tl;dr
You can run a real startup for $0/mo using free tiers and open-source tools. Vercel for hosting, Supabase for backend, GitHub for code, ConvertKit for email, Plausible CE for analytics, and Tally for forms. This guide covers the complete $0 stack.
How we evaluated
- Genuinely free — no credit card, no trial period, no bait-and-switch
- Useful for real work — not a crippled trial version
- Reliable enough for early-stage production use
- Clear upgrade path when you outgrow the free tier
- Covers a genuine startup need
Top picks
Vercel (Free Tier)
Free hosting for frontend apps with preview deployments, global CDN, and serverless functions.
pricing: Free (hobby tier)
pros
- + Unlimited deployments and preview URLs
- + 100GB bandwidth per month
- + Serverless and edge functions included
- + Zero-config deployment from GitHub
cons
- - Hobby tier is for non-commercial use only
- - No persistent compute or databases
- - Bandwidth limits can be tight for popular sites
Supabase (Free Tier)
Free Postgres database with auth, storage, and realtime — the complete backend for $0.
pricing: Free (2 projects, 500MB database)
pros
- + Postgres database + auth + storage + realtime for free
- + 50,000 monthly active users for authentication
- + 1GB file storage included
- + Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs
cons
- - Projects pause after 7 days of inactivity
- - Limited to 2 free projects
- - 500MB database limit requires efficient data design
GitHub (Free Tier)
Unlimited public and private repos, 2,000 CI/CD minutes, and project management with Issues and Projects.
pricing: Free
pros
- + Unlimited private and public repositories
- + 2,000 GitHub Actions minutes per month
- + Issues and Projects for task management
- + Copilot free tier with 2,000 completions/month
cons
- - Actions minutes can be consumed quickly by complex workflows
- - Large file storage (LFS) is limited on free tier
- - Package registry has limited storage
ConvertKit (Free Tier)
Free email marketing for up to 10,000 subscribers with broadcasts, landing pages, and sign-up forms.
pricing: Free (10,000 subscribers)
pros
- + 10,000 subscriber limit is the most generous free tier in email
- + Landing pages and sign-up forms included
- + Tag-based subscriber management
- + Good deliverability on the free tier
cons
- - No visual automations on free tier
- - No email sequences (just broadcasts)
- - Basic reporting
Tally (Free Tier)
Unlimited forms and responses for free with conditional logic, file uploads, and Stripe payments.
pricing: Free (unlimited forms and responses)
pros
- + Unlimited forms and responses — no artificial limits
- + Conditional logic, hidden fields, and calculations
- + Stripe payment collection included free
- + File uploads and signature fields
cons
- - No custom domain on free tier
- - Tally branding on forms
- - Limited integrations on free tier
| feature | Vercel (Free Tier) | Supabase (Free Tier) | GitHub (Free Tier) | ConvertKit (Free Tier) | Tally (Free Tier) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Hosting | Backend | Code/CI | Email Marketing | Forms |
| Key free limit | 100GB bandwidth | 2 projects, 500MB | 2,000 CI minutes | 10K subscribers | Unlimited |
| Credit card required | No | No | No | No | No |
| Commercial use | No (hobby) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Upgrade price | $20/mo | $25/mo | $4/mo | $25/mo | $29/mo |
The Complete $0 Startup Stack
Bootstrapped founders need to preserve cash. Fortunately, the free tier ecosystem in 2026 is generous enough to run a real startup without spending a dollar on tools. Here's how to build a complete tech stack for $0.
This isn't about finding the cheapest option — it's about finding free tiers that are genuinely useful for production work, not crippled trials designed to upsell you.
The Core Stack (All Free)
Hosting: Vercel Free Tier
Deploy your Next.js, SvelteKit, or Astro app to Vercel with zero configuration. Push to GitHub, get a live URL. Preview deployments for every branch. 100GB bandwidth per month covers most early-stage traffic.
The hobby tier is free but technically for non-commercial use. Once you launch commercially, upgrade to Pro at $20/mo — but you can build, test, and soft-launch without paying.
For alternative free hosting, Netlify offers 100GB bandwidth on their free tier, and Coolify self-hosted on a free Oracle Cloud VM is truly unlimited.
Backend: Supabase Free Tier
Supabase gives you a Postgres database, authentication (50K MAUs), file storage (1GB), and realtime subscriptions — all free. Two projects with 500MB database each covers most MVPs.
The main limitation: free projects pause after 7 days of inactivity. For actively-developed products this isn't an issue, but side projects that sit idle will need to be manually unpaused.
Code and CI/CD: GitHub Free Tier
Unlimited public and private repositories. 2,000 GitHub Actions minutes per month for CI/CD. Issues and Projects for task management. GitHub Copilot's free tier adds 2,000 code completions per month.
This covers your entire development workflow: version control, code review, automated testing, and deployment triggers.
Email Marketing: ConvertKit Free Tier
ConvertKit's free tier supports 10,000 subscribers — more than most startups need in their first year. You get broadcasts, landing pages, and sign-up forms. Visual automations require the paid tier ($25/mo), but basic broadcasts cover early-stage email marketing.
