Build Your SaaS for Free Using Tools with Free Tier Plans
You don't need a big budget to launch your SaaS. Here's how to build a production-ready SaaS product for $0/month using free tier tools from top providers.
Many successful SaaS products started on free tiers. With the right combination of tools, you can build, launch, and even scale your product without spending a dime until you're ready to upgrade.
The $0/month SaaS Stack
Supabase
PostgreSQL database with built-in authentication, real-time subscriptions, and storage.
Free Tier:
Free forever tier with 500MB database, 1GB file storage, 5GB network egress/month
Limits:
- Unlimited API requests
- 50,000 monthly active users (Auth)
- Up to 2 projects
- Email auth included
- Note: Projects pause after 7 days of inactivity
Vercel
Deploy your Next.js, React, or any frontend framework with zero configuration.
Free Tier:
Hobby plan (free) with unlimited personal projects
Limits:
- 100GB bandwidth per month
- 6,000 build minutes per month
- Automatic SSL certificates
- Global CDN
- Preview deployments for every commit
- Serverless functions & cron jobs included
Next.js 16 + shadcn/ui
React framework with App Router plus beautiful, copy-paste UI components with Tailwind CSS.
Free Tier:
100% free and open-source
Limits:
- Unlimited projects
- Full framework features
- Built-in optimizations
- 50+ ready-to-use components
- Fully customizable styling
Stripe
Industry-standard payment processing with no monthly fees. Only pay when you get paid.
Free Tier:
$0/month - only transaction fees (2.9% + 30¢)
Limits:
- No monthly fees
- Stripe Checkout included
- Subscription billing
- Customer portal
- Invoicing
- Stripe Tax for compliance
PostHog
Product analytics with session replay, feature flags, and A/B testing. Privacy-friendly alternative to GA.
Free Tier:
1 million events/month free, self-hosted is unlimited
Limits:
- 1M events/month
- Session recordings
- Feature flags
- A/B testing
- Funnels & retention
- Self-hosted option (free)
Sentry
Track errors, crashes, and performance issues in real-time. Essential for production apps.
Free Tier:
Developer plan with 5,000 errors/month free
Limits:
- 5,000 errors/month
- Performance monitoring
- Release tracking
- Source maps support
- Email alerts
Resend
Modern email API for transactional emails. Works great with React Email.
Free Tier:
3,000 emails/month free
Limits:
- 3,000 emails/month
- 1 custom domain
- React Email support
- Analytics & tracking
- Developer-friendly API
GitHub
Git hosting with built-in CI/CD, project management, and collaboration tools.
Free Tier:
Free for unlimited public and private repos
Limits:
- Unlimited repos
- 2,000 CI/CD minutes/month
- GitHub Actions
- Issues & Projects
- Codespaces (limited)
Complete Free Tier Stack
Database
Supabase offers one of the most generous free tiers for databases. You get a full PostgreSQL database with 500MB storage, 1GB file storage, and 5GB network egress per month. This is enough for thousands of users in early stages. Important: Free tier projects automatically pause after 7 days of inactivity, so keep your app active.
Alternatives: Neon (512MB free, branching support), PlanetScale (generous free tier with row limits), MongoDB Atlas (512MB free)
Hosting
Vercel provides an excellent free tier for hosting. The Hobby plan includes unlimited projects, 100GB bandwidth per month, 6,000 build minutes per month, automatic SSL certificates, global CDN, and preview deployments. Perfect for Next.js, React, and other modern frameworks.
Alternatives: Netlify (100GB bandwidth free), Cloudflare Pages (unlimited bandwidth, great for static sites), Railway ($5 credit monthly, good for full-stack apps)
Authentication
Supabase Auth (included with Supabase free tier) supports 50,000 monthly active users with social logins, email verification, and magic links. Clerk offers a free tier with up to 10,000 monthly active users. Both are excellent choices for authentication without building from scratch.
Alternatives: NextAuth.js (self-hosted, completely free), Auth0 (free for up to 7,000 MAU), Supabase Auth (included with database)
Analytics
Google Analytics (GA4) is completely free forever with unlimited pageviews and events. It provides comprehensive analytics, real-time reporting, and e-commerce tracking. For privacy-focused alternatives, consider Umami (self-hosted, free) or PostHog (1M events/month free, self-hosted option available).
Alternatives: PostHog (1M events/month free tier, self-hosted is free), Mixpanel (20M events/month free), Microsoft Clarity (unlimited sessions, free)
Payments
Stripe has no monthly fees — you only pay transaction fees (2.9% + 30¢) when you get paid. This makes it effectively free until you have revenue. Includes Stripe Checkout, subscription billing, customer portal, and invoicing.
Alternatives: Lemon Squeezy (handles tax compliance, 5% + 50¢ fee), Paddle (MoR for global sales), PayPal (2.9% + 30¢)
Resend offers 3,000 emails/month free with developer-friendly APIs and React Email support. SendGrid provides 100 emails per day free (3,000/month), perfect for transactional emails like signup confirmations and password resets.
Alternatives: Mailgun (5,000 emails/month free for first 3 months), Postmark (100 emails/month free trial), Brevo/Sendinblue (300 emails/day free)
Error Monitoring
Sentry offers a free Developer plan with 5,000 errors/month, which is plenty for early-stage apps. Track errors, crashes, and performance issues in real-time. Essential for production apps to catch bugs before users report them.
Alternatives: LogRocket (1,000 sessions/month free), Bugsnag (7,500 events/month free), Rollbar (5,000 events/month free)
AI Coding Assistants
Google Antigravity is currently in public preview with an extremely generous free tier — access to Gemini 3 Pro, Claude 3.5, and GPT models with unlimited completions. Cursor offers 2,000 completions/month on its free tier. Windsurf also has a generous free tier with unlimited basic completions.
Alternatives: Claude Code ($20/mo via Claude Pro), GitHub Copilot ($10/mo), VS Code with free extensions
Version Control & CI/CD
GitHub is free for unlimited public and private repositories with 2,000 CI/CD minutes per month via GitHub Actions. Perfect for solo founders and small teams. Includes project management, issues, and Codespaces.
Alternatives: GitLab (free, self-hosted option), Bitbucket (free for small teams)
Important Limitations & Caveats
While free tiers are generous, there are important limitations to be aware of:
- Inactivity Pauses: Some free tiers (like Supabase) automatically pause projects after 7 days of inactivity. Keep your app active or upgrade to avoid downtime.
- Storage Limits: Free tiers typically limit database storage (500MB-1GB). Plan for data growth and consider archiving old data.
- Bandwidth Caps: Most free tiers limit bandwidth (100GB/month on Vercel, 5GB on Supabase). Monitor usage to avoid unexpected charges.
- No SLAs: Free tiers don't guarantee uptime or provide priority support. For mission-critical apps, consider paid plans.
- Feature Limitations: Advanced features like SSO, custom branding, and compliance certifications are often paid-only.
- Cold Starts: Serverless functions may have cold start latency on free tiers, affecting response times.
When Should You Upgrade?
The free tier stack can support you through:
- MVP Development: Build and test your product
- Early Users: Support hundreds to thousands of users
- Proof of Concept: Validate your idea without cost
- Pre-Revenue Stage: Launch before you have paying customers
Consider upgrading when:
- You're generating revenue and can afford paid plans
- You're hitting free tier limits (database size, bandwidth, etc.)
- You need premium features (SSO, advanced analytics, priority support)
- You're scaling beyond 10,000+ active users
- You need guaranteed uptime SLAs for production apps
- Your app requires compliance certifications (SOC2, HIPAA, GDPR)
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