SaasList vs Product Hunt: Which Platform Should You Launch On?

Let's cut the bullshit. If you're launching a product in 2025, you've probably thought about Product Hunt. It's the obvious choice—everyone does it, your investors expect it, and there's that dopamine hit of seeing your product climb the leaderboard.

But here's the thing: Product Hunt has changed. A lot.

The Product Hunt Reality Check

I've launched products on PH multiple times. The first time felt magical—real users discovering my product, genuine feedback, actual signups. The last time? It felt like shouting into a void filled with bots and serial upvoters.

Here's what's actually happening on PH:

The algorithm game has gotten brutal. You need to launch at exactly midnight PST, mobilize your entire network in the first 4 hours, and pray you don't get eclipsed by a well-funded startup that bought their way to the top.

Community engagement is declining. Scroll through the comments on most launches—you'll see the same 20 "power users" leaving generic "Great product! Bookmarked!" comments. Not exactly the thoughtful feedback you were hoping for.

The audience isn't what it used to be. Product Hunt used to be early adopters and tech enthusiasts. Now it's mostly other founders looking to trade upvotes.

What We're Doing Differently at SaasList

When we built SaasList, we started with one question: what would actually help founders get their products in front of real users?

No Midnight Launch Stress

Your product stays visible for days, not hours. We don't believe in artificial scarcity that forces you to game the timing of your launch. Launch when you're ready.

Smaller Community, Real Engagement

We're smaller than Product Hunt. Way smaller. But that's intentional. Every user on SaasList is someone who actively wants to discover new tools. No bots, no upvote rings, no "I'll upvote yours if you upvote mine" Slack channels.

Categories That Make Sense

We built our categories around how people actually search for software. Not vanity categories like "Today's Top" but functional ones like "developer tools," "marketing automation," and "bootstrapped startups."

When Product Hunt Still Makes Sense

I'm not going to pretend PH is useless. It works well for:

• Venture-backed startups with existing audiences and marketing budgets
• B2C products targeting tech-savvy consumers
• "Maker" community products (dev tools, no-code, etc.)
• Building social proof for investor decks

If you have a strong Twitter following and can mobilize hundreds of upvotes in the first hours, PH can still deliver.

When SaasList Makes More Sense

We built SaasList for:

• Bootstrapped founders who can't dedicate a week to a launch
• B2B products where you need qualified leads, not vanity metrics
• Niche products that don't fit PH's "everyone loves this" format
• Sustainable visibility over one-day spikes

The Honest Take

Should you launch on both? Probably yes, if you have the bandwidth. Product Hunt for the spike, SaasList for ongoing discovery.

But if you're a solo founder or small team and you have to pick one? I'd argue for starting where the community actually fits your product.

We're still small. We're still figuring things out. But we're building something that prioritizes real discovery over gamification.

Have thoughts on this? We'd genuinely love to hear them. We're building this platform for founders like you, and your feedback shapes what we build next.