Startup directories worth submitting to
A working list of startup and SaaS directories: what they list, whether submission is free, and how to submit your startup without wasting a weekend.
Directories are the least glamorous distribution channel and the only one that keeps working after you stop paying attention to it. A listing sits there, gets crawled, and quietly sends people who were already looking for something like yours.
The trick is submitting to the ones with actual visitors and ignoring the hundreds that exist only to be submitted to. Below is a working list. Check current rules and pricing on each site — those change and we won't guess at them here.
General startup directories
Large curated collection of startup tools and resources, organised by category.
Early-stage startups, editorially reviewed. Best submitted before or right around launch.
Long-running listing of new startups and side projects.
Straightforward submission-based startup listing.
Startup profiles plus accelerator and programme listings. Useful if you're also applying to things.
Company database. Worth a profile mostly because people and press check it.
SaaS and software directories
Visitors arrive looking to replace a named tool. The highest-intent listing on this page.
Software alternatives and comparisons, community-maintained.
Review-driven software marketplace. Real effort to maintain, real buyer intent when you do.
Business software directory. Same category as G2, more traditional buyers.
Question-shaped comparisons: 'what are the best X'. Ranks well for those searches.
AI tool directories
The largest AI tool index. Worth submitting if your product is genuinely AI-shaped.
Categorised AI tool listings with a large audience.
AI tool directory with category and ranking pages.
Indie and side-project listings
Product profiles attached to the community. Better when you post updates alongside it.
Tool listings plus daily launch slots.
theappwall.com
This site. A single visual wall of web apps: one square per app, $5 once, kept forever, ordered by the clicks each square earns.
How to submit without wasting a weekend
- ◆Write your copy once: a 30-character name, a one-line pitch under about 60 characters, a 250-character description, and a longer paragraph. Every form asks for some subset of these.
- ◆Export a square logo at 256px and 512px, plus one wide screenshot. That covers nearly every upload field you'll meet.
- ◆Keep a spreadsheet: directory, date submitted, status, listing URL. You will forget otherwise, and you'll want the listing URLs later.
- ◆Submit in batches of five. Twenty in one sitting produces sloppy copy that stays public for years.
- ◆Skip anything that asks for a paid submission before you've seen evidence it has visitors. Check its traffic and how recently it added listings.
What a good listing looks like
Lead with what the product does, not what it is. "Turn a spreadsheet into a booking page" beats "an innovative platform for modern teams". Use the same square logo everywhere so people recognise you across listings. And link the listing back from your own site where it makes sense — directories notice.
Your app isn't on the wall yet.
One square, $5, forever. No subscription, no reviews, no feed to keep feeding.
Add your app — $5