LaunchRepoDefinition
A software directory is a categorized catalog of tools. Each product gets a profile page with description, pricing, screenshots and usually an “alternatives to” relation; many add user reviews or comparison tables. AlternativeTo, SaaSHub, G2 and Capterra are well-known examples; the LaunchRepo catalog groups them as software-tools and b2b-software.
Unlike a launch directory there is no launch day. A profile is either pending, live or claimed by the vendor, and it keeps being visited as long as people search for that category.
Example
A small team in Sheffield lists its API monitoring tool on SaaSHub. The field guide asks for a live English website on your own domain, two or three precise categories and a real alternative that already exists in the selector. If a competitor is missing from the selector, you do not invent one.
The observed profile became publicly reachable at once but carried “Pending approval”, and domain verification ran separately. So the row stays submitted with a note, and the domain request gets its own follow-up. There is no launch day to miss: the work is getting the categories and the alternative right once.
Why it matters for a directory launch
Software directories are the long tail of a launch: slower to approve, less exciting on day one, but they answer the searches people actually type — “alternative to X”, “best tool for Y”. Several offer a free profile with paid extras (featured placement, review campaigns, cross-publishing fees) that must be recognized and declined under a no-spend policy.
How LaunchRepo handles it
The catalog holds 76 software-tools and 27 B2B review entries, each with a playbook noting the free route as last observed and where the paid steps appear. The SaaSHub field guide documents a profile that stayed publicly reachable yet “Pending approval” — the tracker keeps it as submitted until the pending label is gone. Domain verification, where offered, is recorded as a separate pending item.
Go deeper
Software and tool directories in the catalog
The software directories with a public profile on this site, how their routes are doing across the category and which one to start with.
See the term in the repository
LaunchRepo is 299 directory playbooks, a product context file and a submission tracker your own agent runs. Pay €119.00 once; use it for every product you own.
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