9 Directory Submission Services for SaaS, Compared (2026)

Quick answer

Rank submission services by what you actually receive, not by how many directories are printed on the pricing card. On that basis:

• BoostDomainRating is the pick for founders who want indexed, dofollow directory links with a per-link detail page and a refund window — 5 to 50 backlinks from $30 to $150, every placement tracked against a daily-synced Ahrefs DR page.
• SubmitWell is the cheapest volume option at $0.50 per directory on its $99 tier.
• SubmitSaaS is the fastest route to "forms are done" at 48 hours.
• StartupSubmit has the strongest delivery promise, replacing rejected directories until the count is met.

One number that matters more than any of them: the per-directory cost across these nine services ranges from $0.50 to $5.99 — a twelve-fold spread that the headline package price completely hides.

Key takeaways

• Most services sell submissions, not live listings. A rejected form still counts against your quota.
• Three services advertise a "guaranteed DR increase". That is a promise about your domain rating, not about any individual listing going live.
• Cheap volume and per-link accountability are different products. Pick the one your stage needs.
• A service with no customers yet is not a comparison entry; it is a waitlist.
• Always confirm whether the directory's own paid-listing fee is included. It almost never is.

Disclosure

BoostDomainRating publishes this comparison and appears in it. We disclose the relationship here and in the body of the article, and we score our own service on the same four criteria as every other entry — cost per link, what is actually promised, whether you can buy it today, and what proof of delivery you receive.

How to use this ranking

Treat this as a shortlist, not a shopping list. Pick one service that matches your budget and risk tolerance, then add two channels that do a different job — a launch platform, a newsletter mention, or a technical community.

Your first 50 users and first 100 signups matter more than submitting everywhere. Get those, then scale links.

Methodology

Four signals decide the order:

1. Real cost per directory or per live link, calculated from each provider's own pricing page rather than the headline package.
2. What is promised — a submission count, a live-listing count, or a DR movement.
3. Whether you can buy it today, with customers and case data behind it.
4. What proof of work you receive — screenshots, a dashboard, a per-link URL, or nothing.

All prices were read from the providers' own pricing pages in August 2026. Promotional prices are labelled as such. Where a service publishes a struck-through list price against a current price, we treat the current price as the purchase price and note the discount.

Ranking at a glance

The full ranking

1. BoostDomainRating

Best for founders who want dofollow directory links they can verify.

BoostDomainRating runs a curated network of 50+ indexed, dofollow directories and submits your product manually. The unit of sale is the link, not the form: each placement lands on a detail page that tracks the live URL and its current DR, synced daily from Ahrefs.

Pricing: six tiers from $30 for 5 dofollow backlinks up to $150 for 50. That works out to roughly $3–$6 per link depending on tier, and the top tier is priced to make the 50-link package the obvious choice.

What you get

• Manual submission to indexed directories, not a robot posting to dead sites
• Dofollow links only — nofollow mentions are not counted as placements
• A daily-synced Ahrefs DR detail page per link, so you can watch authority move
• A 90-day refund window on the service

Pros

• Counts live links rather than forms submitted
• Per-link verification instead of a bulk screenshot
• Dofollow only, from indexed domains
• Refund window removes most of the purchase risk

Cons

• Smaller raw volume than 200-directory packages
• Higher cost per directory than the cheapest volume services
• Manual submission means days, not hours

Read the full service breakdown before you buy, or start with the directory submission service page.

2. SubmitWell

Best value per directory, with the arithmetic published.

Three fixed tiers: $35 for 50 directories, $59 for 100, $99 for 200. The vendor prints the unit cost itself, which lands at $0.50 per directory on the Pro tier. Submission work is done manually over six to seven working days, with a 30-day refund promise. A $15 or $25 DIY list is sold separately.

Pros

• Lowest published unit cost in this comparison
• Fixed tiers with no hidden upsell
• Manual execution, not an automated poster
• 30-day refund promise

Cons

• Counts submissions, not live listings
• Slower than 48-hour providers
• No per-link proof or DR tracking

3. PushSaaS

Second-lowest unit price, plus a free tier.

