Our team reviews thousands of launches every day, and only some are featured on the homepage leaderboard. Featuring is an editorial decision, not a checklist, but a few things consistently help a product earn its spot. This article explains what we look for, so you can decide if your product is ready and what to work on before you launch.
For the full criteria, read our Featuring Guidelines.
What we look for
Originality
Is there something genuinely fresh about your product? It can live in the design, the experience, the audience, or the way you solve the problem. It doesn't have to be a brand-new category, but it should feel new.
A clear edge
Make it obvious how you're different from what already exists. If someone has to guess why they'd pick you over the obvious alternative, spell it out on your launch page.
Plain language
Skip the marketing gloss. Say what the product does so someone gets it on the first read. A good test: could you explain it to your mom in one sentence? If not, keep rewriting.
A simple, descriptive tagline:
A vague, non-descriptive tagline:
It actually works
Products ship broken more often than you'd think. Before you go live, open your product in a clean browser or a new phone, sign up like a first-time user, and make sure the main flow works in production.
Is your product a good fit?
Product Hunt is for products people can use. A launch is usually a good fit when:
It's new, or it has a major update. A product most of the community already uses isn't news. A big new feature, a new app, or a real pivot is.
It's a product, not content about one. Blog posts, lists, and plain documents don't belong on the leaderboard.
People can try it. It's live, or it will be soon with a clear date. A closed beta that nobody can join usually isn't a good fit.
It adds real value. For info products like newsletters or courses, the content should offer expertise people can't easily find elsewhere.
The maker is trustworthy. Launches tied to spam, fake accounts, or paid upvotes are removed.
A launch that isn't featured still goes live. People can still find it, upvote it, and comment on it through your launch link and the "See all of today's products" button at the end of the featured list.
How featuring decisions get made
If you want to go deeper, our curation team ran an AMA on how featuring decisions get made. It's the best behind-the-scenes look at what the team weighs.
Next up
Once you know your product is a fit, pick your goals and your launch date.