How to Launch a Slack App for Free: Direct Install First, Marketplace Later
Launch a Slack app for free by shipping a direct install link first, because the Slack Marketplace guidelines list apps installed on fewer than 10 active workspaces with fewer than 20 monthly active users as unsuitable. Get real workspaces using it, store tokens safely, make the app do something inside Slack, and then submit for Marketplace review.
Why is the Slack Marketplace not your first step?
Slack’s Marketplace submission guidelines, read on 13 November 2026, include a list of apps it regards as unsuitable. One entry is an app installed on fewer than 10 active workspaces and with fewer than 20 monthly active users; an active workspace is one used in the past 28 days and is not a sandbox. Other entries on the list are apps still in private beta, still being built or not fully tested. The list is described as not exhaustive, and the Marketplace team can use its judgment.
That changes the order of work. The Marketplace is where a working app with some users goes, not where a new one gets its first users. Your launch therefore has two stages: get to a dozen real workspaces by your own means, then apply with real usage behind you.
How do people install it before it is listed?
Slack apps install through OAuth, and you can put an “Add to Slack” link on your own page. The guidelines also describe direct install from a Marketplace listing: the URL you provide must answer with an HTTP 302 redirect to a full slack.com OAuth authorize address. Because anyone with a workspace can open that listing, your onboarding has to cope with a stranger arriving cold, including someone who has no account with your service yet.
- An install page with a screenshot of the app in a channel. People decide from seeing the message, not from reading scopes.
- Only the scopes you use. The guidelines list broad or legacy scopes among the reasons an app may be refused, and an admin will read the permission screen before approving.
- A first message after install that tells the installer what to try in the next sixty seconds.
- A support route inside Slack, such as a help command that opens a form, because an admin deciding on an install looks for evidence that someone will answer.
What does Slack’s review look at?
| Area | What the guidelines say or imply | What to do before you apply |
|---|---|---|
| Functionality | Apps with no meaningful functionality in Slack, or that only offer Sign in with Slack, are listed as unsuitable | Make the main job happen inside Slack, not only on your site |
| Tokens | API tokens must be stored securely, never logged and never placed in client-side code | Audit logs and the front end for token leaks |
| Data | Apps that export or back up message data are listed as unsuitable | Do not make that your headline feature |
| App Home | A tab that only says the app is installed is called out as poor | Use it for settings, status or recent activity |
| Larger customers | Organization-ready deployment must work across Slack Connect channels | Test with two workspaces in one organization if you claim it |
Treat the guidelines as the test and the table as your pre-flight check. Read the current pages before you submit; the guidelines say they change as the review process does.
How should the listing read?
The short description shows in Marketplace search results and on app profile cards in Slack, and the guidelines ask for ten words or fewer so it is not cut off. That is a tagline problem more than a space problem. “Turns a thread into a task” says more than “Productivity for teams.” Use the tagline formulas to try a few.
The guidelines also ask for a name that does not misuse Slack’s trademarks; their example is “Task notifications for Slack” instead of “Slack task notifications.” If your app is free so long as the user has a paid plan with another service, the pricing text should say that. The longer description should describe the problem and then the first steps after installing.
Where do your first workspaces come from?
From the places where teams already talk about their workflow: a community for the job your app improves, a post that shows the finished channel message, and a page of your own. The free launch form gives that page a public listing with no queue. For work-tool ideas, see the board’s productivity ideas. If your product is also a service with its own web app, pair the Slack app with the approach in the B2B SaaS playbook.
- Weeks 1 to 2: build the install flow, the first message and the help command; test in a throwaway workspace.
- Weeks 3 to 4: install it in your own team and three friendly ones; record what they do in the first hour.
- Weeks 5 to 8: reach ten active workspaces through communities and your page; track 28-day activity.
- After that: read the review guidelines against your app, fix the gaps and submit.
The Slack app places page lists directories to use while you wait.
Frequently asked questions
Is it free to list an app in the Slack Marketplace?
We did not find a listing fee on the submission guidelines page, which we read on 13 November 2026, but it is a guidelines page and not a pricing page, so confirm in Slack’s developer documentation. The bigger hurdle is the usage minimum the guidelines describe, not a payment.
How many workspaces do I need before applying?
The guidelines name apps installed on fewer than 10 active workspaces with fewer than 20 monthly active users as unsuitable, and define active as used in the past 28 days, sandboxes excluded. So aim above both numbers with real use. The guidelines say the list is not exhaustive and the team uses judgment.
Can I launch a Slack app without the Marketplace?
Yes. Slack apps install through OAuth, so you can put an install link on your own site and share it. The guidelines describe the Marketplace as a showcase for apps that help people get work done; you can run a good app without a listing and apply when you have usage.
What makes Slack admins approve an app?
Clear scopes that match the features, a named support contact, a readable privacy statement and a first message that explains the app. The guidelines also warn against broad scopes with no clear need. If an admin cannot tell why you need a permission, they will refuse the install.
Written by Post your build ideas with AI assistance and edited for this site. Where a page names another product, the facts came from that product’s own pages on the date shown above; terms change, so check them before you rely on them. About the publisher.