# Indie Builder Launch Playbook: PH, Directories & 30 Days After Canonical: https://whatareyoubuilding.ai/guides/indie-builder-launch-playbook What to prepare, where to launch, and which free directories still exist a year later. Follow it in order and you'll have one permanent listing live by day +7 — without paying for any of it. ## Key takeaways The whole playbook, in nine lines. 1. Launch ≠ listing ≠ mention. **Know which one you're doing.** 2. Product Hunt is optional; fit and helpers matter more than the brand. 3. **Day +7:** one permanent reviewed listing live. 4. Free path only — skip paid queue-jumps. 5. Badge-tolls (listing only if you add their badge/backlink) — decline. 6. Pace: 5–10 free submits per week. 7. **Day 0:** can a stranger try it + a clear one-liner. **Day 30:** return use, conversations, lasting URLs. 8. This page is the sequence; deeper lists live in [PH alternatives](/guides/product-hunt-alternatives) and [where to submit](/guides/where-to-submit-your-startup). 9. Soft-CTA WAYB in discovery threads; thank-you and listing posts get short hype only. ## Three words you will mix up Getting these wrong is what costs a week. - **Launch board** — one-day (or one-week) spike: Product Hunt, Show HN, Peerlist Launchpad. - **Permanent listing** — lasting URL on someone else's site, often with a link back. - **Mention** — newsletter or roundup; you usually earn it, you don’t "submit" it. Spend scarce time on permanent listings first. ## Before you submit Write this pack once and every form after it takes ten minutes. - Name · one-liner under 12 words · short paragraph · tags - Square logo · screenshot · socials · two-sentence founder bio - A working `og:image` - Soft presence where people already discuss the problem ## The 30 days Your sequence, from a week before to a month after. ### Days −7 to 0 — Prep - Finish the assets pack above. - Join or lurk in 1–2 communities where the problem is discussed. - No promo yet. ### Launch window — Go public - Product Hunt only if the product fits — fast demo, maker crowd — and people will show up. - Otherwise one or two smaller rooms that match it: DevHunt and Show HN for dev tools, Peerlist Launchpad for a builder audience. - Skip paywalled boards and badge-tolls on the free tier. - Full list: [Product Hunt alternatives](/guides/product-hunt-alternatives). ### Day +7 — Checkpoint - One permanent reviewed listing is live. Non-negotiable. - Worked example: [list on WhatAreYouBuilding.AI](/submit) — free, human review, do-follow, and the LISTED ON badge is optional. ### Days 1–14 — Evergreen - Free lasting directories at a human pace, about 5–10 a week. - Log status. Follow up once on moderated queues after ~2 weeks. - Use the criteria below, and the full filter on [where to submit](/guides/where-to-submit-your-startup). ### Days 15–30 — Follow-through - Talk to users. Watch activation and return use. - Add a true badge only if the listing exists without it. - Write one honest week-3 update. - A second Product Hunt attempt is usually the wrong spend. ## Quick launch picker Two columns, five rows, one answer. | If you built… | Try… | | --- | --- | | A dev tool | DevHunt + Show HN | | Something with a fast visual demo | Peerlist Launchpad, or another free board that fits — **not** paywalled "free" lines | | B2B with a long sales cycle | Skip launch boards; comparison listings later | | Something unfinished | Waitlist first; don't burn launch day | | A second Product Hunt | Usually no — do lasting listings instead | ## Lasting listings Only list places that pass all of these: free path · permanent page · reviewed or curated · honest outbound link · no badge-toll · not a never-review queue. ### WhatAreYouBuilding.AI Permanent directory · Free · Do-follow (`noopener` only) · No badge-toll Human review; country, category and stage. [Submit](/submit) ### Indie Hackers — Products Permanent product page · Free · [object Object] · No badge-toll Lasting `/product/{slug}`. Instant after an account; treat it as a living profile. [New product](https://www.indiehackers.com/products/new) ### SaaSHub Comparison listing · Free · [object Object] · No badge-toll Editorial queue, days typical. Blog "dofollow" claims are stale. [Submit](https://www.saashub.com/services/submit) ### AlternativeTo Software listing · Free backlog · Do-follow on Official Website · No badge-toll Free review often takes **months**. The optional $5 is speed only — skip it unless you choose to pay. Account → Suggest new application. ### Peerlist — project Profile project · Free · [object Object] · No badge-toll Project stays on your profile after the week. Don't count on SEO unless you place. [Launchpad](https://peerlist.io/launchpad) One of these is ours. It is marked as the worked example, and it is held to the same six criteria as the rest — the guide above tells you how to check that yourself. ## Skip, for this thin list Named with the reason, so a decline is something you were told about. - **Uneed** — treat as paid — the free waiting line closed in September 2026, so it is not a free lasting path. - **BetaList** — paid-only. - **Fazier** — the free tier is a badge/backlink toll. - **MicroLaunch** — free path not proven. - **G2 / Capterra** — review and sales-cycle heavy for day 0. More options and the full filter: [where to submit your startup](/guides/where-to-submit-your-startup). ## Questions builders ask ### Where should I launch besides Product Hunt? One or two rooms that match the product (DevHunt, Peerlist Launchpad, Show HN for technical tools), then put most time into permanent listings above. Full list: Product Hunt alternatives. ### Launch board vs permanent directory? Launch = spike, then fade. Directory = lasting page, often with a link back. One afternoon → do the directory. ### What is worth doing in week 1? Assets, soft community presence, at most one or two launch channels, and by day +7 one permanent reviewed listing live. ### What do I do in the 30 days after? Free lasting listings at a human pace, one follow-up on moderated queues, and measure conversations and return use. ### Is Product Hunt still worth it for solo builders in 2026? Only with fit and people who will show up. Otherwise skip it and do listings. ### What do I measure on day 0 vs day 30? Day 0: can they try it, clear one-liner. Day 30: return use, real conversations, lasting listing URLs live. Upvotes alone are not the score. ## Using an assistant Optional. This guide is written for you; an agent can run the same sequence. - Ask Grok Bot to run the skill **Indie Builder Launch Playbook** with your product fields — checklist, Soft-CTA drafts, badge-toll checks. - After you are listed on WhatAreYouBuilding.AI, agents can query builders by country, category and stage over MCP: `https://whatareyoubuilding.ai/api/mcp` - WAYB is a product directory agents query — not the public MCP server registry. More: [/mcp](/mcp). ## Next - [List your product](/submit) — Free, reviewed by a person before it appears, and a do-follow link that is not traded for a badge. - [The guide as Markdown](/guides/indie-builder-launch-playbook.md) — The whole thing as plain text, for handing to an assistant. - [API and MCP](/mcp) — The endpoint an assistant queries, and what it can read without a key. - [All guides](/guides) — The rest of the writing about getting found.