Pre-launch and beta boards list products that are not public yet or launched in the last few weeks. You post here to fill a waitlist, find your first testers and hear from strangers before launch day.
Places listed
38
Verified dofollow
18
Nofollow or ugc
15
5 are not checked yet.
Free, by email
Get the Launch Kit
Every row on this page in one tracker, plus a 30-day calendar that says what to do each day.
Tracker: The Launch Tracker spreadsheet
Calendar: The 30-day launch calendar
Templates: The Submission Kit templates
40 checks: The 40-point pre-launch checklist
300+ websites shipped, clients in 4 countries
Who this is for
Founders with a waitlist page
Products in private or public beta
Indie makers before launch day
SaaS and AI tools a few weeks from launch
What to expect
Waitlist sign-ups from people who browse new products
First testers and feedback
A dated listing to point to on launch day
A few followed links, where our check found them
The short answer
Which BetaList alternatives are worth it?
BetaList now charges for every submission. For free, IndieWait lists products still behind a waitlist, and PitchWall and Fazier have free launches that gave a followed link in our check. The free queues at OpenHunts (about 60 weeks), SaaSCity (more than 300 days) and Open-Launch (booked into 2027) only suit a founder who can wait. Below are all 38, with cost, approval and link type for each.
At a glance
Quick comparison
The 8 places to start with here, side by side: what each costs, how hard approval is, the link you get and what sets it apart.
What sets it apartFree queue or a paid Launch Pro to pick the date; launching needs a sign-in.
01Before you submit
Read this before you submit
When to use it: When a landing page on your own domain collects sign-ups, or people can try the beta. Submit early, because most free routes here run on a queue, from four or five weeks at StartupBase to more than a year at OpenHunts.
BetaList's FAQ says every submission is paid and there is no free option. If your startup is not selected, the payment is refunded automatically. Source: betalist.com (opens in a new tab)
BetaList's criteria rule out free hosting subdomains such as vercel.app and netlify.app, and pages with little product information. Put the waitlist page on your own domain first. Source: betalist.com (opens in a new tab)
IndieWait lists only products with a real waiting period. A product that is already live, already in alpha or just a newsletter sign-up does not qualify. Source: indiewait.com (opens in a new tab)
OpenHunts gives 20 free launch slots a week, with a wait of about 60 weeks. Its badge lets you skip the queue, and only a top 3 finish earns a free launch a followed link. Source: openhunts.com (opens in a new tab)
Many free tiers here ask for a badge on your site that links back to the board, among them StartupBase, Smol Launch, Startup Fame, LaunchIgniter and Open-Launch. Decide how many of those links you want before you submit.
02The list
All 38 places, checked
Showing 38 of 38
BetaList as the baseline, plus 32 alternatives, checked through 2026-10-18, plus 6 more we checked but did not rate (toggle above)
Domain authority and referring domains: Ubersuggest, US, pulled 2026-10-18. n/a means a shared platform or a domain we have not pulled yet.
Also checked, not rated6 more from the wider list we checked. Live on the check date, not rated by us.
Betabound(opens in a new tab)LiveBeta tester community; beta announcements are free, but not every submission is posted.
Awesome Indie(opens in a new tab)LiveFree launch and product page for indie products, with paid options to pick your launch day. Product links were nofollow in our check.
NextBigWhat(opens in a new tab)LivePaid-only launch listings on an India-based startup site. The post we opened linked out with a followed link.
sideprojects.net(opens in a new tab)LiveDaily side project launches, free to submit, with paid tiers. The product link was followed in our check.
Status, submitted date, listing URL and the link type you got, for every row above.
The Launch Tracker spreadsheet
The 30-day launch calendar
The Submission Kit templates
The 40-point pre-launch checklist
03Field notes
How to work this list
Do first
01IndieWait: list the waitlist free while the product is still closed. It is a small site, so expect a handful of sign-ups.
02Launching Next: free submission, reviewed daily. The product link is nofollow.
03PitchWall: submit at least 30 days out for the free launch. The product link was followed in our check.
04Fazier: take the free Basic launch if you accept the badge link back. Product links were followed in our check.
05BetaList: pay only once the waitlist page meets its criteria. You get a refund if it does not feature you, and the featured Visit Site link was followed in our check.
Skip or defer
The free tiers at OpenHunts, SaaSCity and Open-Launch, unless you can wait about 60 weeks, more than 300 days or into 2027.
Firsto's free tier: the queue is about 180 days, and free launches link out nofollow.
More than one board per family. Launch Vault and Shipybara run on the Open-Launch template, and Aura++ shares an operator with EarlyHunt, IndieHunt and Uno Directory, so each family reaches much the same audience.
Any board that sells upvotes or a guaranteed ranking.
How to write the listing here
Write for someone who cannot use the product yet. Say what it does and who it is for in one line, show a real screenshot or a short clip of the beta, and make the one action plain: join the waitlist or request access. Keep the waitlist page on your own domain, since BetaList turns down free hosting subdomains, and use the same product name on every board.
When in the sequence
Join the long free queues at T-30 or earlier, since StartupBase alone waits four to five weeks. Submit to BetaList and IndieWait at T-21 to T-15, while the product is still closed. Boards that launch on a set weekday (OpenHunts and Shipybara on Mondays) go in launch week, a day or two apart from your main launch.
It depends on whether you will pay. Free: IndieWait for a product still behind a waitlist, Launching Next for a daily review, and PitchWall or Fazier for a free launch that gave a followed link in our check. Of the 38 on this page, 18 gave a followed link in our check, 15 were nofollow or ugc and 5 are not checked yet.
No. BetaList's FAQ says all submissions are paid and there is no free submission option. If your startup is not selected, you get a full refund automatically. A startup featured before launch can be featured again when it launches.
Both, at different times. BetaList is for startups that are unreleased or recently launched, and you use it while you collect sign-ups. Product Hunt is free to launch on from a personal maker account, and new accounts wait a week before they can post, so open yours early and save it for launch day.
Of the 38 on this page, 5 are free, 29 have a free option with paid upgrades, 2 are paid only and 2 do not state a price. Free usually means a queue, a badge or both. OpenHunts lists a free wait of about 60 weeks, and Fazier's free Basic launch needs a link back to Fazier.
Some do, with conditions. At OpenHunts, TinyLaunch and Open-Launch a free launch gets a backlink only in the top 3 of its day or week, and HUNT0 offers a link only to its top 20 free launches. Google asks sites to mark paid links as sponsored or nofollow and lists buying links for ranking as link spam, so treat any link as a bonus and judge a board by the people it sends.
Where people can try it now. Show HN on Hacker News wants something people can use, and lists sign-up and landing pages as off topic. With only a waitlist page, use BetaList, IndieWait and the free queues on this page. For testers and feedback rather than visitors, see the list of places to find beta testers.
