Product Hunt launch not featured? What the featuring guidelines say
Product Hunt features launches that are useful, novel, high craft or creative, and skips waitlists, templates and services. Check yours, then relaunch.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·7 min read
Not every Product Hunt launch is featured on the homepage. Product Hunt features products that score well on at least one of four criteria (useful, novel, high craft, creative), it does not feature certain formats at all (waitlists without immediate access, directories, templates, boilerplates, courses, services and more), and it avoids vaporware and "minimal, undifferentiated products that seem primarily focused on immediate monetization."
An unfeatured post is not deleted. It stays in the All feed, where it can still collect comments and upvotes, and your product page stays up. The fix is to check your launch against each guideline below, relaunch when you have a significant new iteration, and launch elsewhere in the meantime.
Why wasn't my Product Hunt launch featured?
Because it did not meet Product Hunt's featuring guidelines, or it fell into a format Product Hunt does not feature. Product Hunt's help article on the homepage says posts must "align with our guidelines, bring value to the community, and be on topic for Product Hunt," and it names content it has restricted from the homepage: blog posts, articles, lists, directories, templates, service offerings, lead magnet pages and guides.
The homepage shows featured launches by default, with a toggle to see all of them. Everything submitted that day is visible in the All feed "by selecting 'See all of today's products' at the bottom of the homepage." The help article does not say how many launches are featured each day or how long the review takes.
What do Product Hunt's featuring guidelines say?
Four positive criteria and two things to avoid. Product Hunt asks how useful, novel, well-crafted and creative a product is, and notes that featured launches do not need to score high in every category, and often spike in one or two of them. Then it rules out vaporware and products focused mainly on immediate monetization. Each one can be turned into a check on your launch.
Guideline
Product Hunt's question
Check on your launch
Questions, answered
What people ask about this
01
How do you get featured on Product Hunt?
Launch a live product that scores well on at least one of Product Hunt's four criteria: useful, novel, high craft or creative. Avoid the formats it does not feature, such as waitlists without immediate access, directories, templates, boilerplates, courses and services, and avoid minimal products built mainly to monetize.
"How practical and beneficial is the product for users?"
Does the tagline name a job someone does today, and does the gallery show the product doing it?
Novel
"How innovative or unique is the product in its approach or solution?"
Does the first comment say what is new compared with what people use now?
High craft
"How well-designed and delightful is the product to use?"
Is the product live, polished, and usable without errors from the first screen?
Creative
"How fun, engaging, or imaginative is the product?"
Is there anything in the product or the presentation people would remember?
No vaporware
"We only feature products that are ready for use or have a clear path to launch."
Can a visitor use it today, or see exactly when they can?
Value over monetization
"We avoid featuring minimal, undifferentiated products that seem primarily focused on immediate monetization."
Is there a real product behind the paywall, and is it different from existing ones?
Featured launches often spike in one or two criteria, so play to your strongest. A tool that is not novel can still be featured for being highly useful or beautifully made; a playful side project can win on creativity. A launch that is ordinary on all four gives the guidelines nothing to reward.
Which products does Product Hunt not feature?
Some formats are excluded whatever their quality. Product Hunt's featuring guidelines list them, and the only exception it gives is for waitlists that provide immediate access. If your launch is one of these, no amount of preparation will put it on the homepage.
Format
Featured?
Waitlisted products
Only if immediate access is provided
Directories or lists
No
Templates
No
Boilerplates
No
Podcasts
No
Courses
No
Reports
No
Events
No
Books
No
Services
No
Commerce sites or stores
No
Deal sites
No
Off-topic submissions (not tech-related)
No
If your product is a waitlist, give launch-day visitors immediate access, even to a limited version. If it is a template, a course or a service, Product Hunt is the wrong main launch, and the platforms in the last section are better fits.
How do you prepare a launch that gets featured next time?
Build the launch around the guideline you are strongest on, and remove every reason to skip it. Product Hunt does not say how its editors weigh each criterion, but its guidelines and launch guide point to the same preparation.
Make the product usable on launch day. A visitor who clicks through should reach the product, not a sign-up list, unless you give immediate access. That clears the waitlist and vaporware rules.
