Where to Launch an AI Tool: Demo Hosts, Directories and Forums
Launch an AI tool where a stranger can try it before trusting it: a hosted demo on Hugging Face Spaces, a Show HN post, and one or two task directories such as There’s An AI For That. Add Product Hunt only when you can stay online all day, and use our free launch board for a public page with no queue. Pick three places, not twelve, and make the tool usable without an email address.
Why does an AI tool need its own list of launch places?
A visitor looking at an AI tool asks three things before typing anything: does it handle my input, what happens to what I paste in, and what does one try cost me. A place that lets them find out without an account turns curiosity into a trial. A place that shows only a screenshot and a tagline asks them to take it on faith, and the category is crowded enough that most will not.
| Place | Try it inside the place? | What you control |
|---|---|---|
| Hugging Face Spaces | Yes, the Space is the tool | The demo, its inputs and its limits |
| Show HN | No, but readers expect a link they can use at once | The first comment and your answers |
| Task directories | No | A one-task description and a link |
| Product Hunt | No | Gallery, tagline and maker comment |
| No | A short story with one example |
That table is why the first entry below is a demo host and not a directory. Everything else points at the try-it page you build there or on your own site.
Which seven places are worth your time?
Facts come from each platform’s own pages, read on 13 November 2026. Where a site refused our automated check we say so and keep the entry to well-known basics.
01 Hugging Face Spaces
A hosting service for machine-learning demos, where the page you publish is also where people find you.
- Formats
- Gradio, Streamlit, static HTML and Docker Spaces
- Cost
- Static Spaces are free; Gradio and Docker Spaces need a paid plan to create, with an exception for up to two ZeroGPU Gradio Spaces on free accounts, per its overview page
- Best for
- A tool whose value shows in one input and one output
A Space gives the tool a public address and a repository people can read. Its docs also describe running a Space as an MCP server or as an agent tool, which suits a utility you want other builders to call and not only click. A public Space is fully open: its overview says anyone can view the source and clone it, so keep keys out of the repository.
Skip it if the product has accounts, billing and onboarding. People browsing Spaces are looking for demos, and a pricing page there reads as out of place. Treat the Space as the try-it page linked from your real site.
02 Hacker News (Show HN)
The Show HN section of Hacker News, where an AI tool is judged by whether a stranger can use it within a minute.
- Cost
- Free to post; an account is needed
- The rule that bites
- Its guidelines tell makers not to post quickly generated one-offs and to make the project easy to try, ideally without sign-ups
- Placement
- Every Show HN appears on the shownew page and reaches the show page after a small points threshold
The guidelines ask for a non-trivial project you built yourself and can discuss. For an AI tool, that means saying what you did beyond calling a model: the retrieval step you wrote, the evaluation set, the constraint that took a week to get right. Put it in your first comment, in plain words.
Make the tool work without an email address, because the page says you get more feedback that way. If every try costs you inference money, add a small free allowance or a rate limit and state it in the post, so the thread discusses the tool and not your bill.
03 There’s An AI For That
A large directory of AI tools sorted by task, used by people who already know the job they want done.
- Access
- Its pages refused our automated check, so we could not read its submit rules or fees
- Fit
- A tool with one clear task
- Check first
- Whether a free submission exists and how long it takes to appear
Task directories reward a tool that fits one task name exactly, because visitors browse by task. “An AI platform for everything” has no shelf to sit on. Choose the single task, write it the way a visitor would type it, and keep the wording identical on your landing page.
Do not hold your launch for it, since a free submission may be slow or unavailable. The AI tool directories list compares others, and the There’s An AI For That alternatives page covers what to do if it does not suit you.
04 AlternativeTo
A site where people type the name of a product they already use and see what else exists.
- Access
- Its pages refused our automated check, so this entry holds only the well-known basics
- Fit
- An AI tool that replaces or sits beside a named product
- The catch
- With no named incumbent, there is no search path to you
Here visitors arrive with a competitor’s name in mind. An AI note-taker, a writing assistant or an image upscaler maps cleanly onto a product people already know. If yours has no obvious incumbent it will not be found this way, and the hour is better spent elsewhere.
List it when you can state, in one honest sentence, how you differ: cheaper per use, works offline, keeps files on the device. Do not claim parity with a mature product you have not tested against.
