Paid startup directories: what each one charges and what the money buys

Most paid startup directories charge once, somewhere between a few dollars and a few hundred, and the fee mostly buys speed: a listing within a day instead of a place in a queue, or a listing at all where there is no free option. A few charge by the month, a few take a share of your sales instead, and some refund you in full if they turn you down.

Below, what each paid directory on our list charges and what it says the money buys, in its own words, as we read it on 29 and 30 September 2026. Every price links to the place's page on the list, where the source and the quote are kept. We sell no listings and take no money from the places we list.

For the rest of room 01, the price we found is a paid plan, a paid-only listing or a share of sales. The free ones are in free startup directories, with what free costs at each. This guide is about the others.

01One-time fees

The most common model is one payment for a permanent listing. The table shows what each poster shows: the kind, the cost in short form, the approval time where the site gives one, and the date of our last link check. Hover a value for the full sentence.

What the one-time fees buy, in the sites' words:

• A listing now. AI Top Tools: "After Stripe confirms payment, your AITopTools page is published immediately". Indie Tool's $29.99 plan: "live in 60s". Most paid AI directories sell the same thing, a listing within a day or two instead of a queue; AI tool directories quotes each one.
• A permanent page. Postmake's $79 Standard Listing is "A permanent listing in a dedicated page that's linked throughout the Postmake directory". Tekpon charges "a one-time fee of $249" for "a fully optimized profile".
• More than one site. Awesome AI Tools sells one listing across five AI directories, which it names; the AI guide lists them.
• The review itself. Webcurate's $4 is "a small one-time $4 processing fee to help cover manual review and listing upkeep before your site is added."

D005AI Top Tools·Cost

“List My AI Tool — $59 Claim existing listing Instant Listing • $59 one-time payment”

Our reading: $59 one-time (Instant Listing)

There's An AI For That is the one where published prices disagree most: its launch page has two one-time tiers, a Low Traffic listing and a Maximum Exposure plan that adds a newsletter feature. If you see one price quoted for it elsewhere, check which tier it is. Both prices, as we read them on 30 September 2026, are in AI tool directories.

02Monthly and per-period fees

A few places charge for time on the site rather than for the listing:

• 1000 Tools: "First month $1, then $5.99/month", or $59.99 a year.
• SaaS Surf: sponsored placement from $9 per month; it says all submissions are posted within 24 hours.
• All My Faves: "One position per category, held by one site at a time. from $79 / 30 days".
• Indie Products: $9.99 for a front-page listing lasting three months.
• Landingfolio, a design gallery: "Join for $1.99/week or $59 forever and submit your designs to the gallery".
• WIP, a makers' community rather than a directory, is paid membership only: $29 a month or $199 a year.

Before you pick one of these, ask what happens to the listing when you stop paying. Not every page we read says.

D0021000 tools·Cost

“First month $1, then $5.99/month. $59.99 $69.99 / year * You save $10.”

Our reading: $5.99/month (first month $1) or $59.99/year

03Pay only if accepted, or get a refund

Paying before a review is a risk: the directory can take the fee and still turn you down. These paid places on the list say, on their own pages, that you don't lose the money:

• 1000 Tools charges after the review: "You'll only be charged once your tool has been reviewed and accepted."
• Beta List is paid only, and refunds you if it doesn't feature you. Its support page (opens in a new tab): "BetaList used to offer free submissions, but all submissions now require payment." And: "All plans include a do-follow backlink if featured, and a full refund if not selected."
• All My Faves: "If yours isn't a fit, you're refunded in full — no argument, no fee." Its 30-day term starts only once the listing is up.
• Tool Finder: "Seen by human eyes before it goes up, and refunded in full if we can't list it."
• TopAI.tools: "You receive an automated refund if your tool is not accepted."

Two more take the fee only after an editor says yes: Early reviews each submission in one to two days, and then the listing goes live once you pay €29, or free if its editors pick it. Micro Launch sells its Pro launch for $49; the queue it skips is covered in how long a free launch waits.

04No fee up front: revenue share and pay-per-click

Some places charge nothing to list and take money another way.

• Revenue share. AppSumo: "Nothing upfront. We run on revenue share, so we only make money when you do." It also says it accepts "About 10%" of applications. NachoNacho: "You only pay NachoNacho revenue share when our customers make actual payments to you."
• Commission. Setapp: "For a single app, we take just 15% on subscription sales and 25% on one-time sales."
• Pay-per-click. On Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice, the paid option is a sponsored profile that buyers click on, billed by the click, by Software Advice's own service description (opens in a new tab). We did not find the price of a basic listing on their pages. Capterra is on the list with the other review sites, and where to list B2B software covers all four sites G2 now owns.

These suit a product that already sells. The directory earns only when you do, so it has a reason to be picky: AppSumo's one-in-ten is the clearest example. The other lifetime-deal platforms, and what each says it keeps, are in AppSumo alternatives.

05Paid reviews and networks

App review blogs sell reviews rather than listings, often as bundles across sister sites: Apps 400 offers placement "across 12 sites", AppsThunder a $249 package for reviews on ten blogs. Several of them belong to one group, in their own words. Before you buy two, read app review sites, which covers who runs which and what the FTC and Google say about paid reviews.

06Before you pay

Five questions, each answerable from the directory's own pages:

1. Is there a free option with a wait? Many directories sell a skip, not a listing. If you can wait, you may not need to pay: free startup directories lists them, and how long a free launch waits has the queues.
2. One-time or recurring? And if recurring, what happens when you stop.
3. Refund if rejected? The places above say so in writing. For the rest, assume not.
4. What does the link look like? Some paid plans promise a followed link: Beta List's "if featured", SaaS Software's $49 "Instant Listing - DoFollow backlink for SEO". A link is a weak reason to pay; see do startup directories help SEO? for what Google's spam policies say about paid links.
5. Does anyone browse it? Open the directory, look at the newest listings and their dates. We don't measure the traffic a listing brings, and no pricing page we read promises visitors.

Whether it is worth paying for listings at all is the question of is directory submission worth it?

07How we checked

Every price comes from the site's own pricing or submit page, read on 29 or 30 September 2026, with the page and the exact words on the place's page on the list. Each poster shows the date of its last link check. We don't buy listings or measure what they bring. Nobody pays to be listed or to appear in a guide. Read how we check for the details.

08Questions

01

How much does it cost to list a startup on a directory?

Anywhere from nothing to a one-time fee. Many directories are free with a paid way to skip the queue. Paid-only directories on our list mostly charge once; a few charge monthly or take a share of sales. The tables in this guide show each price, read from the site's own page.

02

Are paid startup directories worth it?

We can't tell you, because we don't measure the traffic a listing brings, and no pricing page we read promises visitors. What a fee reliably buys is speed and, on some sites, a permanent page. Pay when you need the listing soon and the directory is one your buyers browse.

03

Does BetaList refund you if you are not selected?

Yes, by its own support page: all plans include a full refund if your startup is not selected. BetaList is paid only; it says it used to offer free submissions but all submissions now require payment.

04

Which paid directories refund you if they reject you?

On our list, 1000 Tools charges only after it accepts you, and Beta List, All My Faves, Tool Finder and TopAI.tools say they refund you in full if they don't list you.