Free chapter — from the 2026 Almanac
Most "launch directory" lists on the internet share a dirty secret: nobody checks them. URLs rot, platforms get absorbed, queues silently stretch to months — and you only find out after burning an hour on a submission form that leads nowhere. While compiling the Launch Almanac, we live-fetched every channel we could find. 6 of the directories still recommended on popular lists are dead or silently moved.
This page is different in one boring, important way: every entry below was verified alive on June 10, 2026 — we loaded the site, found the submission page, and recorded what it costs and what you get. These 20 are free to submit to. Work down the list in order; the early entries carry the most weight.
| # | Channel | Free tier | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Product HuntThe biggest launch audience in tech | Free | Traffic spike, high-DA backlink, social proof — and heavy AI-citation (LLMs love PH) |
| 02 | Hacker News — Show HNMassive dev audience; read the rules first | Free | Major traffic potential (top posts: 1,000+ upvotes); must be try-able, made by you |
| 03 | AlternativeTo2M+ user opinions | Free | Top GEO target — heavily cited by AI assistants for "alternative to X" queries |
| 04 | Uneed64,000 makers | Free queue (can be weeks) — $29.99 to skip | DR 74 dofollow backlink + daily launch competition traffic |
| 05 | Fazier~50K monthly visitors | Free submit | DR ~59 dofollow badge backlink, launch-day feed, well-indexed for AI queries |
| 06 | MicroLaunchMonth-long launch cycle | Free tier | DR 59 dofollow backlink + sustained feedback over a month, not just one day |
| 07 | BetaListPre-launch/beta startups preferred | Free (4–6 week queue) | Early-adopter signups — third parties report $0.50–1.40 per signup equivalent |
| 08 | SaaSHub226,000+ products listed | Free submit | Backlink + "alternatives" page traffic + AI-citation (running since 2014) |
| 09 | PeerPushMoved from .net — update your bookmarks | Free queue | Explicitly GEO-optimized listings (ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews) + backlink |
| 10 | Peerlist LaunchpadLaunches open every Monday | Free | Backlink + professional social proof + weekly ranking cycle |
| 11 | DevHuntDev tools only; GitHub login | Free | Backlink + a developer-only audience, weekly launch cycle |
| 12 | TinyLaunchBadge embed required for dofollow | Free | High-authority dofollow backlink for top-3 finishes + launch traffic |
| 13 | Startup Fame20K+ monthly visits | Free (verified listing) | DR 80+ dofollow backlink — gated behind a homepage badge embed |
| 14 | Launching Next45,000+ startups featured | Free | Backlink + a shot at their 5,000-subscriber newsletter digest |
| 15 | Smol LaunchSubmissions open Mondays | Free (capped 8/week) | 7-day visibility window + backlink, indie-friendly moderation |
| 16 | Tiny StartupsDaily leaderboard | Free standard listing | DR 60+ dofollow backlink + leaderboard traffic |
| 17 | HuzzlerManual review, real products only | Free listing | DR 54+ dofollow backlink + category presence in a founder community |
| 18 | 10wordsDescribe your product in exactly 10 words | Free (explicitly) | Newsletter feature + backlink — and the 10-word constraint sharpens your pitch |
| 19 | TrustMRRRevenue verified via Stripe connection | Free to add | Verified-revenue social proof + backlink + visibility with acquirers |
| 20 | CrunchbaseThe B2B reference profile | Free company profile | Credibility + very high-DA presence, heavily cited by LLMs and press |
Don't blast all 20 in one afternoon. Product Hunt and Show HN deserve preparation (read their rules; both punish lazy submissions). The directory entries (#3–#20) are mechanical: have your tagline, short description, long description and screenshots ready, then batch them over a week (we've written up the full 4-wave sequence — queues first, Mondays second). Several of the best backlinks here are badge-gated — you'll need to embed their badge on your site before the dofollow link goes live.
And submit to the living ones only. BetaPage, Supertools, and four other "classics" still circulating on free lists are gone — absorbed, moved or redirecting. We keep a verified list of the dead ones precisely so you don't waste submissions. That's why we date-stamp every verification.
The full Launch Almanac adds the other 65 channels (including the review-site heavyweights that feed AI recommendations), ready-to-paste submission templates for every channel type, a Claude Skill that does the submissions for you, the 2026 GEO checklist, and a tracking sheet. Re-verified updates for 12 months.
Get the full Almanac — €24Two things changed since the last good lists were written. First, consolidation: G2 acquired Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice in January 2026, which collapsed four separate listing processes into one — most lists haven't noticed. Second, GEO: AI assistants now answer "what's the best tool for X" using exactly these directories as sources. A listing is no longer just a backlink; it's a vote in the training data of the engines your customers actually ask — we've written up the full GEO checklist for startups.
Compiled and verified by Launch Almanac on June 10, 2026. We re-verify the full database monthly — buyers get updated editions for 12 months.