90+ Free Backlink Sites That Pass Link Equity (2026)

Why most free backlink lists are useless

The typical "500 free backlink sites" article has three problems, and they compound:

• Nobody checked the rel attribute. A link only passes equity if it is not marked nofollow, ugc or sponsored. Almost every profile site, forum and Q&A platform marks its links, and has since around 2019. The lists never say which.
• The sites are chosen for quantity. Forum profiles, web 2.0 blogs, bookmarking sites and article directories exist only to host links, which is precisely the footprint Google's Penguin update targeted in 2012 and its spam systems still discount.
• They ignore the only source that works at scale. Startup, SaaS and AI tool directories are built to list products, have real audiences, and most give dofollow links from domains with a Domain Rating in the 50s to 90s. They are the free backlink sites; the lists rarely mention them.

What we did instead: filtered our catalogue of 128 directories to the ones with a free listing and a dofollow link, and for the community sites, fetched a real profile page and read the HTML. Where a site blocked us, we say so rather than guess.

85 free dofollow backlink sites: startup and software directories

Where the free dofollow links actually are. The eight strongest first, then the full filterable list.

Sourceforge

DR 93dofollow

Platform for sharing and reviewing open-source and commercial software.

Free listing, paid upgrades • 1724K visits/mo • Moz DA 93

How to submit

G2

DR 91dofollow

Platform for discovering and comparing software.

Free listing, paid upgrades • 789K visits/mo • Moz DA 77

How to submit

Capterra

DR 91dofollow

A site for comparing business software.

Free listing, paid upgrades • 431K visits/mo • Moz DA 80

How to submit

Fazier

DR 83dofollowbadge required

Marketplace for SaaS products and startup tools.

Free listing, paid upgrades • 253 visits/mo • Moz DA 27

How to submit

Dang AI

DR 82dofollowbadge required

Directory of AI tools and artificial intelligence resources.

Free • 2K visits/mo • Moz DA 35

How to submit

Twelve Tools

DR 82dofollowbadge required

Curated collection of tools for entrepreneurs and makers.

Free listing, paid upgrades • Moz DA 12

How to submit

SaaSHub

DR 81dofollow

Software alternatives and reviews platform.

Free • 4K visits/mo • Moz DA 41

How to submit

findly.tools

DR 81dofollow

The best tools, all in one place.

Free listing, paid upgrades • 78 visits/mo • Moz DA 19

How to submit

All 85 free dofollow directories

Sorted by live Ahrefs Domain Rating. Use the filters to drop badge-required directories or keep only DR 50 plus. Every row links to a submission guide with cost, approval time and what the directory asks for.

