SMB tier · per-seat, per-month business tools · the documents are yours as files
16 free alternatives to per-seat business tools.
Small-business-tier SaaS: priced per user, per month, with a free plan capped on contacts, responses, agents or history. Each entry below narrows the incumbent to the one job a prompt can actually do without a backend — the newsletter, the form spec, the macro set, the onboarding kit — and hands it back as a file you keep. The incumbent's own free ceiling and paid price sit beside it, read on the date shown.
16 tools · 44 prompts · incumbent prices last read 2026-09-27 · tools.json is the source of every figure on this page.
The smb ledger
| Incumbent | What the free tier stops at | What the paid tier costs | With a free-tier ally | Prompts | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | up to 250 contacts and 500 sends per month (daily limit of 250) verified | from US$20 / month (after the 14-day free trial) verified | US$0 → Postal Bench | 3 | 2026-09-20 |
| Typeform | free plan exists; its response caps are not stated on the pricing page we read verified | from US$28 / month (billed annually, 100 responses) verified | US$0 → Intake Desk | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| HubSpot | free tools for up to 2 users (free CRM, forms, live chat) verified | from US$7 per seat / month (billed annually, 1,000 marketing contacts) verified | US$0 → Booth Sheet | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Slack | 90 days of message history, 10 third-party apps, Basic AI verified | US$8.75 per user / month (billed monthly) verified | US$0 → Bulletin Board | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Trello | 10 boards, 10 collaborators per board, 250 automation runs verified | US$5 per member / month (billed annually) verified | US$0 → Card Board | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Asana | US$0 Personal — 2 users, list views; Timeline, Gantt, Forms and unlimited automations are paid features verified | US$10.99 per person / month (billed annually) verified | US$0 → Gantt Sheet | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Airtable | 1,000 records per base, 5 editors, 100 automation runs verified | US$20 per seat / month (billed annually) verified | US$0 → Filing Room | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Jotform | 5 forms, 100 submissions per month, 100 fields per form verified | US$34 per month (billed annually) verified | US$0 → Form Press | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Kit | 10,000 subscribers, single broadcasts, no sequences or automations verified | US$33 per month (billed annually) verified | US$0 → Mailing List | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Brevo | US$0 Forever Free — the daily send and contact ceilings are not printed in server-rendered text; they render in the page's interactive customizer (unconfirmed) partial | US$9 per month (monthly billing; US$8.08 billed annually) — 5,000 emails/month, 500 contacts verified | US$0 → Campaign Desk | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Intercom | No free plan — server-rendered pricing prints Fin at US$0.99 per outcome; seat prices render client-side (not printed in the page we read) verified | not printed on the page we read unconfirmed | US$0 → Help Library | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Zendesk | No free tier — paid from Support, Team at US$19 per agent/month (billed annually) verified | US$19 per agent / month (billed annually) verified | US$0 → Ticket Counter | 3 | 2026-09-17 |
| Zapier | US$0 Free forever: unlimited Zaps but two-step only, 100 tasks / month, 15-minute polling, 1 user, Tables 2,500 records / 100 fields, Forms 10 pages verified | US$19.99 / month and up (entry figure as displayed; Team from US$69 / month, 25 users) verified | US$0 → Free Zapier Alternative | 2 | 2026-09-27 |
| monday.com | US$0 forever: 2 seats, 3 boards, 3 docs, 200+ templates, 8 column types verified | US$19 per seat / month (billed annually, as displayed; Basic US$9, Standard US$12) verified | US$0 → Free monday.com Alternative | 2 | 2026-09-27 |
| ClickUp | Free Forever: 60 MB storage · unlimited tasks and members · 5 Spaces · 40 lists/Space · 1 Form · 3 Whiteboards · 1-day activity history · automations: 5 rules, 100 executions / month · Gantt, Timeline, Workload, Custom Fields on Trial verified | US$7 per member / month (billed annually; US$10 monthly — both figures displayed; Business US$12 annual / US$19 monthly) verified | US$0 → Free ClickUp Alternative | 2 | 2026-09-27 |
| Fireflies.ai | US$0 Free: unlimited transcription*, 400 minutes storage per team, 20 AI credits, 2-hour per-meeting limit, limited AI summaries verified | US$10 per seat / month (billed annually, as displayed; list price US$18. Business US$19 annual / US$29 list) verified | US$0 → Free Fireflies.ai Alternative | 2 | 2026-09-27 |
Every smb tool
Each card names the one feature it displaces. The prompts are printed in full on every page and in the prompt library.