Show the product, not a promise. Product Hunt recommends at least 2 gallery images at 1270x760; use real screens of the product doing its main job.
Write the tagline plainly. Product Hunt asks for "a very short description of the product" with "no gimmicks or over-the-top language," in 60 characters at most.
Say what is new in the first comment. Product Hunt suggests your story, who it is for, key features, pricing and a request for feedback, and notes that 70% of products that won Product of the Day, Week or Month had a first comment from the maker.
Check the details that show craft: a signup that works, no broken links, a fast first page, a link preview with the right image.
Hunt it yourself. Product Hunt says 79% of featured posts were by makers who self-hunted, and that a third-party hunter gives no advantage.
None of this guarantees featuring, and Product Hunt says so. It does make sure the decision is about the product rather than a missing piece of the launch.
What happens to an unfeatured Product Hunt post?
It stays live in the All feed. Product Hunt says posts "can still receive comments and gain upvotes even if they aren't featured," and that the community "can continue interacting with it even without it being on the homepage." Your product page, which collects every launch, reviews and awards, stays too.
So an unfeatured day is not wasted if you use it. Reply to every comment, send your list the link, collect the feedback, and claim your product page. The people who find the launch through your own channels can still comment and review, and those reviews stay on the product page for your next launch.
Can you appeal a featuring decision?
Rarely usefully. Product Hunt's guidelines say reaching out "is rarely necessary," that providing additional context "does not guarantee" your product will be featured, and that featuring decisions are final in most cases. Spend the effort on the product and the next launch instead.
If you believe a factual mistake was made, for example your product is live but was read as a waitlist, you can contact Product Hunt's support, but plan as if the decision stands.
When can you relaunch on Product Hunt?
When you have a significant new iteration. Product Hunt's launch guide says "You can launch as often as you have new significant product iterations available." If you submit again within 6 months of your last launch, you will get a prompt asking whether the new launch is a major update, and you can explain why it merits approval for the team to review.
Product Hunt explains the rule: the community felt the homepage was starting to look too homogeneous from multiple quick-fire launches. So a relaunch needs to be visibly new: a new core feature, a new platform, a redesign. Before you relaunch, fix the guideline you missed. The guide to relaunching a product covers what counts as new enough and how to present it, and the submission steps are in how to launch on Product Hunt.
Where should you launch in the meantime?
On platforms whose terms fit your product while you build the next iteration. They differ on price, wait, whether the listing stays and whether the link is followed. The list puts first the option whose listing and followed link do not depend on anyone's featuring decision.
LaunchScaler: a free launch from its queue, or a Premium launch on any open day for $29 one-time, with a permanent listing in category and search and 1 dofollow link for sites that pass its 156-check readiness scan.
Uneed: a daily launch at 12:00 AM PST; the free line assigns a date 30 days to 5 months out, and paid options let you pick a date.
BetaList: paid, editorially selected, for pre-launch and recently launched startups on their own domain, with a full refund if not selected.
Show HN: free, for something people can try right now; landing pages and sign-up pages are off topic.
While you work on the next Product Hunt launch, LaunchScaler's Premium launch is $29, paid once. It books any open day, today included, writes the listing for you from your own scan, and puts nothing on your site because paying skips the badge. The listing stays in the permanent curated index after its standing decays, and the dofollow link still needs your site to pass the readiness scan. Get Premium, or choose the free launch on the same page if the queue fits your timing.
02
Why is my Product Hunt post not on the homepage?
Product Hunt features only posts that align with its guidelines, bring value to the community and are on topic. Posts it does not feature stay in the All feed, reached by selecting See all of today's products at the bottom of the homepage.
03
Can an unfeatured Product Hunt post still get upvotes?
Yes. Product Hunt says posts can still receive comments and gain upvotes even if they are not featured, and the community can keep interacting with them.
04
Can I appeal a Product Hunt featuring decision?
Product Hunt says reaching out is rarely necessary, that extra context does not guarantee featuring, and that featuring decisions are final in most cases. The more useful route is a relaunch when you have a significant new iteration.
05
When can I relaunch on Product Hunt?
When you have a significant new iteration. If you submit again within 6 months of your last launch, Product Hunt asks whether it is a major update, and you can explain why the new version merits a launch.
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.