AllFree to submitDofollowDR 50+No badge required

Search directories

Showing 85 of 85 directories

Free directories that give a dofollow backlink, sorted by Domain Rating

#	Directory	DR	Link type	Cost	Moz DA	Traffic/mo	Details
1	Sourceforge sourceforge.net	93	Dofollow	Free + paid	93	1.7M	Details →
2	G2 g2.com	91	Dofollow	Free + paid	77	788.6K	Details →
3	Capterra capterra.com	91	Dofollow	Free + paid	80	430.5K	Details →
4	Fazier fazier.com· badge required	83	Dofollow	Free + paid	27	253	Details →
5	Dang AI dang.ai· badge required	82	Dofollow	Free	35	2.5K	Details →
6	Twelve Tools twelve.tools· badge required	82	Dofollow	Free + paid	12	-	Details →
7	SaaSHub saashub.com	81	Dofollow	Free	41	4K	Details →
8	findly.tools findly.tools	81	Dofollow	Free + paid	19	78	Details →
9	Indie Hackers indiehackers.com	81	Dofollow	Free	55	17.4K	Details →
10	BetaList betalist.com	77	Dofollow	Free	61	11.4K	Details →
11	PeerPush peerpush.com	75	Dofollow	Free + paid	35	5	Details →
12	Alternative.me alternative.me	75	Dofollow	Free	55	68.3K	Details →
13	Smol Launch smollaunch.com	74	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	-	Details →
14	Aura++ auraplusplus.com	73	Dofollow	Free + paid	17	15	Details →
15	SoftwareWorld softwareworld.co	73	Dofollow	Free + paid	41	8.5K	Details →
16	TinyLaunch tinylaunch.com	73	Dofollow	Free + paid	19	236	Details →
17	StartupBase startupbase.io· badge required	73	Dofollow	Free + paid	22	220	Details →
18	FoundrList foundrlist.com· badge required	72	Dofollow	Free	14	-	Details →
19	Open Launch open-launch.com	72	Dofollow	Free	19	9	Details →
20	Launch Llama Tools tools.launchllama.co	72	Dofollow	Free	-	-	Details →
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21	SideProjectors sideprojectors.com	71	Dofollow	Free + paid	48	902	Details →
22	Tiny Startups tinystartups.com	71	Dofollow	Free	21	31	Details →
23	TrustMRR trustmrr.com	71	Dofollow	Free	18	144	Details →
24	Openhunts openhunts.com	71	Dofollow	Free + paid	16	545	Details →
25	NextGen Tools nxgntools.com	70	Dofollow	Free + paid	15	15	Details →
26	Future Tools futuretools.io	69	Dofollow	Free	36	56.9K	Details →
27	magicbox.tools magicbox.tools	68	Dofollow	Free + paid	16	136	Details →
28	Versily versily.com	68	Dofollow	Free	14	-	Details →
29	acidtools.com acidtools.com· badge required	68	Dofollow	Free	23	-	Details →
30	Huzzler huzzler.so	64	Dofollow	Free + paid	10	-	Details →
31	DevHunt devhunt.org	64	Dofollow	Free + paid	32	2.2K	Details →
32	EarlyHunt earlyhunt.com· badge required	64	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	-	Details →
33	MicroLaunch microlaunch.net	64	Dofollow	Free	17	1.2K	Details →
34	toolsfine toolsfine.com	63	Dofollow	Free	17	-	Details →
35	Indiehunt indiehunt.io· badge required	63	Dofollow	Free + paid	11	-	Details →
36	Toolfio toolfio.com· badge required	62	Dofollow	Free + paid	12	-	Details →
37	Super Launch superlaun.ch	62	Dofollow	Free + paid	11	-	Details →
38	Open Alternative openalternative.co· badge required	60	Dofollow	Free	31	661	Details →
39	FridayHunt fridayhunt.com	60	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	-	Details →
40	SaasHunt saashunt.best	60	Dofollow	Free + paid	15	11	Details →
41	Daily Pings dailypings.com	59	Dofollow	Free + paid	10	-	Details →
