Startup Directories Worth Submitting To in 2026
23 directories: 11 timed launches and 12 evergreen profiles. Domain Rating measured ourselves on 13 November 2026; free and paid routes, waits and link terms read from each site the same day. Where a directory publishes nothing, this page says so instead of guessing.
Launch directories, compared
These run timed launches, so the date you pick matters and the queue is the thing you are usually paying to skip. Ordered by measured DR.
| Directory | DR | Free route | Free wait | Paid route | Link terms | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product Huntproducthunt.com | 92 | Free | Pick your own launch day | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Fazierfazier.com | 85 | Free, backlink to Fazier required | Listed within 30 days | $29 / $49 / $139 | Premium tier states a dofollow DR 83+ link; free tier not stated | Not published |
| Twelve Toolstwelve.tools | 84 | Free | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Peerlistpeerlist.io | 78 | Free | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Uneeduneed.best | 77 | Free queue | At least 50 days | $19.99 (~14 days), $39.99 (choose date) | Dofollow only at 20+ upvotes; 10 upvotes to stay published | 125K monthly visitors |
| BetaListbetalist.com | 77 | Not published | Not published | Paid step in the submission flow, price not published | Not published | Not published |
| PitchWallpitchwall.co | 75 | Free | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| TinyLaunchtinylaunch.com | 74 | Free | Not published | Not published | Dofollow granted when you embed their badge with a dofollow link | Not published |
| OpenHuntsopenhunts.com | 74 | Free | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| DevHuntdevhunt.org | 71 | Free | Not published | Ads only: $99–$199/week, not a queue skip | Not published | 684,775 unique visitors since launch |
| Microlaunchmicrolaunch.net | 64 | Free | Not published | Premium tier exists, price not on the main page | Not published | ~2,600 daily visitors |
“Not published” means the directory does not state it on its own submit or pricing page, not that it does not exist. Roundups that fill in every cell are guessing at least some of them.
Evergreen profile directories
No launch day, no queue — file them whenever. These are the higher-authority half of the list, and the ones most worth doing carefully.
| Directory | DR | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| SourceForgesourceforge.net | 93 | Open-source and downloadable software |
| G2g2.com | 91 | B2B software that can gather real customer reviews |
| Crunchbasecrunchbase.com | 91 | Companies with funding, press or named founders |
| Capterracapterra.com | 91 | Business software with a clear category |
| Indie Hackersindiehackers.com | 82 | Bootstrapped products with a story to tell |
| AlternativeToalternativeto.net | 82 | Anything that is an alternative to a known product |
| SaaSHubsaashub.com | 81 | SaaS wanting comparison-page visibility |
| StackSharestackshare.io | 78 | Developer tools and infrastructure |
| SoftwareSuggestsoftwaresuggest.com | 78 | Business software, strong in India and APAC |
| SaaSworthysaasworthy.com | 76 | SaaS in an established category |
| SideProjectorssideprojectors.com | 72 | Side projects, including ones for sale |
| Slantslant.co | 70 | Products that win on a specific comparison |
Dofollow is usually conditional
Most directory lists print a tidy yes or no in a dofollow column. Reading the actual submit pages, the honest answer is nearly always “yes, if” — and the condition is the part that decides whether you get anything:
Uneed — if you earn upvotes
A launch needs 10 upvotes to stay published at all and 20 for the dofollow link. A quiet launch day leaves you with nothing.
TinyLaunch — if you link back
Dofollow is granted when you embed their badge with a dofollow link to them. A reciprocal exchange, not a one-way link.
Fazier — if you link back, or pay
The free tier requires a backlink on your homepage or footer. The stated dofollow DR 83+ link sits on a paid tier.
Badge exchanges are a fair trade, not a trick — but count them as a cost. You are giving a link from your own site to get one back, and that link is usually from your homepage, which is the strongest page you have.
Is it worth paying to skip the queue?
