How to Submit to Startups.fm (DR 41)
Startups.fm is a startup directory (about 1,900 listings across category, country, and city pages, plus a Monday newsletter) run by UK indie maker Jaisal Rathee. Its pitch is "Launch your startup, 100% free" (the form adds "Takes ~2 minutes — no account needed"), and the free listing has one condition: the "Featured on Startups.fm" badge on your homepage, which it auto-verifies. The hero promises "a DR 40+ backlink," and that number holds up: the independent tracker FrogDR showed DR 41 when we checked in July 2026. One thing the hero doesn't say: the free listing's link is nofollow (we verified it in the listing HTML), and making it dofollow is a £49 upgrade. Here's the full walkthrough.
The free listing's real cost is the badge chore: embed it on your homepage and keep it there. Submitator handles that for clients: install our badge component once and it places and keeps the Startups.fm badge live for you. And for roughly what their £49 skip-the-queue upgrade costs, $49 gets you 60 directories, Startups.fm plus 59 more, badges handled across all of them.
Startups.fm at a glance
| Feature | Startups.fm |
|---|---|
| Domain Rating | ~41 (FrogDR); site claims 40+ |
| Audience | Startup / founder crowd |
| Listing | Free with badge, or £49 upgrades |
| Free link type | Nofollow (checked in HTML) |
| Dofollow | £49 upgrade (verified it works) |
| Review | Queue; no stated turnaround |
| Account | Not needed (~2-minute form) |
Startups.fm lists you free if its 'Featured on Startups.fm' badge sits on your homepage (auto-verified by fetching your page; a 'list me now' option gives a 7-day grace period to add it). Two £49 upgrades exist: skip the review queue and publish instantly, or make your listing link a dofollow backlink; both remove the badge requirement, and whether £49 is one-time isn't stated. The free listing's outbound link is nofollow (verified in listing HTML). DR ~41 per FrogDR. Last checked July 2026.
How to submit to Startups.fm, step by step
- 1
Basics
Startup name, website URL, and a one-sentence tagline. The form shows a countdown of its own (~80 seconds left), which sets the tone: this is a fast one.
- 2
Your pitch
A 2-3 sentence description covering what you do, your traction, and why it matters, plus a category and funding stage.
- 3
Where & details
Country and city, optional total raised, and optional tags (business model, focus, audience, origin) that help route you onto Startups.fm's discovery pages.
- 4
Visuals & founder
A logo, a featured image or screenshot, and your founder name and email. No account or password; an optional magic-link account lets you manage listings later.
- 5
Pick how you'll get listed
One choice of three: free with the badge (default), £49 to skip the review queue and publish instantly, or £49 to make your link a dofollow backlink. Both paid options drop the badge requirement.
- 6
Embed the badge and verify
On the free path, copy the badge snippet to your homepage and hit 'Verify badge & submit'; Startups.fm fetches your homepage to check it. If your site renders with JavaScript, use the 'list me now' option with its 7-day grace period, their own tip.
Free, or £49, or £49 (pick one)
The last step is the interesting one. Three options, and the form says "Pick one": the free default ("Add the Featured on Startups.fm badge to your homepage — we'll auto-verify it and you're in the queue, free"), "Skip the queue and get listed instantly" for £49 ("published instantly, no approval wait and no badge required"), and "Dofollow backlink" for £49 ("Your link from our directory becomes a dofollow backlink (DR 30+)"). Worth noticing: the queue's length isn't stated anywhere, the fine print doesn't say whether £49 is one-time, and there are no terms or refund pages behind the checkout. Also worth noticing, to their credit: the DR 30+ promise on the dofollow card is more conservative than the DR 41 the site actually shows on FrogDR.
The free link is nofollow (we checked)
The hero sells "a DR 40+ backlink," and the DR part is real. The part to understand before you count it toward SEO: on free listings, the outbound link to your site carries rel="nofollow" (we read the live listing HTML), which means it passes essentially no link equity. The £49 dofollow upgrade does exactly what it says, we verified paid listings whose links drop the nofollow attribute, but that's a purchase, not the default. So value the free tier for what it verifiably is: a listing on a DR 41 directory with category, country, and city discovery pages and a Monday newsletter, in front of the people browsing those pages, plus referral traffic. That's worth two minutes. It just isn't a free dofollow link.
