Where to Launch Your Startup: 40 Places, Grouped by Goal and Audience
Launch your startup where your buyers already spend time. For makers and founders: Peerlist Launchpad, IndieDaddy, Indie Hackers, Tiny Startups. For developers: Show HN, Dev Hunt, GitHub. For consumers and productivity users: Product Hunt, Uneed, Fazier. For pre-launch: BetaList. Then add evergreen directories and review sites over the following weeks. Pick two or three for your main launch week rather than trying 40 at once.
Founders often ask "where should I launch?" when the better question is "where are my first 100 users today?" A list of 40 places is useful only if you can pick the five that fit.
This guide groups launch places by goal and audience, gives you a quick way to choose, and ends with a sample calendar. Facts were checked on 3 November 2026; confirm current rules on each site before you submit.
Start with three questions
- Who is the buyer? Founders, developers, consumers, business teams, creators?
- What do you need most right now? Feedback, a traffic spike, first paying users, or long-term SEO?
- How much time can you give? Daily boards reward founders who reply all day; weekly boards forgive a busy morning.
Write the answers down. They decide which groups below matter.
Group 1: Launch boards (attention plus a permanent page)
| Place | Format | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Product Hunt | Daily | Consumer apps, productivity, AI tools |
| Peerlist Launchpad | Weekly, Monday 00:00 UTC | Founders with a builder profile |
| Uneed | Daily plus newsletter | Indie products wanting a fairer day |
| Fazier | Daily, smaller field | Getting seen among peers |
| Microlaunch | Month-long | Products that need feedback |
| Smol Launch | Seven-day window | Indie SaaS |
| TinyLaunch | Weekly | Regular weekly cohort |
| IndieDaddy | Weekly plus reviewed directory | Indie founders; free dofollow with badge; launch from your AI agent |
| StartupBase | Launch plus newsletter | General startups |
| Launching Next | Reviewed submissions | Evergreen listing |
| MakerHunt, EarlyHunt | Weekly | AI and maker products |
Compare them in Product Hunt alternatives.
Group 2: Communities (feedback and relationships)
| Place | How to launch there |
|---|---|
| Indie Hackers | A story with numbers and lessons, not an ad |
| Reddit (r/SideProject, r/startups, niche subs) | Follow each subreddit's self-promotion rules. See our Reddit launch guide |
| Hacker News (Show HN) | A plain text post; technical products; no vote asking |
| X (Twitter) | A launch thread with a demo video, built on months of building in public |
| A personal story post; strong for B2B | |
| Discord and Slack communities | Only where launches are welcome; read the rules |
Group 3: Pre-launch and beta
| Place | Use it for |
|---|---|
| BetaList | Collecting early adopters before your public launch |
| Your own waitlist page | Building a list you control |
| Niche communities | Recruiting beta testers who match your user |
Group 4: Developer-focused
| Place | Notes |
|---|---|
| Show HN | Technical audience, blunt feedback |
| Dev Hunt | Weekly, GitHub sign-in voting |
| GitHub (README, awesome lists) | Pull requests to relevant "awesome" lists |
| LibHunt | Open source and developer tools |
| Dev.to and Hashnode | Write a technical build story |
Group 5: Directories and review sites (long-term SEO and trust)
| Place | Why |
|---|---|
| SaaSHub, AlternativeTo | Rank for "alternatives" searches |
| G2, Capterra, GetApp | Buyer research for B2B |
| SourceForge | Old, trusted domain |
| PeerPush, SideProjectors, Product Watch | Reported dofollow listings (SubmitSaaS) |
| Niche directories | Your category's own lists |
See best startup directories and free SaaS directories for backlinks.
Group 6: AI-specific
There's An AI For That, Future Tools, Good AI Tools, Acid Tools, Launch Llama and similar curated lists. See AI tool directories.
Group 7: Newsletters and media
- Founder newsletters attached to launch platforms (Uneed, Tiny Startups, Launch Llama, StartupBase).
- Niche newsletters in your industry: pitch a short, specific story.
- Podcasts that interview founders: pitch the problem you solve, not the product.
How to choose your first five
Use this scoring: give each place 0 to 2 points for audience fit, effort (lower effort scores higher) and lasting value (permanent page or link). Pick the top five. For most indie SaaS products, the top five end up being one big launch board, one weekly board, one community, one evergreen directory and one niche site.
A sample launch calendar
| Day | Place | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Day -21 | BetaList, Uneed free line | Queue early |
| Day -14 | IndieDaddy (free with badge) | Permanent reviewed listing and dofollow link |
| Day 0 | Product Hunt or Peerlist Launchpad | Main spike |
| Day 0 | Show HN (if technical) | Technical feedback |
| Day 2 | Indie Hackers story | Relationships |
| Day 7 | Fazier, TinyLaunch or Smol Launch | Second wave |
| Day 10 to 30 | Directories and review sites | Long-term SEO and trust |
| Day 30 | Review results by source | Keep what worked |
Our SaaS launch checklist covers what to prepare before Day 0.
Post templates for the main places
Each place has its own culture. The same announcement copied everywhere gets ignored or removed.
Show HN (title format and first comment):
Show HN: [Product] – [what it does in plain words]
I built this because [specific problem]. It works by [one technical sentence].
It's [free / open source / $X]. I'd love feedback on [one specific thing].Keep the title factual. Hacker News readers dislike marketing words.
Reddit (story post):
I spent 3 months building a tool for [problem]. Here's what I learned.
[Two short paragraphs: the problem, what you tried, what surprised you.]
If anyone wants to try it: [link]. Feedback welcome, especially on [thing].Check each subreddit's rules first; many only allow links on specific days.
Indie Hackers (milestone post):
Launched [product] last week: [honest numbers], [one lesson].Numbers and lessons get engagement. Pure announcements do not.
Launch board founder comment: say who you are, why you built it, what it does today, one honest limitation, and one question you want answered.
Mistakes to avoid
- Launching in places your buyers never visit.
- Copy-pasting the same promotional text into communities that dislike ads.
- Launching everywhere on the same day and missing replies.
- Forgetting to tag links, so you never learn which place worked.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best place to launch a startup?
Where your buyers already spend time. For indie and founder audiences, weekly launch boards and Indie Hackers. For developers, Show HN and Dev Hunt. For consumer products, Product Hunt and Uneed.
How many places should I launch on?
Two or three for your main launch week, then evergreen directories over the following month. More places only help if you can engage properly on each.
Should I launch on Reddit?
Yes, if your users are there and you follow each subreddit's rules. Share a story and ask for feedback rather than posting an ad.
Where can I launch for free?
Most launch boards, communities and directories are free. Some free dofollow listings require a badge on your site, and paid options usually buy speed or extra visibility.
Where should I launch a developer tool?
Show HN, Dev Hunt, GitHub awesome lists, and developer communities. Product Hunt can work for developer tools with broad appeal.