Normally no. The page you eventually get for free is the same page, so the fee buys timing, not authority. Uneed is the clearest worked example on this list: free launches are assigned at least 50 days out, $19.99 cuts that to roughly 14 days, and $39.99 lets you choose the date outright.
Pay when the date carries something else — a funding announcement, a release, a conference. Otherwise put the queue to work: a free slot 50 days out is a second traffic spike you did not have to plan.
Watch what a paid tier actually upgrades. On DevHunt the paid options are advertising at $99–$199 per week, not a faster launch slot. Different product, same checkout.
Check the link type yourself
Claims go stale whenever a site updates its template. Checking takes about ten seconds and never does:
- Open any existing listing on that directory.
- View the page source and find the outbound link to that product's website.
- Look at its
relattribute.
What you want: no rel at all, or one without nofollow.
What passes nothing: rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored".
There is no rel="dofollow" in the HTML standard. Sites advertising it are describing the absence of nofollow, which is all that matters anyway.
The order to submit in
Where DR misleads you
Domain Rating describes a whole domain. Your listing is one page on it, and the two can be very far apart. We have measured directories sitting above DR 90 whose individual listing pages are not in Google's index at all, because they are reachable only through dozens of pages of pagination that crawlers rarely walk.
Before judging a directory by its homepage number, check two things: search site:directory.com/listing-path to see whether listing pages are indexed at all, and count the clicks from the homepage to one. A high-DR directory that cannot get its own listings indexed has nothing to pass you.
How we measured
- Every DR came from the Ahrefs API on 13 November 2026, queried per root domain. None were copied from another list or estimated.
- Routes, waits, prices and link terms were read from each directory's own submit or pricing page the same day.
- “Not published” means the directory does not state it publicly. We did not email anyone to ask, and we did not infer it.
- “Best for” is editorial judgement, not a measurement. Disagree with it where you know your market better.
- No affiliate relationships with anything listed.
FAQ
How many startup directories should I submit to?
Twenty well-chosen ones beat two hundred scraped from a list. Returns fall off sharply after the first tier: a page on a directory people actually browse sends real visitors and gets crawled often, while a listing on a site nobody reads is a link on a page nobody fetches. Start at the top of this list and stop when the names stop meaning anything to you.
Is a free launch worth the wait?
Usually yes. The free listing you eventually get is normally the same page as the paid one, so paying buys timing rather than a better link. Uneed, for example, assigns free launches at least 50 days out and charges $19.99 to cut that to about 14 days. That is worth paying only if the date matters, for instance because it lines up with a funding announcement or a release.
Do startup directories give dofollow links?
Often, but conditionally, and the conditions are easy to miss. Uneed grants a dofollow link only once a launch reaches 20 upvotes. TinyLaunch grants one when you embed its badge with a dofollow link back. Fazier requires a backlink for the free tier and reserves its stated dofollow link for a paid tier. Check the individual directory rather than trusting a column in a roundup.
How do I check whether a directory gives a dofollow link?
Open any existing listing, view the page source and find the link to that product's site. If the anchor carries rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored", the link passes no authority. There is no rel="dofollow" attribute in the HTML standard, so the absence of nofollow is what you are looking for. It takes about ten seconds per directory and is more reliable than any claim on a pricing page.
Does Domain Rating tell me whether a directory is worth it?
It is the best single number available, but it describes the whole domain, not the page you will sit on. A DR 90 directory that buries listings behind thirty pages of pagination passes almost nothing, because crawlers rarely walk that far. Check whether listing pages are indexed at all before judging a directory by its homepage number.
How long before a directory link affects rankings?
Weeks to months, and rarely in isolation. The listing has to be published, then crawled, then the authority has to accumulate alongside everything else pointing at you. Treat directories as a floor you build once rather than a lever you pull for a quick move.
Add one more to the list
Web Review reviews each submission and gives every listing its own page with a permanent dofollow link. Free with a badge, or paid without one — the same trade several directories above ask for, stated up front.
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