FREE TIER LIMITS.
What the popular creator tools actually give you before they ask for money. Every figure below was checked in July 2026 and links to a page you can verify it on. Free tiers change often, so treat anything older than a quarter as approximate.
We are on this table too, with the same honesty. Our free tier is not the most generous in every row, and where someone beats us it says so.
File conversion
| Tool | Free tier | Watermark | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| CloudConvert | 25 conversion minutes per day | No | July 2026 |
| Convertio | 100 MB per file | No | July 2026 |
| Zamzar | 50 MB per file | No | July 2026 |
| FreeConvert | 1 GB per file | No | July 2026 |
| GrumpTools File Converter | 10/day on free, up to 1 GB per file | No | Always |
Captions & subtitles
| Tool | Free tier | Watermark | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submagic | 3 videos per month, 200 MB and 1 min 30 s each | Yes | July 2026 (vendor page) |
| VEED | Free exports carry VEED branding | Yes | July 2026 |
| Kapwing | Auto-subtitles limited on the free plan | Yes | July 2026 |
| GrumpTools Auto Subtitles | Pro feature ($9.99/mo), up to 1 GB per file | No | Always |
Shorts & vertical video
| Tool | Free tier | Watermark | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpusClip | Free clips render up to 1080p with a watermark on captions | Yes | July 2026 (vendor page) |
| Vizard | Free exports are watermarked | Yes | July 2026 |
| Klap | A small number of free videos per month | Yes | July 2026 |
| GrumpTools Shorts Converter | Pro feature ($9.99/mo), up to 1 GB per file | No | Always |
Transcription
| Tool | Free tier | Watermark | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | 300 min/month, 30 min per conversation, and only 3 file imports for the LIFETIME of the account | No | July 2026 (vendor page) |
| Notta | 120 minutes per month | No | July 2026 |
| TurboScribe | 3 files per day | No | July 2026 |
| GrumpTools Transcript Generator | 3/day on free, up to 1 GB per file | No | Always |
Image compression
| Tool | Free tier | Watermark | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| TinyPNG | 20 images per session, 5 MB per file, no WebP or AVIF output | No | July 2026 |
| Squoosh | One image at a time (no batch) | No | July 2026 |
| GrumpTools Image Tools | 20/day on free, up to 1 GB per file | No | Always |
File transfer
| Tool | Free tier | Watermark | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| WeTransfer | 10 transfers OR 3 GB total in any 30-day period | No | July 2026 (vendor page) |
| SwissTransfer | 50 GB per transfer (more generous than ours) | No | July 2026 |
| Smash | No size cap, but large transfers are speed-throttled | No | July 2026 |
| GrumpTools File Transfer | 1/day on free, up to 1 GB per file | No | Always |
Banners & thumbnails
| Tool | Free tier | Watermark | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canva | Generous free tier; premium assets are paid | Some | July 2026 |
| Snappa | 5 downloads per month | No | July 2026 |
| TubeBuddy | Thumbnail preview free; A/B testing and analytics are paid | No | July 2026 |
| vidIQ | Limited free tier inside a paid suite | No | July 2026 |
| GrumpTools Banner Maker | Unlimited on free, up to 1 GB per file | No | Always |
The pattern
Read down the watermark column. Almost every tool whose output you would actually publish puts its own branding on free exports, which makes the free tier a demo rather than a usable product. The rest cap you by file count, file size, minutes per month, or a lifetime import limit.
GrumpTools never watermarks output on any plan, including free, and free uploads go up to 1 GB per file. The other half of the difference is that this is one account instead of six subscriptions: 18 tools, one login, $9.99/month when you outgrow free.
Switching from a specific tool?
Submagic alternative
A free Submagic alternative without the watermark
OpusClip alternative
An OpusClip alternative for when you already know the clip
Otter.ai alternative
An Otter.ai alternative built for video files
WeTransfer alternative
A WeTransfer alternative with real link controls
VEED alternative
A VEED alternative without branded exports