DIRECTORY GUIDE
How we classify free offers
Understand what is free, what expires, where software runs and who can sign up. These labels describe the listed offer, not every product sold by the provider.
Offer types
- Ongoing free allowance
- A free plan or allowance without an announced fixed end date. Quotas, policies and pricing can still change.
- Recurring monthly credit
- Free usage credit that resets each billing period. Exceeding the credit may cost money; introductory credits are not part of the recurring amount.
- Time-limited offer
- A trial or introductory promotion that ends after a stated period or when credits run out. Not counted as an ongoing free tier.
- Expiring free resource
- A resource, such as a database, that expires or is removed even if the account remains active. Not counted as an ongoing free tier.
Deployment models
- Cloud
- The listed service is hosted by the provider. Free usage may still have limits or billing requirements.
- Self-hosted
- You run the software on your own servers. The software may be free, but compute, storage, backups and operations are not included.
- Cloud + self-hosted
- The exact listed offer supports both hosted and self-managed deployment; separate paid editions do not automatically qualify.
- Local / embedded
- A desktop application, CLI, SDK or library you run locally or inside your own app. Paid APIs or compute are not included.
- Not specified
- The deployment model has not yet been verified. We do not guess based on the product name.
Who can use the offer?
Some ongoing allowances are grandfathered for accounts enrolled before a provider changed its plans. The benefit may continue for eligible existing accounts, while a new signup may require payment. Legacy-only is an eligibility warning, not another offer type. Only listings with explicitly reviewed eligibility evidence receive this label.
Billing and verification
- Credit card: Required / Not required / Check provider
- Check provider means the card requirement has not been verified; it does not mean no card is needed.
- Commercial use: Allowed / Restricted / Check provider
- Check provider means business-use permission is unconfirmed, not that commercial use is permitted.
- Last checked
- Date an editor reviewed provider evidence. It is not a guarantee that terms are still unchanged.
- Official source
- Provider pricing or documentation is the primary reference for current limits, eligibility and renewal costs.
A free plan, free software and free infrastructure are different things. Check region, charges above the quota, automatic renewals and required payment methods before deploying.
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