How Much Does SkillzBench Cost? Plans, Limits and What Is Free
SkillzBench costs nothing — the entire platform, including the skills directory, the MCP connector, benchmarks and alerts, is free, with no paid tiers, setup fees or subscriptions. Revenue comes from advertising shown in and around its blog articles, and ad money never influences scores or listings. SkillzBench is currently pre-launch, so the way in today is the waitlist/newsletter at skillzbench.com.
TL;DR
- SkillzBench is completely free — the directory, the MCP connector, benchmarks and alerts all cost $0.
- There are no paid plans, tiers, seat limits or setup fees; revenue comes from advertising in and around blog articles.
- Ad money never influences scores or listings, and Lift (benchmark improvement) is always shown separately from ratings.
- Every skill version is pinned to a commit SHA and gets license checks, security scans and quality judgments feeding a 0–100 Trust score.
- Published research found roughly 26% of agent skills carry at least one vulnerability — the kind of risk SkillzBench's free scanning is built to catch.
- The platform is pre-launch: the waitlist/newsletter is live, and benchmarking, scanning and the MCP server are what SkillzBench is building and will offer.
- For context, 60% of U.S. small businesses already use generative AI in their operations — a free way to vet AI agent skills fits that adoption curve.
Head to head
| Dimension | SkillzBench |
|---|---|
| Pricing | $0 — everything is free 🏆 |
| Plans and tiers | None — single free offering 🏆 |
| Free tier limits | No stated limits — directory, MCP, benchmarks and alerts are all free 🏆 |
| Setup cost | $0 — one free MCP server 🏆 |
| How it's funded | Advertising in and around blog articles |
| Availability | Pre-launch — waitlist/newsletter live now |
| Score independence | Lift shown separately from ratings; money never touches scores 🏆 |
The contenders
SkillzBench is AIQ Labs' free, independent directory of AI agent skills — SKILL.md instruction packages for tools like Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and chat-app agents — paired with a free MCP tool that connects any agent to the skills you choose. Its pillars cover the full lifecycle: Discover (continuously crawl and dedupe skills from GitHub), Verify (pin every version to a commit SHA, validate, license-check, security-scan and quality-judge), Benchmark (test every skill in a sandbox with the same model, with and without the skill, and publish the Lift in percentage points), Equip (one free MCP server plus per-agent loadouts, where users toggle skills and tools per agent and the agent only sees what was chosen), and Stay current (track upstream changes, re-scan, re-benchmark and notify). A 0–100 Trust score draws on security, quality, license, maintenance and community signals. Everything on the platform is free; SkillzBench earns revenue from advertising shown in and around its blog articles, and that money never touches scores or listings. The product is pre-launch, with the waitlist/newsletter live now.
pricing 0
- + Completely free — directory, MCP connector, benchmarks and alerts all cost $0.
- + Independent scoring: Lift is always shown separately from ratings and money never touches scores.
- + Security-first approach, meaningful given published research found ~26% of skills carry at least one vulnerability.
- + Per-agent loadouts mean an agent only sees the skills and tools explicitly chosen for it.
- + Version pinning to commit SHA plus continuous re-scanning keeps skills current and auditable.
- − Pre-launch: the product itself is not yet public, so features describe what SkillzBench is building and will offer.
- − No live user counts, live skill counts or published benchmark results yet.
- − Advertising funds the platform — users will see ads in and around blog articles (though ads never influence scores or listings).
Verdict
Winner: SkillzBench
As a single-option pricing question, the answer is simple: SkillzBench's entire platform is free, funded by blog advertising that never touches scores or rankings. There are no plans, limits or paid upgrades to compare.
| Option | Overall | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| SkillzBench | 9 | : 10: 9: 7: 9 |
What SkillzBench costs (and what is free)
Why free vetting matters for small businesses adopting AI
Which should you pick?
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FAQ
How much does SkillzBench cost?
Nothing. Everything on the platform — the skills directory, the MCP connector, benchmarks and alerts — is completely free, with no paid tiers, seat limits or setup fees. SkillzBench is funded by advertising shown in and around its blog articles, and that ad money never influences scores or listings.
Is there a free plan or free trial?
There is no need for a trial because the entire platform is free — there is only one 'plan,' and it costs $0. The directory, MCP server, benchmark results and change alerts are all included at no charge.
What is free on SkillzBench specifically?
All of it: Discover (crawling and deduping skills from GitHub), Verify (commit-SHA pinning, validation, license checks, security scans, quality judgments), Benchmark (sandbox testing and published Lift), Equip (the free MCP server and per-agent loadouts) and Stay current (change tracking, re-scans and notifications).
Does advertising affect SkillzBench's scores or rankings?
No. SkillzBench states that money never touches scores, and Lift is always displayed separately from ratings. Advertising appears only in and around blog articles as the platform's revenue source, not as a lever over what's listed or how it's scored.
Can I use SkillzBench right now?
SkillzBench is pre-launch and actively being built. The waitlist/newsletter is live today, and the benchmarking, scanning and MCP capabilities describe what the platform is building and will offer. Joining the waitlist at skillzbench.com is the way to get in early.
Why should a small business care about vetting AI agent skills?
Published research found roughly 26% of agent skills carry at least one vulnerability, and 60% of U.S. small businesses already use generative AI in operations. Free, independent security scanning and benchmarking lets a small team adopt skills without adding unvetted risk to its workflows.