A SaaS free tier that looks generous today can shrink next quarter — lower caps, fewer seats, or a feature moved behind a paid plan. This howtoany guide shows how to spot SaaS free-tier cuts early with a public pricing history, not a retail price chart for hardware.
Markup records SaaS plans, seats, and dated changes (design tools, docs suites, hosting, CRM, and similar). It does not track laptop, Chromebook, or other retail product prices.
Steps
- Write down every SaaS product your team or side project still relies on for free — including what you use it for and any seat or usage limits you notice today.
- Open markupwatch.com, search each tool, and open its product page (or browse /products).
- Read dated changes for free-plan limit cuts, feature moves into paid tiers, plan renames, and seat or usage caps that could break a free workflow — for example Notion, Figma, or Canva.
- If the free tier already shrank, set a budget, switch tools, or lock a paid plan on purpose — do not discover the cut when a critical feature disappears mid-project.
What free-tier cuts look like
- Usage or storage caps that drop while the “free” label stays.
- Seat limits that used to cover a small team and now cover one person.
- Features moved from Free into Pro, Plus, or a new mid-tier.
- Plan renames that hide a cut behind a new free-plan name.
- Watermarks, export limits, or API throttles added to the free path.
Prefer a dated change with a clear source over a forum rumour. Check Markup before you build a workflow, classroom setup, or client deliverable on a free seat.
Open Markup and pull up the free tools you already depend on.