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Free tiers

Which FinOps tools have a free tier — and up to what limit.

A free tier and a free trial are not the same thing, and most “free” claims in cloud cost tooling are trials that expire. This page lists the FinOps and cloud-cost platforms with a standing free tier you can stay on, each with its real limit, verified from the vendor’s own pricing page.

The short version: three tools offer a genuine free tier — CloudQuell (free under $10K/month of tracked spend), Vantage (free under $2,500/month), and Datadog Cloud Cost Management, whose free tier covers your Datadog costs only. CloudZero, Finout, and Cloudchipr offer a trial or a demo, not a free plan.

FinOps tools: which have a standing free tier, and up to what spend
ToolFree tier?Free up toNotes
CloudQuell✓$10K/mo tracked spendPermanent free tier: 2 seats, 6-month history, up to 3 integrations, 5 saved reports. 14-day trial on paid plans.
Vantage✓$2,500/mo tracked spendStarter tier, permanent: 3 users, 6-month retention; AI integrations included.
Datadog CCMPartialDatadog spend onlyCost Visibility is free for your Datadog costs; tracking your cloud/SaaS bill is the paid Pro/Enterprise tier.
Cloudchipr—Trial only14-day trial, no card. Cheapest paid tier is $49/mo under $5K of spend.
CloudZero—No free tierQuote-only; a demo, not a free tier.
Finout—No free tierFree trial/demo only; pricing quoted per environment.

The free tiers, and the trials pretending to be one

CloudQuell

Best for Teams under $10K/month of tracked spend that want a permanent free tier, not a countdown trial.

Strengths

  • Free forever under $10,000/month of tracked spend — not a trial. Includes 2 seats, 6 months of cost history, up to 3 connected integrations, and 5 saved reports, across AWS plus OpenAI, Anthropic, and Snowflake.
  • When you cross $10K it is a flat $99/month under $50K and $199/month to $200K — never a percentage of your bill. Paid plans add a 14-day trial with no card.

Limitations

  • The free tier caps at 2 seats, 3 integrations, and 6 months of history; larger teams move to a paid tier.
  • Azure and GCP are in private beta (request access), not generally available.

Vantage

Best for Small teams under $2,500/month of tracked spend that want the widest provider list free.

Strengths

  • Genuine permanent free Starter tier — free under $2,500/month of tracked spend, 3 users, 6-month retention (vantage.sh/pricing, verified Aug 12, 2026). Its AI integrations (OpenAI, Anthropic, and more) are available on it.

Limitations

  • The free ceiling is $2,500/month of tracked spend — a quarter of CloudQuell’s $10K — and paid Pro ($30/mo) caps at $7,500.

Datadog Cloud Cost Management

Best for Teams already on Datadog that want to see their Datadog spend free before paying to track the rest of the bill.

Strengths

  • Datadog Cost Visibility is free — for your Datadog costs (datadoghq.com, verified Aug 12, 2026).

Limitations

  • Tracking your actual cloud and SaaS bill is the paid tier: $5 per $1,000 of tracked spend (Pro) or $10 (Enterprise), per month. The free tier does not cover your cloud bill.

Trial, not a free tier (Cloudchipr, CloudZero, Finout)

Best for Buyers comparing free tiers should know which tools only offer a time-boxed trial or a demo.

Strengths

  • Cloudchipr offers a 14-day trial with no card; its cheapest paid tier is $49/month under $5K of spend (cloudchipr.com, verified Aug 12, 2026).

Limitations

  • CloudZero and Finout publish no free tier and no rate card — both are quote-only, with a demo or trial rather than a standing free plan (verified Aug 12, 2026).

Where CloudQuell fits

For a standing free tier — not a trial — the honest shortlist is short: CloudQuell (free under $10K/month of tracked spend), Vantage (free under $2,500), and Datadog’s Cost Visibility (free for your Datadog costs only). CloudQuell has the highest free ceiling of the three, at $10K/month, and covers AWS plus OpenAI, Anthropic, and Snowflake on it. Above the free tier CloudQuell stays flat — $99/month under $50K, $199/month to $200K — while the tools without a free tier route you to a quote.

A good fit when

  • You track under $10,000/month of spend and want a permanent free tier, not a 14- or 30-day trial.
  • You want AWS plus OpenAI, Anthropic, and Snowflake spend in one free ledger.
  • You expect to grow past the free tier and want a published flat price waiting, not a sales call.

Not the right tool when

  • You track under $2,500/month and specifically want Vantage’s broader provider list — its free Starter tier covers you too.
  • You need Azure or GCP generally available today — both are in private beta, not GA.
  • You want a free tier that also acts on infrastructure — free visibility tiers, CloudQuell’s included, are read-only by design.

Frequently asked questions

Which FinOps tools offer a free tier?
Among cloud-cost platforms, three offer a standing free tier: CloudQuell (free under $10,000/month of tracked spend), Vantage (free under $2,500/month), and Datadog Cloud Cost Management, whose free Cost Visibility tier covers your Datadog costs only. Cloudchipr offers a 14-day trial rather than a free tier, and CloudZero and Finout are quote-only with no free plan.
What is the most generous FinOps free tier?
By tracked-spend ceiling, CloudQuell’s is the highest of the standing free tiers at $10,000/month, versus Vantage’s $2,500. CloudQuell’s free tier includes 2 seats, 6 months of history, up to 3 integrations, and covers AWS plus OpenAI, Anthropic, and Snowflake.
Is a free tier the same as a free trial?
No, and it is the most common confusion on this question. A free tier is a plan you can stay on indefinitely within its limits; a trial expires. CloudQuell and Vantage offer permanent free tiers; Cloudchipr, CloudZero, and Finout offer trials or demos. CloudQuell also adds a 14-day trial on its paid plans, separate from the free tier.
What happens when I outgrow CloudQuell’s free tier?
You move to a flat paid tier: $99/month under $50K of monthly tracked spend, $199/month to $200K. It is a flat fee, not a percentage of your bill, and self-serve by card — no sales call to cross the line.
Are there free tools just for LLM or AI spend?
Yes, but they are AI-only. Helicone, Langfuse, and LangSmith have free tiers for LLM observability, and OpenAI and Anthropic each provide a free usage dashboard for their own bill. None of them show your AWS spend — for AI and cloud cost in one free ledger you need a FinOps platform. See the LLM cost tools roundup.
Start free with CloudQuell

Free under $10K/month of tracked spend — AWS, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Snowflake on one ledger. No card, no trial clock.

Comparisons are based on publicly available information as of August 12, 2026 and pricing and features change — verify current details with each vendor before deciding. Product names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners; their use here is nominative and does not imply endorsement.