By Dan — May 15, 2027

Best Free Tools for Starting an Online Business With No Budget

The number one reason people give for not starting an online business is "I don't have the money to invest."

I used to say the same thing. Then I started my first online business and discovered that most of the tools I actually needed were either free or had generous free tiers that lasted until I was making real money.

If you're starting from zero — no savings to spend, no investors, no credit card you want to put at risk — this is the exact toolkit I'd use. Everything here is free to start.

The Platform: MadeThis Free Tier

This is where I'd start. MadeThis has a free tier that lets you host and sell digital products without a monthly fee. You can get your product live, your checkout working, and your first sales coming in before spending a single dollar.

The free tier has everything you need to test your idea: product pages, checkout, digital delivery. You can upgrade later when your revenue justifies it. But for getting started? You don't need to spend anything.

This matters more than most people realize. The barrier to starting an online business isn't cost — it's action. A free platform removes the one excuse that might otherwise delay you for months.

Once you're making money, you can invest back into upgraded tools. The goal first is to get moving. Check out what it actually takes to start with no budget for a full breakdown of the zero-investment path.

Writing and Content: ChatGPT Free Tier

The free version of ChatGPT is genuinely capable. I made my first several pieces of content using it before upgrading to the paid plan.

Use it to:

• Draft your product descriptions
• Write blog posts and SEO content
• Create email sequences for your list
• Research your target audience
• Brainstorm product ideas

You'll hit rate limits on the free plan, but those limits are generous enough to get started. When you're making money and want to remove the throttle, the upgrade is $20/month — affordable once revenue is coming in.

Website and Landing Pages: Carrd

Carrd is free for one-page sites and is genuinely good. If you need a simple landing page for your product or a minimal website as a home base, Carrd handles it with zero technical skill required.

It's not the most powerful thing in the world, but a clean one-pager that converts is better than an elaborate website that takes six weeks to build.

Email List: Kit (ConvertKit) Free Plan

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) allows up to 10,000 subscribers on the free plan — which is more than enough to build your initial list.

Email is the most important long-term asset you'll build, and Kit's free plan lets you:

• Create landing pages to collect subscribers
• Send broadcast emails to your list
• Set up basic automation

Start building your list before you think you need it. The creators who wish they'd started earlier are the ones who didn't start until their product launched.

Design: Canva Free

Canva's free tier covers 90% of what a solo creator needs. Product cover images, social media graphics, email headers, presentation slides — all doable without spending anything.

The paid version adds a few useful features (background removal, more templates), but the free version will take you through your first 6–12 months without issue.

Video: Loom Free

Loom's free plan gives you 25 video recordings with no time limit. Useful for creating product walkthroughs, tutorial content for your customers, or onboarding guides.

If your product includes video content, Loom gets you started before you need to invest in anything more serious.

SEO: Google Search Console + Ubersuggest Free

Google Search Console is completely free and tells you what people are searching to find your site, which keywords you're ranking for, and what content to create next.

Ubersuggest has a limited free tier that gives you keyword research capabilities — enough to plan your initial content strategy without paying for Ahrefs.

Together, these two tools give you the core SEO intelligence you need to start driving organic traffic.

Accounting: Wave

Wave is free accounting software. Tracks income and expenses, connects to your bank account, handles basic reporting. For a solo online business in early stages, it's everything you need and it costs nothing.

The Free Starting Stack

Here's the complete toolkit:

Total monthly cost: $0.

When to Upgrade

Here's my rule: don't upgrade any tool until the paid version would directly increase your revenue or meaningfully reduce a specific bottleneck.

For most people, the first upgrade is MadeThis (to a paid plan once the free tier feels limiting), then ChatGPT Plus once you're creating content daily and hitting rate limits.

Everything else can wait until you're making consistent income.

The goal right now is not to optimize your toolstack. The goal is to get your first product live and get your first sale. All of that is doable — today, for free.

No more excuses.

Start your free MadeThis trial → https://madethis.com