“Free launch” still has a price — it’s a badge on your homepage and a slot race

People say free launch like it means free. On IndieHunt the free tier still has a price — just not in dollars. You put a badge on your homepage (link verification), links are nofollow by default, and you’re racing 15 free slots a week. Top-3 Free can earn dofollow, which is nice if you land there, but that’s a race, not a promise.

I stopped pretending that race was “just exposure.” It’s a weekly queue. Miss the window and you’re waiting again. Same scarcity shows up elsewhere — tiny free weekly caps on other boards too. Look at IndieHunt pricing (https://indiehunt.io) side by side with free: Premium is $19 one-time, guaranteed dofollow, no badge, plus the Launch Kit. Free is badge + hope + fifteen slots.

On Product Hunt Alternatives (https://producthunt-alternatives.com) I keep a dull spreadsheet of which rooms give you a real week vs a 24-hour blink, and which ones make free mean badge + slot race. For me Premium was less about “paying to win” and more about not wanting my homepage to wear someone else’s badge while I fight scarcity theater. If the demo already works, I’d rather spend the nineteen bucks than refresh free availability all week.

Neither path is wrong. Free teaches you if hunters care enough to click through a badge. Premium is when the product is ready and you don’t want the queue deciding your calendar. What I won’t do is call Free free without naming the badge and the fifteen-slot race.

If you’ve launched free somewhere with a weekly cap, did the badge/link requirement feel fair or did it make you hesitate?