Developer tools with a real free tier

• Mem0Memory infrastructure for AI agents that actually persists

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 67.4k GitHub stars

  VerdictThe memory layer most agent teams should use instead of building.

  CatchExternal dependency for a core capability. Async processing adds latency. Platform optimizations are not in the open-source SDK. You are trusting Mem0 with potentially sensitive user data.

• PrismaType-safe database access with killer DX

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 47.7k GitHub stars

  VerdictThe DX is addictive; just watch your query patterns.

  CatchAbstraction costs. Complex queries sometimes require raw SQL, and the generated client adds bundle size. Performance-sensitive applications need careful query optimization.

• UploadThingFile uploads that do not make you cry

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 5.4k GitHub stars

  VerdictDelightful until you need S3-level control.

  CatchYou are depending on a third-party service for a core feature. Storage costs scale with usage, and egress gets expensive.

• Trigger.devOpen-source background jobs for Next.js

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 16.6k GitHub stars

  VerdictOpen-source background jobs with a self-host escape hatch.

  Catchv3 was a significant breaking change. The managed platform costs scale with compute. Self-hosting requires maintaining infrastructure.

• SupabaseOpen-source Firebase alternative built on Postgres

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 112k GitHub stars

  VerdictThe Firebase alternative for developers who want real Postgres.

  CatchThe all-in-one convenience creates dependency. Complex queries hit performance limits. Self-hosting requires significant operational knowledge.

• TursoSQLite at the edge with libSQL

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 24.8k GitHub stars

  VerdictSQLite for the edge era, with surprising capabilities.

  CatchSQLite limitations still apply—no concurrent writes from different regions. The embedded replica model has a learning curve. Less battle-tested than Postgres.

• DockerContainer runtime that changed deployment

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 72.2k GitHub stars

  VerdictContainers are table stakes; Docker is how most start.

  CatchResource overhead compared to native. Security requires attention. Desktop licensing changes affected teams. Image size management is ongoing work.

• PulumiInfrastructure as code in real languages

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 25.8k GitHub stars

  VerdictIaC for developers who want real programming languages.

  CatchSmaller ecosystem than Terraform. Learning curve for infrastructure patterns. The state service is a dependency unless self-hosted.

• OpenAI Codex CLIApache-2.0 OpenAI agent: CLI, IDE, app and cloud

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 130k GitHub stars

  VerdictOpenAI’s answer to terminal agents — open CLI, paid models; budget the plan or the API.

  CatchThe CLI is open source, but the models are not free: you pay through ChatGPT plan quotas or API spend. Codex Web runs on OpenAI’s cloud, not on your machine. The install.sh, brew and npm routes are supply-chain choices, so pin a release binary when that matters. Vs Claude Code or OpenCode: this is OpenAI’s first-party agent, tied to ChatGPT plans or OpenAI API keys.

• Better AuthTypeScript auth that lives in your app, not a rented IdP

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 30.4k GitHub stars

  VerdictThe MIT auth library to reach for before Clerk. Framework is free; the dashboard is the upsell.

  CatchThe library is free; dashboards, audit, and SSO add-ons are the paid wedge. Starter audit retention is 1 day. This is not a hosted IdP — you still own the database and the incident.

• PolarApache-2.0 merchant-of-record billing for indie and AI products

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 10.4k GitHub stars

  VerdictApache-2.0 MoR for indie and AI products. Free Starter, honest take-rate, real SDKs.

  CatchNo first-party CLI in the docs index — SDKs, MCP, and API only. Starter take-rate sits on top of card-brand costs. Polar is MoR, so you do not keep the Stripe account relationship. International cards add extra. Payouts have their own cut.

• LogtoMPL-2.0 identity platform with a 50k-MAU free Cloud

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 14.7k GitHub stars

  VerdictThe MPL-2.0 Auth0-shaped stack. Use it when Clerk MAUs are the product.

  CatchCloud Free is for starting out. Passkeys, hiding branding, orgs, MFA, and enterprise SSO live as Pro add-ons. MPL-2.0 is file-level copyleft, not MIT.

• PlayCanvasMIT WebGL2/WebGPU engine plus an optional hosted Editor

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 17.1k GitHub stars

  VerdictOSS engine, optional Editor. Public projects are free; private cloud is not.

  CatchDo not conflate the MIT engine with the hosted Editor. Private cloud projects are the paid line (Personal 15 USD/month; Organization 50 USD per seat/month). Cancel and private projects lock until you resubscribe or make them public.

• PlunkAGPL-3.0 transactional email, workflows, and broadcasts

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 5.5k GitHub stars

  VerdictAGPL email with a real 1k hosted free tier. Branding stays until you pay.

