Product Hunt launch checklist: every asset and setting to prepare
Every Product Hunt launch asset and its limit: 60-character tagline, 500-character description, 240x240 thumbnail, 1270x760 gallery and first comment.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·8 min read
A Product Hunt launch needs a personal account at least a week old, the product URL, a name, a tagline of up to 60 characters, a description of up to 500, up to 3 launch tags, a square thumbnail (240x240 recommended, under 3MB), at least 2 gallery images at 1270x760, an optional YouTube video, and a first comment from the maker. Your landing page needs a working link preview, a fast load and a signup that works, and your supporters need to know to visit and comment rather than upvote.
Each limit below comes from Product Hunt's own preparation guide, read in September 2026. Product Hunt can change these limits, so confirm each one in the submission form as you fill it in. Work through the list in order; the account wait and the site checks take the longest.
What do you need to prepare for a Product Hunt launch?
Five groups of work: the account and team, the listing text, the images and video, the maker's first comment, and your own site. The table lists every item, Product Hunt's requirement for it, and what "done" looks like, so you can tick it off the day before.
Item
Product Hunt's requirement
Done when
Personal account
Company accounts are not allowed; new accounts wait 1 week before posting
Account created at least a week before launch
Co-makers
Added by their Product Hunt usernames
Every maker has an account and is added
URL
A direct link to the primary product page
Questions, answered
What people ask about this
01
What do I need to launch on Product Hunt?
A personal account at least a week old, your product's URL, a name, a tagline of up to 60 characters, a description of up to 500 characters, up to 3 launch tags, a square thumbnail, at least 2 gallery images, an optional YouTube video and a first comment from the maker.
The link opens the page where the product can be used or downloaded
Name
The product's name only, no description or emojis unless part of the name
Matches your site
Tagline
60 characters at most, no gimmicks or over-the-top language
Says what it does, within the limit
Description
500 characters at most
What it is, who it is for, the main features
Launch tags
Up to 3 that strongly relate to the launch
The most specific tags chosen
Thumbnail
Required, square, 240x240 recommended, under 3MB
Legible at small size
Gallery
At least 2 images, 1270x760 recommended
Real screens, in the order you want them seen
Video
Optional, YouTube links only, not private
Plays when logged out of YouTube
Pricing
Free, paid, or paid with a free trial or plan
Matches your pricing page
Promo code
Optional, with the offer and expiry date
Tested at checkout
Shoutouts
Up to 3 per launch
Chosen, or left empty
First comment
Your story, who it is for, what feedback you want
Written and saved
Schedule
Up to 1 month ahead; 12:01 am Pacific
Scheduled, time checked
What goes in the name, tagline and description?
Plain words that say what the product does. Product Hunt asks for the name only, a tagline that is "a very short description of the product" with "no gimmicks or over-the-top language," and a description that gives "a short, concise explanation of your value proposition and features."
Name: exactly the product's name as your site writes it. No "AI-powered" prefix and no emoji unless they are part of the name.
Tagline: who it is for and what it does, in 60 characters or fewer. "Invoices for freelancers that chase late payers for you" works; "The future of finance" does not. The guide to writing a product tagline has more patterns.
Description: in 500 characters, the problem, what the product does about it, two or three features, and who it is for. Leave the story for the first comment.
Launch tags: up to 3 that "strongly relate" to the launch. Pick the most specific ones that fit; a broad tag puts you beside everything.
Pricing and promo code: pick free, paid, or paid with a free trial or plan, and if you offer a launch discount, add the code with its expiry date and test it at checkout before the day.
Check the product against Product Hunt's featuring guidelines while you write. It features products that are useful, novel, high craft or creative, and does not feature waitlisted products (unless immediate access is provided), directories, templates, boilerplates, courses, services and several other formats. If your product is one of those, it will sit in the All feed rather than the homepage.
Which images and video does Product Hunt need?
A square thumbnail and at least two gallery images, with a video if you have one. Product Hunt recommends 240x240 for the thumbnail, under 3MB, and 1270x760 for gallery images. Videos must be YouTube links and must not be set to private.
The thumbnail appears small, so use your logo or app icon on a plain background rather than a screenshot.
The first gallery image is the one people see first; make it the product's main screen doing its main job.
Use real screens of the product. Mock-ups of a product that does not exist yet run into Product Hunt's vaporware rule: it only features products "ready for use or have a clear path to launch."
