Last year I was spending $200/month on SaaS tools for my side projects. Weather data, email verification, geolocation, currency conversion, uptime monitoring, analytics, and PDF generation.
Then I realized: free APIs exist for literally all of these.
Here's every tool I replaced, what I replaced it with, and how much I saved.
1. Weather Data: Dark Sky → Open-Meteo
Was paying: $0 (Dark Sky shutdown) → Switched to OpenWeatherMap at $40/month for commercial use
Replaced with: Open-Meteo (completely free, no key needed)
\`python
import requests
def get_forecast(lat, lon, days=7):
r = requests.get('https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast', params={
'latitude': lat, 'longitude': lon,
'daily': 'temperature_2m_max,temperature_2m_min,precipitation_sum',
'timezone': 'auto', 'forecast_days': days
})
return r.json()['daily']
`\
Savings: $480/year
2. Email Verification: ZeroBounce → AbstractAPI
Was paying: $40/month for 5,000 verifications
Replaced with: Abstract Email Verification API (free: 100/day, enough for my signup flow)
\python
def verify_email(email, api_key):
r = requests.get('https://emailvalidation.abstractapi.com/v1/', params={
'api_key': api_key, 'email': email
})
data = r.json()
return {
'valid': data['is_valid_format']['value'],
'deliverable': data['deliverability'] == 'DELIVERABLE',
'disposable': data['is_disposable_email']['value']
}
\\
Savings: $480/year
3. Geolocation: MaxMind GeoIP → IP-API
Was paying: $25/month for GeoIP2 Precision
Replaced with: IP-API (free: 45 req/min, no key)
\python
def geolocate(ip):
r = requests.get(f'http://ip-api.com/json/{ip}')
d = r.json()
return {'country': d['country'], 'city': d['city'],
'lat': d['lat'], 'lon': d['lon'], 'isp': d['isp']}
\\
Savings: $300/year
4. Currency Conversion: Fixer.io → Exchangerate.host
Was paying: $10/month for Fixer.io basic plan
Replaced with: Exchangerate.host (free, 170+ currencies, historical data)
\python
def convert(amount, from_cur, to_cur):
r = requests.get(f'https://api.exchangerate.host/convert', params={
'from': from_cur, 'to': to_cur, 'amount': amount
})
return r.json()['result']
\\
Savings: $120/year
5. Uptime Monitoring: Pingdom → UptimeRobot
Was paying: $15/month for Pingdom Starter
Replaced with: UptimeRobot API (free: 50 monitors, 5-min checks)
\python
def get_monitors(api_key):
r = requests.post('https://api.uptimerobot.com/v2/getMonitors', data={
'api_key': api_key, 'format': 'json'
})
monitors = r.json()['monitors']
return [{'name': m['friendly_name'], 'status': m['status'],
'uptime': m.get('custom_uptime_ratio')} for m in monitors]
\\
Savings: $180/year
6. Geocoding: Google Maps → Nominatim
Was paying: $50/month for Google Maps Geocoding (5000+ lookups)
Replaced with: Nominatim/OpenStreetMap (free, 1 req/sec)
\python
def geocode(address):
r = requests.get('https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search', params={
'q': address, 'format': 'json', 'limit': 1
}, headers={'User-Agent': 'MyApp/1.0'})
if r.json():
loc = r.json()[0]
return {'lat': float(loc['lat']), 'lon': float(loc['lon'])}
\\
Savings: $600/year
7. PDF Generation: DocRaptor → WeasyPrint (self-hosted)
Was paying: $15/month for DocRaptor
Replaced with: WeasyPrint (free, open source, runs locally)
\`python
from weasyprint import HTML
def html_to_pdf(html_content, output_path):
HTML(string=html_content).write_pdf(output_path)
`\
Savings: $180/year
Total Savings
| Tool | Was | Now | Annual Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | OpenWeatherMap $40/mo | Open-Meteo FREE | $480 |
| Email Verify | ZeroBounce $40/mo | AbstractAPI FREE | $480 |
| Geolocation | MaxMind $25/mo | IP-API FREE | $300 |
| Currency | Fixer.io $10/mo | Exchangerate.host FREE | $120 |
| Uptime | Pingdom $15/mo | UptimeRobot FREE | $180 |
| Geocoding | Google Maps $50/mo | Nominatim FREE | $600 |
| PDF Gen | DocRaptor $15/mo | WeasyPrint FREE | $180 |
| Total | $195/mo | $0/mo | $2,340/year |
The Trade-offs
Let me be honest — free isn't always equal:
- Rate limits are real — IP-API caps at 45 req/min. If you need more, you need the paid tier.
- Support is minimal — No SLA, no dedicated support team. Stack Overflow is your friend.
- Data quality varies — Nominatim is great for most cases but Google Maps is more accurate for obscure addresses.
- Reliability — Free tiers can change. I keep my code modular so I can swap providers in minutes.
My rule: Free APIs for side projects and MVPs. Paid APIs when revenue justifies it.
Resources
I maintain a curated list of 300+ free APIs organized by category. Every API is tested with rate limits and auth requirements documented.
What paid tools have you replaced with free alternatives? I'm always looking for more to add to the list.
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