  CatchAGPL-3.0 is copyleft. Hosted Free keeps Plunk branding. This is not Resend at volume — 1k/mo is the free wall, then $0.001/email. Self-host means you bring SES or equivalent.

• ZITADELAGPLv3 identity Cloud at US$0/Month — 100 DAU, not Logto 50k MAU

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 15.3k GitHub stars

  VerdictAGPL identity with a real $0 Cloud. 100 DAU is the meter; self-host if that is a joke.

  Catchthe wall is 100 DAU, not Logto 50k MAU. AGPLv3 is network copyleft — Cloud or self-host, the license is loud. Pro is US$100/Month for 25k DAU. Distinct from Hanko passkeys-first Cloud and authentik no-hosted-hatch.

• Spree CommerceBSD-3-Clause Ruby commerce OS; Free Sandbox, no platform fees

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 15.8k GitHub stars

  VerdictBSD-3 Ruby commerce. Self-host free; Sandbox has no CC. Not Medusa.

  CatchRuby commerce + REST/OpenAPI + Next.js storefront — not Medusa MIT Node OS. Solidus (BSD sibling) omitted: same Spree-fork slot. Distinct from Medusa.

• SyliusMIT Symfony commerce; Plus is the commercial add-on

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 8.6k GitHub stars

  VerdictMIT PHP commerce on Symfony. Self-host is free; Plus is paid.

  CatchSymfony + API Platform PHP headless — not Medusa MIT Node OS and not JS. Distinct from Medusa and Spree. Plus is commercial, priced on request.

• AnyCableMIT realtime for Action Cable with delivery guarantees

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 2.4k GitHub stars

  VerdictMIT Action Cable path. OSS tier is free; not Soketi, not Socket.IO.

  CatchDelivery guarantees + presence + Action Cable / multi-backend — not a Pusher-protocol server. Distinct from Socket.IO and Centrifugo. Pro and Managed exist; prices not reprinted here.

• InkvoiceMIT freelancer invoicing; self-host primary, tiny Cloud Free

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 30 GitHub stars

  VerdictMIT freelancer invoices. Self-host free; Cloud Free is a teaser cap.

  CatchFreelancer invoicing — not InvoiceShelf SMB suite, not Kill Bill subscription OS, not Lago usage metering. Distinct from InvoiceShelf, Kill Bill, and Lago.

• EdgepushAGPL server + MIT SDK: BYO APNs/FCM on Cloudflare Workers

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 9 GitHub stars

  VerdictAGPL Workers push. Self-host $0; Hosted Free is capped — ignore Pro.

  CatchBYO APNs+FCM on Cloudflare Workers — not ntfy/Gotify self-host pub/sub, not Novu workflow orchestration. Server is AGPL; pitch self-host or Hosted Free caps. Distinct from ntfy, Gotify, and Novu.

• FlagsmithBSD-3-Clause flags; Cloud Free 50k req/mo, self-host uncapped

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 6.6k GitHub stars

  VerdictBSD-3 flags. Cloud Free is real but capped; self-host for scale.

  CatchCloud Free is capped (50k/1 seat/1 project); self-host uncapped. Vs PostHog analytics-native flags and Unleash AGPL OSS caps. Distinct from PostHog and Unleash.

• CasdoorApache-2.0 UI-first IdP; Hosted Free 25k MAU, self-host primary

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 14.6k GitHub stars

  VerdictApache-2.0 IdP. Self-host primary; Hosted Free 25k MAU.

  CatchUI-first IdP — vs Keycloak/authentik/Kanidm/Logto/Hanko/Zitadel. Hosted Free 25k MAU; self-host uncapped. Distinct from Keycloak, authentik, Kanidm, Logto, Hanko, and Zitadel.

• TextbeeMIT Android SMS gateway; Hosted Free 1 device/50 msgs/day

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 3.2k GitHub stars

  VerdictMIT Android SMS gateway. Hosted Free is capped; keep the phone online.

  CatchAndroid phone must stay online; not iOS. SMS hole vs Twilio trials — you own the handset and carrier, not a cloud number product. Distinct from Twilio-class CPaaS.

• RPG-JSMIT browser RPG/MMORPG TypeScript framework; Free Engine $0

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 1.7k GitHub stars

  VerdictMIT Free Engine for browser RPGs. Studio is optional paid; engine is free.

  CatchBrowser RPG/MMORPG TypeScript framework (same code solo + networked) — not Phaser scenes, not Colyseus rooms alone, not GDevelop no-code, not Godot/Heaps. Studio is not the free path.

