a few weeks ago I posted about building a library that tracks 120+ AI coding tools by how long their free tier actually lasts. the response was good but the most common feedback was "your scores are subjective."
fair point.
so I rebuilt the rating system. you can now sign in with Google and vote on any tool directly. the scores update in real time based on actual user votes, not just my personal assessment. if you think I rated something wrong, you can now do something about it instead of just commenting.
also shipped dark mode because apparently I was the only person who thought the default looked fine.
what Tolop actually is if you're new:
every AI tool claims to be free. most aren't, or at least not for long. Tolop tracks the real limits: how many completions, how many requests, how long until you hit the wall under light use vs heavy use vs agentic sessions. it also flags the tools where "free" means you're still paying Anthropic or OpenAI through your own API key.
120+ tools across coding assistants, browser builders, CLI agents, frameworks, self-hosted tools, local models, and a new niche tools category for single-purpose utilities that don't fit anywhere else.
a few things the data shows that I found genuinely interesting:
- Gemini Code Assist offers 180,000 free completions per month. GitHub Copilot Free offers 2,000. same category, 90x difference
- several of the most popular tools (Cline, Aider, Continue) are free to install but require paid API keys, so "free" is misleading
- self-hosted tools have by far the most generous free tiers because the cost is on your hardware, not a server
would genuinely appreciate votes on tools you've actually used, the more real usage data behind the scores, the more useful the ratings get for everyone.
tolop.space :- no account needed to browse, Google login to vote.
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