Where to Showcase an Open-Source Project: Directories, Lists and Launchpads
Open-source projects are shown in a different set of places from commercial products: your repository and its topics, directories of projects such as LibHunt and OpenAlternative, curated awesome lists, and a developer launchpad like DevHunt. Most are free, several have a review step, and one lists a free waitlist of six months or more beside a paid fast review. Your README and licence do more work than any listing.
Why is the repository your first showcase?
Every place below sends the visitor to your repository within one click, and visitors judge it in seconds. They look for a sentence saying what it does, an install command, a licence file and some sign that the project is alive, such as a recent commit or a tagged release. If the repository fails that glance, a listing only delivers more people to the failure.
GitHub’s own open-source guide describes the job of promotion as explaining what a project does and why it matters, and as giving people a single home URL to remember. It also says an open-source project can find its audience on Stack Overflow, Reddit and Hacker News. Those are communities, covered in the Show HN playbook and the open-source launch checklist; this page is about directories and lists.
Description (one line): [What it does] for [who], without [the thing they dislike]. Topics: [language], [domain], [problem-it-solves], [alternative-to-X], self-hosted, open-source First README line: [Name] is a [kind of tool] that [one concrete job]. Install: [one command].
Which places list open-source projects?
Facts come from each site’s own pages, read on 13 November 2026.
01 GitHub topics
Subject tags on a repository, used by GitHub to build topic pages you can browse.
- Cost
- Free
- Where it shows
- On the repository page and on the matching topic page
The documentation says topics help people explore a subject, find projects to contribute to and discover solutions to a specific problem. For a small project, the practical gain is being filed next to similar ones, so choose the tags a newcomer would browse, such as the problem and the language, not only your project name.
02 LibHunt
A site that tracks open-source projects and their alternatives, with an “Add a project” link.
- Route
- Add a project
- Fits
- Libraries, tools and frameworks in many languages
- Catch
- We did not read its submission rules or review time
It groups projects by topic and language and compares alternatives, so a listing is a way to appear in a comparison. That helps most for a library with a well-known rival, where a reader is choosing between them.
03 OpenAlternative
A directory of open-source alternatives to proprietary software, with collections such as self-hosted and AI-native.
- Route
- A Submit link; it asks for an email link, Google or GitHub sign-in
- Fits
- A project that replaces a named proprietary product
Entries show a repository, a licence, recent commit activity and the product replaced. That makes it good for projects with a clear incumbent, and a poor home for a library with no proprietary equivalent.
04 OpenSourceAlternative.to
A directory of open-source alternatives to proprietary software, with a form that offers two speeds.
- Free route
- A waitlist its page describes as 6 months or more
- Paid route
- A 48-hour review for a fee
- Criteria
- Open source, an alternative to proprietary software, actively maintained, self-hosted
The form states the criteria plainly and says that submitting does not guarantee a feature. The wait for the free route is long enough to plan around: submit, then forget about it until it appears.
Because the criteria include being self-hosted, a hosted-only open-source product may not qualify. Read the list before you spend time on the form.
05 Awesome lists
A well-known list of curated lists on GitHub, each maintained for one topic.
- Route
- A pull request or issue to the list that fits your topic
- Rule
- Each list has its own contribution guidelines
The index repository carries a contributing file, and each individual list sets its own. The common thread is that a maintainer decides, so a pull request that follows the guidelines to the letter and adds one well-described line is far likelier to merge than one that tries to rewrite a section.
Only suggest your project to a list where it truly belongs, and expect that a maintainer may decline a very new project. Each list sets its own conditions, so read them first.
06 DevHunt
A launchpad for developer tools, open source itself, with a new batch of launches each week.
- Free
- Listing is free, with a permanent page and a nofollow link
- Paid
- Choosing a launch week is a paid step; it also makes the link dofollow
- Voting
- Voters sign in with GitHub or Google
Its FAQ lists open-source projects, APIs, SDKs, frameworks, CLIs and similar as eligible, and excludes tools not made for developers. A free page is a reasonable default for a project with no budget; the launch-week fee is optional, and the question to ask is whether your project has people who will vote that week.
07 Post your build ideas (our launch board)
A free launch board, ours, where a project’s website or repository gets a public page.
- Cost
- Free; one verified email
- Link
- A normal followed link to your repository or site
It is a general board, not an open-source directory. Launch your project free, use the repository as the URL, and the page gives you one more address to point newcomers at. The developer tool ideas on the board are a good place to look for gaps worth filling.
What do these directories check that a commercial one does not?
- The licence. A repository with no licence file is, by default, not usable by others. Add one before you submit anywhere.
- Activity. OpenAlternative shows recent commit activity and OpenSourceAlternative.to lists “actively maintained” as a criterion. Stale repositories are skipped.
- Self-hosting. Some lists favour projects people can run themselves, so say how in the README.
- Alternatives you replace. Name the incumbent in one line and be accurate about gaps; reviewers check.
- Fees and waits. OpenSourceAlternative.to sells a 48-hour review beside its long free waitlist, and DevHunt sells a launch week; the free paths exist on both.
- Link type. DevHunt says free listings carry nofollow; the other pages did not state it, so check a live entry’s source.
- Abandonment. Open the newest entries and their dates before submitting; a directory whose latest project is months old will not be read.
Do not buy stars or ask a group to star the repository. It tells you nothing about demand, and sites that rank by popularity commonly forbid it. The answer on getting upvotes without spam covers honest alternatives.
What order should an open-source launch follow?
- Fix the README, licence and topics, then tag a first release.
- Submit to the long-waitlist directory first, so its clock starts.
- Publish the board page and open a Show HN if people can try the project quickly.
- Add the project to one awesome list and one comparison directory where it genuinely fits.
- Check each link a month later and keep the ones that sent contributors or users.
The developer tool directories page covers newsletters and launchpads, and the open-source launch page covers the type in general.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I list an open-source project for free?
Add topics to its GitHub repository, submit it to LibHunt and OpenAlternative if it fits, open a pull request to the awesome list for its subject, list it on DevHunt, and give it a page on a free launch board. OpenSourceAlternative.to has a free waitlist its page describes as six months or more.
Do open-source directories give backlinks?
Some do and some do not, and it varies by plan. DevHunt says free listings carry a nofollow link and paid launches a dofollow link. Others do not say. Treat links as a bonus and judge a directory by the contributors and users it actually sends to the repository.
How do I get my project into an awesome list?
Find the list for your exact topic, read its contribution guidelines, and open a pull request that adds one entry in the format it asks for, with a short honest description. Maintainers decide, and some prefer projects with some history. Do not edit other entries or ask for exceptions.
Do I need stars before I submit?
Not usually. Directories check that the project is open source, maintained and described clearly, and some look at recent activity. A clear README and a recent release matter more than a star count. Never buy or trade stars; it tells you nothing about demand and erodes trust if it is noticed.
Should I choose a licence before launching?
Yes. Without a licence file others have no clear permission to use your code, and several directories require an open-source licence. Pick one that matches how you want the code used, add it to the repository root, and mention it in the README so visitors see it at a glance.
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.