend apps with a generous Hobby tier. Pro plans start at $20/user/month. See pricing.

Netlify

Netlify offers fast frontend hosting and serverless functions. The free starter plan handles small projects. Paid plans start at $19/member/month. See pricing.

Supabase

Supabase is the open-source Firebase alternative. The free plan supports two free projects. Pro plans start at $25/month. See pricing.

Render

Render hosts web services, databases, and cron jobs. The free tier covers small workloads. Paid services start at $7/month. See pricing.

VS Code

Visual Studio Code is the default code editor for most developers. Open-source and free.

♥ GitHub

GitHub hosts code, runs CI, and ships built-in security tools. The free plan covers unlimited public and private repos. Paid Team plans start at $4/user/month. See pricing.

GitLab

GitLab bundles Git hosting, CI/CD, and DevOps tools. The free tier is robust. Paid plans start at $29/user/month. See pricing.

♥ Sentry

Sentry catches errors and performance issues in production. The free Developer plan covers 5,000 errors per month. Paid plans start at $26/month. See pricing.

AI and automation

Free AI plans handle a real chunk of daily work now. Pair them with a no-code automation tool to wire workflows together.

♥ ChatGPT

ChatGPT’s free tier handles writing, research, code, and more. Paid Plus plans start at $20/month. See pricing.

♥ Claude

Claude is Anthropic’s assistant with strong long-context reading. The free tier is useful for everyday tasks and similar to ChatGPT’s capabilities. Paid Pro plans start at $20/month. See pricing.

Perplexity

Perplexity is an answer engine that cites its sources. Great for thorough, fast research. Paid Pro plans start at $20/month. See pricing.

Zapier

Zapier connects 8,000+ apps without code. The free plan covers 100 tasks per month. Paid Professional plans start at $19.99/month. See pricing.

Make

Make is a more visual, often cheaper Zapier alternative. The free plan covers 1,000 operations. Paid plans start at $9/month. See pricing.

Forms, scheduling, and passwords

Three small categories that bite when you ignore them.

Tally

Tally builds forms with a Notion-style editor. The free plan offers unlimited forms and submissions. Paid plans start at $29/month. See pricing.

Cal.com

Cal.com is open-source scheduling. The free plan covers individuals well. Paid Teams plans start at $15/user/month. See pricing.

Bitwarden

Bitwarden is an open-source password manager. The free plan supports unlimited personal vault items. Paid Premium starts at $10/year. See pricing.

Quick reference: every tool at a glance

Quick legend. ✓✓ means a generous free plan. ✓ means a free plan. ⚠ means free trial only.

Tool	Category	Free plan
♥ Canny	Customer feedback	✓✓
Maze	User testing	✓
Lyssna	User research	✓
Statsig	Experimentation	✓✓
♥ Slack	Internal comms	✓
Discord	Internal comms	✓✓
Twist	Internal comms	✓
Google Chat	Internal comms	✓
Microsoft Teams (free)	Internal comms	✓
Zoom	Video meetings	✓
Google Meet	Video meetings	✓
Loom	Async video	✓
♥ Missive	Team email	✓
Mailchimp	Email marketing	✓
EmailOctopus	Email marketing	✓✓
♥ HubSpot email	Email marketing	✓
Brevo	Email marketing	✓✓
Loops	Email marketing	✓
Beehiiv	Newsletter	✓
Buffer	Social media	✓
Typefully	Social media	✓
Publer	Social media	✓
Freshdesk	Support tickets	✓✓
HubSpot Service Hub	Support tickets	✓
Delighted	NPS & CSAT	✓
♥ HubSpot CRM	CRM	✓✓
Zoho CRM	CRM	✓
♥ ClickUp	Project management	✓✓
Trello	Project management	✓✓
Asana	Project management	✓
Linear	Project management	✓
Height	Project management	✓
♥ Notion	Docs & wiki	✓✓
♥ Google Workspace	Docs & storage	✓
Confluence	Docs & wiki	✓
Coda	Docs & wiki	✓
ChartMogul	Analytics	✓
♥ Airtable	Analytics & ops	✓
♥ Mixpanel	Product analytics	✓✓
♥ Google Analytics	Web analytics	✓✓
PostHog	Product analytics	✓✓
Plausible	Web analytics	⚠
Fathom	Web analytics	⚠
Hotjar	Web analytics	✓
♥ Figma	Design	✓
♥ Canva	Design	✓
Penpot	Design	✓✓
Pixlr	Design	✓
♥ AWS	Cloud	✓
Cloudflare	Cloud	✓✓
Google Cloud	Cloud	✓
Vercel	Cloud	✓
Netlify	Cloud	✓
Supabase	Cloud	✓
Render	Cloud	✓
VS Code	Engineering	✓✓
♥ GitHub	Engineering	✓✓
GitLab	Engineering	✓✓
♥ Sentry	Engineering	✓
♥ ChatGPT	AI	✓
♥ Claude	AI	✓
Perplexity	AI	✓
Zapier	Automation	✓
Make	Automation	✓
Tally	Forms	✓✓
Cal.com	Scheduling	✓✓
Bitwarden	Passwords	✓✓

Happy budgeting

You’re now armed with a long list of free tools. Grab the free budgeting spreadsheet and start mapping your real stack today. Pair it with our bootstrapping lessons for context. Trim what you don’t use. Keep what earns its keep.

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