Hey! Today I'm gonna share with you lots of platforms to ship any side-project, or even a Landing Page or SaaS completely for free. No need to spend any 💲 on it. Let's begin!
I'm talking about:
- Frontends
- Backends & Docker Images
- BaaS (Backend as a Service)
- Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, SQLite)
- Auth
- CronJobs
- Emails
- And more!
Frontends
Vercel
You can create unlimited projects using Next.js, React, Astro, SvelteKit, Vue... Basically anything. It should be enough for all of your side-projects. One-click deployments also!
Netlify
Similar to Vercel. Probably the closest alternative out there.
There's other alternatives as AWS Amplify, Railway or Render. If you're trying to host static options there are a bunch of free options such as Github Pages.
Backends & Docker Images
Koyeb
In my opinion, Koyeb is really good if you want to deploy Python APIs based on frameworks like FastAPI, Flask and Django. You can also host Node.js and Bun here.
Railway
Provides a limited free tier. After adding a billing method, unlocks a bunch of new features and free $5 USD of credits per month. Great for hosting small or even medium API's and databases. Be aware of not surpassing the free credits or you'll get charged.
Fly.io
Fly.io provides a scaling plan. It requires a billing method, but provides three VM's that could be useful for small apps or experiments. Be aware of not surpassing the free credits or you'll get charged.
Backend as a Service
Supabase
Most respected in the community. Good free tier, comes with other features as Auth,Realtime and file storage. PostgreSQL Wrapper, but you can also use only the cloud Postgres instance and the file storeage if needed.
PocketBase
Still in development but pretty cool. SQLite Wrapper, there's no cloud solution. You have to self-host it.
Databases
This is probably the best section of this guide and the one you need most.
PostgreSQL
Neon
Serverless PostgreSQL, good free tier.
Cockroach DB
Great free tier.
Xata
Great free tier, innovative AI integration.
MySQL
PlanetScale
One of the best options out there. Great free tier, but requires Credit Card and only let's you create one database for free.
SQLite
Turso
Offers the best free tier. Unlimited databases, up to 3 locations, branches...
Redis
Upstash
Only Redis provider that offers a competitive free tier for now.
Auth
Clerk
Good free tier, highest quality solution right now. Be aware of the insane prices after the free tier, huge vendor lock-in. I personally recommend it for personal projects that won't scale, just to save time.
Kinde
Great free tier, a bit cheaper compared to Clerk.
CronJobs
QStash
Serverless solution provided by Upstash, good free tier.
Vercel
Much more limited free resources. Might be convenient if you're already hosting on Vercel and just need a simple cron-job.
Emails
SendGrid
SendGrid offers a free forever plan with 100 emails/day. Pretty decent to start.
MailerSend
SendGrid alternative. 3000 monthly emails offered for free.
Github Students Pack (Bonus: Only for students)
This pack offers a bunch of free stuff, that you wouldn't get free access to otherwise. You only need an email from an educational institution.
Domains
The pack comes with 3 free domains for 12 months:
- .tech
- .live
- .me
If you're trying to host your own portfolio or blog with a nice domain you can pick the .me one. That's what I did!
Cloud Hostings
Digital Ocean
With the pack, you get a full year free to use the included $200 in credits.
Heroku
You get $13/month for TWO whole years. The amount of credits is not amazing tho, you'll only be able to purchase small instances.
Dev Tools
Github Copilot
Yep, you get free copilot as long as you have the students pack.
JetBrains
Pretty well known IDEs. The license lasts for a year but you can renew it if you still hold the students pack.
API's & Infra
MongoDB Atlas
You get $50 in credits for free and a $150 certification is included.
Stripe
Waived transaction fees on first $1000 in revenue processed. Really nice if you're starting your SaaS.
Mailgun
20,000 free emails per month for a whole year. Great as well if you're starting your SaaS or newsletter.
That's it! You can do anything for free right now. All types of databases, domains, auth... Literally anything! And without spending a single cent.
If you liked this post and want me to post more, let me know in the comments! For the next post, I plan to write about my stack, which I consider the fastest for shipping SaaS. I'm also open for opportunities right now, feel free to contact me if you're interested and check out my portfolio to know more about me!
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