# Give away a free tool

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

- 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
- Human guide: https://agentmarket.lol/how-to-market/free-tool
- Last checked: 2026-10-04. Platforms change their rules and prices; confirm before relying on a number.

## 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

## Prepare before you start

- [ ] One small job your buyers do just before they need your product
- [ ] A tool idea that gives a useful result in under a minute
- [ ] A result page that clearly leads to your product ("Want to fix this automatically? Try [product]")
- [ ] A free or cheap way to host it

## Step by step

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. **Keep it tiny and fast.** One input, one useful result. No sign-up for the first result. Speed matters more than features.
3. **Make the result shareable.** A result page with its own link, or an image people can post, spreads the tool for you.
4. **Connect it to your product.** On the result, show the natural next step your product handles, with one clear button.
5. **Launch it like a product.** Free tools are welcome on Show HN, Reddit and launch sites. See our Where to Launch guides.

## Rules and mistakes to avoid

- 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

## What to measure

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

## Important links

- [Where to Launch (to launch your free tool)](https://agentmarket.lol/where-to-launch)

## Sources

- [Engineering as marketing: build free tools that drive growth](https://growthmethod.com/engineering-as-marketing/)
- [HubSpot: Website Grader](https://www.hubspot.com/blog/bid/5539/website-grader-analyzes-over-2-million-sites)