Where to Submit Your AI Tool: 17 AI Directories Checked for Price, Link Type and Review Time
There's An AI For That, Futurepedia, FutureTools, Dang.ai and 13 more AI directories, checked on November 5, 2026 for what a listing costs, what link you get and how long review takes.
Roman Shalabanov
Published
11 min read
Submit your AI tool to two kinds of AI directories: the few big names your users already browse, and the free ones whose terms you can live with. In our check on November 5, 2026, There's An AI For That charged $49 for a basic listing and offered a free route through a monthly thread on X. FutureTools, Dang.ai, Toolpilot, AI Tools Directory, Insidr and SaaS AI Tools took free submissions, each with its own catch. Most fast-track listings cost between $47 and $125.
Below are all 17 directories with price, link type and review time, each from the directory's own pages. Prices change often and many sites run "limited-time" discounts, so open the source before you pay. If your product is not AI-only, or you want launch boards and communities as well, see our 26 Product Hunt alternatives.
How we checked 17 AI directories
Each fact below comes from the directory's own pages, read on November 5, 2026. Prices are in US dollars as shown.
- Free route is what the directory offers without payment and what it asks in return.
- Paid from is the cheapest paid listing. "After sign-in" means the price appears only inside an account or checkout.
- Link type is the
relattribute on the Visit link of one or two public tool pages. "Followed" means we saw nonofollow. "Redirect" means the link points to the directory's own address first. - Review time appears only where the directory documents it.
Visitor counts, newsletter sizes and "DR" scores are the directories' own claims. We quote a few of them as self-reported and do not rank by them. We did not submit a tool to these directories for this guide.
The 17 AI directories at a glance
Names link to the directory's card in our directory where we have one.
AI directories, checked November 5, 2026
| Directory | Free route | Paid from | Link type we saw | Review time (stated) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| There's An AI For That | Monthly thread on X, one tool per thread | $49 one-time | Not checked (bot check) | "1-2 days" on average |
| Futurepedia | No submission form found | Not listed | Followed | Not stated |
| FutureTools | Free form. Over 75% not approved | Featured week, price by email | Redirect via /go/, blocked in robots.txt | Not stated, "likely not hear back" |
| Dang.ai | Free with a crawlable backlink | $49 Basic. Pro $30 setup + $19/month | Redirect via l.dang.ai | Free: up to 4 weeks. Basic: 4 days. Pro: 2 days |
| TopAI.tools | None shown | $47 one-time | Mixed: website button followed, Visit link nofollow | Within 48 hours |
| Aixploria | None shown | $99 one-time | nofollow | $99: 5 business days. $299: 2 |
| Toolpilot | Free with a backlink | $99 one-time | Followed | Free: up to 60 days. Paid: 7 days |
| Easy With AI | Only for free education and research tools | $125 one-time | Dofollow (stated), followed | Usually within 24 hours |
| OpenTools | None. Paid subscription required | After sign-in | Followed | Not stated |
| TopAITools.com | None shown | $99. Premium $149 (marked down from $299) | Mixed: desktop button followed, mobile nofollow | Not stated |
| Powerusers AI | None | $69 | Mixed: Visit button followed, image link nofollow | Up to 48 hours |
| AITopTools | None shown | Later in the form | Followed, "dofollow" claimed | Not stated |
| AI Agents Directory | Free with badge, nofollow link | $19 nofollow, $49 dofollow, one-time | By plan (stated) | Not stated |
| AI Tools Directory | Free form, no guarantee | $99 Fast Track one-time | Mostly followed. Some via a link subdomain | Fast Track: 3 days or less |
| ToolJunction | None | $99 one-time | Not visible in page HTML | $99 plan: 24–36 hours |
| Insidr.ai | Free form | Sponsorship by contact | Redirect via /aff/, mostly sponsored nofollow | Not stated |
| SaaS AI Tools | Free, after a free sign-up | Featured 21 days, $67 one-time (marked down from $97) | Redirect via /go/, nofollow | Not stated |
Source: Each directory's submit or pricing page, checked November 5, 2026
Show data
| Directory | Price |
|---|---|
| AI Agents Directory | $19 |
| TopAI.tools | $47 |
| There's An AI For That | $49 |
| Dang.ai | $49 |
| Powerusers AI | $69 |
| Aixploria | $99 |
| Toolpilot | $99 |
| TopAITools.com | $99 |
| AI Tools Directory | $99 |
| ToolJunction | $99 |
| Easy With AI | $125 |
AI Agents Directory's $19 Fast Track keeps the link nofollow, and a followed link starts at $49.
There's An AI For That, Futurepedia and Toolify: what we found
These three are the names most makers search for first, and each gave a different answer on November 5.
There's An AI For That. Its launch page offers a "Low traffic" listing at $49, a one-time fee for a permanent listing with basic analytics. "Maximum Exposure" costs $437 one-time and adds a guaranteed newsletter spot and priority review. A $300 ad-credit bonus in that plan requires that your tool "must not appear on any other platform before the launch". The free route is narrow: "We run a thread on X once a month where indie makers can submit their tool for free", with one tool listed per thread. The page says "the average processing time for submissions is 1-2 days" and promises an automatic refund if the tool is not published. It reports "3.5M+" monthly visitors, a self-reported figure.
Futurepedia. Its homepage has no submit or advertise link, and its old submit addresses returned "not found". We found no public way to submit a tool. Tool pages link straight to the product with no nofollow. If you want in, watch the site for a new form rather than paying a third party who claims to "get you listed".
Toolify. Its submit page showed a bot check to our requests on November 5, so we could not read the current price. We left it out of the count rather than quote an older copy.
Use the free routes, and know what they ask
Free listings exist, but each one costs you something other than money.
