AI tool directories: where to submit your AI tool and what each one costs

If you built an AI tool, there are two directory circuits. The first is the general startup directories everyone uses: Product Hunt, AlternativeTo, the launch boards. The second is a set of directories built only for AI tools, where visitors search by the task they want done rather than by product name. Most guides list a hundred and fifty of them. About ten are worth a listing, and this guide is those ten: what they cost, what their forms ask for that other directories do not, and how to write a listing that shows up when someone types "AI tool to" into a search box.

The AI directories worth a listing

• There's An AI For That. The largest, with a newsletter of around 2.5 million subscribers and task-based pages that rank for almost every "AI for X" search. Listing is paid only: a $49 one-time review fee, or $347 with a newsletter spot. AI products only. If you pay for one AI directory, this is the one.
• Toolify. The second-largest. A free listing exists and is worth the long form. Category and pricing filters drive its traffic, so fill both completely.
• Futurepedia. Large and well organised by use case. Most placement has moved behind paid tiers; check the current submit page before you spend time on it, and pay only if your category has visible traffic.
• Dang.ai and Toolpilot. Free if you put their badge on your site, otherwise paid. Real listings, quick approval. Whether a badge is acceptable on your product is a policy decision; see the backlinks guide.
• OpenTools, aitools.inc, toolsfine. Smaller lists with short forms. Five minutes each, a listing that ranks for your task phrases, nothing more.

Then the general directories with an AI audience, which is now all of them: Product Hunt (AI is its largest topic), Uneed, Peerlist, AlternativeTo (where "open source alternative to ChatGPT" lives), SaaSHub, and Show HN on Hacker News, which likes AI tools and dislikes AI wrappers, so lead with what is technically different. The full list is in the best directories.

What AI directory forms ask for that others do not

• Task or use-case tags. "Summarise PDFs", "remove video backgrounds", "write cold emails". Not features, tasks. Pick the three your users would type.
• Pricing model in detail. Free, freemium, free trial, paid, credits. AI directories filter on this, and "freemium" and "free trial" are different filters. Say which, and give the lowest paid price.
• What it runs on. Some ask for the model or whether it is open source, whether there is an API, and which platforms: web, Chrome extension, mobile, API, Discord bot.
• A one-line "what it does" at 60 to 100 characters, separate from the tagline. Write it as input to output: "turns meeting recordings into action items".
• A demo. More AI directories want a GIF or short video than general directories do. Ten seconds of the tool doing the task is enough.
• Launch date and alternatives, same as everywhere else.

All of this fits in a launch package: task tags go in keywords, the platform and API answers go in the long description, and the demo is a screenshot slot. The package checklist covers the rest.

Write for task searches

Nobody searches for your product name yet. They search "ai tool to transcribe interviews" or "ai for product descriptions". The directories rank for those phrases; your listing needs the phrase in it to be the result they show. Practically:

• Put the task in the tagline. "Interview transcription with speaker labels" beats "The smartest way to capture conversations".
• Make the first sentence of the long description the task, the input and the output. Everything else comes after.
• Use the category's own words. If the directory calls it "copywriting", do not call it "content generation".
• Say the same thing on your homepage. AI answer engines cite directory pages and product pages that agree with each other; a listing that describes a different product from your own site gets neither cited.

Free or pay

Pay where the visitors are already shopping for AI tools and the fee is a one-off: There's An AI For That qualifies. Skip "featured" upgrades on directories whose category pages show no traffic. Treat badge-for-listing sites as a policy: fine on a side project, be selective on a flagship. Everything else on this page has a usable free tier.

The order

1. Build the package with task tags, pricing model and platforms filled in. Paste your URL to draft it.
2. Toolify and There's An AI For That first. They have the traffic.
3. The general well-rated directories, with autofill, one afternoon.
4. The small AI lists and badge sites, if your policy allows.
5. Show HN, with the technical angle up front.
6. When the model, pricing or platform changes, update the listings. AI directories go stale faster than any other kind, and a listing that says "GPT-3.5" in 2026 costs you the click.

Shipping several AI tools

AI tools are the products people ship weekly now, which is precisely why most of them are never listed anywhere. One package per tool, the same six steps, and the multi-product playbook for batching them.