API marketplaces, free public APIs, search & CMS
18 providers and 84 verified findings for this front, as of 2026-10-22.
Mapping summary. API marketplaces, free public APIs, search & CMS — genuinely free tiers, no-card trials, and open-source self-host options available to students and startups as of 2026-10-22.
Comparison table
| Provider | Best offer | Audience | Findings H / M / L | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airtable | Airtable Free plan (permanent, no card) | student | 4 / 2 / 0 | support.airtable.com |
| Algolia Free Plan | Algolia Free Plan (free tier) | free-for-all | 5 / 0 / 0 | algolia.com |
| Contentful Free Plan | Contentful Free plan ("Start for free" / Starter Space) | free-for-all | 0 / 2 / 2 | contentful.com |
| Data.gov | Data.gov open data catalog — free, no key, no card, no account | free-for-all | 4 / 1 / 0 | catalog.data.gov |
| data.gov.uk | ODI / data.gov.uk directory API (CKAN) — free, no key, no account | free-for-all | 4 / 1 / 0 | data.gov.uk |
| Decap CMS | Decap CMS core — free open source (MIT), forever | free-for-all | 3 / 0 / 0 | decapcms.org |
| Directus | Free self-hosting under open-source license (now MSCL-1.0-GPL, not Apache 2.0) | free-for-all | 3 / 1 / 0 | directus.com |
| Ghost | Self-hosted Ghost — free open source (MIT) | free-for-all | 6 / 3 / 1 | ghost.org |
| Google Maps Platform | Google Maps Platform free usage tier (per-SKU monthly caps) | free-for-all | 3 / 1 / 0 | developers.google.com |
| Keystone | Free self-hosted open-source use (Keystone 6, MIT license) — the only free offer; no cloud tier, trial credits, startup program, or education… | free-for-all | 1 / 0 / 0 | keystonejs.com |
| Meilisearch | Self-hosted Meilisearch (open source, MIT) | free-for-all | 2 / 1 / 0 | meilisearch.com |
| Nominatim | Free public Nominatim API (the only offer; there is no student/startup tier, trial credit, or education program) | free-for-all | 2 / 1 / 0 | operations.osmfoundation.org |
| Payload | Self-hosted open-source (MIT) — free forever, no usage limits | free-for-all | 2 / 3 / 1 | payloadcms.com |
| RapidAPI | Free API plans (no credit card): 1,000 req/hour, 500,000 req/month hard caps | free-for-all | 2 / 0 / 0 | docs.rapidapi.com |
| Storyblok | Storyblok Starter free plan (permanent free tier) | free-for-all | 2 / 1 / 0 | storyblok.com |
| Strapi | Community Edition — free self-hosted open source (the only standing free offer) | free-for-all | 3 / 1 / 0 | strapi.io |
| Typesense | Self-hosted open-source Typesense engine (free, no account) | free-for-all | 3 / 1 / 0 | github.com |
| Zoho CRM Free Edition | Zoho CRM Free Edition (free forever, 3 users) | free-for-all | 10 / 1 / 1 | zoho.com |
Other service fronts
- LLM & AI model APIs, inference and agent platforms
- Startup cloud-credit programs (VC / accelerator funded)
- Managed databases & data platforms
- Frontend hosting, PaaS & app deployment
- VPS, bare-metal & dedicated servers
- Dev tools, IDEs, Git & CI/CD
- GPU, ML training & notebooks
- Observability, monitoring, uptime & CDN
- Auth, security, product analytics & feature flags
- Email, SMS, push & chat APIs
- Payments & fintech dev tools
- University & education-only programs (.edu / student email)
- Self-hosted open-source alternatives that replace paid SaaS
- Extras: gap-fill finds and providers outside the 14 fronts