• TemporalMIT self-host workflow engine; Cloud is credits then paid

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 23.8k GitHub stars

  VerdictMIT self-host durable workflows. Cloud is not a free forever hatch.

  CatchNot Inngest/Trigger.dev — different durable-execution shape. Cloud is credits-then-paid ($1k/90d style credits, then paid) — never free forever. Local temporal server start-dev is not production. OSS self-host is the $0 hatch.

• DenoMIT TypeScript runtime forever; Deploy free tier is real but separate

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 109k GitHub stars

  VerdictMIT runtime forever. Deploy free tier is real; do not merge the two.

  CatchDeploy is not the runtime. The MIT runtime is free forever; Deno Deploy is a separate hosted product with a free tier — do not conflate them. Distinct from Node and Bun as runtimes.

• PaymenterMIT hosting billing; self-host free, cloud PaaS $5/mo paid

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 2.8k GitHub stars

  VerdictMIT hosting billing. Self-host free; cloud PaaS is $5/mo paid.

  CatchVs Kill Bill/Lago/Polar: hosting webshop + provisioning (Pterodactyl/cPanel, WHMCS importer) — not generic subscription metering or Polar MoR. Cloud is $5/mo paid. Self-host is the $0 path.

• SolidInvoiceMIT Symfony invoicing; self-host free, Cloud trial paid

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 979 GitHub stars

  VerdictMIT Symfony invoicing. Self-host $0; Cloud trial/from $9 is paid.

  CatchVs InvoiceShelf/Inkvoice: Symfony/PHP freelancer+SMB invoicing (quotes→invoices, payments, API/MCP). solidinvoice.co leads with 14-day Cloud trial / from $9/mo — free path is self-host ONLY.

• SpiceDBApache-2.0 Google Zanzibar permissions DB; AuthZed Cloud optional

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 7.2k GitHub stars

  VerdictApache-2.0 Zanzibar permissions DB. Self-host free; AuthZed Cloud optional.

  CatchVs OpenFGA/Cerbos/Topaz: AuthZed production Zanzibar + ZedTokens/Cloud — not OpenFGA CNCF Check API twin, not Cerbos YAML PDP, not Topaz Rego+ReBAC bundle. Free path is self-host; Cloud is paid usage.

• AtlasApache-2.0 schema-as-code CLI; Cloud CI/governance is paid

  Free / OSS · Freemium · 8.8k GitHub stars

  VerdictApache-2.0 schema CLI. Cloud CI/governance is paid; CLI is the free path.

  CatchVs Flyway/Liquibase/Prisma migrate: schema-as-code + auto-planned diffs, not only ordered SQL scripts. Atlas Cloud (CI automation, drift, governance) is a separate paid product — Starter free-limited, Pro adds per-dev/project fees. Free path is the OSS CLI.

More with this tag (84)

