For cost-sensitive customers, Grist has an open source edition, which includes almost all features, and which can be self-hosted for free.
In the FAQ at the pricing page, it says Grist Open Source includes ALMOST all features… so at least SOME features are lacking in it. But I did not find what.
You can find this information at Self-managed Grist - Grist Help Center, if you look at the yellow tags next to the various sections. Most are tagged with both “core” and “enterprise” (“core” refers to grist-core, the open source edition), but a few are only tagged with “enterprise”.
The hosted (SaaS) version at getgrist.com also includes our own login system (with 2FA support), which is not part of either self-managed edition. And of course the SaaS version comes with the other big advantage over self-managed, which is that it’s managed 
Its not the cost alone, its also data security.
Some data is so sensitive you’re simply not allowed to host it on 3rd party servers.
A big thank you to the grist team to open source this!
@enthus1ast , I completely agree.
I would add
→ Thanks for the documentation !
→ Thanks for the forum !
Grist really deserve a world wide recognition !
Should you need any support let us know how we can support you.
Completely agree, HOWEVER, if I am not mistaken, Grist offers a self hosted version that is still not free.
Thus, the Open Source free version is mostly cost alone, otherwise you could pay for the Enterprise Self Hosted.