You may have been able to use Free File if you had gone to the special web site to use it. If you went ahead and used a paid version of TurboTax and are now asking for a refund after the fact, you are unlikely to get one. But you can have that discussion with customer support.
To call TurboTax customer support
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899263-what-is-the-turbotax-phone-number
They are available from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time Monday-Friday
So that you will know going forward---there are two free versions. TurboTax Free Edition---which you access through the same TT website that provides the other paid versions of online TurboTax. Free Edition can only be used for very simple returns that do not require any of the extra schedules that can be part of a Form 1040. If you start entering data that requires one or more of those schedules, you upgrade to a paid version.
Or there is Free File,
accessed through a different site-
--and you must meet the criteria to use it.
If you qualify to use it, there is another full-featured free version of the software:
Try Free File:
You qualify if your income was $36,000 or less, or $69,000 or less if active duty military, or if you qualify for Earned Income Credit
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program
I am eligible for the TurboTax Freedom Edition, which is part of the IRS Free File Program.
Yes but ONLY if you link in thru the IRS FREE FILE link on the IRS website ...
Going forward ... you may want to wait for the IRS FREE FILE options to come online mid January so you can file the fed & state for free. This year if your AGI was $69K or less then there were 10 free options to choose from...
https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free