Guides · 50 guides
Guides to launching, built on the list.
Each guide is written from the places on the list. The counts, prices and approval times in it come from the same checked data as the posters and are read when you open the page. Every quote links to the page we read it on.
Every link on the list was checked in September 2026 or later. How we check
Cluster 01 · 3 guides
launch platforms
Where to launch a product, what each place charges and how long the free queue is.
- Product Hunt alternatives: where else to launch, with prices and queue times from each siteFree and paid Product Hunt alternatives, with each one's checked price, how long a free launch waits and what skipping costs. Nobody pays to be listed.Updated
- Uneed vs Product Hunt: who picks the date, who sees the launch, and what the votes decideUneed vs Product Hunt from each site's own pages: who picks your launch date, what's free, who reaches the homepage and what the upvotes decide.Updated
- How long a free launch waits, and what it costs to skip the queueFree launches on OpenHunts, DevHunt, Uneed and others wait weeks to months. Each site's stated wait and skip-the-queue price, quoted and dated.Updated
Cluster 02 · 3 guides
planning a launch
When to submit where, and how to keep track of it all.
- A directory submission tracker: what to record, when to chase, when to re-checkTrack startup directory and launch submissions: the columns to keep, a chase date from each site's stated wait, and when to re-check a live listing.Updated
- An indie launch plan, built from each site's stated waitSome free launch queues run about six months. A launch plan for directories, communities and accelerators, week by week, from each site's stated wait.Updated
- Where to find beta users before launch: pre-launch lists and communities, checkedBetaList alternatives and other places to find beta users: which are paid (BetaList is now), which are free and what their rules allow, quoted and dated.Updated
Cluster 03 · 5 guides
startup directories
Whether a listing is worth it: free and paid directories, links, and how to spot a dead one.
- Free startup directories: where you can list for free, and what free costs at eachEvery startup directory, launch platform and review site on our list that says listing is free, and what free costs at each: a queue, a badge or votes.Updated
- Is submitting to startup directories worth it? What we can measure, and what we can'tWhat startup directories cost, how long they make you wait, what link you get and how many vanish, from our checked data and published audits.Updated
- Paid startup directories: what each one charges and what the money buysWhat paid-only startup directories charge, one-time or monthly, what the fee buys, and which refund you if they turn you down. From each site's own pages.Updated
- How to check a startup directory before you submit: dead, parked, hijacked and quietly changedFive signs a startup directory is dead, parked or taken over by spam, each with a real case from our 2026 link check, and a quick check you can run.Updated
- Do startup directories help SEO? Google's own words, and what the directories actually promiseGoogle lists low-quality directory links as link spam. What startup directories promise about followed links, what's attached, and when a listing helps.Updated
Cluster 04 · 13 guides
by product type
Where to list a particular kind of product: AI tools, developer tools, B2B software, apps.
- Where to submit an AI tool: AI directories with checked prices, wait times and link rulesWhat AI tool directories charge, how long listing takes and which want a link back, with free alternatives to There's An AI For That, quoted and dated.Updated
- App review sites: which still review apps, what they charge, and which are goneWhat app review sites charge, how long a review takes and what the free offers are, from each site's own pages. Plus the app sites that no longer work.Updated
- AppSumo alternatives for sellers: where to run a lifetime deal, and what each platform says it keepsWhere to sell a lifetime deal besides AppSumo: DealMirror, RocketHub, Prime Club, StackSocial and more, with the seller terms each publishes, or doesn't.Updated
- Where to list B2B software: G2, Capterra and other review sites, what's free and what's paidWhich software review sites give a startup a free profile, what paid plans cost, what changed after G2 bought Capterra and which sites G2 doesn't own.Updated
- European startup directories: where to list a startup from Europe, and who each one acceptsDatabases, review sites and news outlets built for European startups: who each one accepts, what it checks and what it costs, from each site's own pages.Updated
- Where to launch a developer tool: the launch sites and communities that fit, with their rulesDevHunt, Show HN, Lobsters, dev.to, The Changelog and more: what each accepts from developer-tool makers, what it costs and how long it takes, sourced.Updated
- Where to list an MCP server or an AI agent: the official registry, the marketplaces and the directories, with their rulesThe official MCP Registry, Glama, Smithery, MCP.so, Docker's catalog and the agent directories: what each asks of you, what it costs and how long it takes.Updated
- Where to promote a Mac or iOS app: subreddit threads, catalogs, Setapp and Apple's own nomination formr/macapps and r/iosapps formats, Apple's featuring nomination, Setapp's commission and free app catalogs: where to promote a Mac or iPhone app, sourced.Updated
- Where to promote an Android app: subreddits, open-source stores, catalogs and Google Play's own rulesAndroid subreddits and their rules, F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid for open-source apps, and Google Play's tester rule and featuring page, all sourced and dated.Updated
- SaaS directories and alternatives sites: where to list a SaaS next to its competitorsSaaS directories and alternatives sites like SaaSHub and AlternativeTo: what they charge, how they approve listings and how long it takes.Updated
- Startup databases: where to add your company profile, with each site's wait and priceWhere to add a company profile, from Crunchbase and Dealroom to Startup Ranking: what each database charges and how long approval takes, from its own page.Updated
- Where to submit a website design: galleries, what they charge and what they acceptDesign galleries that take website submissions, from Awwwards to Land-book: what each charges, what it accepts and who decides, from its own pages.Updated
- Startup blogs and newsletters that feature new products: what each acceptsBlogs and newsletters that feature startups and new products: who they cover, what they charge and what they refuse, quoted from their own pages.Updated
Cluster 05 · 4 guides
communities
Where to post for feedback and early users, and the rules to read first.
