diff --git a/plans/plans.go b/plans/plans.go
index 7411ccf..52d867f 100644
--- a/plans/plans.go
+++ b/plans/plans.go
@@ -385,6 +385,35 @@ plans:
       alerts: false
       custom_domains: false
       sla: false
+  # free mirrors anonymous exactly. anonymous is pre-claim (no team_id);
+  # free is claimed-but-unpaid (team_id set, no Razorpay subscription).
+  # Limits + features must stay byte-for-byte identical to anonymous so an
+  # anonymous->free flip at claim time can't widen or narrow quotas. The
+  # 24h reaper still applies — pay-from-day-one policy holds for both.
+  free:
+    display_name: "Free"
+    price_monthly_cents: 0
+    trial_days: 0
+    limits:
+      provisions_per_day: 5
+      postgres_storage_mb: 10
+      postgres_connections: 2
+      redis_memory_mb: 5
+      redis_commands_per_day: 1000
+      mongodb_storage_mb: 5
+      mongodb_connections: 2
+      mongodb_ops_per_minute: 100
+      queue_storage_mb: 1024
+      storage_storage_mb: 10
+      webhook_requests_stored: 100
+      team_members: 1
+      vault_max_entries: 0
+      vault_envs_allowed: []
+      deployments_apps: 0
+    features:
+      alerts: false
+      custom_domains: false
+      sla: false
   hobby:
     display_name: "Hobby"
     price_monthly_cents: 900
diff --git a/plans/plans_test.go b/plans/plans_test.go
index b3117bc..8a41358 100644
--- a/plans/plans_test.go
+++ b/plans/plans_test.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ func TestDefault_LoadsWithoutError(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestDefault_AllStandardTiersPresent(t *testing.T) {
 	r := plans.Default()
-	for _, tier := range []string{"anonymous", "hobby", "pro", "team", "growth"} {
+	for _, tier := range []string{"anonymous", "free", "hobby", "pro", "team", "growth"} {
 		p := r.Get(tier)
 		assert.Equal(t, tier, p.Name, "tier %q must be in default registry", tier)
 	}
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ func TestLoad_InvalidYAML_ReturnsError(t *testing.T) {
 func TestAll_ReturnsAllPlans(t *testing.T) {
 	r := plans.Default()
 	all := r.All()
-	assert.Len(t, all, 5, "default registry must have 5 plans")
-	for _, name := range []string{"anonymous", "hobby", "pro", "team", "growth"} {
+	assert.Len(t, all, 6, "default registry must have 6 plans (anonymous, free, hobby, pro, team, growth)")
+	for _, name := range []string{"anonymous", "free", "hobby", "pro", "team", "growth"} {
 		assert.Contains(t, all, name)
 	}
 }