The ₹0 Stack: 35 Free Tools to Run SEO, a Website and AI Search

2. Free hosting and site builders

You still pay for a domain name. Everything else here can be ₹0. Pick one host. Read the commercial-use line before you choose.

1. Cloudflare PagesFree · 500 builds/month · 100 projects · 20,000 files per site · 1 build at a time

   Hosts static and framework sites (Astro, Next.js and more) on Cloudflare's network, deployed from Git.

   Best for: Business sites that want free hosting without a non-commercial rule.

   Ritik's note: My default for new static sites. Connect the GitHub repo and every push deploys.

2. Cloudflare Free plan (DNS + CDN)Free · CDN, SSL and DDoS protection included

   Puts your domain behind Cloudflare: CDN, free SSL and DDoS protection, wherever the site is hosted.

   Best for: Making any site faster and safer, including WordPress on cheap hosting.

3. Vercel HobbyFree · 100 GB fast data transfer/month · 100 deployments/day · non-commercial, personal use only

   Hosting built for Next.js and other frameworks, with previews for every change.

   Best for: Personal projects and side experiments, not a business site.

4. Netlify FreeFree · 300 credits (a production deploy uses 15 credits, bandwidth 20 credits per GB)

   Git-based hosting with forms, functions and deploy previews.

   Best for: Small sites that deploy rarely.

   Ritik's note: Credits go fast if you deploy often. 300 credits is about 20 production deploys and nothing else.

5. GitHub PagesFree · 1 GB site size · soft 100 GB bandwidth/month · not allowed as free hosting for online businesses or e-commerce

   Free static hosting straight from a GitHub repository.

   Best for: Docs, portfolios and open-source project pages.

6. WordPress (self-hosted)Free software · GPLv2 (or later) licence

   The open-source CMS. Free software; you pay only for hosting.

   Best for: Non-developers who want a familiar editor and plugins.

7. AstroFree · open source (MIT licence)

   A web framework that ships fast, mostly static pages. Pairs well with Cloudflare Pages.

   Best for: Content sites where speed matters and you (or an AI assistant) can edit code.

   Ritik's note: ritiknamdev.com is an Astro site. With Claude or ChatGPT helping, you don't need to be a developer to edit it.

3. Behaviour, privacy analytics and reports

GA4 is enough for most people. Add one of these when you want recordings, a simpler cookie-free view, or one report for many sites.

1. Microsoft ClarityFree forever · Microsoft says no traffic limits

   Heatmaps and session recordings that show where people click, scroll and get stuck.

   Best for: Finding why a page gets traffic but no sign-ups.

2. Cloudflare Web AnalyticsFree · no usage caps listed

   Lightweight analytics that uses no cookies or localStorage and doesn't fingerprint visitors.

   Best for: A simple, privacy-first traffic count without a cookie banner discussion.

3. Umami Cloud (Hobby)Free · 100,000 events/month · 1 website · 6 months data retention

   Clean, privacy-focused analytics with a simple dashboard.

   Best for: One site where you want a readable dashboard.

4. Google Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio)Free · Google calls it a no-cost tool (Pro is the paid team version)

   Free dashboards that pull Search Console, GA4 and Sheets data into one report.

   Best for: One monthly report across several sites or for a client.

   Ritik's note: Google has renamed this product more than once. Old links to lookerstudio.google.com redirect here.

4. Free keyword research

You don't need exact volumes to start. You need to know what people type and whether interest is growing. For a deeper list see the free keyword tools resource.

1. Google Keyword PlannerFree · needs a Google Ads account with setup completed (Expert Mode)

   Google's keyword ideas and volume ranges, built for advertisers.

   Best for: Rough volume ranges straight from Google.

2. Google TrendsFree · no account needed

   Shows how interest in a search changes over time and by region (relative 0 to 100, not raw searches).

   Best for: Checking if a topic is growing or dying before you write about it.

3. Ahrefs Free Keyword GeneratorFree · no account · a limited set of ideas per search

   Keyword ideas with difficulty and volume from up to 10 seed words.

   Best for: Quick idea lists for one topic.

4. Semrush Free planFree · 10 reports/day · 1 project · no card needed

   A taste of the full Semrush toolkit: keyword, domain and AI visibility reports.

   Best for: The occasional competitor or keyword check.

5. Free rank tracking

Most free rank trackers are trials. These two are genuinely free and use your own verified data.

1. Search Console Performance reportFree · part of Search Console

   Average position for every query and page, with 16 months of history. This is your free rank tracker.

   Best for: Tracking position changes for keywords you already show up for.

   Ritik's note: Filter by page, then sort queries by impressions. Positions 8 to 20 with high impressions are your easiest wins.

2. Ahrefs Webmaster ToolsFree for verified sites · 5,000 crawl credits per project/month · up to 1,000 keywords and backlinks shown

   Ahrefs data for sites you verify: keywords you rank for, top pages, backlinks and a site audit.

   Best for: Seeing rankings and links in one place, from a second data source.

6. Speed, technical checks and schema

Run these after every big change: new theme, new template, new plugin.

1. PageSpeed InsightsFree · no account

   Core Web Vitals from real Chrome users plus a lab test with fixes.

   Best for: Checking real-user speed on mobile.

