Free chapter — from the 2026 Almanac
Every founder has done it once: posted a link to r/startups, watched it get removed in four minutes, and concluded that Reddit hates startups. Reddit does not hate startups. Each of these communities has a written rule about self-promotion, and they differ enough that a post that gets upvoted in one gets you banned in another.
This table is that rule, per community, in the requirements column. Read it before you post, not after. The single most common mistake is a bare link — nearly every community here wants the story (what you built, why, what you used, what feedback you want) with the link at the end.
| # | Channel | Cost | What you get | Verification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Indie HackersLarge founder community | Free | Social proof + feedback + backlink | Last checked August 9, 2026 |
| 02 | WIP.co3,704 makers | Paid membership (invitation-based) | Accountability + maker network feedback | Last checked August 9, 2026 |
| 03 | DEV Community3.9M registered devs (self-claimed) | Free | Dev traffic + AI-cited articles | Last checked August 9, 2026 |
| 04 | HashnodeLarge dev-blogging network | Free | SEO articles on high-DA network | Last checked August 9, 2026 |
| 05 | LobstersSmaller, high-signal HN-style community | Free (invite-only accounts) | High-quality dev traffic | Last checked August 9, 2026 |
| 06 | r/SideProject~300–430K members | Free | Traffic + feedback | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 07 | r/SaaS~150–341K members | Free | Founder feedback + users | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 08 | r/AlphaAndBetaUsers~100K members | Free | Beta users | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 09 | r/microsaas~155K members | Free | Feedback + early users | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 10 | r/InternetIsBeautiful~17M members | Free | Massive spike if it fits (narrow fit) | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 11 | r/startups~1.8–2M members | Free | Feedback + visibility | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 12 | r/EntrepreneurRideAlong~593K members | Free | Audience building | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 13 | r/IMadeThisSmaller sub | Free | Feedback + modest traffic | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 14 | r/indiehackers~91K members | Free | Feedback + indie audience | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 15 | r/Entrepreneur~4.8M members | Free | Reach if compliant | Not re-checked in the last run |
| 16 | r/roastmystartup~50K members; multiple posts/day (verified Jun 3–7 2026) | Free | Brutal-but-useful feedback + traffic | Last checked August 9, 2026 |
Post freely: r/SideProject, r/IMadeThis, r/AlphaAndBetaUsers and r/roastmystartup exist for this. Even here, r/roastmystartup checks your post history and bans you for posting someone else's product.
Post with a story: Indie Hackers, DEV (#showdev), Hashnode, r/microsaas, r/indiehackers, r/EntrepreneurRideAlong. Milestones and build-in-public posts are welcome; a pitch is not.
Megathread only: r/SaaS (Show and Tell Saturday), r/startups (Share Your Startup), r/Entrepreneur (designated threads, 10 subreddit karma minimum, and a 90/10 value rule). A direct promo post in these is removed, and repeat attempts get you banned.
Gated: Lobsters is invite-only and expects you to tag posts you authored; WIP.co is a paid, invitation-based membership. r/InternetIsBeautiful is technically open but rejects anything requiring a signup, which rules out most SaaS.
Communities that state a value ratio enforce it with moderators who read your history. The cheapest way to earn a promo post is to spend two weeks answering other people's questions in the same subreddit first. It is slow, it is the only thing that works, and it costs nothing — which is more than can be said for the paid end of the launch market.
The full Launch Almanac has all 84 channels with the same fields you see above, ready-to-paste submission templates for every channel type, a Claude Skill that does the submissions for you, the 2026 GEO checklist, and a tracking sheet. Re-verified updates for 12 months.
Get the full Almanac — €24Every row on this page is generated from the Almanac database, last liveness run August 10, 2026. Rows we could not re-check that day say so — we would rather show you a stale flag than a false ✓.