Free Mailchimp Alternative: Newsletters as Files
Mailchimp's free audience ceiling — the free plan is offered for audiences under 250 contacts, and Standard pricing starts at from US$20/month after a 14-day trial — replaced by three prompts that produce the newsletter copy, a paste-ready HTML email, and the welcome-email flow as strict JSON documents.
Mailchimp's free plan holds audiences under 250 contacts — enough to collect, not enough to send to the list you actually have — and the paid Standard plan starts at from US$20 a month after a 14-day trial. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the email-writing work on a free-tier model: the newsletter copy with its sections, a paste-ready HTML email body, and the welcome-email sequence for new subscribers. The documents render in your browser and export as Markdown or plain HTML you paste into Mailchimp, or any ESP that accepts an HTML body. No email is sent, nothing is stored, and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Typeform Alternative: Forms That Branch
Typeform's conditional logic and AI creation on paid plans (Basic from US$28/mo annual with 100 responses; the free plan's caps are not stated on the pricing page) — replaced by three prompts that produce a form architecture, a branch-logic map, and confirmation copy as strict JSON documents.
Typeform's pricing page names the plans and their prices — Basic from US$28 a month billed annually with 100 responses — but does not state what the free plan caps, and the features people actually pay for (conditional logic, AI-assisted form creation) sit on those paid plans. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the form-design work on a free-tier model: the form architecture (every question, in order, with its answer type), the branch-logic map (what sends the form where), and the confirmation copy for each outcome. The documents render in your browser and export as Markdown you build in Typeform Free, Tally, Google Forms, or by hand. Nothing is collected, nothing is stored, and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free HubSpot Alternative: Landing, Nurture, A/B
HubSpot's paid marketing tooling — Marketing Starter at from US$7/seat/month (annual, 1,000 marketing contacts) and Pro at from US$800/month, versus a free plan limited to 2 users — replaced by three prompts that produce a landing-page spec, a nurture sequence, and A/B variants as strict JSON documents.
HubSpot's free plan covers two users, then Marketing tooling starts at from US$7 a seat a month (billed annually, 1,000 marketing contacts) and the real marketing suite sits at Pro, from US$800 a month. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the campaign-design work on a free-tier model: the landing-page spec (headline, sections, CTA, the one thing it must not do), the nurture sequence for the lifecycle, and the A/B variants with the variable isolated. The documents render in your browser and export as Markdown you build in any CMS or page builder. No contact is tracked, nothing is stored, and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Slack Alternative: The Written Channel
Slack Free's history and app ceilings — 90 days of message history, 10 third-party apps, Basic AI — with Pro at US$8.75 per user/month (billed monthly) lifting them — replaced by three prompts that produce the onboarding kit, the weekly recap, and the announcement as strict JSON lists.
Slack's free tier keeps the team talking but meters the memory: 90 days of message history, 10 third-party apps, and Basic AI, with Pro at US$8.75 per user a month (billed monthly) lifting each of those ceilings. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the writing the history exists for: the onboarding kit for a new hire, the weekly recap that a 90-day window actually keeps, and the announcement that lands without the thread dying. The lists render in your browser and export as Markdown you paste into Slack Free, or read from a printed page. Nothing is stored and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Trello Alternative: Boards as Spec Sheets
Trello Free's board ceiling — 10 boards, 10 collaborators per board, 250 automation runs, with Standard at US$5 per member/month (billed annually) lifting the caps and adding AI board features — replaced by three prompts that produce a board architecture, card detail specs, and automation rules as strict JSON tables.