05 Product Hunt
The largest general launch site, where an AI tool competes in a very busy category on a single day.
- Cost
- Free to submit; sign-in required
- Ranking
- A daily ranking that resets at midnight Pacific
- Access
- Its pages refused our automated check, so only well-documented basics appear here
Product Hunt has reach the directories lack, and AI launches are plentiful there, so a vague tagline disappears. Name the job and the input in the first line, such as “turns a messy meeting transcript into a task list”, and put a short clip of exactly that job first in the gallery.
Prepare more than for a directory: a maker comment, a plan for replies and a free day to answer everyone. With no following, read the Product Hunt alternatives for AI tools before you give it a launch day.
06 Reddit (builder and AI communities)
Communities where people try tools and report what broke, each with its own rules about self-promotion.
- Access
- Reddit refused our automated check, so we describe no community’s current rules
- Rule of thumb
- Read each community’s rules before you post; many limit promotion
- Format
- A short story about the problem, not a link drop
Reddit sends a spiky, opinionated reaction, and someone will paste an input that breaks your tool. That is useful. Describe what it does, show one example input and output, state the limit you already know about, and stay in the thread.
Pick communities by audience, such as people who run local models or people who write prompts all day, and write each post separately. The subreddits for sharing your project list helps you choose.
07 Post your build ideas (our launch board)
Our own free launch board. We run it, so weigh this entry with that in mind.
- Cost
- Free; no account, no queue, no paid placement
- Going live
- One emailed link publishes the launch
- Honest limit
- New and small, so you bring your own traffic
Fill in the launch form with the tool’s name, address, tagline and up to three categories, then press Publish on the page the email opens. Votes and threaded comments are there. The draft can be fixed until you publish, and after that a change is a message to support@postyourbuildideas.com. The outbound link to your site is a normal followed link; links inside text that people write are nofollow ugc.
It suits a tool you want visible today without waiting on a directory’s review, and the AI agent ideas board shows how other builders describe work in the same area. It will not bring a crowd by itself, so pair it with one community from this list.
In what order should you use them?
- Build the try-it page first, on a Space or your own domain, because every other listing links to it.
- Submit to our board and one task directory in the same sitting, then leave them alone and collect early comments.
- Choose one day for Show HN or Reddit when you can stay online for hours and fix what people find.
- Use Product Hunt last, and only with a short clip, a maker comment and people you can ask to look.
The playbook for launching an AI app for free turns this order into a dated plan, and the question about AI-built apps covers how to say what you used.
What should an AI tool’s listing say that other products can skip?
- What one try costs the visitor. Free, a daily allowance or a paid plan, stated before they click.
- What happens to their input. Whether you store it, for how long and whether it trains anything. One sentence beats a policy link.
- What you will not claim. A known weak case, such as long documents or handwriting, shown as a limit.
- What is under it. The model provider, or a statement that you prefer not to say. Visitors are good at guessing, so do not dodge.
Write the description once and reuse it. The launch description templates show a structure that fits this.
Frequently asked questions
Do AI tool directories charge to list a product?
It varies, and we could not confirm current terms for the largest ones because their pages refused our automated check. Some offer a free submission with a wait, others sell faster placement. Read each submit page before you plan around it, and never pay for a listing before you have seen the traffic one free listing sent.
Should an AI tool launch on Product Hunt or Hacker News first?
Start with Hacker News if strangers can use the tool without signing up, because that is what its Show HN rules reward and the feedback is direct. Choose Product Hunt first only if you have a polished demo clip, a gallery and time to answer comments all day. Neither is a prerequisite for the other.
Is it a problem if my AI tool was built with AI?
No rule we read bans it, but Show HN asks for a non-trivial project you can discuss, and says quickly generated one-offs are not welcome. Be ready to explain the decisions you made. Reviewers and readers can tell the difference between a project someone understands and one pasted together.
How many places should one AI tool launch on?
Three is plenty for a first launch: one try-it host, one community and one directory or board. Each extra place costs an afternoon of replies, and the replies are where you learn. Add more once you can say which of the first three sent people who actually used the tool.
Post your build ideas publishes this page and runs a free launch board that competes with some of the sites it names. Facts about other sites came from their own pages on the date shown above; terms, queues and prices change, so confirm on their sites before you decide. About the publisher.