App launch
LaunchThe dated moment an app is publicly released or presented to a new audience, together with the coordinated activity around it. An event, not a piece of software.
Directory
Launch directory
A site where makers submit new products for review and publication, usually combining a dated feed of recent launches with permanent, browsable listing pages.
Also called launch platform, product directory, startup directory
A launch directory is a site where makers submit a product, an editor or a community reviews it, and approved products appear in a dated feed and then live on as permanent listing pages organized by category, platform or tag.
Directories differ on four axes that matter more than their branding. Cadence: daily, weekly, monthly or continuous. The free tier: whether one exists, how long its queue is, and what it costs you in badges or link attributes. The editorial gate: whether submissions can be declined, and whether the rules are published. The link policy: whether outbound links are dofollow, nofollow or conditional.
The value of a listing is usually misunderstood. Launch-day traffic from any single directory is modest and decays within days. What persists is the permanent page: a structured, indexable description of your product on a domain with its own authority, which keeps appearing in search results and in AI answers long after the feed has moved on.
That is also why a half-completed listing is a wasted one. The feed forgets you in a week. The page is what you actually earned.
Our comparison of ten launch directories covers cadence, free tier, entry price and link policy for each.
Last reviewed .
See also
Upvote
DirectoryA single positive vote on a listing during its launch window, used by most directories as the primary ranking input and frequently as a gate on other benefits.
Editor's pick
DirectoryA listing selected by a directory’s editorial team rather than by community voting, usually carrying placement, a badge, and any benefits that votes would otherwise unlock.
Best-of page
SEOAn editorially curated roundup answering "best X tools", with stated selection criteria and a last-updated date rather than an unranked dump of listings.