A sales funnel is four things in a row: a page that makes an offer, a form that collects an address, a short sequence of emails that makes the case, and a checkout that takes the money. Every one of those can be built today without paying for software, at the time of verification (2026-09-09). This guide builds it in the order the customer sees it, on the free tiers that hold up, and says exactly when each one stops being free so you are not surprised by the bill.
There are two ways to do this. The single-tool route uses Systeme.io, which puts all four pieces on one free plan. The two-tool route uses Tally for the form and MailerLite for the emails and pages, which is the better start if you do not sell anything yet and want the nicest form and the easiest editor. Pick the route first; the steps below cover both.
Step 1: write the offer before you build anything
A funnel with a weak offer is a fast way to collect nothing. Write two sentences. The first is the free thing someone gets for their email address: a checklist, a template, a short email course, a calculator, first access. The second is the paid thing the sequence leads to and its price. If you cannot write the second sentence, build the email list first and come back; a funnel with nothing to sell is a newsletter.
Step 2: build the landing page
Single-tool route. In Systeme.io, create a funnel, choose the "build an audience" goal, and you get a squeeze page and a thank-you page with the form already wired to your contact list. The free plan allows 3 funnels, so this uses one. Replace the template text with your two sentences, put the free thing above the fold, and keep one button. Connect the free custom domain if you have one; the plan includes 1.
Two-tool route. MailerLite's free plan includes 1 landing page and 1 website. Use the landing page for the offer and put the signup form on it. The editor is the easiest in the category, which is the reason to take this route if design is not your strength.
Whichever route, do not write a long page. A free offer needs the headline, three bullets on what is inside, the form and a line about what happens next.
Step 3: put the form in front of the traffic
Single-tool route. The Systeme.io form is already on the page. Add the same form to your existing website if you have one, using the embed code, so you are not relying on a single page for every subscriber.
Two-tool route. Build the form in Tally. The free plan has unlimited forms and submissions under fair use, with conditional logic, calculations, file uploads and payments included, which no other free form tool matches. Connect Tally to MailerLite with the native integration so each submission creates a subscriber with a tag. The tag is what triggers the sequence in the next step, so name it for the offer. If you want to qualify leads, add one or two questions after the email field, with logic that shows the paid offer only to the people it fits.
Step 4: write three emails and one automation
This is where free tiers diverge, and it decides which route holds up.
Single-tool route. Systeme.io's free plan includes 1 automation rule and 1 workflow. That is enough for this funnel and nothing else: when a contact is tagged, send the sequence. Write email one to deliver the free thing in the first line, with a link. Email two, sent two days later, tells the story of the problem the paid offer solves. Email three, sent two days after that, makes the offer with the price and one link to the checkout. Three emails, then a weekly broadcast. Do not build a ten-step sequence for a list of zero.
Two-tool route. MailerLite's free plan includes 3 automations, so the same three-email workflow fits with room for a second sequence later. Trigger it on the Tally tag. The free plan caps sends at 2,500 emails a month across 250 subscribers, which a new list will not touch for months.
Step 5: add the checkout
Single-tool route. Systeme.io includes a checkout with no transaction fees on product sales, plus a course area, a membership community and a blog, all on the free plan. Create the product, set the price, connect Stripe or PayPal, and link email three to the order page. If the paid thing is a course, upload it to the course area and the buyer gets access automatically; the plan includes 1 course. This is the reason the single-tool route exists: the checkout and delivery are already there, and you pay nothing until the sale.
Two-tool route. Tally's free plan takes payments through Stripe, so a simple order form works for a one-off product or a deposit. For a course or a membership you will need a delivery tool, and at that point the honest answer is to move the funnel into Systeme.io rather than bolt a fourth product on. See the funnel builder for coaches guide for the paid options if the business outgrows both.
Step 6: measure one number
Every tool here shows form conversion and email open rates. Ignore most of it for the first month and track one number: how many people who got the free thing bought the paid thing. If it is zero after 100 subscribers, the problem is the offer or the price, not the software. Rewrite email three before touching anything else.
Where each free tier stops
Systeme.io's free plan never expires. It stops at contact 2,001, funnel 4, or the second automation rule; Startup is $17 a month for 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels and 10 automation rules. MailerLite's free plan stops at subscriber 251 or 2,500 emails a month; Comfort is $12 a month ($10.80 annual) for 500 subscribers and 50 automations with the logo removed. Tally's free plan stops only at an unpublished fair-use limit; Pro at $24 a month on yearly billing buys branding removal, a custom domain and partial submissions, none of which the funnel needs to work. Upgrade the month a cap stops a send or a sale, not before.
What to avoid
Do not connect two email tools to one form; you will send two welcome emails and never know which tool owns the contact. Do not run paid traffic to a funnel that has not converted a single organic subscriber. Do not put the checkout on a page nobody reaches; the link in email three is the whole point of the sequence. And do not pick the tool by feature lists: the Systeme.io vs ClickFunnels comparison sets out what the paid builders add, and for most first funnels the answer is nothing you need yet.