Modal Free Plan 2026: What's Included & What's Not
Honest breakdown of the free tier limits and features
Modal costs Free to $250 per GPU/hour as of April 2026. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
Yes, Modal offers a freemium plan as of April 2026. The free tier includes 10 features with limits on credits and seats. Paid plans start at $250/month (Team). Pricing verified from 3 sources by CostBench.
Modal offers a freemium model with limited features; upgrade to unlock more.
What's Included in the Free Plan
- $30/month in free compute credits
- Up to 3 workspace seats
- 100 containers + 10 GPU concurrency
- 5 deployed crons, 8 deployed web endpoints
- 1 day log retention
- 200 deployed apps
- Real-time metrics and logs
- Region selection (1.25–2.5x base prices)
- SOC 2 compliance
- Community Slack support
What's NOT Included (Paid Only)
- $100/month in free compute credits
- Unlimited workspace seats
- 1000 containers + 50 GPU concurrency
- Unlimited crons and web endpoints
- 30 day log retention
- 1000 deployed apps
- Custom domains
- Static IP proxy
- Deployment rollbacks (custom versions)
- RBAC and SSO
Free Plan Limits
| Limit | Free Plan | Paid Plans |
|---|---|---|
| credits | $30/month compute credits | Unlimited/Higher |
| seats | Up to 3 | Unlimited/Higher |
| containers | 100 | Unlimited/Higher |
| gpuConcurrency | 10 | Unlimited/Higher |
| crons | 5 deployed | Unlimited/Higher |
| webhooks | 8 deployed endpoints | Unlimited/Higher |
| logRetention | 1 day | Unlimited/Higher |
| deployedApps | 200 | Unlimited/Higher |
You'll Need to Upgrade When...
- You exceed the user limit
- You need features like $100/month in free compute credits or Unlimited workspace seats
- You require premium support or SLA guarantees
- You need to remove branding or watermarks
- You need advanced integrations or API access
Hidden Restrictions on Free Plan
- Modal branding may appear on your content or communications
- Support is limited to community forums or email with longer response times
- Export options may be restricted or include watermarks
- API access is typically limited or not available
- Advanced reporting and analytics require paid plans
Free vs Paid: Which Do You Need?
Free Plan is Enough If...
- You're an individual or very small team
- You need only basic features
- You don't mind usage limits
- Branding on output is acceptable
- Community support is sufficient
You Need Paid If...
- Your team is growing beyond limits
- You need advanced features
- Professional branding is required
- You need priority support
- Integrations/API access is critical
Free vs Team Plan Comparison
| Starter $0 | Team $250/month | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 10 included | 11+ included |
| Support | Community/Email | Priority Support |
| Branding | Modal branding | Your branding |
| Best For | Individual developers and small teams getting started with serverless GPU compute | Startups and growing teams needing higher concurrency, custom domains, and collaboration features |
Frequently Asked Questions
01 Is Modal free?
Yes, Modal offers a freemium plan with 10 core features included. However, there are limits on credits, seats that may require upgrading.
02 What's included in Modal's free plan?
Modal's free plan includes: $30/month in free compute credits, Up to 3 workspace seats, 100 containers + 10 GPU concurrency, 5 deployed crons, 8 deployed web endpoints, 1 day log retention, and 5 more features. Key limits include credits: $30/month compute credits, seats: Up to 3, containers: 100.
03 What's NOT included in Modal's free plan?
The free plan excludes: $100/month in free compute credits, Unlimited workspace seats, 1000 containers + 50 GPU concurrency, Unlimited crons and web endpoints, 30 day log retention. You'll also have Modal branding and limited support options.
04 When should I upgrade from Modal's free plan?
Consider upgrading when: you hit user or storage limits, need features like $100/month in free compute credits or Unlimited workspace seats, require premium support, or want to remove branding. The cheapest paid plan starts at $250/month.
05 Is Modal's free plan really free forever?
Yes, Modal's free plan is available indefinitely with no time limit. However, feature and usage limits may restrict what you can do without upgrading to a paid plan.