The honest playbook
Directory submission, without the spam
Directory submission earned a bad name because of link farms and "submit to 500 sites" tools. The real version still works: a curated set of high-authority, relevant directories that pass link equity and put your product in front of buyers. Here is the method, and the 123 directories ranked by live Domain Rating.
- 123
- Directories tracked
- 99
- Dofollow links
- 37
- DR 70+
- 102
- Free to submit
The whole method in five steps
- 01Write a copy kit once: name, one-liner, 50/100/200-word descriptions, logo, screenshots. Every directory asks for the same things in different lengths.
- 02Sort directories by Domain Rating and relevance - not by count. Start with the dofollow DR 50+ ones.
- 03Do the free dofollow listings first. Only pay when a directory has real authority and an audience that matches your product.
- 04Submit manually, a handful at a time. Skip anything not indexed in Google or with no measurable DR.
- 05Track what you submitted and revisit. Listings get approved on their own schedule (1-5 days is normal).
The one rule
If a directory is not indexed by Google and has no measurable Domain Rating, a link from it is worth nothing - and a hundred of them can look manipulative. Relevance and authority over volume, every single time.
Pick your playbook
Submission guides by product type
Each one sequences the right directories for that niche, with what to prepare and the order to submit.
Avoid these
Mistakes that waste the effort
- -Bulk auto-submission
Blasting your URL to hundreds of directories creates spammy, irrelevant listings that can look manipulative and return nothing.
- -Paying before exhausting free
102 directories here accept free submissions - many dofollow. Spend the free authority before opening your wallet.
- -Chasing count over DR
Twenty dofollow DR 60+ links beat two hundred from dead, unindexed pages.
- -Skipping the copy kit
Without prepared assets you will rush descriptions and submit weaker listings. Write once, paste everywhere.
Updated 2026-07-31
All 123 directories, ranked by live Domain Rating
Filter by free, dofollow and paid. Domain Rating is fetched live, so the ranking reflects reality - not a stale list.
| Directory | DR | Link | Price | Submit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Reddit reddit.com | 95 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
Sourceforge sourceforge.net | 92 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
TechCrunch techcrunch.com | 92 | Nofollow | Paid | Visit |
Capterra capterra.com | 91 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
G2 g2.com | 91 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Hacker News news.ycombinator.com | 91 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
Product Hunt producthunt.com | 91 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
StartupFA.me startupfa.me | 83 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
Fazier fazier.com | 82 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Dang AI dang.ai | 81 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Indie Hackers indiehackers.com | 81 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Twelve Tools twelve.tools | 81 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
findly.tools findly.tools | 80 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
SaaSHub saashub.com | 80 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Turbo0 turbo0.com | 80 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
AlternativeTo alternativeto.net | 79 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
Toolpilot toolpilot.ai | 78 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
Peerlist peerlist.io | 77 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
There's An AI For That theresanaiforthat.com | 77 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
BetaList betalist.com | 76 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Alternative.me alternative.me | 75 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
LaunchIgniter launchigniter.com | 75 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
SubmitAiTools submitaitools.org | 75 | Nofollow | Paid | Visit |
Uneed uneed.best | 75 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
PeerPush peerpush.net | 73 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
SoftwareWorld softwareworld.co | 73 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Aura++ auraplusplus.com | 72 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
FoundrList foundrlist.com | 72 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
neeed.directory neeed.directory | 72 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
TinyLaunch tinylaunch.com | 72 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Open Launch open-launch.com | 71 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
SideProjectors sideprojectors.com | 71 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
startupfa.st startupfa.st | 71 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
magicbox.tools magicbox.tools | 70 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Smol Launch smollaunch.com | 70 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Tiny Startups tinystartups.com | 70 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Versily versily.com | 70 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Future Tools futuretools.io | 69 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Pitchwall pitchwall.co | 69 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
TrustMRR trustmrr.com | 69 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
AiTools aitools.inc | 68 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
NextGen Tools nxgntools.com | 68 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Openhunts openhunts.com | 67 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
StartupBase startupbase.io | 67 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
acidtools.com acidtools.com | 66 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
toolsfine toolsfine.com | 65 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Launch Llama Tools tools.launchllama.co | 64 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Startup Stash startupstash.com | 64 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
DevHunt devhunt.org | 62 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
MicroLaunch microlaunch.net | 61 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Super Launch superlaun.ch | 61 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Indie Deals indie.deals | 60 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
Toolfio toolfio.com | 60 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
aiwith.me aiwith.me | 59 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
FridayHunt fridayhunt.com | 59 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Huzzler huzzler.so | 59 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Indiehunt indiehunt.io | 59 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
EarlyHunt earlyhunt.com | 58 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Unite List unitelist.com | 56 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
