LaunchRepoMost lists of free startup directories are copied from older lists and never say when anyone looked. We keep a catalog of 299 active launch platforms and directories for LaunchRepo, and every entry carries a check date, a source and a classification. The numbers below are computed from that catalog every time this site is built, so they cannot drift from the data. Catalog snapshot: September 24, 2026.
Free startup and SaaS directories in numbers
Every active platform sits in exactly one bucket, so the first five cards add up to 299. Platforms removed from the catalog are counted separately.
- 243usable without paying
- 81% of all active platforms: free plus conditionally free.
- 86free
- No mandatory fee and no extra condition.
- 157conditionally free
- Free only if you meet every listed condition.
- 52not usable on the check day
- 23 blocked, 29 offline or closed.
- 4unknown
- Evidence missing or incomplete, never counted as free.
- 50removed for mandatory payment
- Checked between September 14, 2026 and September 24, 2026; not part of the 299.
The active platforms were checked between September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026. Each check stays valid until its recheck date; the earliest recheck date in this snapshot is October 6, 2026.
How deep the checks went for the 243 usable routes: for 30 we completed a free submission, for 9 we saw the signed-in form, and for 204 we read the published rules and the public form.
By type of directory
The same buckets by type of platform. The type decides what a directory expects from you, so compare the free and the conditionally free column before you pick where to start.
| Type | Active | Free | Conditionally free | Usable for free |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch platforms | 102 | 31 | 56 | 87 |
| AI tool directories | 70 | 23 | 29 | 52 |
| Software and SaaS directories | 76 | 28 | 37 | 65 |
| B2B review sites | 27 | 2 | 17 | 19 |
| Company and startup profiles | 17 | 1 | 12 | 13 |
| Communities | 7 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
Method: a person or an agent opened each platform’s official rules, pricing or submit form on the check day and stored the source URL and a short note. Aggregates come from the catalog file that ships in the LaunchRepo repository (SHA-256 of the source file ends in 1800644b). We did not measure traffic, rankings or backlink value.
Best SaaS directories →
A zero-budget directory launch →
Best startup directories in 2026 →
What “free” and “conditionally free” mean here
The catalog uses five labels. They describe the submission route on the check day, not whether your product fits the platform.
- Free
- You can get listed without paying and without any extra step beyond the normal form. Paid upgrades may exist; you just decline them.
- Conditionally free
- You can get listed without paying only if you meet every condition we recorded. Typical conditions: a link or badge back to the directory on your site, a sign-in, a niche rule such as “AI tools only”, a live product with public pricing, or a free queue that can take weeks. Miss one condition and the route is not free for you.
- Removed for mandatory payment
- A free sign-up followed by a required listing or launch fee counts as paid. These 50 platforms are out of the catalog, so they appear in none of the counts above.
- Not usable
- Blocked means the route existed but could not be used on the check day; offline means the site or its form was gone.
- Unknown
- The evidence is missing or incomplete. An unknown route never counts as free, and a free route turns unknown the day after its recheck date until someone checks it again.
Ten free startup directories, re-checked on September 28, 2026
All ten are classified free in the catalog, with no extra conditions. We opened each official page again on September 28, 2026. The order is not a ranking: launch sites first, then software directories.
LaunchFree
Launch siteSays listing is free forever: no listing fee, no approval fee, no credit card. The form needs no account, and a person reviews every listing, usually within 24 hours.
Good fit if: you want one quick, no-account listing this week.
HUNT0
Weekly launch siteThe free launch costs $0 and fills a fixed number of slots per week, first come first served. You need an account, and free weeks can be booked months ahead.
Good fit if: you can plan a launch date well in advance.
Launchpad
Daily launch siteOffers five free launch slots a day that you can schedule up to 180 days ahead. Paid launches are optional. Sign-in required.
Good fit if: you want to pick a launch day yourself.
PaveLaunch
Launch siteThe free launch gives you a day of visibility and a featured period later, after a queue. Relaunching later is also free with a queue. Sign-in with Google or an email link.
Good fit if: you plan to ship updates and relaunch.
sideprojects.net
Launch site for side projectsEvery project gets a free launch slot from the queue, usually within a few weeks, plus a permanent project page. Paying only picks your date.
Good fit if: your product is a side project or small tool.
