Let’s be honest: a lot of free dev tools out there feel like demos. You can click around, maybe sketch out some mock data, but the second you try to do something meaningful? Nope. Feature locked. Can’t publish. “Please upgrade.”

That’s not what Lonti’s about.

The Martini, Bellini, and Negroni Free Editions are made for developers who want to build, test, automate, and ship things. No bait-and-switch. No neutered sandbox. Just a legit toolkit.

Here’s how I—and a bunch of folks in the Lonti community—are actually using the free tools to get stuff done.

1. Build Working POCs That Don’t Feel Like Placeholders

You know how most POCs look like a wireframe duct-taped to a hope and a prayer?

Yeah, not with Lonti.

• Use Negroni to visually model data with CDM standards
• Hook it up to real API logic with Martini
• Build a frontend in Bellini that actually looks and feels production-ready

And yes—you can publish up to 5 web apps with Bellini Free. That’s not a mockup. That’s a real app.

2. Automate the Boring Stuff Without Writing a Backend

Need to automate something? Data syncing, reporting, integrations?

With Martini, you can:

• Build workflows that span APIs, databases, and logic
• Run them on a schedule, webhook, or event trigger
• Go low-code when you want, full-code when you need it

You don’t need infra. You don’t need to talk to IT. You just… build it. Then it works.

3. Explore New APIs Without Script Fatigue

Tired of spinning up another throwaway Node script just to test a new API?

Drop it into Martini. You can:

• Call endpoints visually
• Map inputs and outputs
• Mock data, test edge cases, and chain requests

If it works, you keep it. If it doesn’t, it’s not cluttering your ~/dev/misc/api-tests folder.

4. Learn API-First Dev by Doing It

Lonti is a great way to wrap your head around:

• API-first architecture
• Real-time integrations
• GraphQL and REST in production-style flows
• Visual app building with real backend logic

Whether you’re just curious or leveling up your enterprise dev skills, the free tools let you experiment without limits (or breaking your local dev stack).

5. Ship Internal Tools You’ve Been Avoiding

Everyone has that Notion doc or sticky note: “Build a quick admin tool someday.”

Now’s that day.

People are using Lonti Free to spin up:

• Approval flows
• API dashboards
• Self-service portals
• Backend automations for ops teams

You don’t need to write a full stack app from scratch. You don’t even need a budget. Just log in, build, deploy.

TL;DR?

You can actually build and publish useful stuff with the Lonti Free Editions. It’s not fake free. It’s developer-first, no-code-when-you-want-it, code-when-you-need-it realness.

👨‍💻 Create 25 apps

📦 Publish 10

🔐 5 authenticated users

🧠 Full community support

If you build something cool—or weird—I wanna see it. Tag me or drop a link in the comments. Let’s ship more side projects and fewer TODO lists. 💪