Trello's free tier gives you ten boards, ten collaborators each, and 250 automation runs — enough to feel the board, not enough to run a real project without watching the run counter. Standard lifts the caps at US$5 per member a month, billed annually. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the board-design work on a free-tier model: the board architecture (lists, cards, labels, the rule for when a card moves), the card detail spec (description, checklists, due logic), and the automation rules written to fit the 250-run free budget. The tables render in your browser and export as CSV you rebuild in Trello Free, or any board tool. Nothing is hosted and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Asana Alternative: The Project as a Table
Asana's paid planning layer — Timeline, Gantt, Forms and unlimited automations sit on Starter at US$10.99 per person/month (billed annually), while the free Personal plan covers 2 users and list views only — replaced by three prompts that produce a dependency-ordered project plan, an intake form spec, and a status report as strict JSON tables.
Asana's free Personal plan covers two users and list views — the moment a project needs a timeline, a form, or more than two people, it is the US$10.99-per-person Starter tier, billed annually. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the planning work on a free-tier model: the project plan as a dependency-ordered table (the Gantt as a file), the intake form spec that a free form tool can build, and the status report that a 2-user workspace cannot write for itself. The tables render in your browser and export as CSV you load into Asana Free, or any planner. Nothing is stored and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Airtable Alternative: Bases as Files
Airtable Free's base ceiling — 1,000 records per base, 5 editors, 100 automation runs, with Team at US$20 per seat/month (billed annually) lifting them — replaced by three prompts that produce a base architecture, a view design, and a budgeted automation spec as strict JSON tables.
Airtable's free tier gives you a base with 1,000 records, 5 editors and 100 automation runs — enough to feel the spreadsheet-database, not enough to run a real operations table without watching the record counter. Team lifts the ceilings at US$20 per seat a month, billed annually. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the database-design work on a free-tier model: the base architecture (tables, fields, relations), the view design (the views that make the base usable), and the automation spec budgeted to the free 100 runs. The tables render in your browser and export as CSV you rebuild in Airtable Free, or in any database that reads a spec. Nothing is stored and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Jotform Alternative: Forms as Specs
Jotform Free's form ceiling — 5 forms, 100 submissions a month, 100 fields per form, with Bronze at US$34/month (billed annually) lifting them — replaced by three prompts that produce a field spec, notification copy, and a CSV mapping as strict JSON tables.
Jotform's free tier gives you five forms, 100 submissions a month and 100 fields a form — enough to feel the form builder, not enough to run a real intake without watching the submission counter. Bronze lifts the caps at US$34 a month, billed annually. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the form-design work on a free-tier model: the field spec (every field, its type, its validation, its reason), the notification copy for each event, and the CSV mapping that makes the export readable in your downstream tool. The tables render in your browser and export as CSV you rebuild in Jotform Free, or in Tally, Google Forms, or by hand. Nothing is collected and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Kit Alternative: Sequences as Files
Kit's free tier ceiling — 10,000 subscribers with single broadcasts, no sequences or automations, and Creator at US$33/month (billed annually) unlocking unlimited sequences, automations and A/B testing — replaced by three prompts that produce a welcome sequence, a subject-line batch, and a segment plan as strict JSON documents.