SaaSHub
Software alternatives siteFree listing without an account in a review queue; a paid option only skips the line. It rejects agencies, unreleased products, free subdomains and non-English products, and sends submissions without named competitors to the back of the queue.
Good fit if: you have a live product on its own domain and know your competitors.
AlternativeTo
Software alternatives siteYou suggest your app for free after signing in. Its FAQ says new apps usually wait at least a few months; an optional $5 fee moves you up the queue but does not buy approval.
Good fit if: people already compare your product with a known tool.
IndieTools
Directory for indie toolsFree is a permanent listing after manual review with no recurring fee and no badge required. Paid options only add promotion. Sign-in required.
Good fit if: you are an indie maker with a working tool.
OMR Reviews
B2B software review siteOffers a free basic profile through a short form without an account; paid plans are optional. The editors write the profile.
Good fit if: you sell B2B software, especially in German-speaking markets.
Index by Dodo Payments
Software directoryA software index run by a payment company with an “Add a free listing” form that works signed out. It says it only lists high-quality tools, so expect a review.
Good fit if: you sell software or a digital product online.
The ten at a glance
| Platform | Type | Deepest check in the catalog | Re-checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| LaunchFree | Launch site | Free submission completed | September 28, 2026 |
| HUNT0 | Weekly launch site | Free submission completed | September 28, 2026 |
| Launchpad | Daily launch site | Free submission completed | September 28, 2026 |
| PaveLaunch | Launch site | Free submission completed | September 28, 2026 |
| sideprojects.net | Launch site for side projects | Public rules read | September 28, 2026 |
| SaaSHub | Software alternatives site | Public rules read | September 28, 2026 |
| AlternativeTo | Software alternatives site | Public rules read | September 28, 2026 |
| IndieTools | Directory for indie tools | Free submission completed | September 28, 2026 |
| OMR Reviews | B2B software review site | Free submission completed | September 28, 2026 |
| Index by Dodo Payments | Software directory | Public rules read | September 28, 2026 |
What to prepare before you submit
- A live product on its own domain
- Several free routes reject waitlist pages and free subdomains. A working product with a clear pricing page gets through most reviews.
- One text set in three lengths
- A one-line tagline, a 2–3 sentence summary and a longer description. Most forms ask for all three with different limits.
- Logo and screenshots
- A square logo and two or three real screenshots at common sizes. Forms reject files that are too large.
- An email on your domain
- B2B sites and some directories check that you work at the company. A founder@ address on the product domain avoids stalls.
Common mistakes with free directories
- Trusting a list without a date
- Directories switch to paid-only often. We removed 50 platforms for mandatory fees. Check the date before you spend an hour on a form.
- Clicking the paid upgrade by habit
- Many free forms end on a paid “fast track” button. Read the last step twice; the free option is often the plain link below it.
- Expecting a listing tomorrow
- Free queues range from a day to several months. Submit early and track what is queued, scheduled and live.
- Submitting twice
- Some forms show no success message. Resubmitting can create duplicates or get you rejected. Save the confirmation and wait.
Questions
Which startup directories are really free?
In our catalog snapshot of September 24, 2026, 86 active platforms are free with no condition and 157 more are free if you meet their conditions. The ten above were re-checked on September 28, 2026.
Are there free SaaS directories that still accept new products?
Yes. Software and SaaS directories are one of the larger groups in the catalog. SaaSHub, AlternativeTo, IndieTools and the Dodo Payments index on this page all accept new software for free, with review queues.
What does “conditionally free” mean?
The listing is free only if you meet every condition the directory sets, for example a backlink or badge on your site, a sign-in or a niche rule. If you cannot meet one, treat the route as paid.
How often do free directories become paid?
Often enough to matter: we removed 50 platforms from the catalog after their free route disappeared or turned out to require payment. That is why every entry here has a check date.
What are good free directories to submit a startup to first?
Start with launch sites that need no account and have short queues, then add software directories with longer queues. Submit to the slow ones early so the wait runs while you work on the rest.
Let your agent handle the free routes
LaunchRepo gives your AI agent a playbook for each of the 299 platforms, with their conditions, and a tracker that keeps queued, scheduled and live apart. The launch price is €99.98, paid once, for unlimited own products.
See pricing