How the Startup Directory Browser works
The browser gives you a sortable, searchable table of startup and SaaS directories — the kind of sites where listing your product can earn a real backlink and occasionally send referral traffic from buyers comparing tools.
Each directory entry shows:
Domain Rating — Ahrefs' authority score for the directory domain. Higher DR means a listing there passes more link equity. Sort by this column first to identify your highest-value targets.
Referring domains and dofollow referring domains — how many unique sites link to the directory, and how many of those links pass authority. A directory with strong dofollow referring domains has itself earned editorial links, which suggests real credibility beyond just accepting submissions.
Category — the directory's primary focus (SaaS, productivity, developer tools, design, AI, etc.). Category fit matters more than authority for getting referral visitors — someone browsing a developer tools directory is more likely to click on a dev product than someone landing on a generic startup aggregator.
Submission pricing — free or paid, and whether the submission URL has been verified as active.
Three ways founders use this tool
Auditing your existing directory coverage. Before running a gap scan or submitting to new directories, it's worth knowing the full landscape. Sort by DR, filter to your product category, and compare the list against directories you're already listed on. The gap between where you are and where you could be is your priority queue.
Picking your first five submissions. If you're starting from scratch, use this browser to pick 5 directories across a mix of authority levels and categories — two or three high-DR general directories, and two or three niche-specific ones. That combination gives you authority signals plus category relevance faster than focusing on only one type.
Evaluating a paid listing decision. When you're weighing whether to pay for a listing on a specific directory, check its DR, referring domain count, and dofollow ratio here before deciding. A paid listing on a DR 60 directory with strong dofollow referring domains is a different investment than a DR 25 directory with mostly nofollow links.
What the tool cannot tell you
The browser shows authority metrics and submission signals — not real-time listing volume, editorial review timelines, or actual referral traffic from each directory. A high-DR directory that's flooded with low-quality submissions may drive less qualified traffic than a smaller, curated list in your exact vertical.
Always check a directory's listing page manually before submitting: look at the quality of existing listings, whether they have a real search or browse interface that users would actually use, and whether your product category is represented. Metrics tell you about the domain's backlink profile — not whether it's a place your target customer actually spends time.
To check which directories your product is actually missing from (rather than browsing the full list), use the Free Directory Submission Sites scan to get a filtered, prioritized submission queue based on your product URL.