Developer tool and mobile app directories, in short
Developers do not click directory links often, but when they do they arrive ready to install something. These sites send fewer visitors than the general directories and convert far better, which makes the smaller numbers misleading.
What counts as a developer tool directory
A developer tool directory indexes things engineers install rather than things they subscribe to: CLIs, libraries, APIs, self-hosted services, editor extensions. The audience arrives with a specific problem and leaves as soon as they have solved it, which makes these sites low in traffic and unusually high in intent.
The good ones are opinionated. They will list twelve options in a category and say which they would use, which is why developers trust them and why getting in is harder than filling a form.
By the numbers
These 11 directories have a median rating of DR 49. The strongest is Product Hunt at DR 91, the weakest at DR 10. 8 of them accept a submission for nothing, and 1 charge for every listing. 4 pass a dofollow link.
That is 9 points below the median for the full list of 175 directories, which sits at DR 58. By band that is 1 rated 80 or above, 3 rated 60 to 79, 4 rated 40 to 59 and 3 rated below 40. 4 of them have no traffic estimate at all, which usually means too little to measure rather than none.
What a listing actually gets you
App directories will not move your store ranking, which is driven by installs, retention and reviews. What they do is create indexable web pages about an app that is otherwise invisible to search engines, which is the single biggest discovery problem mobile products have.
They also reach the people who research on a laptop and install later, a larger group than most app teams expect, and one that store optimisation cannot touch at all.
Submitting without wasting the evening
Submit the store link, not a landing page, and check which stores the directory covers before you start: several accept iOS only. Screenshots from the store listing usually transfer over, so get those right in the store first and the directory work becomes copy and paste. Include the size, the minimum OS version and whether there is a free tier, because those are the three filters app directories most often expose.
Common mistakes
Sending traffic to a landing page with an email capture and no documentation. Describing what the tool is instead of what it replaces. Hiding the licence, the pricing, or the fact that the free tier stops at a hard limit, all of which get discovered in the first comment and then discussed instead of your product.
Where to start
By audience size, the biggest here are Product Hunt, TrustMRR and SideProjectors, led by 4.84M visits a month. The highest-rated one you can use without paying is Product Hunt at DR 91. 4 approve quickly, Dofollow Tools, SideProjectors and Productivity Directory among them.
Questions people ask
How many are there, and what do they cost?
11 directories match on this page. 8 take a submission for nothing, 2 run a free tier with paid upgrades, and 1 charge for every listing.
Which should I submit to first?
By rating, Product Hunt (DR 91), Dofollow Tools (DR 73) and TrustMRR (DR 72). By audience, Product Hunt is the largest at 4.84M visits a month. Relevance beats both: a directory that actually covers what you built will do more than a stronger one that does not.
Why do developer directories send so little traffic?
Because developers do not browse directories, they search for a specific problem and land on one page. The visit counts are low and the conversion rates are not comparable to anything else on this list.
Does open source help?
Considerably. Several of these directories either prioritise open-source entries or have a dedicated section for them, and the audience treats a public repository as evidence that the tool is real.
Should I submit a library or just the product?
Both, if they are genuinely separate. A library and the hosted service built on it are two different things to two different readers, and most directories are happy to list them separately.
What is an app directory?
A curated index of mobile applications, usually linking to the App Store or Play Store and organised by platform and category. Most carry store screenshots and a short description rather than a full review.
Why are there so few app directories here?
Because most of the larger directories assume a web product with a visitable URL. Anything that only exists behind a store link is out of scope for them, which leaves a much shorter list than the main table suggests.
Do app directories help with App Store ranking?
Not directly. Store ranking responds to installs and retention. What a directory gives you is a web page about your app that search engines can index, which is where most of an app's discoverable surface area otherwise does not exist.
Every figure quoted above is read off the table on this page, so it moves as the list does. Domain rating and traffic are third-party estimates captured in September 2026: useful for ordering a shortlist, not precise figures.