- FutureTools takes a short form that "Matt will review". Its FAQ is blunt: "Over 75% of the tools that are submitted to this site do not get approved", and "you will likely not hear back from us either way". Resubmitting within a week almost guarantees rejection, the FAQ says.
- Dang.ai lists you free if you add "a crawlable backlink to dang.ai", with one category and "up to 4 weeks for review".
- Toolpilot made a link back "mandatory for all free listings", and its form says the free option "may take up to 60 days to process".
- AI Agents Directory lists agents free after you place its badge, with a
nofollowlink. - AI Tools Directory reviews every free submission by hand and says submitting "is not a guarantee" of publication.
- Insidr.ai and SaaS AI Tools take free submissions. SaaS AI Tools now asks you to create a free account first. On October 23, 2026, its form said it rejects affiliate links, directory links and automated submissions.
- Easy With AI is free only for free or open-source tools in education and academic research. Paid tools in those fields may get 50% off, and everyone else pays $125.
Pay for a fast listing only when the numbers work
Paid listings mostly buy speed, a better position and sometimes a followed link. Here is what the cheaper tiers include, as their pages state it.
- TopAI.tools: Fast Track $47 one-time, "Live within 48 hrs (no queue)", permanent listing. Featured costs $229 one-time for 7 days. All submissions still pass editorial review, with an automatic refund if rejected.
- Powerusers AI: $69, paid through PayPal, "Listed forever" and "Listed in 48 hours".
- Aixploria: Fast Listing $99 one-time, "Published within 5 business days". Verified $299, within 2 business days. A banner warned that processing "may occasionally take up to 48 hours longer".
- Toolpilot: Priority $99 one-time, live "within seven days". Premium costs $199 for the first month, then $39 a month.
- AI Tools Directory: Fast Track $99 one-time, "Live in 3 days or less".
- ToolJunction: $99, $199 or $499 one-time. The $99 plan goes "live in 24-36 hours".
- TopAITools.com: Basic $99 and Premium $149, marked as 50% off $299. The page does not say whether payment is one-time.
- Easy With AI: $125 one-time, "usually reviewed and listed within 24 hours". "The link to your tool will be dofollow."
- OpenTools requires a paid subscription and shows the price only after sign-in. AITopTools shows no free option and no price on its claim page. Plans appear later in the form.
Before you pay, look the directory up in an SEO tool such as Ahrefs, Semrush or Moz. They estimate how much search traffic it gets and from which countries. They are estimates, not counts, but a directory with no visible search traffic will not send you much either.
Check a directory's link type yourself
A directory's "dofollow" claim is easy to test, and the answer can differ by page, plan or screen size. TopAITools.com, for example, used rel="follow" on the desktop button and rel="nofollow" on the mobile one.
- Open a listing of a similar tool on the directory, ideally one on the same plan you are considering.
- Right-click the Visit button and choose Inspect. Look at the
hrefand therelattribute. - If
relcontainsnofollow,ugcorsponsored, search engines are asked not to pass credit through the link. - If
hrefstarts with the directory's own domain, such as/go/or alink.subdomain, the visit is redirected. Open the directory's/robots.txtand check whether that path is disallowed. FutureTools disallows/go/.
From a terminal, one command shows every link to a domain on a listing page:
curl -sL "https://directory.example/tool/similar-tool" \
| grep -oE '<a [^>]*similar-tool\.com[^>]*>'Some directories render links with JavaScript or block command-line requests. Then the browser method is the reliable one.
Also weigh what Google says. Its guide to outbound links asks sites to mark paid links with rel="sponsored", or rel="nofollow". So pay for the readers a directory brings, not for the link.
Prepare one submission kit and reuse it
Every directory asks for roughly the same things. Prepare them once, in one document, before you start.
- Name and URL. Link to the product page, not a blog post, with no tracking redirects.
- Tagline under 60 characters, plus a short description of about 160 characters and a long one of 100–300 words. Our guide on writing a product description for launch sites has templates.
- Category and pricing model: free, freemium, free trial or paid, with the starting price.
- Logo as a square PNG, three or more screenshots of the product in use, and a short demo video.
- Your page's own meta tags. Several forms build a draft from your site, and Easy With AI offers to auto-generate the description. Check your title, description and share image first with the Meta Tags & Social Preview tool.
- A tagged link per directory, so your analytics shows which listings send sign-ups. The UTM Builder does this in bulk.
Then submit in batches of a few a day, and keep a sheet with the date, plan, price and status of each. For the rest of launch week, the Product Launch Checklist covers the steps around the listings.
AI directories in our own catalog, and tools to track what each listing sends you:
Discover a vast collection of AI resources for various needs.
A centralized directory for discovering various AI resources.
FAQ
How much does it cost to submit an AI tool to a directory?
In our November 5, 2026 check, most public fast-track listings cost $47 to $125, with There's An AI For That at $49. AI Agents Directory starts at $19 with a nofollow link, and premium packages reached $437 to $499. Several directories still take free submissions, usually with a long wait or a badge on your site.
Can I submit to There's An AI For That for free?
Only through its monthly thread on X, where one tool per thread gets a free listing. The regular listing costs $49 one-time, and submissions take one to two days on average, according to its launch page.
Does Futurepedia still accept submissions?
We found no public submission form on November 5, 2026: its homepage had no submit link and its old submit pages returned "not found". Check its site again before you rely on a third party offering to list you there.
Are AI directory backlinks worth paying for?
Pay for the visitors, not the link. Link types vary by page and plan, many links go through redirects, and Google asks that paid links carry sponsored or nofollow. A directory whose readers try your tool is worth more than any link.
How many AI directories should I submit to?
Start with five to ten whose readers match your users, and track sign-ups per listing with tagged links. Add more only when the first batch shows which kind of directory works for you.
