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Field notes

Dofollow directories for startups: 117 we checked, and the catch on each

117 startup, SaaS and AI directories that gave a followed link when we checked, ranked by DR, with which ones need a badge, a top-3 finish or a paid upgrade.

Guide cover: Dofollow directories for startups, with a table of high domain rating directories that pass a dofollow link
By Pruthvi RajSeptember 26, 2026Updated November 2, 2026

A dofollow directory is one whose listing links to your site without rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored" or rel="ugc", so the link can pass ranking signals. We've checked the link on live listings for 151 of the 397 directories in the AgentLaunch catalog. 117 gave the listed product a followed link and 34 were nofollow. The strongest free ones with no conditions include SourceForge (DR 93), AlternativeTo (DR 80), F6S (DR 83), TrustRadius (DR 85) and Future Tools (DR 69).

The catch is in the conditions. Of those 117, 65 give a followed link on a plain free listing. 20 only do it if you add their badge to your site, 7 only for products that finish in the daily top three or hit a vote score, 3 only on a paid upgrade, and 21 are paid-only directories.

The strongest dofollow directories, by domain rating

The 35 highest-DR directories where we've seen a followed link to a listed product:

Directory Type DR Monthly visits Cost to list Free listing gets the link?
SourceForge Software review 93 22.5M Free Yes
VS Code Marketplace Integration marketplace 92 4.1M Free Yes
Product Hunt Launch platform 91 3.7M Free Not rechecked
Finances Online Software review 87 10K Free Yes
Softpedia Developer tools 86 3.3M Free Yes
TrustRadius Software review 85 290K Free Yes
Startup Fame Launch platform 84 69K Free with a badge; paid from $19 With their badge
F6S Startup database 83 1.3M Free Yes
Fazier Launch platform 83 87K Free with a badge; paid from $29 With their badge
Dang AI AI tools 82 346K Free with a badge; paid from $49 With their badge
twelve.tools Launch platform 82 46K Free with a badge; paid from $36 With their badge
SaaSHub Software review 81 407K Free Yes
Findly Launch platform 81 25K Free with a badge; paid from $79 With their badge
AlternativeTo Software review 80 2.1M Free Yes
Turbo0 SaaS directory 80 2K Free with a badge; paid from $29.90 With their badge
Index by Dodo Payments Launch platform 79 6K Free Yes
ToolPilot AI AI tools 78 89K Free with a badge With their badge
There's An AI For That AI tools 77 5.1M Paid, from $49 Paid listing
FindStack Software review 77 50K Free Yes
BetaList Launch platform 76 259K Price behind sign-in Yes
Uneed Launch platform 76 173K Free; paid from $14.99 Top launches only
Alternative.me Software review 75 713K Free Yes
SaaSworthy Software review 75 220K Free Yes
PeerPush Launch platform 75 55K Free Yes
CrozDesk Software review 74 255K Free Yes
SelectHub Software review 74 122K Free Yes
AI Agents Directory AI agents 74 70K Free Yes
Smol Launch Launch platform 74 37K Free with a badge; paid from $19/wk With their badge
Launch Igniter Launch platform 74 19K Free with a badge; paid from $12 With their badge
Toolify AI tools 73 1.1M Paid, from $99 Paid listing
TinyLaunch Launch platform 73 77K Free; paid from $15/wk Top launches only
StartupBase Launch platform 73 35K Free with a badge; paid from $39 With their badge
Aura++ Launch platform 73 33K Free; paid from $29 Top launches only
Dofollow.tools Launch platform 73 53 Free with a badge; paid from $19 With their badge
FoundrList Launch platform 72 20K Free Paid upgrade only
Table of the highest domain rating startup directories that give a dofollow link, with monthly visits and price
The highest-DR dofollow directories in the AgentLaunch catalog.

Monthly visits are for the whole site, not for your listing. Product Hunt has carried a plain followed link on product pages, but our latest check couldn't load the page, so we haven't reconfirmed it.

Free dofollow directories with no badge and real traffic

These 44 list you for free, ask for no badge, get at least 10,000 visits a month, and gave listed products a followed link when we checked. Sorted by traffic:

Directory Type DR Monthly visits Cost to list
SourceForge Software review 93 22.5M Free
VS Code Marketplace Integration marketplace 92 4.1M Free
Softpedia Developer tools 86 3.3M Free
AlternativeTo Software review 80 2.1M Free
F6S Startup database 83 1.3M Free
Alternative.me Software review 75 713K Free
SaaSHub Software review 81 407K Free
Future Tools AI tools 69 363K Free
TrustRadius Software review 85 290K Free
LibHunt Developer tools 66 280K Free
BetaList Launch platform 76 259K Price behind sign-in
CrozDesk Software review 74 255K Free
SaaSworthy Software review 75 220K Free
Serchen Software review 67 143K Free
PitchWall Developer tools 68 140K Free; paid from $49
Startup Ranking Startup database 61 139K Free; paid from $99
Startup Stash Startup database 65 139K Free
TOOOLS.design Design showcase 47 135K Free; paid from $200
Spot SaaS Software review 66 134K Free
AI Tools Directory AI tools 51 126K Free
SelectHub Software review 74 122K Free
Appvizer Software review 52 119K Free
Made With Vue.js Developer tools 60 109K Free
MicroLaunch Launch platform 64 93K Free
WhatTheAI AI tools 37 80K Free; paid from $49
AI Agents Directory AI agents 74 70K Free
Lachief AI tools 23 62K Free; paid from $250
PeerPush Launch platform 75 55K Free
FindStack Software review 77 50K Free
Tiny Startups Alternatives 71 50K Free
OpenFuture AI tools 56 47K Free
SaaS AI Tools AI tools 53 42K Free; paid from $67
Launching Next Launch platform 54 38K Free; paid from $99
TryLaunch No-code 56 38K Free; paid from $39
Tip Season AI tools 44 30K Free; paid from $99
Insidr AI AI tools 47 28K Free
AI-Hunter.io Launch platform 20 24K Free; paid from $19
ShipYard HQ Developer tools 35 19K Free
AI With Me AI tools 58 19K Free; paid from $19.90
BroUseAI AI tools 11 18K Free; paid from $29
Altern AI tools 50 17K Free
ToolScout AI tools 28 15K Free
The AI Navigator AI tools 28 14K Free
Startup inspiration Design showcase 60 13K Free