Kit's free tier holds 10,000 subscribers and lets you send single broadcasts — but the sequences, automations and A/B testing that a list actually needs sit on Creator at US$33 a month, billed annually. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the sequence-design work on a free-tier model: the welcome sequence (each email's job, its promise, its send day), the subject-line batch for any campaign, and the segment plan that says which slice of the list gets which message. The documents render in your browser and export as Markdown you run in Kit Free, ConvertKit's free tier, or any ESP that sends on a schedule — or by hand, which is what the free tier is for. No email is sent, nothing is stored, and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Brevo Alternative: Campaigns as Docs
Brevo's free plan's send ceilings (shown in the pricing page's interactive customizer rather than the server-rendered text) and its paid automation layer — Starter at US$9/month (monthly billing; US$8.08 annual) with 5,000 emails a month and 500 contacts, Standard at US$18 (US$16.17 annual) adding automation and A/B — replaced by three prompts that produce the campaign copy, a segment plan, and a flow spec as strict JSON lists.
Brevo's Forever Free plan is the rare free tier that never expires — but its send ceilings are printed inside an interactive customizer that does not render in a page's static content, and the automation layer (flows, A/B testing) sits on Starter at US$9 a month and Standard at US$18. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the campaign-design work on a free-tier model: the campaign copy with its structure, the segment plan for the contact list, and the flow spec (the automation as a document). The lists render in your browser and export as Markdown you build in Brevo Free, or any ESP that sends on a schedule. No email is sent, nothing is stored, and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Intercom Alternative: Help as a Library
Intercom's outcome-priced support AI — the pricing page's server-rendered content prints Fin at US$0.99 per outcome while the seat prices render client-side, and there is no free plan — replaced by three prompts that produce a help-center article, a canned-response library, and a triage tag set as strict JSON documents.
Intercom has no free plan: the pricing page prints Fin at US$0.99 per outcome in its server-rendered content, and the seat prices render client-side, which is to say the page we can read does not print them. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the support-writing work on a free-tier model: the help-center article for the question that keeps arriving, the canned-response library for the recurring asks, and the triage tag set that routes the ticket before a human touches it. The documents render in your browser and export as Markdown you publish in any help center or paste into any ticket tool. No ticket is routed, nothing is stored, and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Zendesk Alternative: Macros and Routing
Zendesk's paid support plans — no free tier, with Support Team at US$19 per agent/month (billed annually) carrying pre-written responses and routing, Suite Team at US$55 and Suite Professional at US$115 — replaced by three prompts that produce a macro library, routing rules, and a knowledge-base article as strict JSON lists.
Zendesk has no free tier: support starts at the Support, Team plan, US$19 per agent a month billed annually, and the pre-written responses and routing that a small support queue lives on are the features that plan is selling. This tool gives you the three prompts that do the support-writing work on a free-tier model: the macro library for the recurring answers, the routing rules for the ticket flow, and the knowledge-base article for the question that keeps arriving. The lists render in your browser and export as Markdown you publish in any help center and paste into any ticket tool — or a help desk that costs nothing at all. No ticket is routed, nothing is stored, and the prompts are printed on the page.
Free Zapier Alternative: Wire Automations on Paper
The design layer Zapier sells above its 100-task free plan: multi-step wiring, filters/paths, error handling and premium-app integrations — shipped as versionable spec documents, never as running automations.
Zapier is not selling you the automation; it is selling you the plumbing that survives credentials, retries, and a thousand API shapes — and its free plan lets you see that clearly with the 100-task, two-step cage. What the cage actually stops is design: you can only discover that your four-step flow needs a fifth when the task meter says so. This page is the drafting table upstream of the paywall. Describe a flow in plain English and a free-tier model returns it as a wiring harness spec: every step's trigger or action, the field mapping between them, the filter that should exist, the error path with its retry rule, and the test payload that proves each connection — a document you version, paste into Zapier (or n8n, or a script a week later), and argue about in a standup. Nothing here holds a credential, polls an API, or fires a task: a page that ran your automations would own your integrations, and an owned-integrations product is not what US$0 can honestly be.
