Where to find your first customers: AI tools
74 channels fit this audience, 54 of them free. Start with the first one in the list, read its guide, and try it for two weeks before you judge it.
- BetaListLaunch boards · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Early adopters who expect unfinished products. Good for building a waitlist before launch.
- UneedLaunch boards · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Curated daily launches with a lasting directory page.
- Peerlist LaunchpadLaunch boards · Free · effort ●○○
Weekly launch window that opens on Mondays. Audience is mostly developers and designers. Needs a verified profile.
- There's An AI For ThatDirectories & comparison · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Large directory of AI tools that people browse by task.
- Curated newsletters (TLDR, Console)Directories & comparison · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Many accept submissions, with a paid slot for guaranteed placement. Choose ones your buyers already read.
- r/SideProjectCommunities · Free · effort ●○○
Friendly place to show a project and collect first reactions.
- Search Console and Bing WebmasterSearch & discovery · Free · effort ●○○
Set up on day one so you can see which queries bring people in.
- Warm intros from your networkDirect outreach · Free · effort ●○○
Ask former colleagues and friends who know your buyers for one introduction each.
- Hacker News (Show HN)Launch boards · Free · effort ●●○
Technical readers who reward things they can try at once. Link to something that runs and skip marketing copy.
- Relaunch on every big releaseLaunch boards · Free · effort ●●○
Several boards allow a new listing after a major update. Treat each version as a fresh announcement, and check each board's rules.
- AlternativeToDirectories & comparison · Free · effort ●●○
Reaches people already searching for a replacement. Works best when you can name a clear incumbent.
- Indie HackersCommunities · Free · effort ●●○
Home of bootstrapped founders. Milestone and revenue write-ups travel further than announcements.
- r/SaaSCommunities · Free · effort ●●○
Founders sharing numbers, tactics and launches.
- Discord and Slack groupsCommunities · Free · effort ●●○
Niche servers full of your users. Be useful in a channel for weeks before sharing anything.
- dev.to and HashnodeCommunities · Free · effort ●●○
Write tutorials that solve a real problem. Readers arrive from the feed and from search.
- Case studies and customer storiesSocial & content · Free · effort ●●○
One concrete result from a real customer helps every other channel convert.
- Get added to 'best X tools' roundupsSearch & discovery · Free · effort ●●○
Find articles that list your competitors and ask the author to include you, with a short reason.
- Hugging FaceStores & marketplaces · Free · effort ●●○
Share models, datasets and demo Spaces with the machine learning community.
- Answering questions where they are askedDirect outreach · Free · effort ●●○
Search Reddit, forums and X for questions your product answers. Help properly and mention the product only when it fits.
- Customer interviews that lead to referralsDirect outreach · Free · effort ●●○
End each call by asking who else has this problem.
- Newsletter swaps and cross-promotionPartnerships & loops · Free · effort ●●○
Trade a mention with a maker who has a similar-sized list and a nearby audience.
- Pitching niche bloggers and newsletter writersPress & PR · Free · effort ●●○
Small writers in your category often reply and are glad to cover a useful new tool.
- Product HuntLaunch boards · Free · effort ●●●
Biggest daily launch stage. Gives you a badge and a day of traffic. Competition is heavy, so line up supporters first.
- Niche subredditsCommunities · Free · effort ●●●
Find where your users already complain. Read the rules, contribute first, and expect plain self-promotion to be removed.
- Build in public on XSocial & content · Free · effort ●●●
Slow to start. The audience you build carries over from one product to the next.
- YouTubeSocial & content · Free · effort ●●●
Tutorials and demos can rank in search for years.
- Your own newsletterSocial & content · Free · effort ●●●
The one audience nobody can take away. Even a small list converts well at launch.
- Documentation, guides and tutorialsSearch & discovery · Free · effort ●●●
Good docs rank for the exact problems your users type into search.
- Personal DMs to people with the problemDirect outreach · Free · effort ●●●
Message people who posted about the problem. Often the fastest route to your first ten customers.
- FazierLaunch boards · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
A newer Product Hunt alternative. A cheap extra launch day.
- MicroLaunchLaunch boards · Free · effort ●○○
Small launch board built for indie makers.
- Tiny StartupsLaunch boards · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Directory and launch list for small, early products.
- TinyLaunchLaunch boards · Free · effort ●○○
Launch board for indie makers and small projects.
- PeerPushLaunch boards · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Launch platform with lasting product pages. Check its current visibility rules.
- FuturepediaDirectories & comparison · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
AI tool directory sorted by category.
- Changelog and public roadmap postsSocial & content · Free · effort ●○○
Every release is a reason to post, email and relaunch.
- AMAs and live Q&AsEvents · Free · effort ●○○
Host a question session in a community you already belong to.
