I should wonder about the opposite: Can you afford to use for-pay software if a free alternative exists when you're a startup ? After all, every little advantage counts and if your competitor uses free software and you don't (assuming both are equally fit for their intended purpose) then you have a disadvantage to overcome.<p>Every little bit helps, free software is a big bit of help.
short answer - 90 per cent yes. There are always costs involved but plenty of software available to kick things off - paid upgrades will be necessary later on.