Free Tools I Use Daily as an Indie Developer
Building products solo means you don’t have the luxury of wasting time or money.
Every tool I use daily must meet three criteria:
Free (or generous free tier)
Removes real friction
Scales with me as the product grows
Here’s the actual stack I rely on every day as an indie developer.
🧠 Planning & Thinking
Notion
Brain dumps, product specs, roadmaps
Simple Kanban for features
One place for ideas → execution
Why it stays: Flexible enough to replace 3–4 tools.
Excalidraw
Architecture diagrams
Database relationships
Quick system thinking without overdesign
Why it stays: Zero friction. Visual clarity fast.
💻 Development
VS Code
Primary IDE for frontend and backend
Extensions for Git, linting, formatting, and Docker
Why it stays: Fast, extensible, and completely free.
GitHub
Source control
Issues as lightweight task tracking
README as living documentation
Why it stays: Industry standard + community.
🗄 Backend & Database
Supabase
Authentication
Postgres database
Storage for user files
Row-level security out of the box
Why it stays: Backend without backend fatigue.
PostgreSQL
Reliable relational database
Powerful querying and indexing
Easy to reason about
Why it stays: Boring tech that works forever.
🚀 Deployment & Hosting
Vercel
Frontend hosting
Preview deployments
Seamless Git integration
Why it stays: Deploy in minutes, not hours.
Render
Backend services
Background workers
Simple environment management
Why it stays: Clean UI, predictable pricing.
🔍 Monitoring & Debugging
Postman
API testing
Request collections
Debug backend flows quickly
Why it stays: Faster than writing test clients.
Browser DevTools
Performance profiling
Network inspection
CSS and layout debugging
Why it stays: Criminally underused, extremely powerful.
📣 Writing & Distribution
DEV.to
Share learnings
Build developer credibility
Get feedback early
Why it stays: Developers read developers.
Markdown
Documentation
Blog drafts
README files
Why it stays: Portable, readable, timeless.
🔁 The Real Advantage: Tool Discipline
The biggest mistake indie developers make is tool hopping.
I deliberately:
Use fewer tools
Reuse tools for multiple purposes
Avoid “shiny” replacements unless there’s real pain
Tools don’t ship products — decisions and consistency do.
🔚 Final Thought
If I had to start over today, I’d choose the same tools again.
They are:
Free
Proven
Boring in the best way
👋 Over to You
What free tools do you use daily as an indie developer?
Did I miss something obvious?
Top comments (1)
Nice list 👏
I’ve also been trying to keep my workflow lightweight with browser-based tools instead of installing too many apps.
For quick PDF compression or small image edits during work, I’ve been using BlitzTools recently and it’s been helpful for quick tasks.
Curious what other lightweight tools people here are using daily.