42	Unite List unitelist.com· badge required	58	Dofollow	Free	19	-	Details →
43	StartupTrusted startuptrusted.com· badge required	57	Dofollow	Free + paid	13	-	Details →
44	Launch trylaunch.ai	56	Dofollow	Free + paid	18	14	Details →
45	SaaSBison saasbison.com	54	Dofollow	Free + paid	9	-	Details →
46	Startups Lab startupslab.site	54	Dofollow	Free + paid	14	2	Details →
47	Launching Next launchingnext.com	54	Dofollow	Free	39	471	Details →
48	A AppaList appalist.com	54	Dofollow	Free + paid	19	-	Details →
49	Shipybara shipybara.com	53	Dofollow	Free + paid	12	-	Details →
50	DodoDirectory dododirectory.com· badge required	53	Dofollow	Free + paid	13	-	Details →
51	Sumodir sumodir.com· badge required	52	Dofollow	Free + paid	15	-	Details →
52	IdeaKiln ideakiln.com· badge required	52	Dofollow	Free	13	34	Details →
53	Proofstories proofstories.io	51	Dofollow	Free + paid	12	33	Details →
54	Promote Project promoteproject.com	50	Dofollow	Free	35	1K	Details →
55	N NoonLaunch noonlaunch.com· badge required	49	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	-	Details →
56	aat.ee aat.ee	48	Dofollow	Free + paid	12	677	Details →
57	TinyLaunchpad tinylaunchpad.com	45	Dofollow	Free + paid	10	-	Details →
58	ConfettiSaaS confettisaas.com	45	Dofollow	Free + paid	16	-	Details →
59	FindYourSaaS findyoursaas.com	45	Dofollow	Free + paid	7	-	Details →
60	BuildVoyage buildvoyage.com	43	Dofollow	Free + paid	9	-	Details →
61	Web Review web-review.com· badge required	42	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	-	Details →
62	Saaspa.ge saaspa.ge	41	Dofollow	Free	12	1.6K	Details →
63	ProductBurst productburst.com	41	Dofollow	Free	16	-	Details →
64	M MakerHunt makerhunt.io	39	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	500	Details →
65	S Sidehunt sidehunt.io	39	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	500	Details →
66	TechTrendin techtrendin.com	37	Dofollow	Free	-	-	Details →
67	LLM Relevance llmrelevance.com	37	Dofollow	Free	17	131	Details →
68	ShipYard HQ shipyardhq.dev	35	Dofollow	Free + paid	9	5	Details →
69	R RankYourAI rankyourai.com	35	Dofollow	Free	13	-	Details →
70	Builtbyindies builtbyindies.com	34	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	-	Details →
71	Made with Lovable madewithlovable.com	34	Dofollow	Free	13	55	Details →
72	Best of Web bestofweb.site	34	Dofollow	Free	12	-	Details →
73	HUNT0 hunt0.com	31	Dofollow	Free + paid	16	-	Details →
74	Resource.fyi resource.fyi	31	Dofollow	Free	10	64	Details →
75	T Tulimoa tulimoa.com	30	Dofollow	Free	-	-	Details →
76	hot100 hot100.ai	28	Dofollow	Free	17	-	Details →
77	startuups startuups.com	28	Dofollow	Free + paid	10	-	Details →
78	Alternative.tools alternative.tools· badge required	27	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	-	Details →
79	SaaSGrow saasgrow.app· badge required	26	Dofollow	Free + paid	10	-	Details →
80	I IndieHackerStacks indiehackerstacks.com	26	Dofollow	Free	13	61	Details →
81	S Shipycorn shipycorn.com	22	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	-	Details →
82	EuroAlternative euroalternative.co	21	Dofollow	Free	15	-	Details →
83	Launch Vibe launchvibe.app	16	Dofollow	Free	8	-	Details →
84	Launchy.tools launchy.tools	12	Dofollow	Free + paid	5	-	Details →
85	T Toolcurio toolcurio.com· badge required	12	Dofollow	Free + paid	-	-	Details →

