Where to submit your startup in 2026, and how to pick directories by Domain Rating

Submit your startup to a few reviewed launch platforms where your buyers already browse, then to the stronger directories in your category, ideally ones with a high Domain Rating that give a dofollow link. A short list submitted carefully beats hundreds of low-quality directories. Directory links can help a new domain get discovered, but they won't make it rank on their own.

Do startup directories still help in 2026?

They can, within limits. A good listing does three things: it puts your product in front of people browsing for new tools, it gives search engines and AI assistants another page that describes what you make, and sometimes it gives you a link that search engines count.

There are a lot of them. In August 2026, ideaproof tracked 627 startup and SaaS directories, with a median Domain Rating of 34; 584 of them were free to submit to and 253 gave a dofollow link. That means most directories won't pass ranking credit, and many have little traffic of their own.

The skeptics have a point. Advice to "submit to 1,000 directories" mostly produces links that nobody clicks and search engines discount; Alex Cloudstar's 2026 analysis argues against it for that reason. Mass submissions to low-quality sites can also look like link spam. Pick a few that have real visitors and a reason to exist.

A disclosure: MakerRadar is one of these launch platforms, so weigh what follows with that in mind.

What's the difference between launch platforms, directories and communities?

They work differently, and a good launch uses some of each:

• Launch platforms feature new products on a given day or week, with votes, comments and a front page. They bring a burst of attention and feedback, and a listing that stays up afterwards.
• Directories are catalogs organized by category. They bring slower, steadier traffic from people searching for a type of tool, and some give a lasting link.
• Communities are forums, subreddits, Slack and Discord groups, and newsletters where your users already talk. They often bring the most engaged visitors, but each has its own rules about self-promotion. Read them before you post.

What do dofollow, nofollow and sponsored mean?

A dofollow link is an ordinary link: search engines may count it as a vote for the page it points to. Other links carry a rel attribute that asks search engines not to:

• rel="nofollow": don't count this link as an endorsement.
• rel="sponsored": this link was paid for or is part of an ad.
• rel="ugc": this link is in user-generated content, such as a comment.

Google has treated these as hints, not strict rules, since 2020, and its spam policies ask that paid links be marked sponsored or nofollow. A nofollow listing still brings visitors and still describes your product to anyone who reads it; it just passes little ranking credit. Be wary of any site that sells you a "dofollow backlink" without marking it, since that's exactly what Google's link spam policies are about.

What is Domain Rating, and how much should it count?

Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs' score, from 0 to 100, for how strong a site's backlink profile is. It's logarithmic: going from 70 to 80 is far harder than going from 10 to 20. Moz has a similar score called Domain Authority (DA). Neither is a Google metric.

DR is a useful way to compare directories, because a link from a site with a strong link profile tends to carry more weight than one from a brand-new site. But don't sort by DR alone. Ask three questions of each directory:

1. Do my buyers actually browse it? A modest directory in your exact niche can send better visitors than a high-DR general one.
2. Is it reviewed? A site that approves listings by hand is more trustworthy, to people and search engines, than one that accepts anything.
3. What kind of link does it give? Dofollow, nofollow or sponsored, and whether that depends on a paid tier.

How do you build a shortlist?

A practical order:

1. Pick two or three launch platforms your audience uses, and plan a date for each, spaced a week or two apart.
2. Add the category directories for your type of product: there are directories for developer tools, AI tools, design tools, no-code, and many more.
3. Add a handful of general directories with a strong DR and a review process.
4. Add the communities where your users already are, following each one's rules.

That's usually 10 to 30 places, not hundreds. MakerRadar keeps a list of launch directories with each one's Domain Rating and link type, as a starting point.

How do you submit well?

The listing is what people see, so it deserves the same care as your homepage:

• Write a clear one-line description. Say what the product does and who it's for. "Invoicing for freelancers that chases late payments" beats "the future of finance".
• Keep the basics consistent. Use the same product name, logo and URL everywhere, so people and search engines recognize the same product.
• Tailor the longer description. Lead with what matters to that directory's audience rather than pasting the same paragraph everywhere.
• Use real screenshots. Show the product, not a stock image.
• Choose the right category. A precise category puts you in front of the right browsers.
• Space your submissions out. Doing a few a week lets you answer comments and fix what people point out.
• Track everything. Keep a spreadsheet of where you submitted, when, the listing URL and the link type, so you can follow up.

What should be ready before you submit?

Directories send visitors to your site, so make sure it's ready to receive them: a fast homepage that says what the product does, a card that shows when the link is shared, working links, and email that lands in the inbox. Our pre-launch website checklist walks through it, and the SPF, DKIM and DMARC guide covers the email side.

Plan yours in a minute

These free tools need no sign-up:

• The launch directory planner shows every launch directory and listing site we track with its Domain Rating by Ahrefs, filters them to free, dofollow, a minimum DR or a region, and gives you a ranked plan spaced ten a week, strongest links first, with a CSV export for your spreadsheet.
• The domain rating checker shows any site's Domain Rating from Ahrefs and where it would sit among the launch directories we track, so you can size up a directory before you submit, or see where your own site stands.
• The launch checklist lists everything a product's website needs before launch day, in order, each step with the free tool that checks it, then the steps for launch day itself.

And when you're ready, submit your product to MakerRadar.