# Is directory submission worth it in 2026?

> We checked 137 product directories: 91% are free and 37% give every listing a dofollow link, but in Ahrefs' DR4 preview their median DR falls from 66 to 42.

Canonical: https://productsfarm.com/blog/is-directory-submission-worth-it
Last updated: 2026-11-07

By [Rohan](https://productsfarm.com/blog/author/rohangotwal), published 2026-11-07, in [Directories](https://productsfarm.com/blog/category/directories), 11 min read.

Yes, for a new product, as long as you pick directories by the numbers that still count. Of the 137 product directories and launch sites we track, 125 (91%) are free to list on and 51 (37%) give every listing a dofollow link. But in the preview of DR4, the Domain Rating model Ahrefs switches to on December 1, 2026, their median rating falls from 66 to 42, and only 16 are free, dofollow and still at 50 or more.

## At a glance

| Question | Short answer |
| --- | --- |
| Is it worth it? | For a new product, yes: a link, a few early visitors and one more page about your product that search engines and AI assistants can read. |
| Is it free? | Mostly. 125 of the 137 directories we track (91%) let you list for free. |
| Do the links count? | 51 (37%) give every listing a dofollow link. 23 more follow it only for their badge, a top 3 finish or enough votes. |
| What changes with DR4? | In Ahrefs' preview, the median DR of the same 137 falls from 66 to 42, and 117 of them score lower. |
| Where should I start? | The 16 directories that are free, dofollow and still at DR 50 or more under DR4. |
| How long does it take? | About 30 minutes per directory: 8 hours for those 16, 15 hours for 30. |
| What should I skip? | Paid listings with a nofollow link, link farms and networks of near-identical directories. |

## What a directory listing does, and what it doesn't

A directory listing is a page about your product on a site that catalogs products. Launch platforms, startup and SaaS directories and AI tool lists all work this way. Most listings link to your site.

What a listing does:

- **It gives you a link.** A dofollow link from a site with a strong Domain Rating counts toward your own. A nofollow link doesn't count toward rankings, but it still brings visitors and helps search engines find your pages.
- **It brings a few early visitors.**
- **It puts your product where it can be found.** Directories are among the places where search engines and AI assistants find new products. A listing that says what your product does, in the same words you use everywhere else, helps you show up beyond your own site.

What a listing doesn't do:

- **It doesn't promise a ranking.** Nobody can promise you a Google position or a Domain Rating number from directory links, and that includes us. Each directory decides whether to list you and whether its link is dofollow.
- **It rarely sends a flood.** Most listings send a handful of visitors. The link is the part that lasts.
- **It doesn't replace word of mouth.** People telling other people about your product still matters more than any list.

## What 137 directories look like

We keep a catalog of product directories and launch sites, each with its price, its link type and its Domain Rating. Our [product directory study](https://productsfarm.com/research/product-directories) counts them. Here is what it found, with Domain Rating checked on October 30, 2026.

### Price: almost all are free

- 125 of 137 (91%) let you list for free.
- 89 of those 125 also sell paid upgrades, such as a featured spot or a faster review.
- 12 (9%) charge to list at all.

### Links: over a third follow every listing

| Link type | Directories | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Dofollow for every listing | 51 | 37% |
| Dofollow only with their badge, a top 3 finish or enough votes | 23 | 17% |
| Nofollow | 7 | 5% |
| Not confirmed yet | 56 | 41% |

We only mark a link type as confirmed once a listing of ours goes live on that site. So 37% is a floor, not an estimate. 44 directories (32%) are both free to list on and dofollow for every listing.

### Domain Rating: mostly between 50 and 89

Under today's model, the median is 66. 57 directories (42%) are at 70 or more, 19 (14%) are under 50, and none is under 30.

