Launch guide
Product Hunt alternatives, with the links checked
Nineteen places to launch a product. Every other roundup tells you which directories exist. None of them tells you whether a listing gives you a link that counts, so we checked, and we wrote down the date.
How this list is ordered, before you read it
We run four of the platforms below: Launch Streak, LaunchPanda, EasyLaunch and Brick Launch. They are listed first and each one says so in its entry. Everything after them is ordered by how strong the link evidence is, widest clean sample first.
That means our ordering is not the same as the data's. Fazier has the widest followed-link sample on this page, wider than any of ours. The table prints every count, so you can re-rank it yourself and see where we put our thumb.
The table
| Platform | Description |
|---|---|
| We run this one. Launch once, then keep a daily streak to earn sparks you spend on relaunches and board slots. Suits makers who would rather show up for a month than peak for a day.Board listings are followed. Paid sponsor slots carry nofollow sponsored, which is what Google asks for on anything bought.Free to launch. Sponsor slots from $1. | |
| We run this one. A straightforward directory aimed at SEO and AI-answer visibility rather than launch-day noise. | |
| We run this one. Reverse-chronological listings with no upvote contest. For makers who want the link and the index entry without campaigning. | |
| We run this one. A small, fast launch board with a low barrier to getting listed. | |
| One of the busiest of the newer launch boards, and the widest clean dofollow sample on this page. | |
| A launch board for small products, with a weekly rhythm rather than a daily one. | |
| The long-running pre-launch directory. Its audience is people who like trying early-stage products. | |
| A maker-to-maker promotion network rather than a pure directory. | |
| Running since 2013, with a startup-focused email list attached. A permanent listing rather than a launch day. | |
| A newer maker community with a launch feed. | |
| A weekly launch board restricted to developer tools, which keeps the competition narrow.Mostly followed, with a couple of exceptions.Developer tools only. | |
| Not a directory. A Show HN post reaches engineers who will take the product apart, which is worth more than a link if you want real feedback.Roughly half the outbound links on Show HN were nofollowed. Treat the traffic as the prize, not the link. | |
| A small daily launch board.An even split, so whether you get a followed link appears to depend on placement. | |
| A software comparison site rather than a launch board. Listings rank for alternative-to searches, which is a slower but longer-lived kind of visibility.Mostly nofollowed: 22 of 25 hosts. Go for the comparison traffic, not the link. | |
| A design-led launch board with a paid fast track. The audience is real; the link is not followed.Every outbound host we saw was nofollowed, though off a small sample. If the link is why you are submitting, this is not the one. | |
| A community first and a product directory second. Posting works when you are already part of the conversation.Refused our checker, so we make no claim either way. | |
| A professional network for developers with a launch feed attached, so the audience skews technical.Refused our checker, so we make no claim either way. | |
| A comparison directory, not a launch board. Being listed as an alternative to an incumbent is durable visibility.Refused our checker, so we make no claim either way. | |
| A large startup resource directory with a long-standing audience.The page served no outbound listing links to inspect, so the answer sits behind client-side rendering. |
A link is “followed” when it carries no nofollow, ugc or sponsored marker, so it passes ranking credit to your site. Where a platform refused the check or served nothing to read, we say that rather than guess. The four we run say so in their row. Observed on November 3, 2026.
And Product Hunt itself
Still the biggest launch day available, and still the one that rewards an audience you already have.
It is the baseline rather than an entry on the list. The honest summary: if you have a mailing list or a following to mobilise on launch day, start there. If you do not, a Product Hunt launch mostly teaches you that you do not, and the platforms above are a better use of the same afternoon.
Pick three, not thirty
Submitting to every directory you can find is the most common mistake here, and it buys a pile of listings nobody reads. Three deliberate choices beat thirty blind ones.
- One for the link. Take it from the followed rows with a wide sample, and check the date on the row before you rely on it.
- One for the audience. Developer tool, Dev Hunt or Show HN. Design-led product, Uneed, even though its link is not followed. Something people will compare against an incumbent, a comparison directory.
- One you can come back to. A platform that allows a relaunch gives the product a second day once it has changed, which is usually when it is actually ready.
Questions people actually ask
- What is the best Product Hunt alternative?
- It depends on what you want from the launch. If you want a link that passes ranking credit, pick from the platforms in the table whose links we found followed. If you want feedback from engineers, Show HN beats every directory on this page. If you want durable visibility rather than a launch day, a comparison directory like SaaSHub or AlternativeTo keeps working for months.
- Do launch directories actually help SEO?
- Only when the link is followed, and only a little on its own. A followed link from a small directory is a weak signal by itself; the value is in having a dozen of them alongside pages that answer real searches. A nofollowed link passes no ranking credit at all, which is why the table separates the two.
- How many places should I launch on?
- Three or four you have actually read, rather than fifty you submitted in bulk. Pick one with a followed link, one with an audience that matches your product, and one you can relaunch on later. Bulk submission to every directory you can find is the fastest way to end up in a neighbourhood you cannot leave.
- Is Product Hunt still worth it?
- Yes, if you already have an audience to mobilise on the day. It is still the largest launch day available. The reason this page exists is that it rewards the list you already have, which is the one thing a first-time maker does not have.
- How do you know which links are followed?
- A script reads each directory's listing page and inspects the rel attribute on its outbound links to third-party sites. A link counts as followed when rel carries none of nofollow, ugc or sponsored. Every verdict carries the date it was observed and how many hosts it was drawn from, and where a site refused the check or served no links to read, the table says so instead of guessing.
Launching something?
Launch Streak is free, the board listing gives you a followed link, and sponsor slots are marked nofollow sponsored because they are paid for. Keep a daily streak after launch day and you earn relaunches instead of paying for them.