How to use Launchrace

The home page shows what is launching today and the Arena, where makers can pay for a spot on the home page. Paid spots are always marked Sponsored.

The numbers at the top are real: they count the people who actually visited, and nothing is made up.

The bar under the header lists the kinds of product: AI tools, Startups and Creators, then the busiest categories. Slide it sideways to see more. On a phone, swipe it.

Explore opens the full list of categories.

Type the start of a product name or a topic. Suggestions appear as you type. Press Enter for a full results page, which you can narrow by type, category, price and platform.

A product page shows what it does, its pricing and platforms, and its launches. Under the name you can Upvote, Save to read later, Follow to hear about its launches, and Share.

A blue check beside the name means the maker proved they own the website. It is not an endorsement.

When a product is scheduled to launch on a later day, the Follow button becomes Remind me. You get one email on launch day, and nothing else.

Comments are plain text, up to 1,000 characters. Replies from the product’s makers carry a Maker badge.

A comment from a new account, or one with a link, waits for a quick check before it appears. Use Report on anything that is spam or abuse.

Every day is a race: products launching that day are ranked by votes from confirmed people between midnight and midnight (UTC). Leaderboards show today, this week, this month and all time. The Daily page keeps every past day, and Best of the month collects the winners.

Enter your name, email and a password. You must be 16 or older to join.

Use at least 10 characters. A short phrase of several words is easy to remember and hard to guess. Very common passwords such as “1234567890” are refused.

We send you a message with a Confirm email button. The link works for 24 hours. If you cannot see it, check your spam folder.

Until you confirm, you can browse but you cannot vote, comment, or create listings.

Your dashboard has four pages: Overview (your listings), Saved & following, Billing and Settings. Click New listing to begin.

Choose Startup, AI tool or Creator (a person, newsletter, channel or studio). Then fill in:

Name and Website (https only; tracking codes are removed, and IP addresses are not allowed). Tagline: one clear sentence of 10 to 120 characters. Description: what it does and who it is for, at least 50 characters, and Markdown works.

Pick one to three categories, add a few tags, say how it is priced and where it runs. Then press Create draft. A draft is only visible to you.

A good logo and two or three screenshots make people trust a listing. Upload PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF or AVIF, at least 64×64 pixels and up to 5 MB each, with up to six screenshots.

We convert images to WebP and strip hidden data such as location from photos.

When it looks right, press Submit for review on the Status card. You can press Preview first to see it as visitors will.

Automatic checks run first, then a moderator looks at it, usually within a day, and we aim for two business days at most. You will get an email with the result: approved, changes requested (with the reason) or rejected (with the reason). Edits to a live listing are reviewed the same way.

Once approved, choose a launch day up to 90 days ahead and write a one-line headline. Your launch is one UTC day, in the race with everyone else launching that day. You can cancel it any time before it starts.

Prove you control your website and your listing gets a blue check (Verified owner; Verified creator for creator profiles). Do one of these, then press Check now:

Option A: add a DNS TXT record at the company that hosts your domain. Option B: put one small meta tag in your home page. It is free, and the check appears immediately.

On launch day, the Share your launch card gives you a ready-made image that shows your real rank, plus a suggested post. Download the wide or square version, copy the text, and ask your followers to vote.

The badge card gives you a small image to put on your own website that links back to your listing, and the Widgets page lets you show Launchrace rankings on your site.

On a live listing, the Promote card sells fixed slots: a home page spotlight, a category spotlight, a launch-day boost and a weekly digest sponsor. The price and what you get are shown before you pay.

Pick a start date on the calendar. Green days are free, amber days are filling fast and red days are fully booked. Grey days cannot be picked.

The Arena is a monthly contest, and it works like an open auction. Every bid is public, on a ledger anyone can read. Your bids add up to your season total, and the highest totals rank first. If two totals are equal, the earlier one ranks higher.

The top 3 get the home page spotlight and the top 10 get a spotlight on their category pages. Everyone starts again at zero on the 1st (UTC).

Open the Arena, choose your listing, and enter a whole-dollar amount. You see your new total and projected rank before you pay, and you confirm the exact amount on the secure checkout.

To take #1 you must finish at least $5 above the current leader. Matching them is not enough. The Take #1 button fills in the right amount for you.

Payments are handled by Dodo Payments, who charge you, add any sales tax that applies where you live, and email your invoice. We never see your card.

The Billing page lists every payment with a receipt, and shows your promotion credit. Credit is applied automatically to the next fixed-price placement. It has no cash value and cannot be used for Arena bids.

A public maker profile is off until you publish one. It lists your live products and puts your name on them, so nobody is named unless they choose it. You can remove it any time.

Under Email notifications you choose which messages you want. Every email has a stop link.

Settings also has your password, two-factor sign-in (recommended), a list of your signed-in devices, and Delete account.

Everything works on a phone. The menu button opens the full menu, and the browse bar and live numbers sit under the header.