$49 for 50+ directories, $99 for 100, $180 for 200, which works out to $0.90–$0.99 each. There is also a free tier covering 50 directories with no card required, although the page does not say exactly what is included. Higher tiers state DR targets, and execution is manual.

Pros

• Free tier lets you test before paying
• Manual execution
• Explicit DR targets on Scale and Accelerate tiers
• Unit price close to SubmitWell's

Cons

• Free tier contents are unpublished
• Counts submissions, not live listings
• Turnaround time is not stated

4. SubmitSaaS

Fastest turnaround at roughly $1 per directory.

$60 for 60+ directories, $100 for 100, $140 for 140 — every tier advertised at 48-hour turnaround, the fastest buyable option here. The work is automation plus human review rather than fully manual, and you receive a submission report with screenshots.

Pros

• 48-hour turnaround
• Clear per-tier count and price
• Report with screenshots
• Cheapest way to be "done" quickly

Cons

• Automation plus review, which struggles on complex forms
• Paid directories are explicitly not included
• No live-listing guarantee

5. StartupSubmit

Strongest delivery promise.

Currently $99 for 60 directories, $199 for 150 and $299 for 220 — roughly half the listed $199 / $399 / $599. Delivery is five to seven days. The commitment is to a successful-submission count, and the team keeps working until the number is met, replacing rejected directories with other high-authority targets. Per-directory screenshots are provided.

Pros

• Promise is about successful submissions, not forms sent
• Rejections replaced rather than written off
• Screenshot proof per directory
• 220-directory ceiling is the largest here

Cons

• Current prices are promotional, not list prices
• Five to seven days
• No per-link DR tracking

6. SaaSListing.co

Best if you already have a target list.

Three routes: a $99 curated package of 35 hand-picked directories, $3 per directory from your own list with no minimum, or a $229 hybrid of 35 curated plus 40 of your choosing. Rush delivery adds 20%. Submission is manual with screenshots, unused quota is refundable, and rejections get one free revision and resubmission.

Pros

• You can bring your own list
• Manual submission with proof
• Refundable unused quota
• One free resubmission per rejection

Cons

• Higher per-directory cost than volume packages
• Curated list is only 35 sites
• Rush fees add up

7. LaunchRocket.io

Best free directory list in this category.

The paid service is a $97 flat fee whose scope is not published — how many directories, what turnaround, what refund terms. Buy it only after getting those in writing. The genuinely useful part is free: a 600+ site directory list with authority scores, 400+ of which are free to use, plus a submission tracking sheet. No account needed to browse.

Pros

• Large free directory list with authority scores
• Free submission tracker
• No login to browse

Cons

• Paid scope unpublished
• No stated turnaround or refund terms
• Not a managed submission product in any documented sense

8. DirForge

Not buyable yet.

Promised tiers are $39 for 30 directories at DR 50+, $69 for 60 and $99 for 90, at a founding discount against $59 / $99 / $149. Promised turnaround is 12–48 hours, with a human and automated hybrid, screenshot reports on the top two tiers, and filtering by DR 40 or 50.

Every button on the site leads to a waitlist, and the page states there are no customers and no case data. Nothing here can be evaluated because nothing has shipped.

Pros

• Promised DR filtering
• Promised 12–48 hour turnaround
• Founding discount

Cons

• No customers, no delivery record
• Not purchasable
• All figures are intentions

9. SubmitToDirectories

Highest cost per target in this comparison.

$149 for 25 directories, $399 for 75 and $899 for 150 — $5.32 to $5.99 each, roughly ten times the cheapest entry. The Scale tier includes custom category research, submission tracking with a URL report, and one revision for fixable rejections. Third-party fees are excluded in writing.

