Meysam

Posted on Nov 12

I Built an Open-Source Directory Aggregator So You Don't Waste 20+ Hours Researching Launch Platforms

#opensource #webdev #startup #showdev

The Problem I Got Tired Of

Every founder I talk to has this same painful ritual: spending 2-3 days clicking through listicles, spreadsheets, and paid "ultimate guides" to find directories where they can launch their product. Most of these resources are either outdated, include 300+ low-quality directories, or cost $127-$6,999 for a glorified CSV file.

I went through this myself and thought: there has to be a better way.

What I Built

Awesome Directories is an open-source directory aggregator that helps you find the top 20-30 directories worth your time in under 3 minutes. Think of it as the antidote to directory overload.

Key features:

✅ 388+ curated directories (manually verified, not scraped)
🔍 Advanced filtering by Domain Rating, category, pricing, dofollow status
⚡ Real-time search across names, descriptions, and categories
📋 Multi-select checklist with PDF/CSV export
📊 Weekly automated DR updates via GitHub Actions
💬 Community reviews via Giscus (GitHub Discussions)
👍 IP-based voting system for quality signals

The Tech Stack

Built with a modern, performant stack:

Frontend: Vue.js 3 (Composition API) + Vite + Tailwind CSS
Backend: Supabase (PostgreSQL + Auth + Realtime)
Hosting: GitHub Pages (100% static SPA)
Newsletter: Mautic (self-hosted)
Analytics: Pirsch (privacy-first)
CI/CD: GitHub Actions
APIs: Moz API for Domain Rating scores

Why Vue + Supabase? I needed something fast to build with, great DX, and Supabase's free tier is genuinely generous for an MVP. The entire app is a static SPA deployed on GitHub Pages, which means zero hosting costs.

Why Free Forever?

Here's where I'll be transparent: I originally planned a subscription model. Did the market research, validated the pain point, built pricing tiers. Then I looked at the unit economics and realized something uncomfortable—the numbers didn't make sense for a sustainable business at my scale.

Instead of forcing a business model that would compromise the value, I pivoted to open-source. The real opportunity isn't in charging $9/month—it's in building credibility and an audience in the indie hacker space.

What this means:

Apache-2.0 License - fork it, modify it, self-host it
No paywalls, ever
No "freemium" bait-and-switch
Community-driven feature development
Transparent roadmap and development

Technical Highlights

1. Weekly Automated DR Updates

GitHub Actions runs every Sunday at 2 AM UTC to fetch fresh Domain Rating scores from the Moz API. This ensures the data stays current without manual intervention.

- name: Update Domain Ratings
  run: bun run scripts/update-dr.js
  env:
    MOZ_API_ACCESS_ID: ${{ secrets.MOZ_API_ACCESS_ID }}
    MOZ_API_SECRET_KEY: ${{ secrets.MOZ_API_SECRET_KEY }}

2. Privacy-First Architecture

No tracking cookies
IP-based voting (hashed, not stored)
Optional authentication (Google/GitHub OAuth)
All analytics via Pirsch (GDPR-compliant)

3. Static SPA Performance

The entire app is pre-rendered and served as static assets. First contentful paint under 1.2s, even on 3G.

4. Community-Driven Reviews

Instead of building yet another commenting system, I integrated Giscus. Every directory gets a dedicated GitHub Discussion thread. Developers already use GitHub—why make them create another account?

What I Learned Building This

Research matters more than I thought: I spent almost as much time validating the problem and researching the market as I did coding. That research saved me from building a subscription product nobody would pay for.

The 80/20 rule is extreme: In my research, I found that just 3-5 directories drive 90-95% of actual results for most launches. The rest is noise. This informed the entire curation strategy.

Product Hunt isn't what it used to be: Featured launch rates dropped from 60-98% (2023) to only 10% (2024). The conventional wisdom around launches is often outdated or wrong.

Open-source can be a business strategy: Even if this never makes a dollar directly, the credibility and audience it builds has measurable value for future projects.

How You Can Contribute

This is genuinely community-driven. Here's how you can help:

Star the repo: github.com/awesome-directories/awesome-directories
Submit directories: Know a high-quality directory? PR welcome.
Report issues: Found a broken link? Open an issue.
Improve the code: See something that could be better? Fork and PR.
Share your experience: Leave a review via Giscus.

Contributing Guidelines

Add directories with DR > 60 preferred
Verify links are active before submitting
Include description, categories, and pricing info
Follow the existing data format in supabase/seed-data.json

Quick Start for Developers

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/awesome-directories/awesome-directories.git
cd awesome-directories
bun install

# Set up environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your Supabase credentials

# Run the migration in Supabase SQL Editor
# Then seed the database with supabase/seed-data.json

# Start dev server
bun run dev

Full setup instructions in the README.

What's Next

The roadmap includes:

Verified reviewer badges for directory creators
More granular filtering (submission type, turnaround time)
Browser extension for one-click submissions
Public API for programmatic access
Integration with popular launch checklists

But honestly? The roadmap will be shaped by what the community actually needs, not what I think is cool.

The Reality Check

This isn't going to solve all your launch problems. It won't guarantee you'll get featured on Product Hunt. It won't make your product go viral. What it will do is save you 20+ hours of manual research and give you a fighting chance at focusing on the directories that actually matter.

If that sounds useful, give it a try. If you find it valuable, star the repo. If you think something should work differently, open an issue or PR.

Built by indie hackers, for indie hackers. No VC funding. No growth hacking. Just trying to solve a real problem with good code.

Live Site: awesome-directories.com

GitHub: github.com/awesome-directories/awesome-directories

License: Apache-2.0

Made with ❤️ (and probably too much coffee) by Meysam

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