A "best SaaS directories for backlinks" article almost always contains the same
move: a table, a column headed "DR", and a number next to each name pulled from
an SEO tool. It reads like a link audit. It isn't one. Domain Rating measures
how much authority a whole domain has accumulated — nothing about it tells you
whether the specific outbound link on the specific listing page your product
would sit on actually passes that authority anywhere. A directory can carry a
high DR and mark every outbound link rel="nofollow", and the number in that
table would never tell you.
So this list skips the estimate. For each SaaS directory below, something
fetched the actual listing markup and read the rel attribute on the link
pointing at the product's own site. That is the only fact that decides whether
a backlink passes authority, and it is the one fact a DR column cannot contain.
How we checked
Same method as our full directory audit,
narrowed to the 18 directories in our SaaS category specifically: a script
opened a real listing page, found the anchor pointing at the listed product's
own domain, and read what was actually in its rel attribute. No rel, or
only values like noopener/noreferrer, means dofollow. nofollow,
sponsored, or ugc means it doesn't pass authority, whatever else the page
does for you. Where the site blocked the request outright, the directory stays
unknown — we say so rather than guess in either direction.
Of the 18, three came back confirmed dofollow, two confirmed nofollow, and thirteen blocked the check. That last number is the honest shape of this category: most SaaS review platforms run behind a bot-detection layer, which is a statement about their infrastructure, not their link policy.
The 3 confirmed dofollow
SaaSHub lists your product free, with paid featured
promotion on top, and the listing link on the page we checked carried no
suppressing rel. It's built around "alternative to X" comparisons rather than
a launch-day feed, so the traffic that finds you there is already comparing
options — closer to buyer intent than a general directory browse.
Startup Stash is completely free, reviewed by a human before it goes live, and confirmed dofollow. It's a large curated catalogue organized by what a startup actually needs rather than by category name, which makes it a reasonable fit for almost any SaaS product regardless of niche.
TheSaaSDir is free if you install a reciprocal badge on your own site, or $19 one-time to skip that and get a featured spot without one; paying $29 also lists you on its sibling AI-tools directory. The listing link we checked was dofollow. Like most badge-gated directories, the free path costs you a visible outbound link on your own page in exchange for one back — decide once whether that trade is worth it, the same way you would for any of the badge-gated entries in the fuller list.
The 2 confirmed nofollow
SourceForge marks its outbound links nofollow —
every external anchor we read on the listing page carried a suppressing rel.
It's still worth a free basic listing for the distribution: SourceForge
predates most of this category and still gets real download and search
traffic that has nothing to do with links.
Tekpon is nofollow and paid-only — a $249 one-time listing fee with editorial approval and a refund if you're rejected. Paying $249 for a link that doesn't pass authority is a bad trade if the link is what you're buying. Tekpon is a category site people actually search inside when comparing SaaS tools, so judge it on whether that audience fits you, not on the backlink.
The 13 we couldn't verify — and why that's not a red flag here
This is the largest group, and it's largely made up of the platforms buyers actually use to shortlist software: G2, Capterra, GetApp, TrustRadius, Software Advice, GoodFirms, FinancesOnline, SoftwareSuggest, SaaSGenius, Crozdesk and SaaSworthy all returned a challenge page or a 403 to our automated checker rather than the listing markup — several are explicitly built on Cloudflare bot protection, which fingerprints far more than a user agent string. That's a statement about our request, not their links. Every one of these runs a free profile with a paid tier for extra visibility or lead generation, and every one is worth claiming regardless of link status: a buyer who searches "[your category] software reviews" is reading one of these pages before they read yours, and a claimed, filled-in profile with real reviews does more for you there than a dofollow link ever would.
A couple are worth calling out individually. GoodFirms covers software alongside services companies, so a listing there puts you next to agencies as well as other SaaS products — worth knowing if you'd rather not share a page with consultancies. SaaSworthy's pitch is unusual for the category: it says it will research and write your listing itself for free rather than asking you to fill in the form, which is a lower-effort submission than almost anything else on this page even with the link unverified. FinancesOnline is one of the older sites in this group and still runs its own scoring system on top of user reviews, which is a second, independent ranking a buyer might see before they ever reach your homepage.
Alternative.me and AlternativeTo are the other shape entirely — free, crowd-sourced catalogues of software alternatives rather than review platforms, also unverified against our checker. They rank for "alternative to [competitor]" searches, which is a different and often higher-intent query than a category review page, and costs nothing to be listed on.
What "free" actually means across these 18
Every one of the 18 has a free tier, but "free" buys very different things depending on which one you're looking at. On the review platforms, free means a claimable profile — Capterra's optional PPC placement is reported at roughly $2 per click with a $500-a-month minimum, G2 and GetApp quote paid seller plans on request rather than publishing a price, and Crozdesk's paid lead-generation campaigns work the same way. None of that changes what the free listing itself gets you: a profile a buyer can find and read. The paid tier is for showing up higher or generating leads on top of that, not for unlocking the listing.
