In 2026, Product Hunt is busier than ever and harder to be seen on. Product Hunt Pulse, a third-party tracker, counts 189,478 launches posted there in 2026 so far, against 43,027 in all of 2024, and only about 4% of 2026 launches were featured. So makers look elsewhere.
This is a comparison of 15 places to launch, including Product Hunt itself and Every Debut, which we run. We read each platform's own pricing and rules pages on 9 November 2026 and quote what they say. Where a page was blocked to us, we say so and use a dated third-party source instead.
How to read the numbers
- Traffic is the figure Similarweb shows on its free public page for October 2026, which we read on 9 November 2026. The label on the page reads "Total Visits Last 3 Months", but the figures move in step with Similarweb's "last month change", which suggests a single-month estimate. The label is ambiguous, so use these only to compare sites with each other.
- Claims are numbers a platform publishes about itself. We mark them as claims. They often differ a lot from Similarweb's estimate.
- Prices are as printed on 9 November 2026. Several sites show a crossed-out higher price; we give the price you would pay.
The comparison at a glance
| Platform | Format | Cost to launch | Main paid options | Traffic (Similarweb, Oct 2026) | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product Hunt | Daily board; moderators pick "featured" launches | Free | Advertising (self-serve, CPM capped at $35; managed from $10,000) | 5.7M | Products with an audience ready to show up on the day |
| Hacker News (Show HN) | Community posts ranked by votes and age | Free | None | 46.4M (whole site) | Developer tools, open source, technical products |
| Peerlist Launchpad | Weekly from Monday; random order for 2 days | No fee listed; verified profile required | None found | 439.6K | Makers with a professional profile |
| BetaList | Curated list of unreleased and beta startups | Paid only; refund if not selected | Boost $99/week or $199/month | 274.2K | Pre-launch products looking for early testers |
| Uneed | Daily board | Free, date at least 50 days out | Fast-track $14.99; pick a date $39.99; Pro $99/year | 201.1K | Small SaaS that can wait or pay a little |
| Microlaunch | 30-day launch; monthly rankings | Free route not shown on its site | Launch Pro $39; Launch Plus $79; Launch Everywhere $149 | 71.4K | Makers who want a longer window |
| Fazier | Daily board, plus weekly and monthly | Free with a badge linking back | Lite $29; Premium $49; Super (price unclear) | 98.2K | Indie makers who want a quick listing |
| TinyLaunch | Multi-day launches; top 3 get badges | Free | Premium $39; featured $15 to $30/week with a click guarantee | 89.5K | Small budgets that want a measurable promise |
| DevHunt | Weekly batch for developer tools | Listing free; launch week $49 | Super boosts $99 to $199 | 106.9K | Developer tools only |
| Tiny Startups | Board where rank is bought | From £69, pay what you want | Pay more to rank higher | 41.8K | Makers who want a paid, predictable spot |
| PeerPush | Listings for "people and AI" | Free, behind paid users | $39 instant; $89 with 7 days; $229 with 30 days | 218.9K | Makers who want impressions packages |
| There's An AI For That | AI tool directory | One free winner a month (third-party report) | $49 listing; $347 with newsletter and ad credit (Aug 2026) | 4.3M | AI tools |
| AlternativeTo | Crowd-sourced "alternatives to X" | Free | One-time priority review fee | 2.6M | Products that replace a well-known tool |
| SaaSHub | Software alternatives and comparisons | Free listing and verification | Featured $99/month | 727.9K | SaaS with clear competitors |
| Every Debut | Weekly cohort, Monday to Monday UTC; numbers hidden for 48 hours | Free | No paid queue time, links, rank, vote weight or services. Labelled advertising (ad boxes and sponsored stories, prices on /pricing) never appears inside a ranked list or search and never changes rank, points or votes | None yet. Every Debut opened to the public on 9 November 2026; its first launch week is 2026-W47 (16–22 November). | Indie makers and websites that want a fair week |
The details for each, with sources, follow.
