Starter stack
$0 until you have users
You're validating an idea and don't want a single monthly bill until real people use it. Every pick here has a free tier a small product can run on in production.
62 makers' products and 51 open-source projects use at least half of these 7 tools.The picks
Frontend Framework
Free and open source, and deploys to any of the free hosts.
Chosen for frontend framework by 1506 makers' products we track · the alternatives →Hosting
A generous free tier for static assets and serverless functions, with no bandwidth bill.
Chosen for hosting by 374 makers' products we track · the alternatives →Database
A free project with Postgres, storage and auth — pauses only after a week without activity.
Chosen for database by 563 makers' products we track · the alternatives →Authentication
Included in the same free project.
Chosen for authentication by 13 makers' products we track · the alternatives →Transactional Email
A free tier that covers sign-in links and receipts for an early product.
Chosen for transactional email by 942 makers' products we track · the alternatives →LLM API
A free tier on capable models, enough to build and demo AI features before paying per token.
Chosen for LLM API by 99 makers' products we track · the alternatives →Error Monitoring
The free developer plan covers one person's error tracking.
Chosen for error monitoring by 162 makers' products we track · the alternatives →
What this costs you
Free tiers change and have limits — pausing, daily caps, no support — so read them before launch day. Staying on free tiers across five vendors is fine for validation; once people pay, move the piece you depend on most to a paid plan first.
Ask your AI about this, with this page as the source:ChatGPT ↗Claude ↗Perplexity ↗
Who builds this way
Using at least half of these tools, each with a source: makers' products from their own words, customer stories, subprocessor lists or websites; open-source projects from their code.
Blink.newAI app builder that generates web apps from a prompt, with authentication, database, edge functions and hosting included.6 of these 7 tools
KonfideAI Agents with a human expert for hire6 of these 7 tools
ContriveSearch and act across all your work apps5 of these 7 tools
giselleGiselle is an open-source tool for building and running AI workflows in a visual node editor, combining models from several providers. It is for teams automating multi-step or long-running AI tasks.5 of these 7 toolsHey NoahNoah is a proactive AI executive assistant for founders. Claude talks to you; Noah talks to your network. It's like Tesla Full Self Driving, and not cruise control- an autonomous AI EA that manages your calendar, relationships, and follow-ups across email, text, and WhatsApp - so nothing slips. Think of it as an always-on EA living in your SMS and helping you with meeting logistics.5 of these 7 tools
inbox-zeroOpen-source AI email assistant that triages, labels and drafts replies to help clear your inbox.5 of these 7 tools
MacalyMacaly is an AI builder that generates websites and apps from prompts, with direct editing, a built-in database, visitor analytics and publishing to your own domain.5 of these 7 tools
PopAirYour All-in-one AI Copilot for MacOS5 of these 7 tools
ProductlaneCustomer support tool built on Linear, with a shared inbox for chat, Slack and email plus a customer portal, public roadmap and changelog; conversations become Linear issues.5 of these 7 tools
RightNow AICode editor for GPU/CUDA development with built-in profiling, benchmarking and AI-assisted optimization.5 of these 7 tools
SalesPortSales research tool that combines lead research with verified contact data to help sales reps personalize outreach.5 of these 7 tools
Slashspace AICanvas first AI experience for sustained, complex work5 of these 7 tools
SlashyAI email client that triages the inbox and drafts replies in your voice, connected to calendar and CRM.5 of these 7 toolsThanor AIMake your AI-built sites look expensive and not like slop5 of these 7 tools
VybeLovable for internal apps5 of these 7 toolsBetterPicBetterPic's AI headshot generator turns selfies into 4K professional headshots in under an hour. 150+ styles, studio quality, 100% money-back guarantee.4 of these 7 tools
BrandMyLaptopSell ad space on your laptop4 of these 7 tools
BrewDesigns and sends marketing emails and email automations from a plain-English description of the campaign.4 of these 7 tools
Built for DevsBuilt for Devs helps dev-tool companies find out why developers don't adopt their product, using time-to-value tracking, screen-recorded evaluations by real developers, and AI-written findings reports.4 of these 7 toolsButtondownButtondown is the last email platform you'll migrate to. We're focused on your success, not on bleeding you dry.4 of these 7 tools
ClientJamAI-powered lead generation for designers and agencies4 of these 7 tools
CloudglueLet your AI understand videos and audio4 of these 7 tools