Community and profile sites: what the HTML says

The sites every free-backlinks list recommends, with the link type read from a live page instead of assumed.

1. Community sites with a verified dofollow link

We fetched a real profile page on each and read the rel attribute on the website link. These three pass.

dev.to

Best for: Developer tools and technical foundersdofollow

The largest developer blogging community, and the rare one that leaves both the profile website link and the links inside your articles dofollow. That makes one useful article about a problem your product solves worth two links from a domain with real readers, plus the traffic from dev.to's own distribution. Write for the reader, not the link; low-effort promotional posts get downvoted and buried, which is exactly why the links still count.

What we saw: Profile link rel="noopener me"; article body links rel="noopener noreferrer". No nofollow on either.

Free

Visit

Hashnode

Best for: Developer blogs on your own subdomaindofollow

A developer blogging platform where your publication can live on a custom domain. The link from your Hashnode profile to your publication is plain dofollow; the generic "website" button is not, so point the publication at your product blog or a subdomain of your site rather than relying on the button. Articles cross-post to dev.to with a canonical tag, which is the efficient way to use both.

What we saw: Publication (blog) link rel="noopener" only. The separate "website" button is rel="nofollow ugc".

Free

Visit

Behance

Best for: Design tools and founders with visual workugc

Adobe's portfolio network marks the profile website link rel="ugc" without nofollow. Google treats ugc as a hint rather than a block, so the link can pass some value, and Behance itself has enormous authority. Worth a profile if you have design work to show: product screenshots, a landing page case study, brand assets. Empty profiles do nothing.

What we saw: rel="ugc" with no nofollow.

Free

Visit

2. Nofollow profiles that still matter

These will not move your Domain Rating. They rank for your name, feed AI assistants, and cost ten minutes each.

GitHub

Best for: Any technical productnofollow

Every profile and organisation link on GitHub is nofollow, so it is not a backlink in the ranking sense. It is still the page developers check first, and an organisation profile with a pinned repo, a README that links to your site and a clear description ranks for your product name within days. If you have any open-source component, this is where its README lives.

What we saw: rel="nofollow me" on every profile link.

Free

Visit

Crunchbase

Best for: Investor credibility and brand searchesunverified

The startup database that investors, journalists and AI assistants use to look you up. Your company page will rank on page one for your brand name within weeks of creation. Fill in founders, funding, founding date and a description that states what the product does. We could not read the link type because Crunchbase blocks bots, but every independent check we know of reports nofollow.

What we saw: Site blocks automated checks; widely reported as nofollow.

Free

Visit

Product Hunt

Best for: A permanent product page on a DR 90 domainunverified

Launch day is the point, not the link. The product page is permanent, ranks for "[product] reviews" and "[product] alternatives", and is one of the sources AI assistants cite most. Product Hunt blocks automated checks, so we could not confirm the link type from HTML; it is widely reported as nofollow. See the full launch guide in our Product Hunt alternatives comparison.

What we saw: Site blocks automated checks; widely reported as nofollow.

Free

Visit

Indie Hackers

Best for: Bootstrapped foundersnofollow

Product pages and founder profiles on Indie Hackers are nofollow, verified on a live page. The value is the community: a product page with revenue numbers and a launch post gets read by other founders, who are both customers and the people who write the "tools I use" posts that do link to you. Post the product, then show up in the comments.

What we saw: rel="nofollow noopener" on the product page website links.

Free

Visit

about.me

Best for: Founder personal pagenofollow

A one-page founder profile on a domain with a quarter of a million referring domains. Every outbound link is nofollow. It ranks for your own name, which matters when a prospect googles the founder before signing up. Fill it in once, link to the product, move on.

What we saw: rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" on all outbound links.

Free

Visit

Gravatar

Best for: The profile behind your email avatarnofollow

The profile attached to the avatar that appears next to your email and WordPress comments across the web. Nofollow, verified. Worth two minutes because the profile page is indexed and linked from every WordPress site where you have ever commented.

What we saw: Main link rel="me nofollow noreferrer".

Free

Visit

3. Links that go through a redirect

The anchor points at the directory's own URL, which then forwards to you. Nofollow on the way through.

BetaList

Best for: Pre-launch waitlistsnofollow via redirect

BetaList's own FAQ describes its visit link as dofollow via a 301 redirect. What we found on a live startup page: the image link to /visit carries rel="noopener nofollow", the main Visit button has no rel, and both go through BetaList's redirect before reaching you. Google can follow 301s, so some value may pass, but do not count it as a clean dofollow link. Pay for BetaList for the early adopters, not the link.

What we saw: The "Visit" link goes to /startups/slug/visit with rel="noopener nofollow", then a 301 to your site.

Paid listing

Visit

Sitejabber

Best for: Review profilenofollow via redirect

A business review site whose website link runs through an internal redirect with nofollow. No link value. Claim the free profile only if you want somewhere other than Trustpilot to collect reviews.

What we saw: Internal /redir-external link with rel="nofollow noopener", then two redirects.

Free profile

Visit

General web directories with free dofollow listings

The old human-edited web directories still hand out a small number of free dofollow links, by their own stated terms. They are low authority and slow. Treat them as seven cheap citations, not a strategy.