Product Hunt
How it works. A daily board. Launching is free, you can schedule about a month ahead, and launches go live at 12:01 am Pacific for a full 24-hour day, according to a November 2026 round-up citing LaunchList's checklist. Moderators decide which launches are featured; in 2026 that was about 4% of all launches (Product Hunt Pulse). Ranking uses "points", which Product Hunt's help center describes as "a combination of upvotes and meaningful engagement"; the weights are not published. Someone else can submit your product, but most featured launches are submitted by their makers: Product Hunt's own launch guide said 79% of featured posts were self-submitted when we read it on 8 November 2026.
Price. Free to launch. Product Hunt sells advertising: self-serve ads priced per thousand impressions and capped at $35 CPM, and managed campaigns from $10,000 (help center, read 8 November 2026).
What you get. A product page on a well-known domain, a chance at daily, weekly and monthly awards, and a launch history.
Traffic. 5.7M (Similarweb, October 2026). The same page showed 6.1M for September when our research read it on 8 November.
Suits. Products whose makers already have an audience that will try the product on the day, especially B2B and AI tools. More in is Product Hunt worth it in 2026?
Hacker News (Show HN)
How it works. Show HN is for "something you've made that other people can play with". Stories are ranked by an algorithm that "divides points by a power of the time since a story was submitted", adjusted by flags, anti-abuse software and moderators. The rules are strict: the project should be "non-trivial", people should be able to try it "ideally without barriers such as signups or emails", and "blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters, lists, and other reading material" are off topic. Don't ask friends to vote.
Price. Free. There are no paid options.
What you get. Technical readers who try things and comment frankly. Several makers report more traffic from Hacker News than from Product Hunt for developer products; see Product Hunt vs Show HN.
Traffic. 46.4M (Similarweb, October 2026), for the whole of Hacker News, not Show HN alone.
Suits. Developer tools, open source, technical products, and makers who are around to discuss their work.
Peerlist Launchpad
How it works. The launch window "opens on Monday every week" and "continues for a week". For the first two days, projects are "in random order to give equal exposure". Only verified profiles can launch. Ranking is "an aggregate score that takes into account the number of upvotes, comments, views, link visits" and traction; "Only qualitative comments are considered for ranking", and votes and feedback from verified profiles weigh more.
Price. Peerlist's help pages list no launch fee. Workplace verification is free; identity verification "has a minimal fee".
What you get. Winners appear in Peerlist's weekly e-mails and social channels and get a badge; the top 5 of the week get a backlink.
Traffic. 439.6K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Makers with a professional profile, and products for developers and designers.
BetaList
How it works. A curated list of startups that are "unreleased, in private beta or recently launched", according to SaaSCity's review of BetaList (checked 7 October 2026). There are no public vote counts.
Price. Every submission is paid, and a startup that is not selected gets "a full refund automatically". Boost is $99 a week or $199 a month, which SaaSCity reports as introductory pricing; sponsorship is $4,999 a month. Submission prices appear only at the end of the form.
What you get. A listing in front of early adopters, and with Boost, homepage and newsletter placement. BetaList states 60,000–70,000+ newsletter subscribers.
Traffic. 274.2K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Products before or just after public launch that want early testers. More in Product Hunt vs BetaList.
Uneed
How it works. A daily board.
Price. Free: "We assign your launch date, at least 50 days out", with an upvote score of 10 needed to stay published and 20 for a do-follow backlink. Fast-track $14.99 (a slot in about 14 days). Skip the line $39.99 (choose your date, guaranteed do-follow link). Relaunch $15. Pro $99 a year, which includes a "+3 Vote multiplier". A lifetime Pro offer at $149 opens on 16 November with 100 places. Ads and reviews range from $147 (a public review) to $297 a month (a sidebar ad).
What you get. A dated launch, a backlink if you meet the score or pay, and newsletter reach. Uneed claims "125K monthly visitors", 22,000 visitors a month sent to product sites, and "30,000 newsletter subscribers".
Traffic. 201.1K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Small SaaS products that can plan seven weeks ahead, or pay to choose a date. Note that the Pro vote multiplier is paid vote weight; we discuss that in paid launch platforms.
Microlaunch
How it works. A launch gets "30 days of continuous visibility", with monthly rankings.
Price. Launch Pro $39 (featured spots, two boosts, do-follow backlinks), Launch Plus $79 (adds a post on X and Reddit), Launch Everywhere $149 (adds submission to 50 directories), and a product review with a go-to-market plan for $299. Its premium page did not show a free option on 9 November; earlier third-party guides (OrangeBot, August 2026) described a free launchpad.