Start here. These give you the link and an audience without putting anything on your site.

The catch on "free dofollow"

Launch platforms in particular attach conditions to the followed link. The ones we've recorded:

  • Badge first. 20 of the followed-link directories make the free link depend on their badge or a link back from your site. ScrollLaunch and ShowMeYourSite keep it dofollow only while the badge stays up, and Toolhunter and LaunchZone switch it on once they verify the badge.
  • Winners only. TinyLaunch gives free launches the backlink only if they finish in the daily top 3. Firsto and Open Launch need a top-3 finish and the badge, Aura++ free launches are nofollow unless they reach the top 3 or add the badge, MakerHunt's unless they reach the top 3, and Uneed's followed link needs an upvote score of 10.
  • Paid upgrade. FoundrList, EarlyHunt and LaunchBoosts free listings are nofollow; the followed link comes with a paid tier.
  • Paid but nofollow. It also works the other way. SaaSCity's free listing is dofollow while its paid sponsor slots are marked sponsored, and G2's profile links are nofollow even though the profile is free.

If a directory's terms say "dofollow" without saying for whom, assume it means the paid tier until your own listing shows otherwise.

High DR isn't traffic

Of the 38 followed-link directories with DR 70 or more, 5 get under 10,000 visits a month. Domain rating measures a site's backlinks, not its audience. Index by Dodo Payments (DR 79) and Turbo0 (DR 80) have strong links and very few visitors. Finances Online (DR 87) gets under 10,000. That's fine if the link is what you want, but sort by visits when you want launch traffic. See best startup directories for the traffic ranking.

You don't have to trust any list, including ours. Once your listing is live:

  1. Open your listing page while signed out.
  2. Right-click the link to your site and choose Inspect.
  3. Look at the <a> tag. If it has rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored" or rel="ugc", it's not a followed link. If rel is missing or only says noopener or noreferrer, it's dofollow.
  4. Check the page source too, not only the rendered page. Some directories add nofollow with JavaScript after the page loads.
  5. Check again after a month. Some directories switch free listings to nofollow later, or when a badge comes down.

Our directory backlink quality checklist covers the rest: relevance, where the link sits, and whether the page is indexed.

  • They help a new site's Domain Rating a little. A batch of followed links from DR 60+ directories usually moves a brand-new site out of single digits. Our guide on why DR doesn't always rise after backlinks explains when it doesn't.
  • They won't rank thin pages. Directory links are a starting point, not an SEO strategy.
  • Relevance matters more than count. Thirty followed links from startup, SaaS and AI directories beat three hundred from unrelated web directories, and pushing the same text to hundreds of low-quality directories is what Google's spam policies call link spam.
  • "Not checked" isn't "nofollow". We haven't checked 246 directories in our catalog yet. Leave them out of any dofollow count until you've seen the listing.

Getting listed on dofollow directories with your own AI agent

AgentLaunch is a directory-submission kit you open in Claude Code, Codex or Cursor. Your agent picks the directories that fit from a catalog of 300+, where you can filter by link type, writes copy sized for each form, and fills the forms in a real browser. It asks before adding any badge to your site and hands you CAPTCHAs, payments and two-factor codes. When a listing goes live, it records the URL and checks whether the link to your site is dofollow or nofollow. The Self-Host License costs $149 once.

AgentLaunch directory list with live listings, each with its public URL and a dofollow or nofollow link check
Each live listing shows its URL and whether the link to your site is dofollow.

Frequently asked questions

What is a dofollow directory?

A directory whose listing links to your site without rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored" or rel="ugc". Google can treat that link as a ranking signal. A nofollow link still sends visitors but is a hint not to pass ranking credit.

Which dofollow directories are free?

Of the 117 directories where we've seen followed links, 65 give one on a plain free listing. The biggest are SourceForge, AlternativeTo, F6S, Alternative.me and Future Tools. Another 20 are free if you add their badge.

Yes, in moderation. Followed links from relevant startup, SaaS and AI directories help a new site build Domain Rating and get discovered. Hundreds of links from unrelated, low-traffic directories don't help and can look like link spam.

Is Product Hunt dofollow?

We've seen both. Product Hunt's product pages have carried a plain link to the product's site, but we couldn't confirm it on our latest check, so we list it as mixed. Check your own launch page after it goes live.

Yes. Some do it for free listings after a while, or when you remove their badge. Recheck your important listings every few months.

See every directory's link type, traffic and price in the AgentLaunch catalog.