Link Centre

dofollow by stated terms

The oldest free general directory still accepting listings, UK-run, with more referring domains than any other general directory. Slow review, no reciprocal link required.

Free

Visit

Aviva Directory

dofollow by stated terms

Actively edited, well categorised. The free tier asks for a link back; the paid review removes that. Either way the listing is dofollow by its own terms.

Free with reciprocal link, or paid

Visit

ABILogic

dofollow by stated terms

Business-focused general directory. The free queue takes weeks; the express review costs a few dollars and is worth it if you are doing a batch.

Free, or a few dollars for express

Visit

Viesearch

dofollow by stated terms

Human-edited and free, with a long wait unless you pay to expedite. Dofollow by its stated terms.

Free

Visit

Secret Search Engine Labs

dofollow by stated terms

Free general directory with the fastest turnaround of the group.

Free

Visit

So Much

dofollow by stated terms

Free, human-edited, dofollow by its terms. Descriptive submissions get approved; keyword-stuffed ones do not.

Free

Visit

Cipinet

dofollow by stated terms

Small, clean general directory with a free regular listing.

Free, or paid featured

Visit

The full list of 47 general and business directories with referring domains and costs is on the free web directories page.

Verified community sites at a glance

What not to bother with

• Forum profile links. The classic "200 free profile backlinks" list. Nearly all nofollow, on pages nobody visits, and a footprint Google has discounted for over a decade.
• Web 2.0 subdomains. A free blog on a Blogger, Weebly or WordPress.com subdomain linking to you. Your own subdomain is not a third-party vote, and Google knows it.
• Blog comment links. Marked ugc or nofollow on every platform that matters since 2019, and a spam signal at volume.
• Link exchanges and "free backlink generators". Automated reciprocal schemes that put your link on pages built to hold links. That is the definition of a link scheme in Google's guidelines.
• Business listing sites, if you sell software. Yelp, Yellow Pages and the rest are citations for local businesses and nearly all nofollow. Claim the core few for brand consistency and stop. If you do serve local customers, see the US business listing sites page.

A one-week plan for your first 50 free backlinks

• Day 1: assets. Logo at 512 pixels, three screenshots, a 60-word and a 200-word description, founder name and social links. Every directory asks for the same set, and having it ready is the difference between five minutes and twenty per submission.
• Days 2 to 4: the directory table, top to bottom. Ten to fifteen a day, starting with DR 50 plus. Write the description fresh for each; identical text across fifty listings gets less credit and more rejections. Track each one in a spreadsheet with the listing URL.
• Day 5: dev.to and Hashnode. Set up both profiles with your site link, then publish one useful article on each about a problem your product solves. Both are dofollow and both have real readers. Cross-post with a canonical tag.
• Day 6: the nofollow profiles that still matter. GitHub, Product Hunt, Crunchbase, about.me. Not for links, but because they rank for your name and AI assistants read them when someone asks about you.
• Day 7: baseline. Run your domain through the Domain Rating checker and note referring domains. Check again in six weeks; directory approvals trickle in over a month.

Measure the before and after with the free Domain Rating checker. If the forty hours are the problem rather than the money, the done-for-you submission service covers 100-plus of these directories with a unique description for each.

How we checked these free backlink sites

• Directories from our own catalogue. The dofollow flag on each of the 128 directories we track is set by hand when the directory is added and re-checked when it changes its terms. The table is filtered to free listings and sorted by live Domain Rating.
• Community sites from the HTML. For each, we fetched a real public profile or listing page on 10 September 2026 and read the rel attribute on the outbound website link. The snippet we saw is shown under each card.
• Unverified means unverified. Thirteen well-known sites block automated requests. We list them as such rather than copy what other lists claim about them.
• General web directories by stated terms. Their dofollow status comes from each directory's own submission terms, not from an HTML check, and is labelled that way.
• No pay-for-placement. No site paid to be here and there are no affiliate links.

Free Backlink Sites FAQ