# Redocly Pricing vs Free Hub Hosting

**Short answer:** Redocly's open-source tools are free and its hosted tiers are priced per seat and per page; Powerduck keeps the desktop and Hub hosting free within plan limits. The pricing difference is the per-page, per-seat gate against a generated surface hosted within plan limits.

## What the hosted tiers track

Seats, pages, and features, with MCP and AI search on the higher plans. A larger portal or team moves you across a gate.

## What a generated surface tracks

| Property | Hosted tiers | Studio / Hub |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reference size | Per page | From spec |
| Seats | Per seat | Hub within plan |
| MCP | Higher plan | Generated |
| Exit cost | Migration | Portable |

## How to estimate

Count the pages and the seats, and note which features sit behind the higher plans. A large reference is a large bill on a hosted tier.

## The honest takeaway

The hosted portal is worth it when you want the governance and the hosting handled. If the reference and the tools should stay portable, a generated surface is the lower-cost path.

This is part of the [Powerduck vs Redocly comparison](https://www.powerduck.com/blog/powerduck-vs-redocly/). Next, read [linting vs validation](https://www.powerduck.com/blog/redocly-linting-vs-powerduck-validation/).