cogneeMemory for AI Agents in 6 lines of code4 of these 7 tools
Documentation.AIBuild and update product documentation effortlessly with AI4 of these 7 tools
Dreambase.comFully integrated analytics from Supabase. Free to use.4 of these 7 tools
FirstQuadrantMaximize B2B sales with human-centered AI4 of these 7 tools
FlexpriceUsage-based pricing and billing for developers4 of these 7 tools
FundableIntegrate startup, investor and people data in your product4 of these 7 tools
GetThisGenerate tasks from voice, text, or screenshots.4 of these 7 tools
GoMarbleAI agent for Paid Media Teams4 of these 7 tools
GroThe best way to prospect and sell with AI4 of these 7 tools
HarnessRouterWorld's first unified agent harness interface. Open source4 of these 7 tools
Human BehaviorHuman Behavior is a product analytics tool whose SDK records events, errors and session replays, and whose AI agents review the replays for usability problems and act on them, for example by emailing users or opening pull requests. It is for software product teams.4 of these 7 toolsIncredibleDeep Work AI Agents - powered by Agent MAX4 of these 7 tools
KorlAI agents for customer presentations4 of these 7 tools
LinkedditFind Your Next Customers on Reddit Who Are Ready To Buy Now4 of these 7 tools
Make PodcastEffortlessly Craft Professional Podcasts in Minutes Using AI4 of these 7 tools
ManyPISales on Autopilot4 of these 7 tools
Migma AIMigma AI generates marketing email campaigns that match your brand, audience and calendar, for you to review and send. It is for teams running email marketing.4 of these 7 tools
Modelence App BuilderBuild production-ready apps with AI4 of these 7 tools
Moxie DocsLiving docs + MCP context for your GitHub repos 4 of these 7 tools
NautisThe AI-native Operating System for founders.4 of these 7 tools
NotteBuild and deploy reliable browser agents at scale4 of these 7 tools
Opper AIThe European AI gateway for agents4 of these 7 tools
Outlit AIAI Agents for your SaaS Deals4 of these 7 tools
PingPromptOrganize prompts, track changes, and iterate faster.4 of these 7 tools
PocketCorderRemote control your mac from smartphone4 of these 7 tools
QualGentAI Mobile App QA Tester4 of these 7 tools
RankfenderThe platform for modern visibility management ( SEO & GEO )4 of these 7 tools
Redesign With AIRedesign makes design easier and more creative with AI 4 of these 7 tools
ReloopVideo studio built for small teams4 of these 7 tools
RybbitThe open source Google Analytics replacement4 of these 7 tools
SkriptrAI workspace for students4 of these 7 tools
Spiky2x your revenue by scaling winning behaviors4 of these 7 tools
SwytchcodeProduction-Ready Integrations for AI Agents4 of these 7 tools
TriqaiTurn messy bank transactions into clean, structured data4 of these 7 tools
UXAudit.NowAudit, Benchmark, Optimize Your UX with Insights4 of these 7 tools
VidayaHealthspan score from your wearables, labs, and DNA. 4 of these 7 toolsviral.apptracking & analytics for TikTok, Instagram & Youtube4 of these 7 tools
WaitlisterThe waitlist software to launch your product4 of these 7 tools
Weave Engineering IntelligenceML Models to Measure & Optimize Engineering Work4 of these 7 tools
XBeastGrow Your X Twitter Audience Effortlessly4 of these 7 toolsgridaopen sourceGrida — Open Canvas6 of these 7 toolsdoryopen sourceAI-native SQL client for humans and agents. Query, explore, visualize, and open agent database work as editable SQL workspaces.5 of these 7 toolskodus-aiopen sourceAI Code Review with Full Control Over Model Choice and Costs.5 of these 7 tools
supersetopen sourceDesktop IDE for running several coding agents in parallel, each in an isolated workspace, with notifications and a diff viewer for reviewing their changes. Has a companion iPhone app; aimed at developers who work with coding agents.5 of these 7 toolstamboopen sourceGenerative UI SDK for React5 of these 7 toolsaltairopen source✨⚡️ A feature-rich GraphQL Client for all platforms.5 of these 7 toolsansvisoropen sourceOpen-source AI Search Intelligence Platform — track, analyze, and improve AI visibility, citations, prompts, competitors, and content opportunities across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Google AI Overviews,5 of these 7 toolscoreopen sourceA high-performance, enterprise-grade Next.js 16 application for mission-focused non-profit organizations. Built for high impact teams. 5 of these 7 toolslearnhouseopen sourceThe Next-gen Open Source learning platform for everyone ✨5 of these 7 toolslmnropen sourceLaminar - open-source observability platform purpose-built for AI agents. YC S24.5 of these 7 toolsmanifoldopen sourceManifold Markets: A market for every question5 of these 7 toolsmindroomopen sourceYour AI is trapped in apps. We set it free — Self-hostable AI stack for multi-user, multi-agent workflows on Matrix.5 of these 7 toolsnotabaseopen sourceA second brain for your knowledge, thoughts, and ideas.5 of these 7 toolsplasmicopen sourceVisual builder for React. Build apps, websites, and content. Integrate with your codebase.5 of these 7 toolsweb3.storageopen sourceDEPRECATED ⁂ The simple file storage service for IPFS & Filecoin5 of these 7 toolsagentsetopen sourceThe open-source RAG platform: built-in citations, deep research, 22+ file formats, partitions, MCP server, and more.4 of these 7 toolsalga-psaopen sourceAn open source MSP PSA from Nine Minds4 of these 7 toolsAutoGPTopen sourceAutoGPT is the vision of accessible AI for everyone, to use and to build on. Our mission is to provide the tools, so that you can focus on what matters.4 of these 7 toolscapgo.appopen sourceConsole, Backend and CLI to manage Capgo Instant update and Native build for Capacitor apps 4 of these 7 tools
