Where to launch your app (and how not to get ignored)
There are more launch platforms than ever, and posting the same link everywhere on the same day mostly gets you ignored. Pick a few that fit your product, and follow each one's rules.
Product Hunt
The biggest single launch day for consumer apps, SaaS and AI tools. Prepare your gallery: images at 1270x760, at least two of them, and video as a YouTube link only (Product Hunt Help Center). More in the Product Hunt launch video guide.
Hacker News: Show HN
For things people can actually try. In Hacker News' words, Show HN "is for something you've made that other people can play with" (Hacker News). Blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters and landing pages don't qualify, and you should make it easy to try "ideally without barriers such as signups or emails". Don't ask anyone to upvote (Hacker News). Best for developer tools and technical products.
Powerful if you're already part of the community, and a fast way to get banned if you're not. Reddit's guidance: "It's perfectly fine to be a Redditor with a website, it's not okay to be a website with a Reddit account" (Reddit). Read each subreddit's rules; many have a weekly thread for self-promotion. Lead with what you learned, not with the link.
Indie maker launch boards
Smaller boards such as Peerlist, Uneed, Microlaunch and Fazier have communities of makers who actually click through. Good for early feedback and a few honest backlinks.
Your builder's community
If you built with Lovable, Bolt, Base44 or Replit, their communities often have showcase channels. People there understand what you made and how fast you made it.
How not to get ignored, anywhere
- Lead with the outcome in your first line, not the tech.
- Show it. A short video in the post does more than three paragraphs. Teasr makes one from your app's address in under 10 minutes, from €39.
- Stay and reply. Launch day is a conversation. Answer every comment.
- Space it out. One platform a day over a week beats all of them in an hour.