Yes, inspect.software has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans. FreeTier.co estimates the free tier at about $10/mo, and no credit card is required to sign up.
About
inspect.software is a public record of open-source software health. It publishes versioned inspection reports for repositories, covering maintainability, engineering quality, security posture, ecosystem adoption, and governance under a documented methodology.
The service lets users request scans for public-interest repositories and view full reports in the public record, with badges and searchable rankings. The pricing page states that high-value public repositories are inspected free of charge, while paid services cover niche public repositories, private repository audits, continuous monitoring, deeper security review, enterprise reporting, and API access.
- Versioned inspection methodology
- Public record of repository health
- Free scans for high-value repositories
- Full reports with source evidence
- GitHub badge for current standing
- Paid certification for niche repositories
- Private audit and monitoring options
- API access and enterprise reporting
Free Tier Value
This free tier is a real, ongoing offering with no stated time limit and no credit card requirement, so it has meaningful value even before any paid upgrade. The closest paid option is the $10/month developer program, and the free public record delivers most of the core inspection experience—full report, badge, and repeat inspection for eligible public repositories—so it lands at about the full monthly price of the cheapest paid plan, though with narrower eligibility and less private/niche coverage.
What's included in the free tier
Verified
- Full health report against the complete versioned methodology, published in the public record.
- Embeddable GitHub badge reflecting the current standing.
- Re-inspection when a new scan is submitted or scheduled by an operator.
See inspect.software pricing for current limits.
Paid plans
Developer program
- Subscription for repositories the account owns or maintains
- Covers niche repositories that are outside the free thresholds
- Re-inspection on a recurring basis
- Uses the same published methodology and result rules as free inspections
On-demand certification
- credits per below-threshold inspection
- 20
- Full inspection and badge immediately
- For niche public repositories outside the free thresholds
- Paid from account balance directly at submission
- Same methodology and outcome as free coverage
Credit packs
- credits
- 100
- credits
- 450
- credits
- 1250
- Prepaid credits for inspections
- Multiple pack sizes
- Used for paid submissions and related services
- Credits can be granted by code
Pricing extracted from inspect.software's pricing page. Always verify current pricing before committing.
Common questions
Is inspect.software free forever?
Yes. inspect.software has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans, though the allowance typically resets each month.
Does inspect.software require a credit card?
No. You can start on inspect.software's free tier without entering card details.
What happens when you exceed inspect.software's free tier?
You move to a paid plan. inspect.software's cheapest paid plan is Developer program at $10 / month.
What is inspect.software's free tier worth?
inspect.software's free tier is worth about $10 per month. That maps to an FTV score of 61/100. The FTV score is explained at freetier.co/ftv.
