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Directory Hunt: requirements, how to submit, and what you actually get

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A weekly competition for directories and tiny projects, with a vote you have to cast first.

directoryhunt.org
Directory Hunt homepage
Eligibility

Who Directory Hunt accepts

You need
An account, by Google or an email link
Their badge on your site, for the free lane
A vote cast on somebody else's project today
You'll be rejected if
Anyone unwilling to carry a reciprocal badge for a nofollow link
DirectoriesSaaS productsAI toolsDeveloper tools
What you actually get
A card in that week's competition rather than a page of your own: there are no project detail pages here, and the card's title links straight out with rel=nofollow noopener noreferrer. Launches go live at 12:00 AM PST and the top three of the week win a badge and featured placement.

How to submit to Directory Hunt

  1. Sign in
    Continue with Google, or an email link. Signing in creates the account.
  2. Vote on something first
    Submitting redirects back to the homepage until you have voted on a project today. The toast is the only explanation you get.
  3. Pick a plan
    Backlink Plan is the free one. Premium Launch at $4.99 skips the queue.
  4. Fill and launch
    Your launch is scheduled for 12:00 AM PST and runs for seven days against that week's fifteen slots.

Directory Hunt requirements

An account on the site
Their badge
reciprocal, for the free lane
A vote on another project
cast the same day

Gotchas

Submitting is gated on voting: /submit bounces to the homepage with a toast asking you to vote on a project first, and there is no other sign it refused.
That gate can deadlock. Every past launch shows Voting period has ended, so when the current week is empty there is nothing votable anywhere on the site and no way through to the form.
The free lane wants a reciprocal badge on your site, and the link it gives back is nofollow.
There is no page for your project. The card on the competition page is the whole listing, so nothing here accumulates for you between weeks.

Let your agent submit to Directory Hunt

Connect SubmitMap to your AI over MCP and this page stops being something you read and copy. Your agent asks for the Directory Hunt playbook and gets the brief for this exact form, with the values already taken from your submission pack instead of placeholders you fill in by hand.

What it does for this platform
Checks your product against the 4 Directory Hunt rules above, so you find out you would be rejected before you open a tab.
Hands your agent all 3 fields this form asks for, none of them optional, already filled from your pack.
Warns you that Directory Hunt looks for its badge on your site, so it has to be live before you submit rather than after.
Tells you what paying buys here, so you pick it on purpose: the free lane is the Backlink Plan: their badge on your site, seven days on the homepage, fifteen slots a week. Premium Launch is $4.99 a launch for fourteen days and ten extra weekly slots, promotion is $8.99 a month, and they also sell a $199 directory boilerplate.
Types it into Directory Hunt in your own browser, and stops for you when the form wants a sign-in.
Records what it sent, so the dashboard can answer "did I ever submit to Directory Hunt?".
Connect your agentHow this worksTools and endpointsWorks with Claude Code, Claude, Codex, Cursor, VS Code and Hermes.

Directory Hunt FAQ

How long does Directory Hunt approval take?
Directory Hunt's typical time from submission to going live is about a week.
How much does it cost to submit to Directory Hunt?
Directory Hunt has a free submission option plus paid placement (The free lane is the Backlink Plan: their badge on your site, seven days on the homepage, fifteen slots a week. Premium Launch is $4.99 a launch for fourteen days and ten extra weekly slots, promotion is $8.99 a month, and they also sell a $199 directory boilerplate.).
Does Directory Hunt give a dofollow backlink?
No, links from Directory Hunt are nofollow. The site has a domain rating of 38.
Does Directory Hunt require a backlink to your site?
Yes, Directory Hunt expects a link back from your site as part of listing.
What gets you rejected from Directory Hunt?
Anyone unwilling to carry a reciprocal badge for a nofollow link.