Free Canny alternative
A free Canny alternative for feature requests
Heard is a free Canny alternative. It gives your SaaS a public feedback board where users post feature requests and upvote them, no accounts needed. Free includes your first board, an embeddable widget, email alerts, a public changelog, and CSV export. No credit card, no trial clock.
The free tier
What Heard's free tier actually includes
Your first board is free
A public board for your tool, no credit card. That is the only cap; Pro lifts it.
No meters on posts or votes
Posts, votes, and voters are never counted against you. Only anti-spam rate limits.
Anonymous voting
Your users post and upvote with zero sign-up. No visitor accounts exist at all.
The embeddable widget
One script tag adds a floating Feedback button to your site.
Email on both sides
New posts land in your inbox. Status changes and your replies email the person who asked.
Changelog and CSV export
A public changelog builds itself from shipped posts. Export any board to CSV. Slack and Discord webhooks are on Pro.
Side by side
How the free tiers compare
Canny is the category leader and Featurebase bundles feedback into a full support suite. Both are good tools. Here is what each free tier really covers:
| Heard | Canny Free | Featurebase Free | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no credit card | $0 | $0 |
| Boards | 1 board | Unlimited | Not listed on the pricing page |
| Who can post and vote | No cap, and no visitor accounts | 25 tracked users (anyone who posts, votes, or comments) | Not listed on the pricing page |
| When you outgrow free | Upgrade to Pro for more boards; posts and votes are never metered | Auto-upgrades you to a paid tier unless you set a spend limit | Free plan is 1 seat; more seats mean a paid plan |
| First paid plan | Pro, $9 per month or $79 per year | Pro, $79 per month billed yearly | Growth, $29 per seat per month billed yearly |
| Scope | Feedback board, widget, changelog | Full feedback platform: roadmap, changelog, Autopilot AI, 15+ integrations | Support and feedback suite: inbox, help center, changelog, roadmap |
Heard
- Price
- Free, no credit card
- Boards
- 1 board
- Who can post and vote
- No cap, and no visitor accounts
- When you outgrow free
- Upgrade to Pro for more boards; posts and votes are never metered
- First paid plan
- Pro, $9 per month or $79 per year
- Scope
- Feedback board, widget, changelog
Canny Free
- Price
- $0
- Boards
- Unlimited
- Who can post and vote
- 25 tracked users (anyone who posts, votes, or comments)
- When you outgrow free
- Auto-upgrades you to a paid tier unless you set a spend limit
- First paid plan
- Pro, $79 per month billed yearly
- Scope
- Full feedback platform: roadmap, changelog, Autopilot AI, 15+ integrations
Featurebase Free
- Price
- $0
- Boards
- Not listed on the pricing page
- Who can post and vote
- Not listed on the pricing page
- When you outgrow free
- Free plan is 1 seat; more seats mean a paid plan
- First paid plan
- Growth, $29 per seat per month billed yearly
- Scope
- Support and feedback suite: inbox, help center, changelog, roadmap
Competitor details checked on August 22, 2026 on canny.io/pricing and featurebase.app/pricing. Pricing changes; confirm with them before you decide.
Heard
Best for a small SaaS that wants feature requests and votes on a public board today, free.
Canny
Best for teams that want roadmaps, integrations, and AI on top of feedback, with budget as they grow.
Featurebase
Best if you want support inbox, help center, and feedback together in one suite.
The honest part
When Canny fits better
Heard is small and simple on purpose. Pick Canny instead when:
- You want a dedicated public roadmap view. Heard shows a status on each post (planned, in progress, shipped), not a roadmap page.
- You want feedback flowing in from Jira, Zapier, Salesforce, HubSpot, Intercom, or Zendesk. Heard's integrations are Slack and Discord webhooks plus CSV export.
- You want AI to capture and sort feedback for you (Canny Autopilot). Heard has no AI features.
- You need enterprise features: SSO, CRM sync, advanced privacy controls.
- You want the most battle-tested tool. Canny reports 100K+ registered companies.
FAQ
Common questions
Is there a free Canny alternative?
Yes. Heard (heardboard.com) is a free Canny alternative for collecting feature requests. Your first board is free: a public feedback board where users post ideas and upvote them without creating accounts, plus an embeddable widget, email alerts, a public changelog, and CSV export. No credit card needed. Pro ($9 per month or $79 per year) is optional and adds unlimited boards, Slack and Discord webhooks, and no Heard branding.
What are the limits of Canny's free plan?
Canny's free plan includes 25 tracked users, and a tracked user is anyone associated with feedback: posting, voting, or commenting. Past 25, Canny auto-upgrades you to the next paid tier unless you set a monthly spend limit. Its Pro plan is $79 per month billed yearly (checked on canny.io/pricing, August 2026).
Can users vote without signing up?
Yes, on Heard voting is anonymous. A random voter ID stored in the browser keeps votes to one per person, so your users never create an account or hand over an email just to upvote.
How do I add a public feedback board to my SaaS?
Create a free board on Heard: pick a name and a slug, then paste one script tag on your site. A floating Feedback button appears, and every post lands on your public board at heardboard.com/your-slug where users vote and see what ships.
When is Canny worth paying for instead?
When you have a team and budget, and you need roadmaps, project-management and CRM integrations, AI feedback capture, or SSO. Canny is the category leader for a reason. Heard is the right pick when you mainly want a simple free board your users can vote on today.
Free to start
Give your tool a feedback board
Your first board is free. One script tag, no credit card, live in under a minute.
Create your board