High authority backlinks: what you get
Rated 70 and above. These are harder to get into, slower to approve, and worth more when they accept you. Submit to them first, because the queue is the long part and everything else can be done while you wait.
High authority backlinks, defined
Domain rating is a third-party score from 0 to 100 estimating the strength of a site's backlink profile. It is logarithmic, so the gap between 70 and 80 is much larger than the gap between 30 and 40, and it says nothing at all about traffic, relevance or whether your listing will ever be seen. This page filters to everything rated 70 and above.
Different tools produce different numbers for the same site: domain rating, domain authority and authority score are separate metrics from separate vendors that happen to look alike. Comparing a figure from one against a threshold from another is a common and entirely avoidable mistake.
By the numbers
These 58 directories have a median rating of DR 75. The strongest is SourceForge at DR 93, the weakest at DR 70. 17 of them accept a submission for nothing, and 14 charge for every listing. 25 pass a dofollow link.
That is 17 points above the median for the full list of 175 directories, which sits at DR 58. By band that is 18 rated 80 or above and 40 rated 60 to 79. 12 of them have no traffic estimate at all, which usually means too little to measure rather than none.
What a listing actually gets you
Links from stronger domains do carry more weight, all else being equal, and that is the honest case for working down this list from the top. The high-rated directories are also, not coincidentally, the ones that have been around long enough to have real editorial standards.
All else is rarely equal, though. A directory rated 50 that covers exactly what you built will usually do more for you than a general index rated 85, both in visitors and in how the link reads in context.
Submitting without wasting the evening
Submit to these first, before anything else on the list, because the queue is the slow part. Most are moderated by hand, several take weeks, and a rejection usually means waiting before you can try again. Everything else can be done while you wait. Make these submissions the careful ones: a proper description, the right category, a real screenshot.
Common mistakes
Chasing the rating and ignoring the fit, which produces links from strong sites in categories nobody browses. Comparing scores across different SEO tools as though they were the same metric. And assuming a high rating means the page your listing sits on will be indexed, which is a separate question and frequently not the case.
Where to start
By audience size, the biggest here are SourceForge, Hacker News and DEV Community, led by 18M visits a month. The highest-rated one you can use without paying is SourceForge at DR 93. 15 approve quickly, Startup Fame, Twelve Tools and Indie Hackers among them.
Questions people ask
How many are there, and what do they cost?
58 directories match on this page. 17 take a submission for nothing, 27 run a free tier with paid upgrades, and 4 charge for every listing.
Which should I submit to first?
By rating, SourceForge (DR 93), DEV Community (DR 91) and Hacker News (DR 91). By audience, SourceForge is the largest at 18M visits a month. Relevance beats both: a directory that actually covers what you built will do more than a stronger one that does not.
What is a good domain rating for a backlink?
Above 50 is generally considered solid and above 70 strong, but the thresholds matter less than relevance. A rating of 50 in your exact category beats an 80 in a general one.
What are some high-authority sites for backlinks?
Among the directories here, the strongest are SourceForge, DEV Community, Hacker News and Product Hunt, all rated 91 or above and all free to submit to. The table lets you sort by rating to see the rest.
How much does a high-authority backlink cost?
On this list, frequently nothing. The four highest-rated entries accept free submissions. Where sites do charge, the fee reflects their placement and audience rather than the rating itself.
Does a high rating guarantee a good link?
No. Rating measures the site's backlink profile, not whether your listing will be seen or whether the page it sits on will ever be indexed.
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.