Export at exactly 1270x760 so nothing is cropped, and keep text on the images large enough to read on a phone.
For the video, check it plays in a logged-out browser window, because Product Hunt only accepts YouTube links that are not set to private.
What should the maker's first comment say?
Why you built it, who it is for, and what feedback you want. Product Hunt's guide suggests covering key features, who it is for (ideal users and use cases), your story, your goals, pricing, and a request for "feedback (NOT upvotes)." It also notes that 70% of products that achieved Product of the Day, Week or Month had a first comment by the maker.
On tone, the guide says "Being humble and helpful is the best tone," and that marketing-speak doesn't usually resonate. A structure that covers everything it asks for:
One line on who you are and what you built.
The problem, as you ran into it.
What the product does about it, in two or three short points.
Who it is for, and who it is not for yet.
Pricing, and the launch offer if you have one.
The specific feedback you want, such as "Is the onboarding clear?" or "Which integration should we build next?"
Post it the moment the launch goes live. Product Hunt says a launch that did not top the leaderboard can still make its newsletter, and that great content, like a thoughtful first comment, gives its writers the tools to tell your story.
Is your landing page ready for Product Hunt visitors?
It is ready when a shared link shows the right card, the page loads fast on a phone, and a visitor can sign up and pay without an error. Product Hunt sends people to the URL you submit all day, so test that page, not only your homepage.
Check
How to test
Done when
Link preview
Paste the URL into a private chat or post draft
The card shows your title and the right image; og:title, og:type, og:image and og:url are set
Speed
PageSpeed Insights on the submitted URL
You have read the mobile result and fixed the largest problems
Signup
Click every call to action with mouse and keyboard; submit the form with test data
Every control does something and the confirmation arrives
Checkout
A test payment in your payment provider's test mode
The order completes and the promo code applies
Mobile
Open the page on a phone
Nothing overlaps, nothing is cut off, the banner does not hide the CTA
A preview card that shows the wrong image often comes from a missing or cached og:image; the guide to an OG image not showing goes through the causes. For the rest of the week-before work, see the SaaS launch checklist.
What do you tell supporters?
The date, the time, and what to do: visit, try the product and leave a comment. Product Hunt's rule is that "you cannot ask people directly to upvote your product. Instead, ask them to visit and comment." Its community guidelines add that mass messaging users, using bots and incentivizing upvotes are not acceptable, with removal or suspension of your account or products as the penalty.
A week before, tell your list and your co-makers the date, and ask anyone without a Product Hunt account to create one now, so they can comment on the day from an account of their own.
On the day, send the launch link with one line on what you built and a request for honest feedback.
Post the link on your own social accounts.
Do not send a direct upvote request, do not offer anything in return for votes, and do not message strangers in bulk.
Most of this checklist is writing and images. The part that fails silently is the site. Run the free scan on the URL you will submit: LaunchScaler needs only the URL and no account, and runs 156 checks across 6 of its 7 categories, including a primary call to action that does nothing, a form with no working submit path, a noindex on a live page, a missing sitemap, slow page loads and missing security headers. Fix what it flags a few days before launch, then check the link preview by hand, since the scan does not read Open Graph tags.
Product Hunt's preparation guide gives a maximum of 60 characters for the tagline, and asks for a very short description of the product with no gimmicks or over-the-top language. Confirm it in the submission form, since Product Hunt can change it.
03
What size should Product Hunt gallery images be?
Product Hunt recommends 1270x760 for gallery images and requires at least 2. The thumbnail should be square, with 240x240 recommended, and under 3MB.
04
What should the maker's first comment say?
Product Hunt suggests key features, who the product is for, your story, your goals, pricing and a request for feedback rather than upvotes. It notes that 70% of products that achieved Product of the Day, Week or Month had a first comment from the maker.
05
What should I tell supporters before a Product Hunt launch?
Tell them the date and time, send the link on the day, and ask them to visit, try the product and leave a comment. Product Hunt's rule is that you cannot ask people directly to upvote your product.
Product Hunt features launches that are useful, novel, high craft or creative, and skips waitlists, templates and services. Check yours, then relaunch.
Most launch-day failures show up the day before: a leftover noindex, broken previews, a failing signup, no UTMs. Each mistake and the check that finds it.
Promote an app for free by making it findable in search and AI answers first, then free launch sites, communities and content that answers buyer questions.