### Kinds compared

| Kind | Directories | Median DR | Free to list | Dofollow for every listing |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Launch platforms | 52 | 66 | 96% | 52% |
| SaaS directories | 36 | 62 | 97% | 33% |
| Startup directories | 28 | 68 | 93% | 14% |
| AI directories | 21 | 67 | 67% | 38% |

Launch platforms are the most generous with links: over half follow every listing. AI directories are the most likely to charge: 7 of the 21 have no free way to list.

## What changes with DR4

Ahrefs announced a new Domain Rating model, DR4, in November 2026. It replaces today's model, which we call DR3, on December 1, 2026. Until then, the DR4 numbers are Ahrefs' preview and can still change.

Ahrefs names two main changes. Subdomains get their own rating. And the pool of domains whose links count is about half the size, around 132 million. Ahrefs says DR4 tracks Google rankings more than 2.5 times better than the current model.

Here is what we see in the preview. Sites whose links come mostly from small or new sites drop the most. Links from groups of small sites that mostly link to each other count for little.

### The same 137 directories under both models

| Domain Rating | DR3 (today) | DR4 (preview) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 90 to 100 | 5 | 5 |
| 70 to 89 | 52 | 21 |
| 50 to 69 | 61 | 31 |
| 30 to 49 | 19 | 31 |
| 0 to 29 | 0 | 49 |
| Median | 66 | 42 |

- 117 of the 137 score lower under DR4, 14 score higher and 6 stay the same.
- 55 fall by 30 points or more.
- Directories at 70 or more go from 57 to 26.

### By kind: AI directories held up, launch platforms fell

| Kind | Median DR3 | Median DR4 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI directories | 67 | 61 |
| Startup directories | 68 | 44 |
| SaaS directories | 62 | 35 |
| Launch platforms | 66 | 31 |

The sites at the very top barely moved. SourceForge goes from 93 to 92, and Product Hunt, G2, Capterra and Crunchbase all stay at 91 or above. As a group, launch platforms fell the furthest.

A drop in the preview isn't a verdict on a site. A launch platform can still bring you visitors and first users whatever its rating, and the numbers can change before December 1.

Our own site is no exception. productsfarm.com is DR 28 today and shows 0 in the DR4 preview. New sites can show 0 there, likely because the preview's data predates their links. [Launching here](https://productsfarm.com/submit) is free and gets you a permanent product page, but don't do it for our Domain Rating.

### Subdomains now count on their own

Under DR4, a subdomain has its own rating. Show HN posts live on news.ycombinator.com, which stays at 91, while the root, ycombinator.com, goes from 91 to 89. If a directory puts its listings on a subdomain, check that subdomain, not the main domain. Our [free DR4 checker](https://productsfarm.com/tools/dr4-checker) takes up to 50 domains at once and checks subdomains on their own.

### What DR4 means for your list

- **Pick by DR4, not DR3.** Among the 44 free directories that follow every listing, the median falls from 66 to 34. Only 16 stay at 50 or more, and 8 at 70 or more.
- **Weigh badge deals again.** The 23 directories that follow your link only for their badge, a top 3 finish or enough votes have a median DR4 of 27. Look at a site's DR4 before you add its badge to yours.
- **Fewer, stronger listings beat a long list.** A link from a site that DR4 barely counts adds little, however many of them you collect.

## Which directories to skip

Most directories on our list are worth a try for the right product. A few kinds aren't worth your time.

- **Paid listings with a nofollow link.** If you pay, you should get a link that counts or an audience you want. Of the 12 directories on our list that charge to list, 7 give a dofollow link, 1 gives nofollow and 4 we haven't confirmed. Before you pay anywhere, open a listing that's already there, test its link with our [dofollow checker](https://productsfarm.com/tools/dofollow-checker) and look up the site's DR4.
- **Link farms.** Sites that exist to sell links tend to accept anything and have few real readers, so they send few visitors.
- **Networks of near-identical directories.** Some directories come in groups: the same template, the same submission form, linking mostly to each other. Under DR4, links from groups like these count for little. On our own list, five directories take submissions through one shared submission site, and in the DR4 preview all five sit between 2 and 18, down from 44 to 61. We can't see how they're run from the outside, so treat a shared submission site as a reason to check, not a verdict.
- **Directories that don't fit your product.** AI directories are for AI products, and a listing in the wrong category brings the wrong visitors.
- **High DR3, near-zero DR4, for now.** 18 directories on our list are under 10 in the DR4 preview. Some may be new, and the preview may not have caught up with their links. Check them again after December 1 before you spend time there.

