What's free?
The free tier includes enough builds to ship your first 1–2 working Chrome extensions. You get the full output — manifest, content scripts, popup, background worker, icons — exactly what paid users get. No watermarks, no feature restrictions on the output, no time limits on extensions you've already built.
The free tier exists so you can verify PlugThis actually works for what you want to build before paying. If your first build doesn't load in Chrome, doesn't do what you described, or doesn't match what you expected, you haven't paid anything.
When you'd upgrade
If you build one extension and stop, the free tier is enough. If you keep going — building extensions for different workflows, iterating on existing ones, shipping multiple to the Web Store — you'll hit the free tier limit. At that point you upgrade.
PlugThis pricing is one-time lifetime, not monthly. Pay once, build forever. There's no subscription that drains your bank account if you build seasonally or only need extensions occasionally. The tiers scale by how many builds you need lifetime — starter for personal projects, builder for active makers, agency for teams shipping extensions for clients.
Why "free" matters for Chrome extensions
Most Chrome extension projects die before launch. The hardest part isn't the idea — it's that "build a Chrome extension" requires reading hundreds of pages of Chrome documentation, learning Manifest v3 quirks, debugging permissions, packaging icons, navigating the Web Store submission process. The friction kills 90% of extension ideas before code is written.
A free Chrome extension builder removes the cost-barrier to validating ideas. You build the extension. You see if it works. You see if anyone uses it. Only then do you commit further resources. PlugThis makes that validation loop cheap enough that any extension idea is worth trying.