Where to Find Your First Customers for Free: Places Where Buyers Already Look
Your first customers are rarely found on launch boards. They come from places where people are already trying to choose or replace a tool: comparison sites like SaaSHub, review sites like G2, directories for one platform such as MacBase, and direct messages to people who described your problem in public. Use a free listing to be findable, and direct outreach to be found out.
Why do launch boards rarely produce your first customers?
Launch sites gather people who enjoy new things. They vote, comment and move on. Those readers are valuable for feedback and for early attention, but they are not shopping. A first customer is someone with a problem sharp enough to pay for, often in the middle of looking for a solution or fed up with one they already use.
That suggests a way to sort places: buyers browse comparison and review pages when they have decided to switch, and they ask in forums when they are still frustrated. A listing on the first kind of page is passive and slow to start. A conversation in the second kind is active and can produce a payment in a week. You want both, in that order of effort, and you want to start the active kind first.
| Passive: be listed | Active: start a conversation | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Comparison, review and platform directories | Forums, replies, direct messages |
| Speed | Slow; depends on approval and search | Same day |
| Effort | One afternoon, then maintenance | A few messages every day |
| Best for | A product with a clear category | A product with no category yet |
Which free listings are seen by people about to buy?
Facts come from each site’s own pages, read on 13 November 2026. AlternativeTo refused our automated check.
01 SaaSHub
A software marketplace where visitors look up a product and see the alternatives to it.
- Cost
- The submit tool is described as free; promotion is sold separately
- Needs
- A released product, a real domain, English-language site
- Speed-up
- Verify with an email address on the product’s domain
The submission page says a product without listed competitors is slowed and put at the bottom of the queue, so list the incumbents a buyer would compare you with. That also trains you to say who you replace, which is the sentence a first customer needs from you.
Its about page says the main lists use the same logic for everyone and that featured products are not moved up the ranking for being featured. For a new product that means the listing is a slow, honest doorway, not a lever.
02 G2
A software review site whose seller pages let vendors claim a profile and collect customer reviews.
- Cost
- Its seller page says you can claim your profile for free
- Audience
- Business software buyers
- Catch
- Reviews need real customers; paid products are sold alongside
A profile is only useful once you have a few users who will write a review, so claim it early and ask each happy customer. Ten genuine reviews tell a buyer more than any tagline. Never offer something in return for a positive rating.
It suits business-to-business software. For a consumer app, it is the wrong shelf.
03 AlternativeTo
A well-known site where people look for alternatives to software they already use.
- Audience
- People searching for a replacement
- Catch
- Our automated check could not read its pages
Its model matches the intent we are after: a visitor arrives with a named product they want to leave. Check how a new application is added and what it asks for, then position yours as an alternative to one specific tool, not to a category. See AlternativeTo alternatives for others in the same job.
04 Console
A free weekly newsletter reviewing developer tools, read by people who choose tools for work.
- Fits
- Tools whose primary user is a developer
- Route
- Email hello@console.dev
- Condition
- Self-service sign-up, so a developer can try it alone
Its selection criteria ask whether an individual developer can try the tool without speaking to anyone, whether it fits a regular workflow and whether it is maintained. If a feature of your pricing page requires a call, fix that before you write; a first customer who cannot self-serve is a first customer lost.
05 MacBase
A directory of Mac apps with categories, alternatives pages and a weekly email.
- Cost
- Free to list; sign-in creates your account on first use
- Link
- A followed link needs its badge on your site; otherwise nofollow
- Fits
- Mac apps only
Its badge page is plain about the trade: put its badge on your website and the listing is verified, shown above unverified ones and linked with a followed link. Without the badge, the link is nofollow. Decide whether a badge on your site is worth that to you.
A shopper looking for a clipboard manager or window tool lands on a category page, so the entry is only as useful as your tagline is specific. Mention what makes yours different from the three above it.
06 FutureTools
A directory of AI tools with a newsletter, run by Matt Wolfe, with a submission form.
- Route
- A form: name, URL, short description, category, pricing
- Review
- The page says Matt will review it
- Fits
- AI tools
The pricing field offers free, freemium, paid and open source, so shoppers filter by it. If your tool has a free tier, say so; the first customers of an AI tool are usually people who tried the free version.
07 Post your build ideas (our launch board)
A free launch board, ours, read mostly by makers rather than buyers.
- Cost
- Free; one verified email
- Readers
- Builders, so it fits products made for builders
- Catch
- Not a buying marketplace; small audience
Be honest about the fit. If your customers are developers, designers or other makers, launching here for free puts the product in front of your own market, and the followed outbound link to your site is a normal link. If your customers are dentists or shop owners, use the board for a public page and look elsewhere for buyers.
How do you find a first customer in a conversation?
Search for the sentence, not the keyword. People who need your product write things like “I still do this in a spreadsheet” or “does anyone know a tool that…”. Look in the forums, subreddits and review sections of the tool you compete with, then reply with something useful that does not mention you, or write one short message that does.
Hi [name], I saw your post about [their exact problem]. I built [name] to [one-line job]. It is early, so I am looking for a few people to use it free in exchange for blunt feedback. Would you try it for a week? If it does not help, tell me and I will say thanks.
Ten of these a day, sent to people who wrote about the problem in public, is more effective than any listing. The cold DM templates have variants, and the first paying customer playbook covers turning a free trial into a payment.
What must be true before a buyer lands on your listing?
- A price, or a plain way to ask for one. Buyers leave pages that hide it.
- A way to start in one step. Make the first action possible without a call.
- A way to pay. A first customer who cannot pay you on the day is a customer you may not see again.
- A reply address you check. The first customer often asks a question before buying.
Then measure honestly. Tag each listing with its own link and count conversations and payments, not visits; the launch directory traffic calculator helps compare. The answer on getting first users for free shows the thinking behind this order. If you are still choosing which problem is sharp enough to charge for, the ideas board lists problems people have asked someone to solve.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my first paying customer with no budget?
Find five people who described your problem in public and message them directly with a specific offer. Add a free listing on a comparison or review site so that buyers can also find you. Do the messaging first, since a conversation can produce a payment within days while a listing takes weeks to be approved and found.
Are launch boards useful for finding customers?
They are useful for feedback and early attention, less so for paying buyers, because the readers are mostly browsing new products. They fit best when your customers are other makers. If your buyers are in another industry, use a launch board for a public page and spend your effort on direct outreach.
Should my first customers get a discount?
Give them something worth more than a discount: your attention. Offer a reduced or free period in exchange for regular feedback and a short testimonial if they are happy. Charging something, even a little, matters because it tests whether the problem is painful enough to pay for.
Is a G2 or SaaSHub listing worth it for a new product?
A free listing costs an afternoon and keeps working, so it is worth setting up once the product is released and has a clear competitor. Do not expect volume at first. Treat them as slow doors that matter more after you have reviews and a few customers to point to.
How many customers count as the first?
Treat the first ten as a different job from the first thousand. Ten people who pay and explain why will teach you pricing and positioning. They are found by conversation. Channels that scale only make sense after you know what those ten have in common.
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.