Launch guide · Updated playbook
A practical, founder-first playbook for launching on IndieHunt and stacking distribution across launch platforms and directories — without guessing what to do before Monday, during launch week, or after the votes stop.
Indie founders, solo builders, and small teams shipping AI tools, devtools, or SaaS who want more than a single Product Hunt post. If you need a repeatable process — assets, timing, distribution, backlinks, and AI-era discovery — this is your operating manual.
You have a live product but no launch plan. Follow the checklist in order.
You want a second channel beyond PH with weekly competition and SEO upside.
You care about dofollow links, launch stories, and long-tail directory traffic.
Work through these phases before your IndieHunt week starts. Skipping asset prep is the most common reason strong products underperform on launch day.
All plans get the same homepage competition week. The difference is backlinks, badge rules, slot limits, and Premium distribution. Compare full pricing →
| Plan | Price | Badge | Backlink | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Badge required on your site | Nofollow by default; dofollow if you finish top 3 | You can add the badge and want to compete for dofollow |
| Nofollow | $0 | No badge required | Always nofollow, even if you win top 3 | You want zero badge friction and still want votes + story |
| Premium | $19 one-time | No badge required | Guaranteed dofollow from day one | SEO and social distribution matter most this week |
Competitions run Monday 8:00 AM UTC through the following week. Treat it like a sprint: distribution plus engagement, not publish-and-pray.
Announce everywhere at once: newsletter, social, Slack/Discord groups you belong to. Pin your IndieHunt URL. Thank early voters publicly.
Post a build-in-public thread: what you shipped, why, and one lesson learned. Engage on competitor launches — thoughtful comments, not link dumps.
Share a customer story, metric, or demo GIF. Submit to 3–5 extra directories from our 100+ list if you have bandwidth.
Summarize the week (traffic, signups, votes). Save top comments as testimonials. Plan follow-up content or a Premium relaunch if you missed top 3.
Follow these in order for your first launch, or use them as a QA list if you have launched before.
Write a single sentence: "[Product] helps [audience] do [outcome] without [pain]." Every listing, tweet, and directory submission should echo this. Vague "AI tool for productivity" copy underperforms specific "AI meeting notes for async remote teams."
Reviewers skim in seconds. Lead with a crisp hero screenshot, 2–3 feature shots, and a 60-second demo if possible. Export PNGs at 2× resolution; broken or blurry images kill trust.
Free (badge + nofollow, can win dofollow), Nofollow (no badge, always nofollow), or Premium ($19, guaranteed dofollow + social promotion). Premium skips the weekly free-slot queue. Compare on our pricing page before you submit.
Complete the submit form with accurate categories and tags. Free launches need the IndieHunt badge verified on your site. After approval, your project goes live Monday 8:00 AM UTC for a full competition week.
Don't stop at one homepage. Cross-list on Aura++, EarlyHunt, MakerHunt, SideHunt, and Uno for extra discovery and backlinks — each audience differs slightly.
Product Hunt, BetaList, and niche AI directories compound traffic over months. Use our curated list to batch submissions without researching from scratch.
One announcement is not enough. Email your list, post build-in-public updates mid-week, and show up in communities where your ICP already hangs out — with value first, link second.
Reply to comments, thank voters, fix bugs quickly, and screenshot wins (traffic spikes, testimonials, top-3 badge). Social proof from launch week feeds your site and next campaign.
IndieHunt launch stories and directory links keep working after day seven. Top-3 winners on Free/Nofollow can earn dofollow upgrades. Premium launches start with dofollow immediately.
Structure your product page with clear FAQs, use "Ask AI" prompts about your product, and keep descriptions factual so ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini can cite you accurately.
These six surfaces cover weekly launches, maker audiences, early-stage discovery, and evergreen SEO. Submit to all that fit your stage — not only one.
IndieHunt
Weekly launch competitions for AI tools and indie SaaS. Homepage exposure, community votes, launch stories, and backlinks.
Focus: AI & indie SaaS · Best for: Founders shipping AI tools, devtools, and SaaS
Aura++
Launch platform for products seeking brand visibility and audience growth beyond a single directory.
Focus: General products · Best for: Broader product launches
EarlyHunt
Early-stage discovery for MVPs and products still finding product-market fit.
Focus: MVPs & betas · Best for: Pre-PMF and beta launches
MakerHunt
Maker-focused launches for shipped tools, side projects, and small SaaS.
Focus: Makers & builders · Best for: Indie makers and devtools
SideHunt
Lightweight discovery for side projects, experiments, and weekend builds.
Focus: Side projects · Best for: Experiments not ready for a big launch
Uno Directory
Evergreen directory listing for long-term SEO and category-based discovery.
Focus: Directory / SEO · Best for: Post-launch SEO compounding
After your core stack, batch-submit to Product Hunt alternatives, AI directories, and startup listings. Our curated list is searchable by category — no spreadsheet hunting required.
Browse 100+ places to launchMore discovery happens inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini — not only Google. Layer AEO on top of your launch SEO so AI assistants can cite your product accurately.
Add FAQ-style sections on your site: who it's for, pricing, integrations, and how it compares to alternatives. AI assistants pull from structured Q&A.
Use the same product name, URL, and one-line description on IndieHunt, directories, and your homepage — conflicting copy confuses models.
Your IndieHunt project page and /launches story become citable URLs. More quality pages mentioning your product improves AI retrieval.
On every IndieHunt project page, founders can use Ask AI about this project to open pre-filled prompts in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Mistral — a simple way to test how models describe your product.
For deeper AEO tooling, Rank++ helps monitor and improve AI search visibility.
If you cannot measure it, you cannot tell whether the launch worked or which channel to double down on next.
Launches start Monday at 8:00 AM UTC for the week you select at submit time. Your project stays in the weekly competition for seven days, with voting and homepage visibility throughout that window.
Choose Free if you can add the IndieHunt badge and want a shot at top-3 dofollow. Choose Nofollow if you refuse badge requirements but still want exposure. Choose Premium ($19) if you need guaranteed dofollow backlinks, priority handling, and social promotion without competing for free weekly slots.
Yes — they serve different audiences and timelines. Product Hunt is a spike-oriented launch day; IndieHunt is a full week on a builder-focused feed with ongoing launch stories. Many founders do both, staggered by a week, so support and messaging don't split.
Minimum viable: IndieHunt plus 2–3 complementary platforms (e.g. EarlyHunt, MakerHunt, Uno). Ambitious: IndieHunt, the six partner platforms in this guide, and 10–20 entries from our 100+ directory list over the following two weeks. Quality beats spraying 50 low-traffic directories in one day.
Strong positioning, polished visuals, active founder engagement in comments, and real distribution to your audience. Votes correlate with traffic you send — a great product with zero outreach often underperforms a good product with 500 engaged followers.
After a completed launch week without a top-3 finish, eligible projects can relaunch once as Premium ($19), keeping existing votes while getting dofollow links and another full week on the homepage.
Yes, especially dofollow links from trusted launch sites and evergreen directories. Nofollow links still drive referral traffic and brand searches. Treat launch week as the start of an SEO campaign, not the end.
Answer Engine Optimization means structuring content so AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) can accurately describe and recommend your product. As search shifts conversational, clear product pages, FAQs, and consistent listings matter alongside classic SEO.
Announce in one coordinated wave: email list, social, and communities you're active in. Monitor your IndieHunt listing hourly for the first 48 hours. Respond to every comment. Avoid drive-by link posts in groups that ban promotion — add context and ask for feedback instead.
Ready to run your launch week?
Submit on IndieHunt, then expand across the network and directory list.
