Submitting your app to forty directories is a weekend of copy and paste for almost no return.
Submitting to five you checked is an afternoon.
I opened a handful of launch directories today and read what each one says about itself. Here is what is live, what it costs, and what I could not verify.
Free stuff to grab first
- AI Employees: eight open source roles, MIT licensed. The page says they are built as 60 scheduled routines and that every plan, Free included, opens the repo and an install prompt. Handy when you need a role to draft listing copy and launch-day replies.
- Show HN guidelines: free, and the rules are blunt. It says Show HN is for something people can try, and that landing pages, sign-up pages, newsletters and lists are off topic.
- BetaList: the submit page lets you paste your URL. The agent doc on the site says it features around 20 startups a day and has a newsletter with 70,000+ subscribers. It also says an agent can draft a submission but cannot pay or publish. You pick the plan.
- DevHunt: a daily launch list for dev tools. The homepage shows 7,556 tools launched and 46,551 developers. Those are the site's own numbers.
- Uneed: a daily launchpad. The homepage says 110,000 makers and mentions a 75 DR backlink. Again the site's own claim.
- Microlaunch: a launch leaderboard that showed 152 products for November when I looked.
What I could not check
Product Hunt, SaaSHub, AlternativeTo and Indie Hackers all blocked my fetch today with a bot check. So I am not quoting a thing about them. Open them yourself before you plan around them.
I also did not verify what any of these directories do for search rankings. The sites say they help. I have no number that proves it. Treat the traffic as the prize, not the link.
The comparison
| Directory | What the page says | Cost on the page |
|---|---|---|
| Show HN | You must be around to discuss it. Easy to try, ideally no signup. | Free |
| BetaList | About 20 startups a day, 70,000+ newsletter subscribers | Plan chosen at submission |
| DevHunt | Daily dev tool launches, voting | Ad slots listed at $99 to $199 a week |
| Uneed | Daily launches, badges for top products | Pro Lifetime $149, Black Friday, opens Nov 16 |
| Microlaunch | Leaderboard, deals, hackathon | Premium tier exists |
| TryMy.App | Human reviewed, apps people can try | Free queue or $19 Featured |
Read the cost column twice. Most of these let you in free. Most of them also sell you a faster door.
The one I run: TryMy.App
I own TryMy.App, so weigh this part accordingly.
It is a directory for apps people can actually try. The live page says every listed app is free, has a free trial, or is freemium. Paid-only apps are not a fit.
Here is the honest part, straight off the submit page.
- Free waitlist: $0. The page says the realistic wait is 9 months or more. The queue holds 2,000+ apps and grows by about 100 a day. One person reviews about 50 a week.
- Featured: $19, one time, nothing renews. Reviewed and live within 24 hours, its own row above the free listings, a followed link, and a mention in the next roundup post.
So the free door is real and it is slow. I would rather tell you that than have you wait nine months and wonder.
If your app is free, has a trial, or is freemium, paste the URL and the site opens it, writes the listing and grabs a screenshot. If it is paid-only, skip it.
This week
- Pick three directories from the table. Not six.
- Write one 80 character tagline and reuse it everywhere.
- Make sure someone can try your app without a signup wall. Show HN asks for exactly that.
- Use one AI Employee role to draft the listing copy, then rewrite it in your own words.
- Submit on three different days. Note which one sends visitors. Drop the rest.
Small ask: if you are building with AI agents, come hang out in the Vibe Coding is Life community, on Facebook or Skool.
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