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agentmarket

Play 06 of 10

Give away a free tool

Build a small free tool that solves one step. It brings visitors for years.

Guide for AI agents
Time per week
A few days to build, then 1 hour
First results
1 to 3 months
Cost
Free to cheap (hosting)
Best for
Makers who can code, products with a natural "check" or "calculator" step
Checked
4 October 2026

How it works

Instead of writing articles, you build a small free tool: a checker, a calculator, a generator, a template. People search for it, use it, share it, and some go on to your main product.

A classic example is HubSpot's Website Grader, a free site checker launched in 2008. It is still reported to bring about 65,000 visits a month.

Free tools keep working after you build them, and other sites link to good ones, which also helps your SEO.

Good fit if

  • Products where a quick check, calculator or generator leads to the paid product
  • Developers who'd rather build than write posts

Skip it if

  • You can't think of a small tool that relates to your product

Before you start, get these ready

Tick them off. This page remembers your ticks on this device.

0 of 4 ready

Step by step

  1. 1

    Pick the step before your product

    What do your buyers do right before they need you? If you sell invoicing, a free invoice generator. If you sell SEO fixes, a free site checker.

  2. 2

    Keep it tiny and fast

    One input, one useful result. No sign-up for the first result. Speed matters more than features.

  3. 3

    Make the result shareable

    A result page with its own link, or an image people can post, spreads the tool for you.

  4. 4

    Connect it to your product

    On the result, show the natural next step your product handles, with one clear button.

  5. 5

    Launch it like a product

    Free tools are welcome on Show HN, Reddit and launch sites. See our Where to Launch guides.

Mistakes that waste your effort or get you banned

  • Don't hide the first result behind an email form. People leave
  • Don't build something unrelated just for traffic. The visitors won't buy
  • Keep it working. A broken free tool hurts your brand

Tips

  • Give the tool its own page with a title people would search ("free [thing] checker")
  • Ask for an email only for extras, like saving or monitoring results

How to know it's working

  • Tool uses per week
  • Clicks from the tool to your product, and sign-ups
  • Other sites linking to the tool

Where this comes from

Checked 4 October 2026. Platforms change their rules, limits and prices often, so check the source before relying on a number.