SaasHunt saashunt.best | 55 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Startups Lab startupslab.site | 55 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Firsto firsto.co | 54 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
Launch trylaunch.ai | 54 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
hot100 hot100.ai | 52 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Launching Next launchingnext.com | 52 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Shipybara shipybara.com | 52 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
AI Tech Viral aitechviral.com | 51 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
Open Alternative openalternative.co | 51 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
AppaList appalist.com | 50 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Daily Pings dailypings.com | 50 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
IdeaKiln ideakiln.com | 50 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
rankinpublic.xyz rankinpublic.xyz | 50 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Promote Project promoteproject.com | 49 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
StartupTrusted startuptrusted.com | 49 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
We Like Tools weliketools.com | 49 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
SaaSBison saasbison.com | 48 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
SaaSCityThat's us saascity.io | 47 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Submit free |
Micro SaaS Examples microsaasexamples.com | 46 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
SaaSGrow saasgrow.app | 46 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
SoloPush solopush.com | 45 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
Startups.fm startups.fm | 45 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
Awesome Tools awesome.tools | 44 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
DodoDirectory dododirectory.com | 43 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Proofstories proofstories.io | 43 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
TinyLaunchpad tinylaunchpad.com | 43 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
AiTools aitools.fyi | 42 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
IndieHub indiehub.best | 42 | Nofollow | Paid | Visit |
ProductBurst productburst.com | 41 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
startuplist.ing startuplist.ing | 41 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
BuildVoyage buildvoyage.com | 40 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
FindYourSaaS findyoursaas.com | 40 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Saaspa.ge saaspa.ge | 40 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Sumodir sumodir.com | 40 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Web Review web-review.com | 40 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
toolfolio toolfolio.io | 39 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
1000.tools 1000.tools | 38 | Nofollow | Paid | Visit |
SubmitHunt submithunt.com | 37 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
TechTrendin techtrendin.com | 37 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
ConfettiSaaS confettisaas.com | 36 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
RankYourAI rankyourai.com | 35 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Best of Web bestofweb.site | 34 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Made with Lovable madewithlovable.com | 33 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
LLM Relevance llmrelevance.com | 32 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
ShipYard HQ shipyardhq.dev | 32 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Builtbyindies builtbyindies.com | 31 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Resource.fyi resource.fyi | 31 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Startups.fyi startups.fyi | 31 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
HUNT0 hunt0.com | 30 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
IndieHackerStacks indiehackerstacks.com | 30 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Stellar Launch stellarlaunch.org | 30 | Nofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
AwesomeIndie awesomeindie.com | 28 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
startuups startuups.com | 26 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
EuroAlternative euroalternative.co | 25 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Toollist toollist.ai | 25 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
ToolHub toolhub.me | 24 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
ProductLaunchpad productlaunchpad.app | 23 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Saassy Board saassy-board.com | 21 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
Justgotfound justgotfound.com | 20 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
madewithbolt madewithbolt.com | 20 | Nofollow | Free | Visit |
Launch Vibe launchvibe.app | 13 | Dofollow | Free | Visit |
Postioo postioo.com | 8 | Dofollow | Paid | Visit |
Launchy.tools launchy.tools | 7 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Toolcurio toolcurio.com | 4.5 | Dofollow | Free + Paid | Visit |
Showing 123 of 123. DR = Domain Rating by Ahrefs.
Domain Rating by Ahrefs
Directory submission FAQ
- What is directory submission?
- Directory submission is the practice of adding your product to online directories - software catalogs, launch platforms, and review sites - to earn backlinks, referral traffic, and discovery. Done with real, indexed directories it still helps in 2026; done as bulk "submit to 500 sites" it does nothing or hurts you.
- Do directory submission services still work in 2026?
- For early-stage products, yes - but only with real directories. A new domain has almost no backlink profile, so a handful of dofollow links from DR 50+ directories measurably help. The catch: it has to be genuine, indexed directories with measurable Domain Rating, never the automated link-farm "services" that blast your URL across hundreds of dead pages.
- How many directories should I submit to?
- Aim for the 20-40 highest-authority, most relevant ones, not all 123. Dofollow DR 50+ links carry nearly all the value; below that, returns drop off fast. Quality and relevance beat volume every time.
- Are free or paid directory submissions better?
- Exhaust the free ones first - 102 of the directories here accept free submissions, many with a dofollow link. Pay only when a directory has real authority, a permanent dofollow link, and an audience that fits your product. Paying for a nofollow link on a low-DR page is wasted money.
- Should I use an automated directory submission tool?
- No. Automated bulk submitters create low-quality listings on irrelevant or spammy directories, which can look manipulative to Google and waste the effort. Submit manually to a curated shortlist - it takes a few hours once, using a prepared copy kit, and the links are worth keeping.