2. Lighthouse (Chrome DevTools)Free · built into desktop Chrome

   Performance, accessibility, best-practice and SEO audits inside Chrome.

   Best for: Testing pages before they go live.

3. Screaming Frog SEO SpiderFree · up to 500 URLs per crawl (paid licence £199/year)

   Crawls your site like a search engine and lists broken links, redirects, missing titles and duplicates.

   Best for: A full technical check of a small site.

4. Rich Results TestFree · test a live URL or paste code

   Google's test for whether your structured data qualifies for rich results.

   Best for: Checking FAQ, Product, Article or Breadcrumb schema.

5. Schema Markup ValidatorFree · no account

   Validates any schema.org markup, not only the types Google shows as rich results.

   Best for: Checking Organization, Person and sameAs markup that AI systems use to understand who you are.

7. Free AI-search visibility checks

There is no free tool that tracks every AI assistant. So you use the one first-party report that exists, and you ask the assistants yourself, once a month, with the same questions.

1. Bing AI Performance reportFree · any site verified in Bing Webmaster Tools

   Inside Bing Webmaster Tools: how often Microsoft Copilot and Bing AI summaries cite your pages, by query and by page. Public preview, no click data.

   Best for: The only free first-party AI citation report I know of.

2. ChatGPT FreeFree · search included · uploads, images and deep research are limited

   Ask the questions your buyers ask and see if your site or brand is named. The free plan includes search.

   Best for: Monthly brand-mention checks and drafting help.

3. Claude FreeFree · limited usage every 5 hours and every week · web search included · up to 5 Projects

   Chat with web search, file creation and code execution. Good for editing site code and writing schema.

   Best for: Writing and fixing code, schema and page copy.

   Ritik's note: Ask it to write JSON-LD for your page, then paste the result into the Schema Markup Validator above.

4. Gemini (free)₹0/month · usage limits refresh every 5 hours · 15 GB Google storage

   Google's assistant, with Deep Research and Canvas on the free plan.

   Best for: Seeing how a Google AI model describes your topic and your brand.

8. Design, email, forms and automation

A site needs images, a way to collect emails and a few small automations. These free plans cover all three.

1. Canva FreeFree · 5 GB cloud storage

   Templates for blog images, social posts and simple graphics.

   Best for: Featured images and social graphics without a designer.

2. Figma StarterFree · unlimited drafts · 150 AI credits/day (up to 500/month) · limits on files and pages

   Design tool for page layouts and wireframes.

   Best for: Planning a page layout before you build it.

3. Kit (free Newsletter plan)Free up to 10,000 subscribers · unlimited forms, landing pages and broadcasts · no automated sequences

   Email newsletter tool with landing pages, forms and tagging.

   Best for: Starting a newsletter from day one.

   Ritik's note: This is what runs Proof Notes. Tag every sign-up by the resource they came for, so you know what people want.

4. ResendFree · 3,000 emails/month · 100 emails/day · 3 domains

   Sends transactional emails from your site (confirmations, alerts, download links) through a simple API.

   Best for: Form alerts and 'here is your file' emails.

5. TallyFree · unlimited forms and submissions (fair use policy)

   Form builder that works like a document.

   Best for: Contact forms, surveys and lead forms.

6. Zapier FreeFree · 100 tasks/month · two-step Zaps only · checks every 15 minutes

   Connects apps: when X happens in one tool, do Y in another.

   Best for: One or two simple automations, like form to Google Sheet.

7. Make FreeFree · 1,000 credits/month (most actions use 1 credit)

   Visual automation builder with multi-step flows.

   Best for: Automations with more than two steps on a ₹0 budget.

Set it up in one weekend

1. Saturday morning: build and host

   Buy your domain. Put it on the Cloudflare Free plan. Create the site (Astro or WordPress) and deploy it on Cloudflare Pages, or on your WordPress host. Make sure https works on the main domain.

2. Saturday afternoon: connect your real data

   Add a Domain property in Search Console and submit your sitemap. Import the site into Bing Webmaster Tools. Install GA4 (or Cloudflare Web Analytics) and Microsoft Clarity.

3. Saturday evening: basic checks

   Run PageSpeed Insights on the homepage and one inner page. Crawl the site with Screaming Frog (500 URLs is enough for a new site). Fix broken links, missing titles and duplicate pages.

4. Sunday morning: schema and keywords

   Add Organization (or Person) schema with sameAs links to your profiles. Test it in the Schema Markup Validator and Rich Results Test. Build a Google Sheet with 20 keywords from Keyword Planner, Trends and the Ahrefs generator.

5. Sunday afternoon: email and forms

   Create a free Kit account and one sign-up form on the site. Connect a Tally contact form. Set up one Zapier or Make flow that copies new leads into your Google Sheet.

6. Sunday evening: your AI baseline

   Write 5 questions a buyer would ask about your service. Ask them in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini and note whether your site or brand is named. Save the answers in the Sheet with today's date. Repeat monthly.

7. Next month: read the numbers

   After 28 days, open the Search Console Performance report and Bing's AI Performance report. Note the pages getting impressions and improve those first.

When to start paying

Pay when a free limit blocks real work, not before. This is the order I'd follow.