Free dofollow backlinks from launch sites: 7 of 104 give one
We tried 104 launch sites in October 2026. Seven gave a followed link for free; the rest want a badge, a top-3 finish or money, and Google has rules on both.
Published 2026-10-11 by Phillip Paul Inker. Sources re-read 2026-10-11. 8 sources.
The short answer
Of the 104 launch sites we tried with a real product in October 2026, 7 gave a followed link on the free route. Another 12 give one only to the top places of a day or a week. 31 ask for their badge on your site first, and 16 have no free route at all.
A followed link can also be bought, from $2.90 once. But Google's spam policies count buying links for ranking purposes, and excessive link exchanges, as link spam. Read the sections on badges and on paying before you place a badge or pay.
The seven that give one for free
These seven let a product in without payment, a badge or votes, and the link to the product's site was followed. For five we read the link on our own listing when it went live. For two, the site states it on its plan page.
| Site | What the free route gives | How we know |
|---|---|---|
| Pitchwall (formerly BetaPage) | A listing and a day on the homepage, published after more than 30 days | Their plan page |
| LaunchDB (BigIdeasDB) | A slot on the free weekly launch board | Our listing |
| HatchR | A project page, live at once | Our listing |
| Indie Hacker Stacks | One product listed for life, live at once | Our listing |
| LaunchSpot | One free launch a year, after a moderator check | Our listing |
| ProductWatch | A permanent listing after a free queue of about 30 days | Their plan page |
| SideProjects | A launch day, about four weeks out when we checked | Our listing |
Followed only for the top places
Twelve launch sites give the followed link only to the products that finish at the top of a day or a week. TinyLaunch's pricing page puts it plainly: "High authority backlink for top 3 ranking products."
The other eleven are EarlyHunt, GoodTool, IndieHunt, Launchpad, ProductLaunch, Shipycorn, Startup Fast, StartupsLab, Startuups, Stellar Launch and WeekHack. For most products that means a nofollow link or none, and several of these sites sell the followed link as the point of a paid plan.
The badge rule is a link exchange
Thirty-one of the 104 open their free route only when their badge, a small image that links back to them, sits on your homepage or footer. DevTool.io's rule is typical: "Free listings require a DevTool.io badge on your tool's website. We'll verify it before approving your submission."
LaunchZone shows the trade most clearly. Its free link is nofollow, and either its badge on your site or a paid plan makes it dofollow.
Google's spam policies name "excessive link exchanges" and "widely distributed links in the footers or templates of various sites" as link spam. A badge placed in return for a listing is a link given in exchange, and one site's badge in many footers is a widely distributed link. Google doesn't say where one badge crosses that line.
Paying for the link
The cheapest guaranteed followed links we found cost less than $8, once.
| Site | Plan | Price, once |
|---|---|---|
| GoodTool | Premium (70% off $9.90) | $2.90 |
| IndieHub | Basic, three followed links | $4.90 |
| DevTool.io | Basic, a lifetime followed link | $5 |
| Startuups | Premium | $5 |
| Launchpad | Basic | $5.49 |
| Stellar Launch | Basic | $6.49 |
| TechTrendin | Skip the line, three followed links | $6.90 |
| Direct2App | Pro, three followed links | $7.99 |
| ProLaunch | Startup Launch | $7.99 |
What Google says about paid links
Better-known sites sell the link too. BetaList has no free route, and every plan includes "a do-follow backlink if featured". StartupBase's $39 Premium promises a "Permanent DR 74+ dofollow backlink" with no badge, while its free route needs the badge and names no followed link.
Google is clear about what such a purchase is when its aim is ranking. Its spam policies list "Buying or selling links for ranking purposes", including "Exchanging money for links", as link spam. The same page adds that such links break no rule when they carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
So a paid listing bought for its visitors is ordinary advertising. A paid listing bought for its followed link is the case the policy describes.
How to check a link yourself
Open the listing, right-click the link to your site and inspect it. Look at the rel attribute of the a tag. If it holds nofollow, ugc or sponsored, Google says it will generally not follow the link. If it holds none of the three, the link is followed.
| rel value | What Google says it marks |
|---|---|
| nofollow | Links where "other values don't apply" and you'd rather Google not associate your site with the linked page |
| ugc | User-generated content, "such as comments and forum posts" |
| sponsored | "Advertisements or paid placements (commonly called paid links)" |
| noopener, noreferrer | Not among the values Google reads for this; they concern the browser |
Is a listing worth it without the link?
We didn't measure the visits each site sends, so this article can't rank them by traffic. A followed link is one reason to list. The people who browse a launch site are another, and a nofollow listing still reaches them. Check the link again some weeks after it goes live, since a site can change it.
Where to go next
The directory list has all 104 launch sites; its "Followed link, free" filter shows the seven. Our reviews of BetaList, StartupBase and TinyLaunch cover their link rules in detail.
- [1]Spam policies for Google web search: link spam (updated 2026-08-28) Google Search Central, read 2026-10-11.
“Buying or selling links for ranking purposes. This includes: Exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links ... Excessive link exchanges ... Widely distributed links in the footers or templates of various sites ... It's not a violation of our policies to have such links as long as they are qualified with a rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored" attribute value.”
- [2]Qualify outbound links to Google (updated 2025-12-10) Google Search Central, read 2026-10-11.
“rel="sponsored": Mark links that are advertisements or paid placements (commonly called paid links) ... Links marked with these rel attributes will generally not be followed.”
- [3]TinyLaunch pricing TinyLaunch, read 2026-10-10.
“Standard Launch Free. Live on homepage for multiple days. Badge for top 3 ranking products. High authority backlink for top 3 ranking products.”
- [4]DevTool.io: submit a tool DevTool.io, read 2026-10-11.
“Lifetime DoFollow backlink from DR35 domain for SEO ... Free listings require a DevTool.io badge on your tool's website. We'll verify it before approving your submission.”
- [5]LaunchZone pricing LaunchZone, read 2026-10-11.
“the backlink on the Free plan is nofollow ... make it dofollow by adding the LaunchZone badge to your website ... or upgrade to Featured or Pro for a dofollow backlink”
- [6]BetaList support and FAQ BetaList, read 2026-10-10.
“All submissions are paid. There is no free submission option. ... All plans include a do-follow backlink if featured, and a full refund if not selected.”
- [7]Launch on StartupBase: pricing StartupBase, read 2026-10-10.
“Starts at $39 one-time payment ... Permanent DR 74+ dofollow backlink ... No badge required ... Free ... Same permanent listing. Longer wait. ... StartupBase badge required on your site”
- [8]A Product Hunt product page, its Visit website button Product Hunt, read 2026-10-10.
“Visit website: https://www.notion.so/?ref=producthunt, rel="noreferrer noopener ugc"”
Reviews this guide draws on
The clearest followed link in this database, stated in its own FAQ, but no free route at all: the cheapest plan is $39, featured on a random day. A startup that isn't selected gets its money back automatically.
Plans, prices and stated waits are public, and $39 buys a chosen date and a permanent dofollow link. The free route asks the most here: a badge on your homepage, and a queue that ran well past its stated length.
A free launch that asks for nothing but patience: no badge to be listed and a review within a day, then the queue. The backlink is the catch: free launches get it only in the top 3, Premium at $39 guarantees it.
Run a submission site?Get it on the record.
Send us the pages that state your plans, your review times and your link rules. We read them, score them on the public rubric, and publish the review with the date.