I launched 2 apps on Product Hunt and both were featured — here's what I learned
You know how many apps launch on Product Hunt every day? 300, 400… maybe more. It's getting harder and harder to get your project seen — and the only real way is to be featured.
For those who don't know: Product Hunt hand-picks around ~15 apps each day to be featured. That means your app stays visible on the main page for the entire day. It's a massive traffic boost, a great way to validate your idea, and featured apps receive significantly more comments and upvotes than everything else.
I recently launched two apps on Product Hunt — Erla (a language learning app) and Voicr (a voice-to-polished-text app). Both got featured. Voicr is actually live today, so if you have a sec, I'd appreciate a few upvotes 🙏 → https://www.producthunt.com/products/voicr
Here's what I think helped me get featured both times:
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Don't launch on weekdays.
Weekdays are packed with big players — Google, OpenAI, major startups with huge followings. Your chances of being featured drop significantly. I launched both apps on weekends. -
Build for mass market (B2C wins).
Product Hunt loves products that anyone can try. If your app solves a problem most people can relate to, your chances go up. A language learning app and a voice-to-text app — both are things anyone can understand in 5 seconds. Both featured. -
Schedule your launch in advance.
Create your product page 3–4 days before launch and schedule it. Don't just hit "launch" the moment you're ready. Give yourself time to prepare everything properly. -
Make your materials look great.
This one is obvious but most people still don't do it well. Create polished preview images, write a clear and compelling description, and add a demo video. The good news — with AI tools available now, this doesn't take long. It took me about an hour to create a solid demo video and all the preview assets for Voicr. -
Fill in everything.
First comment, shoutouts, categories, tags, built-with section — complete it all. Make your Product Hunt page look like you care about it, because the PH team notices.
That's what worked for me. Would love to hear if anyone else has tips I missed — or if you've had a different experience getting featured. 👇
The weekend tip is solid. I launched my first side project on a Tuesday and got absolutely buried. Relaunched the following Saturday and the difference was night and day — way less competition from big names.
One thing I'd add: the first comment matters more than people think. I've seen launches where the maker just writes "thanks for checking it out!" vs ones where they tell a genuine story about why they built it. The story-driven first comments always seem to get way more engagement.
Also curious about something — did you notice any difference in the quality of traffic between your two launches? Like did the language learning app attract more "just browsing" users vs the voice-to-text tool attracting people with an actual pain point? I've been wondering if B2C tools that solve a clear workflow problem convert better from PH traffic than more "fun" apps.
I actually saw and see pretty good traffic quality for both. You would not make millions from PH launch but for now I have 5 trials for Voicr from PH launch and I think it is pretty good. When I launched Erla it didn't have any paid features so can't compare honestly.
Great breakdown — especially launching on weekends and preparing materials in advance.
Curious: how important was your demo video in driving engagement and clarity for users? Did you feel the way you presented the walkthrough impacted conversion?
I always make a short demo. Usually 1-2 minutes long. I think it is important to have a way to quickly tell potential clients about the idea. Not sure it plays a significant role.
Do you also use other channels to feature your producthunt post or do you solely rely on the platform itself? I am planning to launch on there next week so any feedback would be highly appreciated. :)
Hi! Not before the launch. After I posted a bit on reddit.