- Local founder and coworking meetupsEvents · Free · effort ●○○
In-person trust brings referrals and honest feedback.
- CrunchbaseDirectories & comparison · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Company directory used by investors and partners. Little direct traffic for most small products.
- Launching NextLaunch boards · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Daily showcase of new startups.
- StartupBaseLaunch boards · Free · effort ●○○
Launch and discover new products every day.
- Open LaunchLaunch boards · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Platform to discover and upvote new tech products daily.
- TrustMRRDirectories & comparison · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Marketplace to buy and sell startups with verified revenue.
- r/indiehackersCommunities · Free · effort ●○○
Subreddit for indie hackers. Feedback and peer attention.
- Telegram and WhatsApp groupsCommunities · Free · effort ●●○
Smaller private groups where members answer fast. Join as a member first.
- QuoraCommunities · Free · effort ●●○
Long answers to questions your buyers ask can keep sending traffic for years.
- Podcast guestingSocial & content · Free · effort ●●○
Pitch shows your buyers listen to with a specific story, not a product plug.
- Medium and Substack NotesSocial & content · Free · effort ●●○
Borrow an existing readership for essays about the problem you solve.
- Webinars and workshopsSocial & content · Free · effort ●●○
Teach the problem live and show the product at the end. Record it for later.
- AI-assistant visibilitySearch & discovery · Free · effort ●●○
Assistants lean on docs, comparison pages and third-party reviews when they recommend tools. Make yours clear and easy to quote.
- YouTube comparison and review channelsSearch & discovery · Free · effort ●●○
Reviewers who cover your category often accept a free account or a short briefing.
- AppSumo and lifetime-deal sitesStores & marketplaces · Revenue share · effort ●●○
Fast cash and early users. Lifetime customers raise support load, so cap what you sell.
- MCP and AI assistant directoriesStores & marketplaces · Free · effort ●●○
Publishing a server or plugin lets people use your product from inside their AI assistant.
- Maker bundles and swapsPartnerships & loops · Revenue share · effort ●●○
Join other indie makers in a bundle or shared launch week.
- Journalist-request platforms (Qwoted, Featured)Press & PR · Free + paid options · effort ●●○
Answer reporters' questions as an expert. A few mentions give you press links and credibility.
- Newsletter sponsorshipsPaid & sponsorship · Paid · effort ●●○
Small niche newsletters often convert better than big general ones.
- Hackathons (Devpost)Events · Free · effort ●●○
A forced deadline, a built-in audience and sometimes press from sponsors.
- Online summits and virtual conferencesEvents · Free · effort ●●○
Speak on a niche panel and reuse the recording as content.
- ThreadsSocial & content · Free · effort ●●○
Meta text-first feed. Few published growth benchmarks, so treat results as unknown until you test.
- Stack OverflowCommunities · Free · effort ●●○
Q&A for developers. Helpful, disclosed answers can bring steady visits; promotional answers are removed.
- Apple PodcastsSocial & content · Free · effort ●●○
Podcast directory. Free to list a show. Listeners build slowly.
- r/startupsCommunities · Free · effort ●●○
Large founder subreddit with strict promotion rules.
- Run your own communityCommunities · Free · effort ●●●
A small Discord or forum for your users. It turns customers into support, feedback and referrals.
- Programmatic and alternative-page SEOSearch & discovery · Free · effort ●●●
Pages for 'X alternative', 'X vs Y' and templates. Pays slowly, so start before you need it.
- Open-source a useful piecePartnerships & loops · Free · effort ●●●
Release a free component. The paid product sits next to it.
- Original data studiesPress & PR · Free · effort ●●●
Publish numbers nobody else has. Journalists and bloggers cite and link to them.
- ChatGPT Directory (apps and plugins)Stores & marketplaces · Free · effort ●●●
Public directory of apps and plugins inside ChatGPT. Needs a plugin and a review.
- Canva Apps MarketplaceStores & marketplaces · Free · effort ●●●
Apps and integrations that run inside Canva.
- SEO blog contentSearch & discovery · Free · effort ●●●
Articles on your own site that answer the searches your buyers make.
- SideProjectorsCommunities · Free · effort ●○○
Marketplace and community to show, buy and sell side projects.
- twelve.toolsLaunch boards · Free + paid options · effort ●○○
Daily list of twelve tools.
- Reddit AdsPaid & sponsorship · Paid · effort ●●○
Targets by subreddit. Test with a small budget and a post that reads like a post.
- Podcast sponsorshipsPaid & sponsorship · Paid · effort ●●○
Host-read ads work when the show fits your buyers closely.
- X AdsPaid & sponsorship · Paid · effort ●●○
Promoted posts and follower ads on X. Best used to boost posts that already work.
Each channel links to its own guide. Check each platform's current rules before you post. Browse every channel.