Forms and Surveys: Tally Free Tier
Unlimited forms, unlimited responses, conditional logic, calculations, and even Stripe payment collection — all free. Tally's free tier is the most generous of any form builder.
Additional Free Tools by Category
Analytics: Umami (Self-Hosted) or Google Search Console
Self-host Umami on your own server for completely free, privacy-friendly web analytics. Pair with Google Search Console for SEO data.
If you don't want to self-host, PostHog offers 1 million events per month free, or Mixpanel offers 20 million events free.
Design: Canva Free + Excalidraw
Canva's free tier covers social media graphics, presentations, and marketing materials with thousands of templates. Excalidraw provides free diagrams and wireframing. Figma's free tier covers 3 UI design projects.
Project Management: Notion Free + GitHub Issues
Notion's free tier is generous for personal use — unlimited pages, databases, and views. GitHub Issues handles development task tracking. Together, they cover both business and engineering project management.
Communication: Discord or Slack Free
Discord is completely free for community building and team communication. Slack's free tier limits message history but works for small teams.
Automation: n8n (Self-Hosted)
Self-host n8n for unlimited workflow automations. Connect your tools, process data, and automate repetitive tasks without per-operation fees.
Monitoring: Sentry Free Tier + BetterStack
Sentry offers 5,000 errors per month free for application error tracking. BetterStack (formerly Better Uptime) offers free uptime monitoring with status pages.
Payments: Stripe (Pay Per Transaction)
Stripe has no monthly fee — you only pay 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction. Start collecting payments for $0/mo upfront.
The $0 Stack Summary
| Need | Free Tool | Free Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Vercel | 100GB bandwidth |
| Backend + Auth | Supabase | 2 projects, 500MB, 50K MAUs |
| Code + CI/CD | GitHub | Unlimited repos, 2K CI minutes |
| ConvertKit | 10,000 subscribers | |
| Forms | Tally | Unlimited |
| Analytics | Umami (self-hosted) | Unlimited |
| Design | Canva + Excalidraw | Generous free tiers |
| Project Management | Notion + GitHub Issues | Free personal use |
| Automation | n8n (self-hosted) | Unlimited |
| Error Tracking | Sentry | 5,000 errors/mo |
| Payments | Stripe | 0% monthly (2.9% per tx) |
When Free Stops Being Free
Free tiers have hidden costs: time spent working around limitations, context-switching between tools with different free restrictions, and the anxiety of hitting caps.
Upgrade when: A tool's limitation costs you more in time than the subscription price. If you spend an hour per week working around Supabase's project pausing, the $25/mo Pro plan pays for itself.
Typical upgrade order: Most founders upgrade in this sequence:
- Hosting ($20/mo) — Vercel Pro when you launch commercially
- Backend ($25/mo) — Supabase Pro when you need reliable uptime
- Email ($25/mo) — ConvertKit Creator when you need automations
- Analytics ($12/mo) — Plausible when you want simple, always-on web stats
By the time you're spending $80-100/mo on tools, you should have paying customers funding the stack.
Tips for Staying Lean
-
Self-host aggressively — A $5/mo Hetzner VPS running Coolify can host Umami, n8n, Plausible CE, and your app. One server replaces $100+/mo in managed services.
-
Use one tool for multiple purposes — Notion for docs + CRM + project management. Supabase for database + auth + storage. Fewer tools means less context-switching.
-
Don't pay for features you don't use — If you're on a paid tier but only using 10% of the features, find a cheaper or free alternative for what you actually need.
-
Track your tool spend — Create a simple spreadsheet of every tool and its cost. Review monthly. Cut anything you haven't used in 30 days.
The goal isn't to stay at $0 forever — it's to delay spending until you have revenue to justify it. Every dollar saved on tools is a dollar that can go toward marketing, content, or extending your runway.
FAQ
Can you really run a startup for free?+
Yes, with caveats. Free tiers cover hosting, backend, email, analytics, and most tools an early-stage startup needs. You'll hit limits as you grow — Supabase pauses inactive projects, Vercel's hobby tier prohibits commercial use. Plan to spend $50-100/mo once you have paying customers.
What is the total cost of a bootstrapped startup tech stack?+
A complete $0 stack: Vercel (hosting) + Supabase (backend) + GitHub (code) + ConvertKit (email) + Tally (forms) + Umami self-hosted (analytics) + Excalidraw (design) + Notion (docs). This covers every major need. Upgrade to paid tiers selectively as you grow.
Which free tiers have the biggest limitations?+
Supabase pauses inactive projects after 7 days (annoying for side projects). Vercel's hobby tier prohibits commercial use (switch to Pro at $20/mo when you launch). Mailchimp's free tier is only 500 contacts (use ConvertKit instead).
When should I start paying for tools?+
When a tool's limitations cost you more in time or missed opportunities than the subscription price. If you spend an hour working around a free tier limit, and the paid tier costs $25/mo, pay for it. Your time is worth more.