On the crowd-sourced comparison sites — Alternative.me and AlternativeTo — there's no paid tier to speak of; the free listing is the whole product, and ranking is driven by user votes rather than anything you can buy. Tekpon sits at the opposite end: no free path at all, a flat $249 to be considered, with a refund if you're rejected. And TheSaaSDir splits the difference explicitly — free if you install its badge, $19 to skip that requirement and be featured without one.
None of that pricing tells you anything about link status on its own, which is the entire reason this list separates the two. A platform can be completely free and unverified (AlternativeTo), completely free and confirmed dofollow (Startup Stash), or cost $249 and be confirmed nofollow (Tekpon) — price and link authority are simply unrelated variables here, and any list that implies otherwise by putting them in the same sentence is doing you a disservice.
Why a DR estimate can't tell you what this list does
Domain Rating is a measure of the whole domain's link profile — how many sites
link to it, and how strong those are. It says nothing about the rel attribute
on one specific anchor on one specific page, which is the only thing that
determines whether that one link passes authority to you. A directory can have
excellent DR and nofollow every outbound link on principle, precisely because
handing out free dofollow links at scale is what gets a domain penalized in the
first place. Quoting DR next to a "dofollow" claim isn't evidence for the claim
— it's a different metric standing in for one nobody checked.
Claiming a profile is a different motion than submitting a listing
Most of the 18 confirmed-dofollow-or-not directories in the launch-board sense of the word aren't directories at all — they're review platforms, and claiming a profile there works differently from filling in a submission form. G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Software Advice and GoodFirms typically start you off with vendor verification: proving you actually run the product, usually via a work email on your own domain or a quick call, before you can edit the profile's copy or invite customers to leave reviews. That verification step is also why several of them are the slowest entries on this list — "manual review and profile claim verification" is doing more work than the same phrase on a launch board, where it usually just means someone reads your submission once.
The practical order that wastes the least time: claim the profile first (it's free everywhere on this list except Tekpon), fill in the listing completely — screenshots, pricing, integrations, the fields a half-empty profile always skips — and only then think about asking early customers for a review. A profile with zero reviews ranks nowhere inside these platforms' own category pages, so the claim itself is necessary but not sufficient; the review count is what actually moves you.
What this is actually worth
Three confirmed dofollow links from SaaS-specific directories will not move a ranking on their own — nothing in this size range does. What they're worth is a bit of non-branded anchor variety, an early crawl path for a new domain, and in this category specifically, placement in front of people who are actively comparing software rather than browsing new launches. Treat the free ones as a morning's work, treat the review platforms as a profile worth claiming for the reviews rather than the link, and treat a $249 nofollow listing as something to judge on its own audience, not on backlinks it was never going to give you.
If you want the same rel-attribute check across every category, not just SaaS, the full directory index carries what we could confirm on all 104. You can submit your product to LetsLaunch itself the same way — free, with the outbound link earned by a badge and a vote threshold rather than bought.
Frequently asked questions
Are SaaS review platforms like G2 and Capterra worth it if the link is unverified?
Yes, but for a different reason than backlinks. Buyers use these platforms to shortlist software before they ever reach your site, so a claimed profile with real reviews earns you visibility in front of a warmer audience than a launch board does — whether or not the outbound link passes authority.
Why do so many SaaS review platforms block automated link checkers?
Most run bot-detection at the infrastructure level — the same protection that
stops scraping and fake-review bots also blocks a script trying to read the
rel attribute on a listing page. Sending a browser-like user agent doesn't
get around it; these systems fingerprint the TLS handshake and request pattern,
not just the header claiming to be a browser.
Is a nofollow link from a high-traffic SaaS directory still worth having?
Often, yes, just not for SEO. A nofollow listing can still send qualified visitors and put your product in front of someone comparing options who later mentions it elsewhere. Judge it on the traffic and audience fit first, and treat any ranking benefit as a bonus rather than the reason to submit.
Should I trust a domain-rating number when a directory claims its links are dofollow?
Not on its own. Domain Rating describes the whole site's authority, not the
rel attribute on any single link, and a high-DR site can still nofollow every
outbound anchor as a matter of policy. The only way to know is to read the
actual link, which is why this list is built around checking rather than
estimating.
How many SaaS directory submissions does a new product actually need?
Fewer than a "submit to 100 directories" package implies. Work through the free, genuinely dofollow ones first, claim a profile on the review platforms your buyers actually use, and stop there — a handful of real, checkable listings does everything directory submissions are going to do for a new domain, and volume past that has diminishing returns.
Do I need reviews before I claim a profile on G2 or Capterra?
No — claiming and filling in the profile comes first, reviews come after. A claimed profile with a complete listing (screenshots, pricing, integrations) is what gives an early customer somewhere real to leave a review; asking for reviews on an unclaimed or half-empty profile just sends people to a page that undersells you. Treat the claim as the setup step, not the goal.