Which iOS app directories are worth submitting to?

Search "submit your app" and you'll find lists of a hundred directories. Most were built for web software. A few were built for exactly what you made: an indie iOS app with nothing but an App Store link.

Those few are worth an afternoon. The rest mostly aren't. This is how to tell them apart, with every directory's terms read on its own site.

What makes a directory worth your time?

Four questions, in order:

1. Do people go there to find apps? A directory of iOS apps has readers looking for something to download. A general software directory has founders looking for SaaS.
2. Does a person review what goes in? A reviewed directory is one people trust, and it keeps your app out of a pile of spam.
3. Is an App Store link enough? Some want a website on your own domain.
4. Does it still look alive? Check the newest listings and the date of the last one.

Which directories are built for iOS apps?

All four take an App Store link on its own. None needs a website.

Each has a catch. Discover Indie Apps has no free option. Indie Apps publishes first and checks later. Indie App Catalog only takes apps on the US App Store, and turns away low-effort ones such as basic QR scanners. Ours costs money and is new, so its audience is still small.

Are free directories worth it?

Free and reviewed is the best deal there is. Indie App Catalog shows no price on its submit page and reviews what goes in. Free and unreviewed is fine too: Indie Apps costs nothing and your listing never expires.

The trade is attention. A free directory with no review can fill up fast, and a new listing sinks.

When is a paid listing worth it?

When a person reviews it and the price is paid once. Both paid directories here refund you if your app isn't approved: Discover Indie Apps says so in its refund policy, and so do we.

Be careful with anything billed by the month or the day. Indie App Santa, for example, sells a one-day feature for $150, and only if your app runs a deal that day. That can work for a launch-day offer. It's a poor fit for a listing.

What about general software directories?

They're mostly for web products, so check what they ask before spending time:

• AlternativeTo is free, but it says most apps in its free queue won't be looked at for a very long time. A one-time priority review, priced at checkout, usually takes a day or two. It's worth it if your app replaces a famous one, because people arrive searching for alternatives.
• SaaSHub is free, but takes mobile apps only with a decent website on your own domain.
• Tiny Startups is free to submit and hand-approved, and lists apps as well as web tools. Free listings wait in a queue; £69 skips it.

What kind of link will you get?

Mostly not the kind that helps SEO. Paid listings are supposed to be marked as sponsored, and many free ones use nofollow. Ours is rel="sponsored" for that reason, and we say so.

Submit for the people who browse, not for the link. A followed link in exchange for a badge on your site is closer to a link swap than a listing, and Google's spam policies warn against excessive link exchanges.

How many should you submit to?

Two or three of the iOS directories above, done properly, beat twenty generic ones. Write a real description, use your best screenshots, and fill in every field.

Then check back in a month. If a directory sent nobody, don't renew anything there.

What should you have ready before submitting?

• Your App Store link.
• One sentence on what the app does, in plain words.
• Your best 3 to 5 screenshots.
• The price, and whether there's a free tier or trial.
• For Indie App Catalog's news form: a 16:9 header image.

The Launch Map has every directory here, plus launch platforms and communities, each checked on its own site and dated.