documensoopen sourceOpen-source e-signature platform and DocuSign alternative that can be self-hosted or used as a hosted service, with an API.4 of these 7 toolseigentopen sourceEigent: The Open Source Cowork Desktop - Local and Free Alternative to Claude Cowork and Codex4 of these 7 toolsever-worksopen sourceEver® Works™ - The Workshop for AI. An open agentic runtime that autonomously researches, ships, and maintains entire businesses, 24/7 - https://ever.works4 of these 7 toolsflowershowopen source💐 Publish markdown (and html) websites, docs, wikis and websites in seconds. Integrates with your AI.4 of these 7 toolslabelflowopen sourceThe open platform for image labelling4 of these 7 toolsneuronpediaopen sourceopen source interpretability platform 🧠4 of these 7 toolsokouopen sourceOkou connects to the tools your team already uses and does the work — across marketing, sales, engineering, and operations, under your control.4 of these 7 tools
omiopen sourceOpen-source AI wearable with mobile and desktop apps that records conversations and meetings and turns them into searchable summaries and action items.4 of these 7 tools
onlookopen sourceOpen-source visual editor for React apps: designers edit the UI and the changes are written back to code.4 of these 7 toolsOpenAssistantGPTopen sourceA Community Open-Source Saas for Crafting/Building/Creating Chatbots with OpenAI's Assistant API that you can add to your website.4 of these 7 toolspaykitopen sourceBuild Stripe billing without the glue code. Products in code, webhooks handled, billing state in your app.4 of these 7 toolsralllyopen sourceRallly is an open-source scheduling and collaboration tool designed to make organizing events and meetings easier.4 of these 7 toolssciraopen sourceScira (Formerly MiniPerplx) is a minimalistic AI-powered search engine that helps you find information on the internet and cites it too. Powered by Vercel AI SDK!4 of these 7 toolssourcebotopen sourceSourcebot is a self-hosted tool that helps humans and agents understand your codebase.4 of these 7 toolsUniClipboardopen sourceReal-time clipboard sync across all your devices — local-first, peer-to-peer, and end-to-end encrypted. No account. No cloud dependency. No central server.4 of these 7 toolsAcontextopen sourceAgent Skills as a Memory Layer4 of these 7 toolscarbonopen sourceCarbon is an open source ERP, MES and QMS for manufacturing. Perfect for complex assembly, contract manufacturing, high volume, and configure to order manufacturing.4 of these 7 toolsdustopen sourceCustom AI agent platform to speed up your work.4 of these 7 toolselizaopen sourceOpen source agentic operating system4 of these 7 toolsembedbaseopen sourceA dead-simple API to build LLM-powered apps4 of these 7 toolsfiregeoopen source🔥 GEO-powered SaaS starter built with Firecrawl for brand monitoring, auth, and billing4 of these 7 toolshexclaveopen sourceThe user infrastructure platform. You choose the frontend, backend, and database. Hexclave handles everything else.4 of these 7 toolsinfinite-canvas-tutorialopen sourceA tutorial on infinite canvas4 of these 7 toolskhojopen sourceYour AI second brain. Self-hostable. Get answers from the web or your docs. Build custom agents, schedule automations, do deep research. Turn any online or local LLM into your personal, autonomous AI 4 of these 7 toolslmringopen sourceOpen-source, self-hostable LLM arena with model compare, voting, and leaderboards4 of these 7 toolsnft.storageopen source**Notice: Uploads Decommissioned - Existing Data is Safe!** 4 of these 7 toolsonyx-fossopen sourceOpen Source AI Platform - AI Chat with advanced features that works with every LLM4 of these 7 toolspandaprobeopen sourceopen source agent engineering platform: traces, evals, and metrics to debug and improve your AI agents. Integrates with LangGraph, CrewAI, Claude Agent SDK, and more. 4 of these 7 toolsplatformopen source4 of these 7 toolsquentiopen sourceThe open source Quizlet alternative.4 of these 7 toolsscreenpipeopen sourceYC (S26) | Open Computer History | Record your screen continuously locally and provide context to your agents (Claude, Codex, Openclaw, Hermes, Runner...)4 of these 7 toolsShipFreeopen sourceOpen Source Next.js Saas Boilerplate4 of these 7 tools