The badge, handled for you
The free path's one real chore is the badge: a "Featured on Startups.fm" embed that has to sit on your homepage, because the verifier literally fetches your homepage and checks for it (their tip: if your site renders with JavaScript, take the "list me now" option and its 7-day grace period). Fine for one directory; it stacks up when a dozen directories each want their own badge kept live. Submitator handles the whole category for clients: you install one badge component, once, and we place and keep the Startups.fm badge live for you, along with every other directory badge in your batch.
Badges Submitator places + keeps live
£49 to skip one queue, or $49 for 60 directories
Here's the comparison that made us write this guide. Startups.fm's skip-the-queue upgrade costs £49, which is more than $49 before you even convert the currency, and it buys you one directory: an instant, badge-free listing there. Submitator's $49 plan submits you to 60 directories you pick, Startups.fm plus 59 more, with every badge handled. To be precise about what we don't do: we take the free path there, so Startups.fm's own review queue still applies (their £49 is the only thing that skips it), and the dofollow upgrade is bought from Startups.fm directly whichever way you arrive.
| Feature | Free + badge | £49 upgrades | Submitator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | £49 each | $49 for 60 dirs |
| Badge on your site | You paste + keep live | Not required | Handled + kept live |
| Review queue | Yes, length unstated | Skipped (instant) | Their queue still applies |
| Your Startups.fm link | Nofollow | Dofollow for £49 | Same as free tier |
| Directories covered | 1 | 1 | 60, you pick |
Submitator submits you to Startups.fm on its free tier and handles the badge, then submits you to 59 more directories you pick, $49 one-time (plans from $29 for 30 directories). Startups.fm's review queue and its £49 upgrades (instant publish, dofollow link) are on their side either way.
Startups.fm + 59 more, badge handled.
Their badge placed and kept live for you, plus 59 more directories you pick. $49 one-time, plans from $29.
One queue fee. Or sixty doors.
£49 on Startups.fm buys one skipped queue. $49 on Submitator buys 60 directories you pick, Startups.fm included, every badge placed and kept live from one dashboard.
FAQ
Is Startups.fm free to submit to?
Yes. The default listing is free: you fill a 5-step form (about 2 minutes, no account needed) and add the 'Featured on Startups.fm' badge to your homepage, which it auto-verifies. If you'd rather not embed the badge, there are two paid upgrades at £49 each: skip the review queue and publish instantly, or make your listing link a dofollow backlink. Both paid options remove the badge requirement.
How do you submit to Startups.fm?
It's a 5-step form: basics (startup name, website, tagline), your pitch (a 2-3 sentence description, category, funding stage), where you're based (country, city, optional total raised, plus tags that route you onto discovery pages), visuals and founder info (logo, featured image, your name and email), and finally how you'll get listed: free with the badge, or a £49 upgrade. On the free path you embed the badge snippet on your homepage and hit 'Verify badge & submit'.
Is a Startups.fm backlink dofollow?
The free listing's link is nofollow: we checked the live listing HTML and the outbound link carries rel="nofollow". The £49 'Dofollow backlink' upgrade genuinely changes that (we verified paid listings whose links carry no nofollow attribute). Its upgrade card promises 'dofollow backlink (DR 30+)', which is conservative next to the site's own DR of about 41. So treat the free tier as listing and discovery value, and the dofollow as a £49 add-on bought from Startups.fm directly.
What is Startups.fm's Domain Rating?
About DR 41 per the independent tracker FrogDR when we checked in July 2026, which supports the site's own 'Get a DR 40+ backlink' claim. DR moves over time, so check the current figure before you rely on it.
How long does Startups.fm review take?
It doesn't say. Free submissions go into a review queue ('we'll auto-verify it and you're in the queue') with no published turnaround, and the £49 'Skip the queue' upgrade publishes instantly. If your site renders with JavaScript, Startups.fm itself suggests the 'list me now' option with a 7-day grace period to add the badge, since its checker fetches your homepage HTML.
Does Submitator submit to Startups.fm?
Yes. Submitator submits you to Startups.fm and handles the badge: install our badge component once and it places and keeps the 'Featured on Startups.fm' badge live, so the badge chore is handled without you touching your site. For roughly what one £49 skip-the-queue upgrade costs there, Submitator's $49 plan submits you to 60 directories you pick, Startups.fm plus 59 more, badges handled across all of them. Plans from $29. The dofollow upgrade, if you want it, is purchased from Startups.fm directly either way.
More submit-to guides.
Get on Startups.fm. And 59 more.
Startups.fm plus 59 more directories you pick, every badge handled, live links as listings complete. $49 one-time, plans from $29.