The simplest way of looking at the difference between “capitalism”and “free market” is that capitalism supports monopolies, which tend to create barriers to free markets.
In a “free markets” everyone has access to markets and materials.
That is not necessarily the case in a purely capitalistic system.
With pure capitalism, those with the most capital can create barriers to markets and restrict access to the means of production, as well as influence politics by creating regulation to starve off competition.
so does the US have capitalism or free markets?