How to build a directory website for free: free plans, plugins and their limits

What free covers when you build a directory

You can build a directory website for free on Directify's Free plan, which allows one directory with up to 10 listings and no time limit, or with a free WordPress plugin on hosting you pay for. Brilliant Directories has no free plan, only a 7-day trial and a demo, covered below.

Paid listings cost something on every route: a paid plan or add-on on Directify, GeoDirectory and Directorist, and an extra fee on Stripe payments in the free Business Directory Plugin. A free trial is a third route, and it ends. How to build a directory website gives the full set-up steps.

A free hosted plan: Directify Free

Directify Free costs $0 for one directory with up to 10 listings and 5 categories. Directify says it has no time limit and needs no card, and that AI setup, all 17 templates and the theme editor come with it. The directory runs on a Directify subdomain with a Directify badge and has no custom domain.

A custom domain and removing the branding start on Starter, $12 a month billed monthly. Accepting payments starts on Pro. Listings come in by CSV, a Google Sheets sync, a Chrome extension or the API. Directify alternatives lists other hosted options.

Free WordPress plugins: GeoDirectory, Directorist and Business Directory Plugin

Each core plugin is free. WordPress hosting is not, and no plugin page prices it. What each free core leaves out:

• GeoDirectory: paid listings need the Pricing Manager add-on and a cart plugin.
• Directorist: charging for featured listings is built in, with bank transfer as the default gateway. Pricing Plans, Stripe and PayPal are extensions. Its payment articles show 2021 update dates.
• Business Directory Plugin: no listing limit and no trial period. The free plugin takes Stripe payments with an extra fee on each transaction on top of Stripe's own fees, and its plugin page says upgrading removes it.

Free trials to build on before paying

Join It says each of its plans comes with a free trial and no credit card. WildApricot offers a 60-day free trial with no credit card. The Brilliant Directories 7-day free trial also needs no credit card. WildApricot deletes the account after the trial if it is not upgraded to a paid subscription.

Brilliant Directories offers a 7-day trial and a demo, two entry routes. The trial starts from its trial page, and the plans page offers a free demo it describes as free for as long as you like. No Brilliant Directories page says what happens to a trial site when the 7 days end.

The first paid step when you start charging

The first paid step on each route, by billing basis, as read on October 23, 2026:

• Billed monthly: Directify Pro, $39 a month, adds payments and unlimited listings. Brilliant Directories Essentials is $40 a month on its account pricing page.
• Billed yearly: GeoDirectory Pricing Manager is $49 a year for one site. Business Directory Plugin Pro, the first paid plan that lists Stripe, is $149 for the first year, renewing at $249 a year.

The Brilliant Directories 7-day trial needs no card, and its trial page words it as full access; best directory website builder free lists the free routes side by side.

Stay on a free route while the idea is unproven and 10 listings, or a plugin on hosting you already pay for, is enough.