What you get. A month on the board instead of a day. Microlaunch claims "30k+ Unique Visitors Monthly".
Traffic. 71.4K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Makers who prefer a long, low-pressure window over a one-day race.
Fazier
How it works. A daily board, with weekly and monthly views.
Price. Basic is "Free with embed badge": "A backlink to our site is required", and listings are "Reviewed & listed within 30 days". Lite $29 (backlink for top-3 daily products). Premium $49 (guaranteed backlink, promoted across Fazier for 15 days). Super includes a permanent do-follow link and 15 days as a homepage sponsor; its price was printed as "$99$139" on 9 November, so it is unclear which applies.
What you get. A quick listing and, on paid plans, a backlink. Fazier claims "1M+" visits from founders and "2500+" newsletter subscribers.
Traffic. 98.2K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Indie makers who want a listing within days and are fine linking back.
TinyLaunch
How it works. Launches stay "Live on homepage for multiple days"; the top 3 get badges and a backlink.
Price. Free. Premium $39 per launch with a "Guaranteed high authority backlink". Featured spots cost $30 a week (top) or $15 (mid-feed), with a guarantee: "if your cost per click hasn't come down to $1 by the end of your run, the feature stays up for free until it does." An AI visibility audit costs $9.
What you get. Exposure for several days and, if you pay for a feature, a clear cost-per-click promise.
Traffic. 89.5K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Small budgets, and makers who want a promise they can measure.
DevHunt
How it works. "Each week a new batch launches on the home page", and "The tools with the most votes at the end of the week are the winners". Only developer tools are accepted. Voting needs a GitHub or Google sign-in.
Price. "Listing a tool is free: every tool gets a permanent page with a nofollow link." "Launching costs $49 once: you choose the launch week, get a spot in the newsletter", plus a permanent do-follow link. Optional super boosts cost $199, $149 or $99 for positions 1 to 3 in the launch e-mail and the start of the week; after that the home page ranks by votes.
What you get. A developer audience and a weekly newsletter. DevHunt claims 40,000 newsletter subscribers.
Traffic. 106.9K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Developer tools only.
Tiny Startups
How it works. A board where position is paid, and the site says so: "Rank is purchased and says so — the more you pay, the higher you rank."
Price. "Pay what you want", with a "minimum £69 to get listed", which includes a do-follow backlink and needs no account.
What you get. A predictable placement and a Sunday newsletter that claims "25k+ founders". Tiny Startups' revenue is verified on TrustMRR: $183,278 all-time and $4,230 in the last 30 days as of 9 November 2026.
Traffic. 41.8K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Makers who want a guaranteed, paid placement and are comfortable with open pay-to-rank.
PeerPush
How it works. A "Product discovery platform for people and AI", with permanent listings.
Price. Free, but you "Wait in line behind paid users". Standard Launch $39 goes live instantly with a permanent listing link. Launch plus 7 days $89 (about 20,000 impressions) and plus 30 days $229 (about 100,000 impressions). Sponsorship from $129 a week.
What you get. A listing and, on higher plans, an impressions target. PeerPush claims "1,404,579 monthly visits".
Traffic. 218.9K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Makers who want a permanent listing and an impressions-based package.
There's An AI For That
How it works. A large directory of AI tools.
Price. Its pages returned 403 to us on 9 November, so we rely on OrangeBot's August 2026 guide, which read the prices on 18 August: a free monthly thread on X with one winner, $49 for a permanent listing, and $347 with a newsletter slot and $300 of pay-per-click credit.
What you get. A permanent listing in a catalogue people search when they look for an AI tool.
Traffic. 4.3M (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. AI tools, as a long-term listing after a launch rather than instead of one.
AlternativeTo
How it works. "A crowd-sourced and free site" where people suggest alternatives to known software. It is funded by ads.
Price. Free. A priority review is available "for a one-time fee, shown before you pay"; "Paying only changes when a human looks at your submission." The normal queue "holds several thousand apps". Links to apps are nofollow "unless our editors decide otherwise, and you can't buy a followed link."
What you get. A listing next to the tools your product replaces, which keeps sending visitors for years.
