The Best Free and Low-Cost Tools to Get Your Startup Online

Launching a startup is an exciting, challenging journey — and establishing a strong digital presence is the first critical step. In today’s market, it’s more achievable than ever for entrepreneurs to set up professional websites, collaborate remotely, and market effectively, even with tight budgets. Thanks to a wave of high-quality free and low-cost tools, you can hit the ground running while keeping your costs under control.

This guide explores some of the best options available for getting your startup online. From website builders and domain registrars to project collaboration and digital marketing platforms, you’ll find the resources you need to launch, grow, and scale your business idea efficiently.

Getting the Basics Right: Domains and Hosting

Your domain name and hosting platform are the foundation of your online presence. Selecting the right tools early on will help you avoid headaches down the line.

• Domain Registration: Securing a professional domain doesn’t have to break the bank. Consider these options:
  • Namecheap – Known for competitive pricing, reliable customer service, and straightforward domain management. Yearly registration typically starts around £8-10.
  • Porkbun – Another budget-friendly registrar with transparent pricing and free WHOIS privacy on most domains.
  • Freenom – Offers select domains (.tk, .ml, .ga, .cf, .gq) for free, though not recommended for established brands due to limited control and trust issues.
• Website Hosting: For startups, shared hosting or managed hosting services are typically sufficient:
  • InfinityFree – Free web hosting with no forced ads. Best for early-stage prototypes, but consider paid hosts for reliability.
  • SiteGround – Low-cost (from £2.99/month), supports WordPress, and offers excellent support for growing sites.
  • Netlify & Vercel – Free hosting for static sites and modern web apps with CI/CD built in, suitable for JAMstack sites.

Building Your Website: Free & Low-Cost Website Builders

Your website is your digital storefront. Even if you have limited technical skills, you can quickly build a website using intuitive tools:

• WordPress.com – Free plan includes a basic site on a wordpress.com subdomain. Upgrade to use your custom domain (starting at around £3/month). Huge flexibility with plugins and themes.
• Wix – Free plan with Wix branding and a wixsite.com address. User-friendly drag-and-drop editor. Custom domains and removal of Wix ads require a paid plan.
• Google Sites – Extremely simple tool for basic, informational websites. Works with your Google account, but limited design flexibility.
• Webflow – Free for starter sites (with Webflow branding). Powerful visual editor — great for designers or startups wanting more design freedom.
• Bootstrap Studio or Pinegrow – One-off low-cost fees for building more custom HTML/CSS websites, still user-friendly for non-coders.

Open Source Website Builders

For those comfortable with basic tech skills, these options can offer more flexibility for free:

• WordPress.org – The world’s most popular open-source CMS. Free, but you’ll need separate hosting (typically from £3/month). Thousands of themes and plugins make it extremely versatile.
• Jekyll / Hugo – Static site generators well-suited to simple websites and blogs. Host for free on Github Pages.

Essential Tools for Communication and Collaboration

Remote work, small teams, and lean operations require efficient communication. Here are the most robust free and affordable platforms:

• Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) – Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Drive. Free for personal use; business accounts start at £5/month, but personal accounts often suffice for small teams at launch.
• Slack – Free tier for team messaging and collaboration. Integrates with many other tools.
• Microsoft Teams – Free plan for chat, meetings, and document collaboration; fits well if you’re already using Microsoft Office.
• Zoom – Free plan allows unlimited 1-on-1 meetings, group calls up to 40 minutes.
• Trello & Asana – Free project management boards to organise workloads and priorities.
• Notion – Free for individuals, increasingly popular for wikis, task tracking, and documentation.

Design, Branding, and Asset Creation

Great visuals can be produced in-house with little to no outlay. Modern design tools make branding, socials, and marketing assets accessible to everyone:

• Canva – Free plan covers most needs, including social media graphics, presentations, and simple logos.
• GIMP & Krita – Free alternatives to Photoshop for bitmap and digital painting needs.
• Photopea – Online alternative to Photoshop, runs in your browser totally free.
• Figma – Free for up to 3 Figma/FigJam files; collaborative interface design platform perfect for UI/UX prototyping.
• Looka (formerly Logojoy) – Create a logo for free and download low-resolution files; paid plans for higher-res images.
• Unsplash & Pexels – Free, high-quality stock photography and video assets for web and marketing use.

Marketing, Lead Generation & Analytics

Online marketing is essential for traction. Even on a shoestring budget, you can begin content marketing, email, and analytics:

• Mailchimp – Free plan includes up to 500 contacts and 1,000 monthly email sends; good for newsletters and basic email automation.
• Sender – Another generous free email marketing tool for up to 2,500 subscribers and 15,000 emails per month.
• Google Analytics – Completely free, powerful website analytics for tracking traffic, user behaviour, and goals.
• Hotjar – Free plan offers visual heatmaps, visitor recordings, and surveys to get quick insight into user behaviour.
• Buffer – Free plan allows up to 3 social media channels and 10 scheduled posts at a time; useful for social media management.
• HubSpot CRM – Free forever tier offers contact management, live chat, and basic sales pipeline features.

Accounting, Invoices, and Admin Tasks

Keeping your finances organised from day one is sensible. There are straightforward options available to help manage invoicing, expenses, and reporting:

• Wave Accounting – Free invoicing, accounting, and receipt tracking (currently only available to UK businesses for invoicing, but not payments or payroll).
• Zoho Invoice – 100% free cloud invoicing for small teams, unlimited clients and invoices.
• PayPal Invoicing – Free to send invoices, pay per transaction when clients pay via PayPal.
• Akaunting – Open-source cloud accounting software, free with paid add-ons.

Security and Website Monitoring

Security is a critical consideration, even for small teams. Fortunately, some high-quality free tools provide basic protection and monitoring:

• Cloudflare – Free CDN and basic DDoS protection for your website; also includes free SSL certificates.
• Let’s Encrypt – Free SSL certificates to ensure data is securely transmitted.
• Google Search Console – Free monitoring to help you track search performance and receive security alerts.
• Uptime Robot – Free tier offers 50 monitors at 5-minute checks, so you’ll know if your website ever goes down.

Software Development, Prototyping & Repositories

If your startup offers software or apps, you’ll want free/affordable tools for prototyping, version control, and deployment:

• Github – Free for public and private code repositories, collaborative coding, and integrated CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions).
• Glitch – Free instantly-deployable dev environments for web app projects and live prototypes.
• Figma & InVision – Free prototyping and UI design tools for creating mockups and clickable demos.
• Netlify & Vercel – Free hosting and instant deployments for modern web apps.

Tips for Choosing and Implementing Free Tools

• Read the Terms: Even reputable free tools may restrict usage in terms of bandwidth, branding, or features.
• Plan for Growth: As your startup expands, you may need to upgrade to paid plans for more features, capacity, or branding removal. Choose tools that grow with you.
• Data Ownership & Portability: Understand who owns your data and how easy it is to export/backup your site, files, and customer data.
• Security: Always enable two-factor authentication and regularly backup your data, even with reputable platforms.
• Integrations: Look for tools that connect with others you already use, reducing duplication and wasted effort.

Conclusion

Starting and growing a business on a lean budget is possible with the right tools. Whether building a modern website, running your first marketing campaign, or collaborating with a remote team, these free and affordable solutions help prioritize speed, professionalism, and cost control.

Remember, the tech stack you start with is not set in stone — but choosing flexible, widely adopted platforms can help minimise the pain of switching later. Focus on the fundamentals, use your resources wisely, and you’ll be on the road to success.

If you need help with your website, app, or digital marketing — get in touch today at info@webmatter.co.uk or call 07546 289 419.