## Where to start this week

### 1. Get your before number

Put your domain into the DR4 checker and write down both numbers, today's DR and the DR4 preview.

### 2. Write your listing once

Our [directory submission guide](https://productsfarm.com/directory-submission) has the full checklist. In short: the same name and tagline everywhere, a tagline under 60 characters, a short description of about 160 characters and a longer one, a square logo of at least 256 by 256 pixels, two or three screenshots, an email address at your own domain and a sheet to track every directory.

### 3. Submit to the 8 still at DR4 70 or more

All 8 are free to list on and follow every listing.

| Directory | Kind | DR3 | DR4 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [SourceForge](https://productsfarm.com/directories/sourceforge) | SaaS directory | 93 | 92 |
| [StackShare](https://productsfarm.com/directories/stackshare) | SaaS directory | 78 | 81 |
| [Twelve Tools](https://productsfarm.com/directories/twelve-tools) | Launch platform | 83 | 76 |
| [SaaSHub](https://productsfarm.com/directories/saashub) | SaaS directory | 80 | 76 |
| [Startup Fame](https://productsfarm.com/directories/startup-fame) | Startup directory | 85 | 73 |
| [ToolPilot](https://productsfarm.com/directories/toolpilot) | AI directory | 79 | 71 |
| [DevHunt](https://productsfarm.com/directories/devhunt) | Launch platform | 68 | 71 |
| [AI Tool Trek](https://productsfarm.com/directories/ai-tool-trek) | AI directory | 63 | 71 |

ToolPilot and AI Tool Trek are AI directories, so they're only for AI products.

### 4. Then the next 8, at DR4 50 to 69

Fazier (69), Pitchwall (67), ShowMySites (64), PeerPush (60), TopAI.tools (56, AI only), TechDirectory (56), Turbo0 (53) and TinyLaunch (52). All 8 are on our [list of dofollow directories](https://productsfarm.com/directories/dofollow), each with a page on how to submit. That makes 16, or 13 if your product isn't AI.

### 5. Add the big nofollow sites for visitors

Product Hunt, G2, Capterra and Crunchbase score 91 or more under both models and give nofollow links. They won't move your Domain Rating, but a listing there still brings visitors and helps search engines find your pages. A launch that needs you there on the day, such as Product Hunt or Show HN, is worth running yourself, since you'll want to answer the comments.

### 6. Confirm, log and check

Confirm every email a directory sends, or the listing may never reach review. Note the date in your sheet. After a week or two, open each live listing and test its link. For an AI product, our [AI directories list](https://productsfarm.com/directories/ai) has all 21 we track.

At about 30 minutes each, steps 3 and 4 take about 8 hours.

## Do it yourself or have it done

Everything above is free to do yourself, and so are our list and guide. We also run a done-for-you service: we submit your product by hand to directories and launch sites, highest Domain Rating first. You don't need to launch on ProductsFarm for it. Here is how the two compare.

| | Do it yourself | Done for you |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cost | Free, plus any paid upgrades you choose | One time: $49 for 30 directories, $99 for 60, $199 for 100, $500 for 350+ |
| Your time | About 30 minutes per directory: 15 hours for 30, 50 hours for 100, 175 hours for 350 | Checking the details we draft from your website, plus any confirmation email or badge a directory asks for |
| How fast | As fast as you work | Submitted within 3 to 7 days, or 7 to 10 days for 350+; listings then go live on each directory's own schedule |
| Which directories | Your pick, from our [directory list](https://productsfarm.com/directories), sorted by DR4 with DR3 beside it | Only directories that are free to list on, highest Domain Rating first, with AI directories added for AI products |
| Tracking | A spreadsheet you keep up to date | Each directory's status and listing link in your dashboard, with a CSV sheet to download |
| DR before and after | Checked by you with the DR4 checker | Read when we start and when we finish |
| Guarantees | None: each directory decides | No DR number: each directory decides whether to list you and whether its link is dofollow |

## A simple decision rule

Count the hours. At about 30 minutes a directory, every plan costs less than $4 for each hour of forms it saves you: $49 for about 15 hours, $199 for about 50.