• Hatchet — MIT durable tasks/agents on Postgres; Cloud free tier real
• Electric — Apache-2.0 Postgres read-path sync; Cloud PAYG under $5 waived
• Autumn — Apache-2.0 Stripe billing layer; Free to 8K billing volume
• Promptfoo — MIT LLM evals & red-teaming CLI; Community free, 10k probes/mo
• Saleor — BSD-3 GraphQL headless commerce; self-host free, Cloud from $1599/mo
• Penpot — MPL-2.0 Figma-class design; self-host forever + Cloud Professional $0
• Ollama — MIT local model runner — free forever; Pro cloud $20/mo
• Rive — MIT Wasm/JS runtime for interactive Rive animations
• Typesense — GPL-3.0 typo-tolerant search; Cloud managed paid
• Wrangler — MIT/Apache CLI for Cloudflare Workers; Free plan is real
• Composio — Freemium agent toolkits + managed OAuth across 1000+ apps
• CopilotKit — MIT agent-native UI layer — React copilots, AG-UI, MCP
• Rowboat — Apache-2.0 local-first AI coworker — knowledge graph + MCP
• Bifrost — Apache-2.0 AI gateway — perf angle vs LiteLLM (Maxim)
• Firecrawl — AGPL-3.0 OSS + cloud scrape API — LLM-ready pages
• OpenStatus — AGPL-3.0 status/uptime as code — Terraform/CLI/MCP
• PageIndex MCP — Vectorless tree-index RAG over long PDFs — freemium MCP for agents
• Jev Review — Local MCP that scores coding-agent diffs with TypeSafe Jev
• OpenHuman — GPL-3 local-first agent orchestrator with memory trees and MCP
• Jev Ultrafast — Browser Use × TypeSafe Jev — indexed action-space web agent
• Jev MCP — Ten TypeSafe Jev judgment tools over local stdio MCP
• Equibles — Self-hosted financial-data MCP — SEC, 13F, FRED, prices for agents
• Klavis — Apache MCP integrations + Strata multi-tool server (hosted or self-host)
• Apify MCP Server — MIT Apify Store MCP — agents scrape via thousands of Actors
• InsForge — Apache agent-native backend with MCP self-host
• Shaders — MIT WebGPU effects as components — React, Vue, Svelte, Solid, plain JS
• PeerJS — MIT browser P2P WebRTC with free cloud or self-host signaling
• Vercel — The platform that made Next.js deployment trivial
• Resend — Email API designed for developers
• Neon — Serverless Postgres that branches
• PlanetScale — Serverless MySQL with Vitess DNA
• Inngest — Background jobs and workflows with zero infrastructure
• Sanity — Headless CMS that developers actually like
• Upstash — Serverless Redis and Kafka
• Timescale — Time-series superpowers for Postgres
• GitHub Actions — CI/CD that lives where your code does
• Fly.io — Deploy apps to VMs close to your users
• Railway — Deploy from GitHub with zero configuration
• Sentry — Error tracking that actually helps
• Axiom — Log management without limits
• Better Stack — Uptime monitoring and incident management
• Highlight.io — Open-source session replay and monitoring
• OpenClaw 2.0 — Coding and personal agent across 29 messaging channels
• E2B — Firecracker sandboxes for untrusted agent code
• Convex — Reactive TypeScript backend with real-time sync
• PostHog — Product analytics, flags, replay, and errors in one MIT-core stack
• SuperTokens — Apache-2.0 session auth you can self-host with no MAU cap
• Novu — MIT notification workflows with a real 0 USD Cloud
• Chatwoot — MIT-core support inbox you can self-host for $0/agent
• Hanko — AGPLv3 passkeys-first auth with a 10k-MAU free Cloud
• Liveblocks — Hosted collab rooms; Free $0 pauses at the cap
• pretix — AGPL-3.0-with-additional-terms event tickets and POS
• GrowthBook — MIT-core flags+experiments; Cloud Starter Free, self-host unlimited users
• GDevelop — MIT event/no-code engine + HTML5; Pro required above $50k revenue
• Infisical — MIT secrets; Cloud Free forever 5 identities; ee/ needs LICENSE_KEY
• LiteLLM — MIT OpenAI-compatible gateway to 100+ LLMs; Enterprise SSO paid
• SigNoz — MIT-core OTel APM (logs/metrics/traces); Cloud from $49/mo
• Meilisearch — MIT typo-tolerant search engine; Cloud managed, EE sharding paid
• Bytebase — MIT-core DB change governance; Community free to 20 users/10 instances
• Windmill — AGPLv3 scripts→workflows/UIs/agents; CE free self-host unlimited runs
• NetBird — WireGuard mesh ZTNA; Cloud free 5 users/100 machines, self-host AGPL plane
• Hexclave — MIT clients / AGPLv3 server auth; Cloud Free ≤10k forever
• Context7 — MIT MCP client for live library docs; free anon / free key
• Smithery — Freemium MCP registry, gateway, and hosting marketplace
• Antigravity CLI — Google terminal agent (agy) — Gemini CLI consumer successor
• Daytona — Freemium agent sandboxes — stateful envs, SDK/API/CLI
• Dify — Open-source LLM app/agent studio + cloud freemium (LangGenius)
• Cursor — The AI-first code editor that understands your codebase
• Browserbase — Managed browser infrastructure for AI agents at scale
• Braintrust — Eval-first LLM platform that blocks bad prompts in CI
• Clerk — Auth that actually ships with your UI
• Pinecone — Vector database for AI applications
• Figma — Collaborative design tool in the browser
• Kinde — Hosted auth plus billing, $0 forever, 10,500 MAU, no OSS
• WorkOS — Proprietary AuthKit: first 1M MAUs Free, not OSS
• Descope — Proprietary auth: Free Forever 7500 MAUs / 10 tenants / 3 SSO
• Knock — Hosted notification workflows; Developer free to 10k messages/mo
• FusionAuth — Source-available CIAM; Community self-host free unlimited users
• OneSignal — Multi-channel messaging SaaS; Free now capped at 1k mobile MAU
• MagicBell — Multichannel notification API + inbox; Builder free to 1k deliveries/mo
• Stytch — Auth SaaS with no feature gates; free to 10k MAU + 5 SSO/SCIM
• Scry — Hosted freemium MCP + SQL over public-record corpora
• Amp — Sourcegraph coding agent — free with BYOK, orbs for long-running work
• LangSmith — LangChain freemium obs/eval/deploy — free Developer 5k traces/mo