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Free tiers

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

Updated

CloudQuell has a permanent free tier for up to $10K/month of tracked spend — AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake, OpenAI and Anthropic, no credit card — and Vantage has one up to $2,500/month. Datadog Cloud Cost Management’s free tier covers Datadog’s own costs only, and CloudZero, Finout and Cloudchipr offer a trial or demo rather than a free plan.

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.

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, Azure, GCP, 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.
  • Savings recommendations are AWS-only for now; Azure and GCP get reporting, budgets, allocation, and alerts.

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’s free ceiling is $10K/month of tracked spend, against Vantage’s $2,500, and covers AWS plus OpenAI, Anthropic, and Snowflake. 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 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?
Three cloud-cost platforms have 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 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?
Measured by tracked-spend ceiling: CloudQuell’s free tier covers up to $10,000/month of tracked spend, Vantage’s $2,500/month, and Datadog Cloud Cost Management’s covers Datadog costs only. CloudQuell’s free tier includes 2 seats, 6 months of history, up to 3 integrations and 5 saved reports, and covers AWS, Azure, GCP, OpenAI, Anthropic and Snowflake.
Is a free tier the same as a free trial?
No. A free tier is a plan you can stay on indefinitely within its limits; a free trial expires. CloudQuell and Vantage offer permanent free tiers, while Cloudchipr, CloudZero and Finout offer trials or demos. CloudQuell also has a 14-day trial on its paid Starter and Growth plans, separate from its free tier.
What happens when I outgrow CloudQuell’s free tier?
You move to a flat paid plan: CloudQuell Starter is $99/month for tracked spend under $50K, and Growth is $199/month for $50K–$200K. It is a flat fee, not a percentage of your bill, and self-serve by card with no sales call.
Are there free tools just for LLM or AI spend?
Yes, but they cover AI spend 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 AWS spend; for AI and cloud cost in one free ledger, CloudQuell’s free tier covers OpenAI, Anthropic, Snowflake and AWS under $10K/month of tracked spend.
Start free with CloudQuell

Free under $10K/month of tracked spend — AWS, Azure, GCP, 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.