Directory submission form statistics: fields, limits and flows

Fields directories ask for

Share of 108 parsed signed-out submit forms that ask for each field.

Source: AgentLaunch: parsed submit forms (October 2026) and recorded submit flows (September 2026).

• 71% of forms (77 of 108) ask for the product URL.
• 64% of forms (69 of 108) ask for email.
• 60% of forms (65 of 108) ask for name.
• 34% of forms (37 of 108) ask for description.
• 31% of forms (33 of 108) ask for category/tags.
• 28% of forms (30 of 108) ask for tagline.
• 16% of forms (17 of 108) ask for pricing.
• 16% of forms (17 of 108) ask for logo.
• 16% of forms (17 of 108) ask for social links.
• 13% of forms (14 of 108) ask for video.
• 8% of forms (9 of 108) ask for images.
• 8% of forms (9 of 108) ask for discount/deal.

Character limits

Limits read from the forms' maxlength attributes.

Source: AgentLaunch: parsed submit forms (October 2026) and recorded submit flows (September 2026).

• Tagline limits: median 160 characters, shortest 80, longest 300 (20 forms with a limit).
• 3 of 20 tagline limits are 100 characters or fewer; 9 are exactly 160.
• Description limits: median 1000 characters, from 90 to 5,000 (22 forms).
• 7 of 22 description limits are 200 characters or fewer; 12 allow 1,000 or more.
• Product name limits: median 100 characters, from 30 to 200 (29 forms).
• Product Hunt allows a 60-character tagline and a 500-character description.
• SourceForge allows a 1,000-character description; TinyLaunch a 30-character name and 60-character tagline.

Fields seen on recorded forms

Source: AgentLaunch: parsed submit forms (October 2026) and recorded submit flows (September 2026).

• We captured labelled form fields for 93 directories; the median form had 4 visible fields.
• On those forms, a median of 1 fields were marked required.
• 15 forms had 10 or more fields.
• 67% of these forms had a email field, and 46% marked it required.
• 80% of these forms had a website URL field, and 41% marked it required.
• 29% of these forms had a description field, and 14% marked it required.
• 12% of these forms had a logo field, and 2% marked it required.
• 41% of these forms had a category field, and 23% marked it required.
• 28% of these forms had a tagline field, and 14% marked it required.

Accounts and sign-in

Source: AgentLaunch: parsed submit forms (October 2026) and recorded submit flows (September 2026).

• 70 of 352 directories (20%) require an account to submit.
• 56 offer Google sign-in, 34 GitHub, and a few Discord, LinkedIn or X.
• 16 account-only directories offer no social sign-in, so you create a password.
• During recorded flows, 88 needed an account and 12 an email verification code.

Bot checks

Source: AgentLaunch: parsed submit forms (October 2026) and recorded submit flows (September 2026).

• 56 (16%) show a CAPTCHA on the submit form.
• 35 use Cloudflare Turnstile, 21 use reCAPTCHA and 3 use hCaptcha.

Where submit flows end

Source: AgentLaunch: parsed submit forms (October 2026) and recorded submit flows (September 2026).

• When our agent walked the submit flows of 352 directories, 88 (25%) needed an account during the flow.
• 12 sent an email verification code before the submission could continue.
• 12 sent us to an external tool, such as a Google Form or a sign-in provider.
• 13 asked for media uploads (logo, screenshots or video) during the flow.
• 80 flows (23%) ended at a final review and submit step.
• 46 (13%) ended at a choice between free, badge and paid plans.
• 41 (12%) ended at a qualification check, such as a badge, backlink or eligibility rule.
• 28 (8%) ended at a payment page.
• Our agent completed the full flow to a final screen on 197 of 352 (56%); the rest stopped at a CAPTCHA, payment or approval step a person has to take.

By category

Source: AgentLaunch: parsed submit forms (October 2026) and recorded submit flows (September 2026).

• AI tool directories: 11% need an account, 19% show a CAPTCHA.
• Launch platforms: 32% need an account, 15% show a CAPTCHA.
• SaaS and startup directories: 39% need an account, 15% show a CAPTCHA.
• Software review sites: 11% need an account, 11% show a CAPTCHA.
• Developer tool directories: 14% need an account, 14% show a CAPTCHA.
• Alternatives directories: 25% need an account, 25% show a CAPTCHA.
• Startup databases: 0% need an account, 11% show a CAPTCHA.
• MCP registries: 0% need an account, 0% show a CAPTCHA.
• AI agent directories: 0% need an account, 13% show a CAPTCHA.