RailwayFree startup directories worth your time in 2026, ranked by Domain Rating
26 launch platforms and directories checked with the ExitFounder Domain Rating tool on 18 Sep 2026 — which ones are worth an afternoon, which give dofollow links, and the order to submit in.
Submitting a new startup to directories is the one growth task that is boring, free and still works. The catch is that most lists you find are years old and rank sites by vibes. We ran every directory below through the Domain Rating checker (Domain Rating by Ahrefs) on 18 September 2026, so the numbers are current.
Domain Rating measures the strength of a site's backlink profile on a 0–100 scale. A link from a DR 80 site is not "worth 80 points", but directories above ~70 are the ones that move the needle for a new domain.
The list (DR checked 18 Sep 2026)
The same list with filters (type, dofollow) and submit links lives at /directories; it is re-checked in batches.
| Directory | DR | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| producthunt.com | 91 | Launch day traffic, social proof | Big spike, then silence. Prepare a maker comment and a first-day plan. |
| g2.com | 91 | B2B SaaS reviews | Profile is free; reviews drive the ranking. Long game. |
| capterra.com | 91 | B2B software buyers | Same family as G2 (Gartner). Free listing. |
| dev.to | 91 | Developer tools | Not a directory — publish a real post about the problem you solve. |
| fazier.com | 83 | Indie launches | Dofollow on the product page; active community. |
| findly.tools | 81 | Tool discovery | Free listing with badge, premium $29. Clean DR-ranked directory list of its own. |
| saashub.com | 81 | Alternatives / comparisons | Gets you into "X alternatives" searches. |
| indiehackers.com | 81 | Founder audience | Product page + your build-in-public posts. |
| alternativeto.net | 80 | Alternatives searches | Moderated; describe honestly what you replace. |
| theresanaiforthat.com | 77 | AI products | Large AI-tools audience; paid fast-track exists. |
| peerlist.io | 77 | Launches + founder profile | Weekly launch leaderboard, decent referral traffic. |
| betalist.com | 76 | Pre-launch / beta | Submit before you launch; queue can take weeks. |
| uneed.best | 76 | Daily launches | Free line is ~150 days out; paid slots from $14.99. |
| tinylaunch.com | 73 | Agent-friendly launches | Has an API + agent guide: your AI assistant can submit for you. |
| toolify.ai | 73 | AI tools | High volume, weak curation. |
| futurepedia.io | 72 | AI tools | Same audience as Toolify; both are fine. |
| open-launch.com | 72 | Launches + alternatives pages | Free; alternatives pages bring long-tail traffic. |
| trustmrr.com | 71 | Verified-revenue profile | Only useful if you connect Stripe; then it is strong social proof. |
| scrolllaunch.com | 70 | Weekly leaderboard, SEO pages | Public API, markdown twins, badge-gated dofollow. |
| startupstash.com | 65 | Resource lists | Slow editorial queue. |
| microlaunch.net | 64 | Micro-SaaS | Monthly launch cycles. |
| marketingdb.live | 57 | Calm directory, .md pages | Free with badge, premium $19. |
| aitoolnet.com | 56 | AI tools | Small but easy. |
| launchingnext.com | 54 | Startups | Old-school; still indexed. |
| betapage.co | 52 | Beta products | Small audience. |
| hackernews.com | 46 | — | This is not Hacker News. Use news.ycombinator.com ("Show HN") — but only when you can answer comments for a day. |
The order that works
- Fix the profile first. Every form asks for the same things: logo, one-line tagline, 60–120 word description, screenshots, pricing, category, socials. If you are on ExitFounder, your profile page already has all of it — copy from there, or let your AI assistant read the
.mdversion. - High-DR, low-friction first: Fazier, Findly, SaaSHub, AlternativeTo, Indie Hackers, Open-Launch, ScrollLaunch. One afternoon.
- Review platforms second: G2 and Capterra profiles take an hour and only pay off once customers leave reviews — start early so the reviews accumulate.
- Launch platforms on a date: Product Hunt, Peerlist, Uneed, TinyLaunch. Pick a week, do one per day, and have three friends ready to comment (not just upvote).
- Vertical directories last: the AI-tool sites if you are an AI product; BetaList only if you are still pre-launch.
Dofollow or not?
A dofollow link passes authority; a nofollow link still brings referral traffic and helps AI assistants discover you. Most free tiers are nofollow or badge-gated (you keep the dofollow only while their badge is on your site). Paid tiers ($15–$40 one-time) usually flip it to dofollow. Whether that is worth it depends on your DR: under 20, a handful of DR 70+ dofollow links is the fastest authority you can buy; above 40, spend the money on content instead.
What we do differently
ExitFounder does not wait for you to submit. We crawl the official site, build the profile (logo, tagline, description, screenshots, pricing, tech stack, socials) and publish it with every field marked as unverified until you claim it. Claiming is free; verification badges come from connecting your own data, not from paying.
Domain Rating by Ahrefs. Numbers change monthly — re-check any domain with the free tool.