Free monday.com Alternative: Board Specs + Sprints
The paid board machinery below the 3-board free plan: automation rails, integrations, timeline views and the status-flow governance that Standard/Pro meter per seat.
monday's free plan is a showroom with the good parts bolted down: two people, three boards, and the automation rails that make a board behave like a process are locked behind a per-seat tier you commit to annually. The thing Monday actually sells — a board whose columns, statuses and trigger-actions encode how your team works — is, before it is software, a diagram: column set, status ladder, the rules 'when the date passes and the status is stuck, wake a human.' This page is the board spec desk. Describe the work; a free-tier model returns a timetable: every item as a row, every column as a platform, every automation as a connection stamped with its trigger, condition and action, plus the migration order an admin can build one board at a time. It never hosts a board or notifies a teammate — a page that emailed your clients would need your password and a server, and neither belongs to a US$0 tool.
Free ClickUp Alternative: Workspace Plan + Auto Budget
The paid half of the metered-free plan: automation rules beyond 100 executions/month, Gantt/Timeline/Workload, custom fields, and the storage ceiling — rebuilt as hierarchy specs, a rules budget, and template kits.
ClickUp's free plan is the most generous cage in work management — unlimited members, unlimited tasks — with three load-bearing wires: 60 MB of storage, a day of activity history, and automations that stop at five rules and a hundred executions a month. The paid tiers are mostly about hanging more pegs: Gantt, workload, custom fields, bigger automation budgets. None of that is a thinking problem; it is a planning problem you can do on paper, well, before you commit seats. This page is a pegboard. Draw the workspace — the Space/list/custom-field hierarchy your team will curse at 2am if it's wrong — and a free-tier model returns it as a buildable spec with a migration order. Then budget the automations honestly: rules priced in monthly executions against the free ceiling, what gets cut first, what an Unlimited seat at US$7 actually buys per seat-month. Nothing executes, stores, or syncs here; the file you walk away with is the one that saves the account upgrade.
Free Fireflies.ai Alternative: Meeting Minutes Press
The post-meeting layer priced per seat on the paid plans — unlimited AI summaries, action items and the task manager, CRM-ready notes — rebuilt over transcripts you export or type yourself.
Fireflies' free tier keeps your audio forever-ish but meters the thinking: 20 AI credits, limited summaries, then US$10-18 per seat for unlimited meeting intelligence. That price is honest — joining calls, diarizing voices, and storing hours of footage is infrastructure work. The minutes are not. A transcript you already have (the file their app exports, Zoom's own captions, your own notes typed fast) is text, and turning meeting text into decisions, owners, follow-up drafts and CRM-ready notes is the part a free-tier model does at US$0 with no bot in the room. This page is a minutes press: paste the transcript, stamp it into a decision packet — who agreed to what, with the quote that proves it, and nothing invented when the room said nothing — and out the same door go the customer email and the CRM note, drafted from the same packet. No recorder, no storage, no 'did your meeting' red banner: your transcript never leaves the browser except into the model you chose.
Before you open one
Is every tool on this page free?
Yes. Every prompt and every export listed as free on a tool page is free and unmetered, with no account. Where a tool has a one-time unlock on sale, it covers a named extra feature, its price is read from Stripe at render time, and it is never a subscription. Whether anything is on sale right now is stated on each tool page under the prompt pack.
Do I need an API key?
No. Copy-Paste Relay works with any free chat model: copy the prompt block, paste it in, paste the JSON answer back. A free key from Gemini, Groq or OpenRouter only removes the copy-paste step, and it is stored in your browser and sent only to that provider.
Where do these prices come from?
Each incumbent's own pricing page, read on the date in the last column of the ledger and stored in the repo as an extraction artifact under data/pricing/. Changes between reads are published as receipts on the price-receipts page, with the before, the after and the source. Fields the page did not print are marked unconfirmed rather than filled in. Prices are re-checked within a 30-day window.
Are you affiliated with any of these companies?
No. Every incumbent is named for comparison only. There are no affiliate links to them on this site.
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