Traffic. 2.6M (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. Products that are a clear alternative to something well known.
SaaSHub
How it works. A catalogue of software with alternatives and comparison pages.
Price. Listing and verification are free; verification gives a green badge and "higher priority". Featured costs "$99 / Month · cancel anytime", with "no review queue" and rotation in the SaaSHub newsletter.
What you get. A permanent page and placement on competitors' alternatives pages if featured. SaaSHub claims "564,000+ monthly visits" and "31,800+ Subscribers".
Traffic. 727.9K (Similarweb, October 2026).
Suits. SaaS products in categories where buyers compare options.
Every Debut
How it works. A weekly launch site for software and websites. Each launch week runs from Monday 00:00 UTC to the next Monday. For the first 48 hours, lists are shuffled per reader and no ranks or point counts are public; after that, launches are ranked by points. Votes are weighted by a published table, and each launch shows a public ledger of where its points came from. Indie, Funded and Company launches are ranked in separate leagues. Every approved launch is guaranteed at least 300 real views. Rejections come with a reason and one appeal. Products made by our own team are labelled as ours wherever they appear.
Price. Free to launch. Every Debut does not sell time in the queue, links, rank or vote weight, or services. It offers labelled advertising — ad boxes and sponsored stories, with prices on /pricing — which never appear inside a ranked list or search and never change rank, points or votes.
What you get. A week in a cohort, the view guarantee, and a product page that keeps updates and history. Every approved launch can show an optional badge reading "Launched on Every Debut · 2026-W47" once its week has started; a launch in the top three of its league shows its frozen result, such as "#2 Indie debut on Every Debut · 2026-W47". The badge asks nothing in return and has no tracking.
Traffic. None to report yet. Every Debut opened to the public on 9 November 2026; its first launch week is 2026-W47 (16–22 November).
Suits. Indie makers, websites as well as apps, and anyone who wants a fair week rather than a one-day race. The rules are on how it works.
Also worth knowing
- OpenHunts: weekly launches at 8:00 am UTC on Mondays. Free with "20 slots weekly" and a "Current queue time" of about 60 weeks; a do-follow link if you finish top 3. Premium is printed as "$9.9 $19" per launch; highlights cost $20 to $59 a week. 32K (Similarweb, October 2026).
- Futurepedia: an AI tool directory. Its submit page returned 404 to us; OrangeBot reported $247 (sold out) and $497 options in August 2026. 527.7K (Similarweb, October 2026).
- G2: a B2B review site. A basic vendor profile is free to claim; the Starter plan is $299 a month or $2,999 a year in the first year, then $599 a month or $6,000 a year. 2.3M (Similarweb, October 2026).
- TrustMRR: a database of startups with revenue verified through read-only access to payment providers for most connections. Adding a startup is free; sale listings cost $29 to $499. 925.5K (Similarweb, October 2026).
We left out Toolify because its pages returned 403 to us, and community sites such as Indie Hackers and Reddit, which are not launch platforms and each have their own rules on self-promotion.
How to choose
By product.
- Developer tool: Show HN and DevHunt first.
- Beta, not open to all: BetaList.
- AI tool: a launch board for the moment, then There's An AI For That and other AI directories for the long tail.
- A replacement for a known tool: AlternativeTo and SaaSHub.
- A content site, shop or service business: a platform that accepts websites. See launching a website, not an app.
By budget.
- Nothing: Show HN, Peerlist, TinyLaunch's free tier, AlternativeTo, SaaSHub, Every Debut, and Uneed's or OpenHunts' free queues if you can wait.
- Under $50: a fast-track or premium launch on Uneed, TinyLaunch, Fazier, Microlaunch, DevHunt or PeerPush.
- More: decide what you are buying (time, placement or rank) before you pay. Our guide to paid launch platforms explains how to judge an offer.
By time. A daily board rewards an audience that shows up in one day. A weekly or 30-day board rewards steady sharing. Directories reward patience: they bring a little traffic every month for years.
Whichever you choose, launch on one main platform per week, use tagged links, and measure sign-ups that stay, not votes. Our complete launch guide walks through the whole process, and the launch market report for November 2026 has the wider numbers.
Product Hunt, Hacker News, BetaList and other names are trademarks of their owners; Every Debut is not affiliated with them.