- How to promote your startup on Reddit without getting banned: Reddit's rules, then each subreddit's threadReddit's own rules on spam and self-promotion, where the 10% rule really comes from, and which thread each founder subreddit wants your product in.Updated
- Self-promotion rules in founder communities, quoted from their own pagesWhat Indie Hackers, WIP, Quora and other founder communities allow when you post your own product, plus free and paid Indie Hackers alternatives.Updated
- Subreddits for founders: where you can post your product, in each subreddit's own wordsSelf-promotion rules for 50 founder subreddits: which welcome your product, which keep it to a weekly thread and which ban it, quoted and dated.Updated
- Where to share side projects: r/SideProject alternatives and places to get feedback, in their own wordsr/SideProject alternatives, feedback subreddits, SideProjectors and Show HN: where to show what you built, with each place's own rule, quoted and dated.Updated
Cluster 06 · 22 guides
accelerators
Programs to apply to: terms, deadlines and how to choose.
- How much equity accelerators take: the published terms, program by programWhat accelerators publish about their deal: cash, equity, SAFEs, fees, and the ones that take no equity. Each term quoted from the program's own page.Updated
- How long accelerators take to answer: each program's stated timeline, quotedWhen YC, Techstars, a16z speedrun, Seedcamp and other programs say you'll hear back, and which take rolling applications, quoted from their own pages.Updated
- US accelerators for international founders: who takes you, who helps with the visa, in their own wordsWhich US accelerators take founders from outside the US, which help with visas and which leave it to you, quoted from each program's own page and dated.Updated
- Accelerators for solo founders: which programs take one founder, in their own wordsWhich accelerators accept solo founders, which prefer teams and which say no, quoted from each program's own page with the day we read it.Updated
- Accelerators for young founders: age limits, student programs and what happens to school, in each program's wordsPrograms for young founders and students: age limits, who has to drop out, and what YC, speedrun and Techstars expect from students, quoted and dated.Updated
- Startup accelerators in Europe: where each program runs, what it invests and what it chargesAccelerators in Paris, Munich, Delft, Berlin, Valencia and Tallinn: what each invests or charges and where you work, quoted from its own pages.Updated
- Startup accelerators in India and Southeast Asia: who each program takes, where it runs and what it investsAccelerators for founders in India and Southeast Asia: who each one takes, where you'd work and what it invests, quoted from its own pages and dated.Updated
- Startup accelerators in Latin America and the Caribbean: where each program runs, what it offers and who can applyAccelerators and funds for Latin American founders: Parallel18, Impacta VC, the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator and more, from their own pages, dated.Updated
- Startup accelerators in New York: the programs that bring you to NYC, and for how longThe accelerators whose own pages put you in New York City: which are based there, how many weeks you spend in the city and who can apply, quoted and dated.Updated
- Startup accelerators in San Francisco: the programs that put you in the city, and for how longThe accelerators whose own pages put you in San Francisco or the Bay Area: how long you stay and what they say about moving, quoted and dated.Updated
- Startup accelerators in the UK: the London programs, in their own wordsUK accelerators and seed programs on our list, mostly in London: what each invests, where you work and when it takes applications, from its own pages.Updated
- Accelerators outside the US: where each program on our list runs, region by regionAccelerators in Europe, the UK, India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Australia and Canada: where each one runs and who it takes, from its own pages.Updated
- AI startup accelerators: the programs whose own pages say AI, quoted and datedAccelerators whose own pages name AI as their focus, from AI House to Google's accelerator, plus the AI credit programs. Each one quoted and dated.Updated
- Antler vs Entrepreneur First: the deal, the format and who each one backs, in their own wordsAntler and Entrepreneur First side by side: what each invests, where you work, solo founders and how they review, quoted from their own pages and dated.Updated
- Deep tech accelerators: the programs whose own words say science, hard tech or climateAccelerators and fellowships whose own pages say deep tech, hard tech, science or climate: SOSV, Boost VC, Activate, Third Derivative, Rockstart, quoted.Updated
- Equity-free accelerators: the programs that take no stake, in their own wordsAccelerators and fellowships whose own pages say they take no equity, what each asks for instead, and why credit programs are not the same thing.Updated
- Remote and hybrid accelerators: where each program says you have to beWhich accelerators let you stay where you are: remote, hybrid and in-person programs, each in its own words on where you work, with the day we read it.Updated
- SaaS accelerators: the B2B and SaaS programs, and what each one asks of youAccelerators whose own pages say SaaS, B2B or enterprise: TinySeed, Forum Ventures, Startup Wise Guys, Alchemist, Dreamit. Who each one takes, quoted.Updated
- Startup credits programs: what each one gives, who qualifies, and the fine printCloud, AI and developer-tool credits for startups, from AWS Activate and Google Cloud to Claude and OpenAI: amounts and rules, from each program's page.Updated
- Techstars alternatives: accelerators with a similar deal, side by sideAccelerators to compare with Techstars: what each invests, what it takes or charges, and where it runs, quoted from its own pages and dated.Updated
- Y Combinator alternatives: where to apply instead, sorted by why you're lookingWhere to apply instead of YC, or as well: bigger checks, rolling review, other deal shapes, no move to SF. Each program in its own words, dated.Updated
- Y Combinator, Techstars and a16z speedrun compared: the deal, the timeline, the formatY Combinator, Techstars and a16z speedrun side by side: cash, equity, instrument, when you hear back and where you work, each quoted from its own site.Updated