Originally published on ExtensionLaunch.
If you're hunting for Product Hunt alternatives for a browser extension, you've probably hit the same walls: your launch might not get featured, a new account has to wait a week before it can post, and you can't relaunch the same product for two months. Here's a comparison of seven other launch platforms, what each one costs, and a simple way to stack them over a month.
Why Product Hunt alone isn't enough for an extension
Product Hunt is still the best-known launch site, but its rules shape who wins:
- Featuring isn't guaranteed, and the guidelines say decisions are generally final.
- New accounts wait a week before posting.
- You need a two-month gap (and a significant update) to relaunch.
- The audience is broad. SaaS, AI and hardware all compete for the same front page, and makers who already have a following do best.
A smaller platform that's focused on your niche often sends fewer visitors, but more of them actually install.
The 7 alternatives at a glance
Details as checked on October 30, 2026:
| Platform | Best for | Free path | Paid path |
|---|---|---|---|
| ExtensionLaunch | Extensions and mobile apps | Daily quota of free listings | One-time plans |
| Hacker News (Show HN) | Developer tools | Free, no queue | None |
| Uneed | Any digital tool | Waiting line plus vote threshold | $14.99 fast-track / $39.99 pick your date |
| Peerlist Launchpad | Makers with a dev or design profile | Free with a verified profile | — |
| BetaList | Startups with their own website | None found | Plan chosen at submission |
| DevHunt | Developer tools only | Free listing | $19 chosen week / $49 boosted |
| Tiny Startups | Small, bootstrapped products | Hand-approved | £69 listing |
Most platforms work the same way: a free path with a catch (a long queue, a vote threshold or a verified profile) and a paid path that skips it.
The catches worth knowing before you submit
Show HN needs something people can try right away, ideally without a signup or email. Landing pages, waitlists and newsletters don't qualify. Expect comments on broad permissions or required accounts, and never ask friends to upvote.
Uneed's free line assigns you a date at least 30 days out, and when this was checked the next free date was May 2027. You need 10 upvotes to stay published and 20 for a do-follow link. If you fall below 10, your launch goes back to your dashboard and can't rejoin the free line. The $14.99 fast-track gets you a date about two weeks out.
BetaList won't accept an app store page as your product URL, so you need a landing page on your own domain first. It features about 20 startups a day to a newsletter of 70,000+ subscribers, but it won't feature the same site twice within 12 months. You get one shot.
DevHunt is only for dev tools: APIs, SDKs, frameworks, IDE add-ons, testing and monitoring. Voting needs a GitHub login, and launches go out in a Tuesday newsletter.
Peerlist launches weekly on Mondays and needs a verified profile and a 100% complete project. It works best if you're already active there.
Tiny Startups suits extensions for founders, marketers and small teams. Its newsletter reaches 25,000+ subscribers.
(Disclosure carried over from the original: the author of the source guide runs ExtensionLaunch, a launch directory that builds your listing from a store link or ID.)
How to stagger launches without burning out
Here's a reusable method:
- Match the platform to the user. Dev tools go to Show HN and DevHunt. Consumer extensions go to extension directories and broad discovery sites.
- Write one product brief and reuse it: name, 60-character tagline, 160-character summary, description, category, pricing, logo, screenshots and demo video.
- Space launches a week or more apart, so you have time to answer every comment.
-
Tag every link with its own
utm_source. The Chrome Web Store's Google Analytics integration records installs, so you can compare platforms directly. - Judge by week-one retention, not votes. A hundred upvotes from other makers is worth less than twenty installs that stick.
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/your-id?utm_source=uneed&utm_medium=launch
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/your-id?utm_source=peerlist&utm_medium=launch
A sample four-week plan for a consumer extension:
- Week 1: extension directory, once the store listing is public
- Week 2: Product Hunt
- Week 3: a paid Uneed date
- Week 4: Peerlist, the following Monday
For a dev tool, swap Show HN and DevHunt into that plan.
Key takeaways
- Product Hunt still has a place: it's free, it's big, and you keep a public page even if you aren't featured. Treat it as one date in a sequence.
- Launch where your users already browse, not where the biggest crowd is.
- Read the fine print: vote thresholds, custom-domain rules and one-time-only policies decide whether a launch is worth your time.
- Use one brief, one UTM tag per platform, and retention as the metric.
The full guide has per-platform details and an FAQ: Product Hunt alternatives for launching a browser extension. If your extension's store listing is already live, you can also list it in the ExtensionLaunch extension directory as your first launch date.
Besides Product Hunt, which launch platform sent you the most installs that actually stuck, and roughly how many?
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