Which launch directories actually give dofollow links?

Many do, but almost always under a condition: paying, ranking in the top 3, getting enough upvotes, or linking back from your homepage. Some pages that advertise a dofollow link for free plans served nofollow when we checked. Always look at the live listing.

How do I check if a directory link is dofollow?

Open a listing, right-click the link to the product and choose Inspect. If the a tag has rel containing nofollow, ugc or sponsored, it does not pass ranking signals as a normal link. No rel, or only noopener/noreferrer, means a normal (dofollow) link.

Are paid dofollow links against Google’s guidelines?

Google’s spam policies list “buying or selling links for ranking purposes” as link spam and say paid links should be qualified with rel="sponsored" or nofollow. Paid directory links are therefore at risk of being ignored by Google, whatever the directory promises.

Do directory backlinks still help a new site in 2026?

A few relevant, indexed listings can help a new site get discovered. Hundreds of low-quality directory links do not, and Google names them as link spam. One audit of a dozen directories found most free tiers give you nothing.

Dofollow launch directories: what the pages really say

Published 11 October 2026 by the ProductPerch team · Facts checked on the sources below on 11 October 2026

Almost every launch directory advertises a dofollow backlink. Whether you get one depends on conditions in the small print (badge, rank, payment), and sometimes the live page simply says nofollow. We checked the pages ourselves on 11 October 2026.

Dofollow claims vs. live pages

For each launch directory below we read the offer on its own pricing or FAQ page and, where we could, opened a live listing and looked at the rel attribute of the outbound link. This is a snapshot from 11 October 2026; directories change their markup, so repeat the check before you pay.

Directory	What the offer says	What we saw
ToolFame	Free plan: “Get 1 dofollow link”, badge verification required	The free listing we opened had rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"; homepage Featured and Sponsored cards had no rel (dofollow).
TinyLaunch	Dofollow when you embed their badge with a dofollow link; top 3 get a backlink	Homepage outbound links carry ?ref=tinylaunch; some are rel="nofollow noopener", the rest only noopener.
Uneed	Free: dofollow from an upvote score of 20; $29.99 Skip the line: dofollow for life	Conditions taken from their pricing page; we did not audit individual listings.
Fazier	Free with a backlink to them; top-3 backlink on Lite ($29); guaranteed on Premium ($49)	Read from their submit page; /pricing returned 404.
Twelve Tools	Free: 1 dofollow link with a backlink to them; Pro: permanent dofollow links	Read from their submit page.
DevHunt	Free listings nofollow; paid launches get a permanent dofollow link	Stated in their FAQ.
OpenAlternative	Directory of open-source alternatives	The tool page we opened linked out with rel="noopener nofollow".
Product Hunt	Free launches	Visit links carry rel="noreferrer noopener ugc", per SaaSCity’s check of 7 Oct 2026.
ProductPerch	dofollow for paid launches, verified open source, the daily top 3, and free launches with a verified badge; otherwise nofollow	The product page renders the rel the API computes for that launch; view source to check.

Why “dofollow” is usually conditional

Dofollow launch directories almost always attach a condition, and the conditions follow a pattern. Some ask for a link back from your homepage or footer, a link exchange; Google’s spam policies mention “excessive link exchanges” by name. Some give the link only to the top 3 of a day or to launches with enough upvotes. Most sell it: the paid tier’s main benefit is a dofollow link without conditions. A free tier that advertises dofollow but serves nofollow, as we found on one free listing, is the case to watch for.

Aggregator lists are not reliable on this point. The launchdirectories.com dataset of 129 directories labels some sites dofollow even where their free listings serve nofollow, and another list labels Product Hunt dofollow although its links carry ugc. Check the live page.

How to check a directory in two minutes

Open a recent free listing on the directory, not its marketing page.
Find the link to the listed product, right-click, Inspect. Read the rel attribute: nofollow, ugc or sponsored mean it is not a normal link.
Search the listing URL in Google with the site: operator. If it is not indexed, the link does nothing.
Look for signs of real readers: recent comments, upvotes from real-looking accounts, a newsletter with a stated subscriber count.
Read the terms for removal rules: some directories delist you without warning if a badge disappears.

What Google says about paid and directory links

Google’s spam policies list “buying or selling links for ranking purposes”, “excessive link exchanges” and “low-quality directory or bookmark site links” as link spam, and ask that paid links be qualified with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". So a dofollow link you paid for can be discounted, and sites that sell them carry that risk. The safest reason to pay for a launch is visibility and timing, not link equity.

ProductPerch’s link rule

Our rule is published on the pricing page and applied by code: a launch link is dofollow when the launch is paid, the project is verified open source, it finished in the day’s top 3, or our badge is verified on the maker’s site; every other link is nofollow. Open-source projects never need a badge. If a badge disappears later, the link reverts to nofollow; the listing stays. You can check any product page’s source to confirm. Launch free or read how badges work.

Sources

Google Search spam policies (link spam section) (read 11 Oct 2026)
ToolFame pricing and a free listing (read 11 Oct 2026)
TinyLaunch homepage and pricing (read 11 Oct 2026)
Uneed pricing (read 11 Oct 2026)
DevHunt FAQ (read 11 Oct 2026)
OpenAlternative tool page (Plausible) (read 11 Oct 2026)
dev.to audit of a dozen startup directories (read 11 Oct 2026)
launchdirectories.com dataset of 129 directories (third-party claims, not verified)

We run ProductPerch, which appears in these comparisons; we are not affiliated with the other platforms. Prices and rules change: tell us about anything out of date at contact@productperch.com.

More launch guides · Today’s launches on ProductPerch · Submit your product free