Where to launch your app in 2026, and what each place is good for

By the LaunchPal team · Updated 20 October 2026

In short

Launch sites are good for feedback, links and a burst of early users, mostly other makers. Pick by stage. BetaList before you’re live. Once people can use it, Product Hunt is the biggest, and smaller sites like Uneed, Microlaunch, Peerlist and Fazier are a calmer start. Show HN and DevHunt suit developer tools, and comparison sites bring a slow, steady trickle. Your actual customers usually come from communities in your niche.

There are now dozens of places to “launch” a product, and the lists comparing them are mostly written by the sites themselves. So let’s start with what launch sites are actually good for.

They’re good for feedback from people who like trying new things, a handful of early users, links that help search engines discover you, and a deadline that makes you finish. They are rarely where your long-term customers come from. Most visitors on launch day are other makers browsing what’s new. That’s useful, but plan your launch around it, not against it.

  1. 1Before you’re liveBetaListWaitlist sign-ups
  2. 2Once people can use itUneed, Microlaunch, Peerlist, FazierFeedback and first users. Show HN or DevHunt for developer tools.
  3. 3With users and proofProduct HuntYour second, bigger launch
All along: communities in your niche, plus AlternativeTo and SaaSHub for a slow, steady trickle
Launch sites by stage. Product Hunt works best once you have users to tell and something to show.

Before you’re live

BetaList is built for early-stage startups that want sign-ups for a waitlist or a beta. It reviews submissions, so there can be a wait. Paid options to go faster have existed for years. Use it when you have a clear page and a product people can join soon, not when you’re still deciding what to build.

When people can use it

Product Hunt is the biggest and the most competitive. Launches that do well usually have weeks of preparation: an audience to tell, a polished page, good images and a maker who replies to every comment all day. If you have none of that yet, a Product Hunt launch can be quiet and discouraging. It often works better as your second launch, once you have users and some proof.

Uneed, Microlaunch, Fazier and Peerlist Launchpad are smaller, friendlier launch sites. Each works a little differently: Uneed schedules launches by day, Microlaunch keeps you visible for a month and collects feedback, and Peerlist ties launches to the maker’s profile. Most offer a free way in and paid options for a better date or more visibility, and those change often, so check each site’s current pricing before you plan.

Developer tools

Show HN on Hacker News has clear rules, and it’s worth reading them in full: “Show HN is for something you’ve made that other people can play with.” Landing pages, sign-up pages and newsletters don’t qualify, and neither does anything that isn’t ready to try. Make it easy to try without signing up, never ask friends to upvote, and stay to answer questions. The audience is technical and blunt, and the feedback can be the best you’ll get.

DevHunt is a launch site only for developer tools, which makes the audience a good match if that’s what you build.

AI tools

If your app is an AI tool, AI tool directories such as There’s An AI For That, Futurepedia and Toolify are where many people go to browse. Listing policies vary, and many charge for a listing or for featured spots, so look at how much traffic and which categories each one actually shows before paying.

Slow and steady: comparison sites

AlternativeTo and SaaSHub won’t give you a launch-day spike. They do something more useful over time: people find you there when they search for an alternative to a product they already know. List yourself next to the tools your users are leaving, with an honest description of how you’re different.

Where customers actually are

Your best early users usually aren’t browsing launch sites at all. They’re in the subreddits, Facebook groups, Discord servers and forums about the problem your app solves. Those places have strict rules about self-promotion, and helping there for a few weeks beats any launch day. Our guide to getting your first 10 users covers how.

Indie Hackers is worth joining either way: it’s full of founders sharing what worked, and an honest post about your launch, numbers included, gets real replies. Just remember that it’s founders, not usually your buyers.

Before you post anywhere

More guides