- **Do it yourself** if you only want the 16 strongest free dofollow directories, or an hour of your time is worth less than $4 to you. Those 16 take about 8 hours.
- **Have it done** if you want 30 or more listings, tracked in one place, and your hours are worth more spent on the product.
- **Mix the two** if you like: run the launch-day sites yourself and hand off the long list.
- **Wait** if your site isn't ready. Every listing sends people to your homepage, so it should say clearly what the product does before you submit anywhere.

## How we put this together

- The directory numbers come from ProductsFarm's own catalog of 137 product directories and launch sites, the same ones on our public list. Price and link type come from our own submissions.
- Ratings are Ahrefs' Domain Rating. DR3 was checked on October 30, 2026. The DR4 preview was read on November 7, 2026, and can change until Ahrefs switches models on December 1, 2026. Domain Rating by Ahrefs.
- We worked out the DR4 medians, bands and counts in this post from the same 137 directories. Medians are the middle value, rounded to a whole number.
- The time per directory is our own count: about 30 minutes for the account, the confirmation email and the form with its images.

## The short answer

Directory submission is still worth it in 2026, but the list worth your time is shorter than it was. Pick by DR4, start with the 16 free dofollow directories still at 50 or more, skip paid nofollow listings and look-alike networks, and keep a sheet. If you'd rather spend those hours on your product, our [directory submission service](https://productsfarm.com/submit-to-directories) does it by hand: Starter is 30 directories for $49, Growth 60 for $99, Complete 100 for $199 and Max 350+ for $500, all one time, with every listing tracked in your dashboard and your Domain Rating read before and after.

## Questions

### Do directory backlinks still work in 2026?

Dofollow links from directories with a strong Domain Rating still count toward your own. Under Ahrefs' DR4 model, links from small sites that mostly link to each other count for little, so a few strong directories matter more than a long list.

### How many directories should I submit to?

Start with the free directories that follow every listing and still score 50 or more under DR4: 16 of the 137 we track do. After that, add the ones made for your kind of product, picked by fit rather than count.

### Will directory submission raise my Domain Rating?

Often, as dofollow links from strong sites go live, but nobody can promise a number. Each directory decides whether to list you and whether its link is dofollow, and each reviews listings on its own schedule.

### Are paid directory listings worth it?

Only when the link is dofollow on a site with a solid DR4, or when the site's readers are people you want to reach. 12 of the 137 directories we track charge to list, so test the link on an existing listing before you pay.

### What is Ahrefs DR4 and when does it start?

DR4 is Ahrefs' new Domain Rating model, and it replaces the current one on December 1, 2026. It rates subdomains on their own and counts links from a pool of about 132 million domains, about half the size of before. Until then its numbers are a preview.

### How long does directory submission take?

About 30 minutes per directory by hand, counting the account, the confirmation email and the form, so about 15 hours for 30. Directories then review listings on their own schedule, from a day to a few weeks.

## Related

- [Best directories to submit your startup in 2026, ranked by DR4](https://productsfarm.com/blog/best-startup-directories-2026)
- [Ahrefs DR4: what changes on December 1 and how to check your new DR](https://productsfarm.com/blog/ahrefs-dr4-explained)
- [The best startup launch platforms after Ahrefs' DR4 update](https://productsfarm.com/blog/best-launch-platforms-after-dr4)
- [All posts](https://productsfarm.com/blog)