How to launch an AI product on Product Hunt

Product Hunt's rules that decide your launch

Most launch advice skips these. Break them and a launch can drop in the ranks or lose its homepage spot.

• Don't ask for upvotes. Product Hunt's guide to sharing your launch says to ask for feedback, comments and help spreading the word, not upvotes. Its community guidelines also rule out mass messaging and incentivised upvotes.
• Never pay for votes or reward upvotes. Contests or giveaways that reward upvotes aren't allowed, and that includes people you've paid. Product Hunt says it may unfeature a launch that keeps doing it.
• New accounts count for little. In a post on its own forum, Product Hunt says a vote from a brand-new account with no history counts for zero points. Real users with a history are what count.
• The homepage is picked by people. Product Hunt's team features launches that are useful, novel, well made or creative, per its featuring guidelines. Upvotes alone don't decide it.
• Waitlists usually aren't featured. The same guidelines generally leave out waitlisted products unless people get immediate access. Hardware needs a strong digital part, like an AI wearable.
• You don't need a hunter. Product Hunt's launch guide says makers can post their own product and a hunter gives no clear advantage. Company accounts can't post launches.

What to prepare in the two weeks before

• A product people can use on the day. A free plan, a trial or a live demo. Visitors who can't try it won't comment, and the launch stalls.
• A launch page that explains it in one line. A clear tagline, a short video or images that show the product working, and the problem it solves.
• The maker's first comment. Who built it, why, and one thing you want feedback on. Write it before launch day.
• A landing page with one action. Product Hunt visitors who click through should land on sign-up, not on a long homepage.
• Your own people, told in advance. Users, beta testers and people who follow your build. Tell them the date and ask them to try it and leave honest feedback on the day.
• Creators who have used it. If you're bringing creators in, give them access now, so their posts on launch day come from real use.

Launch day, hour by hour

All times are Pacific Time, the clock Product Hunt runs on.

Where X creators fit in a Product Hunt launch

Many of the builders and early adopters who browse Product Hunt also spend their day on X. Creators they already follow can bring them to the launch, as long as it's done the way Product Hunt allows.

• Each creator writes their own post. Product Hunt discourages many people sending the same message. Every post should read like that person's real take.
• Ask for feedback, never upvotes. "Tried it, here's what I liked, tell them what you think" is fine. "Go upvote" is not.
• Only creators who've used it. Their followers can tell. A real demo brings people who try the product and comment.
• Spread the posts across the day and time zones. ReadKidz had threads in English, Polish and Chinese, which brought supporters from outside the usual US crowd.
• Label paid posts. On X, paid creator posts carry the paid partnership label. We add it to every paid post we run.

This is the same launch-wave approach we use on X, timed to Product Hunt's day. See our product launch agency page, or how we run influencer marketing for AI and tech brands.

A launch we backed: ReadKidz

ReadKidz, an AI studio that turns an idea into an illustrated children's book, launched on Product Hunt on 28 October 2024. Creators posted about it on X on the day, with quote posts and threads in several languages, each pointing people to the launch. One creator post alone passed 67K views.

Read the ReadKidz case study.

Mistakes that sink a Product Hunt launch

• Asking for upvotes in posts, emails or DMs. It's against the rules and can drop the launch.
• Buying votes or votes from new accounts. Product Hunt can spot it, and those votes count for little or nothing.
• Launching a waitlist. If people can't use it, it's unlikely to be featured.
• The same message to everyone. Copy-paste posts look like a campaign, not support.
• Going quiet after midnight. Unanswered comments lose the visitors who were about to try it.
• Treating the rank as the goal. The point is users. A #8 launch that brings 500 sign-ups beats a #2 that brings 50.

After launch day

• Follow up with everyone who signed up within a day, while they remember you.
• Turn the best comments into proof for your site and your next launch post.
• Launch again when you ship something big. Product Hunt allows a new launch for each significant new version.

Planning the X side of the launch too? Our X launch playbook covers the first hours on X, and the influencer brief generator writes the brief for your creators.

Frequently asked questions

• What time should I launch on Product Hunt?

  Product Hunt suggests going live at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, so the launch gets the whole day. It also says the best day is the one you're most prepared for.

• Can I ask people to upvote my Product Hunt launch?

  No. Product Hunt's rules say don't ask for upvotes. Ask people to try the product and leave feedback or a comment instead. Asking for upvotes can push a launch down the ranks or off the homepage.

• Can I pay influencers to promote a Product Hunt launch?

  Product Hunt doesn't ban paid promotion of a launch, but it bans paying for votes and any contest or reward for upvotes, including by people you've paid. Paid creator posts should share the launch in the creator's own words, ask for feedback, never ask for upvotes, and carry the platform's paid partnership label.

• Do I need a hunter to launch on Product Hunt?

  No. Product Hunt says makers can post their own product and that there's no clear advantage to using a third-party hunter. Company accounts can't post launches.

• Can I launch an AI product with a waitlist on Product Hunt?

  Product Hunt generally doesn't feature waitlisted products unless people get immediate access. Launch when people can try it on the day.

• How do you get featured on Product Hunt?

  The homepage is picked by the Product Hunt team, not by upvotes alone. Its featuring guidelines look for products that are useful, novel, well made or creative, and that people can use now.

• Can I launch on Product Hunt more than once?

  Yes. Product Hunt says you can launch again whenever you have a significant new version of the product.

• Does X help a Product Hunt launch?

  Yes, when the posts come from people who actually use the product, each in their own words. ReadKidz finished #3 Product of the Day and #4 Product of the Week with creator posts and multilingual threads on X sending people to the launch.