Pros

• Custom category research on higher tiers
• Tracking plus URL report
• Written exclusion of third-party fees

Cons

• Ten times the entry cost per directory
• The site describes a 16-directory library while selling 150 targets
• Hard to justify against per-link alternatives

Submissions versus live listings

This is the difference that decides whether a $99 package was worth it.

• Submission — the form was sent. The directory may still reject the product.
• Live listing — the page is published and indexed, and the link exists.

Most providers count submissions. BoostDomainRating counts links, StartupSubmit promises a successful-submission count and keeps working until it is met, and the rest generally stop at "we submitted".

Two of those models transfer risk to the vendor. One of them is much cheaper. Decide which you are buying before you compare prices.

What is almost never included

• The directory's own listing fee. SubmitSaaS states paid directories are excluded. Others exclude third-party fees in writing.
• Featured placement. Usually sold by the directory, not the service.
• Expedited review. Same.
• Removal of a listing later. Nobody manages your profile after the submission window.

Budget for the directory's own fees, or accept that you are only buying the free-tier rows.

Manual versus automated

Manual submission wins on complex forms: account creation, email verification, captchas, category taxonomies. Automated submission wins on price and speed, at roughly $1 per directory.

A reasonable rule: if the directory list is mostly simple forms, automated is fine. If it includes any directory you actually care about — a DR 60+ platform with editorial review — you want a human filling that one in properly.

That is also why per-link accountability matters more than raw count. Fifty live, indexed dofollow links beat two hundred auto-submitted forms on sites that never approve anything.

Frequently asked questions

How much do directory submission services cost in 2026?

One-time packages run from $35 (SubmitWell, 50 directories) to $899 (SubmitToDirectories, 150 targets). BoostDomainRating prices per link instead, from $30 for 5 dofollow backlinks to $150 for 50. Per-directory cost across the nine services ranges from $0.50 to $5.99.

Do the packages include the directory's own fees?

Almost never. SubmitSaaS states that paid directories are excluded, and the others exclude third-party fees in writing. Featured placements and expedited review are always extra and always paid to the directory.

What is the difference between a submission and a live listing?

A submission means the form was sent. A live listing means the page exists and the link works. Directories reject products regularly, so the two numbers diverge. Counting live listings is the only way to know what you bought.

Is manual submission worth the premium?

On complex forms, yes. Automated tools fail on login walls, email verification and captchas, and those are exactly the directories with real editorial standards. For simple forms, automation is fine and much cheaper.

How long until links go live?

Separate two numbers. Submission turnaround is what the vendor controls: 48 hours at SubmitSaaS, 12–48 at DirForge (promised), six to seven working days at SubmitWell. Directory review is what nobody controls, and it typically takes one to four weeks. Judge a provider on the first number only.

Is it cheaper to submit manually?

In cash, yes. In time, rarely: 50 directories is a full weekend of forms, registrations and email verification. SubmitWell sells a 50-directory DIY list for $15 and the done-for-you version for $35 — which prices your weekend at $20.

Do these services guarantee a Domain Rating increase?

Three of them advertise one. That is a claim about your domain rating, not about a specific listing being published, and it is hard to verify after the fact. Prefer services that count live dofollow links and show you each URL.

Which service should a first-time founder pick?

If you want links you can measure, start with BoostDomainRating's smallest tier and check the DR detail page after the first placements land. If you want raw volume and the lowest unit cost, SubmitWell. If you need it done in 48 hours, SubmitSaaS.

Where we would start

Choose by failure mode, not by brochure.

• Cheapest volume: SubmitWell, then PushSaaS.
• Fastest completion: SubmitSaaS.
• Highest assurance of a count being met: StartupSubmit.
• Links you can verify individually: BoostDomainRating.
• Unpublished scope or no customers: come back later.

Then do the boring part: keep a record of every live URL, check them in 90 days, and delete anything that has vanished. A directory profile is only an asset while it exists.

If you want the link-building context around these services, read are directory backlinks still good and how many directories to submit to. For the full pricing landscape, see best backlink services for startups.