Short answer: launch where your users already look for tools, then add one big launch day and one week-long board. For a plugin, that means your host app’s marketplace first: the Figma Community, Framer Marketplace or Blender Extensions. For a standalone tool, use a design-only directory such as The Design Tools, where you can book Launch Week, plus Product Hunt if you can bring an audience and Show HN if people can try the tool without signing up. Plan four weeks: two to prepare and get listed, one to launch, one to follow up.
We run The Design Tools and Launch Week, which appear in this plan. Everything else here is free advice that works wherever you launch.
Step 1: work out where your users look for tools
The biggest launch mistake is picking a platform before picking an audience. Start from what you’ve built.
| What you’ve built | Launch here first | Then add |
|---|---|---|
| A Figma plugin, widget or file | Figma Community | The Design Tools and Launch Week, Toools.design, Sidebar |
| A Framer template, component or plugin | Framer Marketplace | The Design Tools, Sidebar |
| A Blender add-on | Blender Extensions (GPL-compliant only) | The Design Tools, the Blender communities you already take part in |
| A web app for designers | The Design Tools and Launch Week, plus Product Hunt if you have an audience | Peerlist Launchpad, AlternativeTo, usetools.design, Sidebar |
| A desktop app | The Design Tools, and AlternativeTo as an alternative to the app it replaces | Product Hunt, and Show HN if there’s a free download |
| A design-to-code or developer-facing tool | Product Hunt, Show HN, DevHunt | The Design Tools |
| An AI design tool | The Design Tools, Product Hunt | Paid AI directories, if AI is the main thing you sell |
| An open-source design tool | Show HN, OpenAlternative, AlternativeTo | The Design Tools, which has an open-source section |
Prices and rules for all of these are in sites like Product Hunt: where to submit your tool.
Step 2: prepare before you launch anywhere
- One sentence that says what it does and for whom. “AI-powered design platform” could be anything. “Turns a Figma frame into a responsive HTML email” tells a designer in five seconds whether it’s for them.
- A 20–40 second demo that shows the tool doing its main job from start to finish, with real content rather than lorem ipsum.
- Three to five screenshots of real work. Designers judge tools by their output, so show the output.
- A way to try it without signing up, if at all possible. Show HN expects it, and everywhere else it means more people see the tool actually working.
- A clear pricing page. If there’s a free tier, say exactly what it includes. A hidden price reads as an expensive one.
- Honest limits. Say what it doesn’t do yet before someone asks. On The Design Tools, your review lists drawbacks, and once you claim your page you can reply to them in your own words.
- The story. A few honest sentences on why you built it. Communities and link sites share stories, not sales pages.
- Somewhere to keep people: a newsletter, a changelog or a community, so launch visitors can hear about the next version.
- A tracked link per site with a
?ref=or UTM tag, so you can see afterwards which places sent people who stayed.
Step 3: a four-week launch plan
Weeks 1 and 2: get listed and line people up
- Submit your tool to The Design Tools. It’s free, and a person reviews it within 7 days. When the page is live, claim it and add your reply to the review.
- If it’s a plugin, submit it to the marketplace now. Figma, for example, reviews every new plugin, and approval times vary with demand.
- Book your Launch Week for week 3. You can book any week in the next month.
- Join the free queues that take time. Uneed’s free line can run for months, and Peerlist accepts a limited number of launches each week.
- Tell your existing users, beta testers and followers the date, so launch week doesn’t start from zero.
Week 3: launch week
- Monday: the Launch Week board opens. Share your Launch Week link, since asking for votes is allowed there.
- One day in the middle: Product Hunt, going live at 12:01 a.m. Pacific, if you have an audience to bring. Ask people to visit and comment. Asking for upvotes breaks Product Hunt’s rules.
- The same week: Show HN if people can try the tool without signing up, the story behind the tool to Sidebar, and a post in communities where sharing your own work is allowed.
- Every day: reply to every comment and question the same day. It’s the part of a launch you control completely.
Week 4: follow up
- Add your “Reviewed on” badge and any winner badges to your site.
- List the tool on AlternativeTo as an alternative to the product it replaces.
- Look at installs or sign-ups by source, not votes. Keep the places that sent people who stayed.
- Ship a visible update and write it up. On Launch Week you can launch the same tool again after 90 days.
Mistakes that sink design tool launches
- Launching everywhere on the same day. You can’t answer comments in six places at once, and you’ll have nothing left for the following week.
- A sign-up wall before the demo. Many designers leave before they ever see the tool work.
- A tagline that could describe anything. If it would fit a competitor’s homepage too, it’s not doing its job.
- Asking for upvotes where it’s forbidden. Product Hunt and Hacker News both forbid it.
- Buying votes or joining “upvote groups”. Votes from strangers don’t become users.
- Hiding the price. People assume the worst.
- Going quiet after launch day. Much of the lasting value comes later, from people who find your pages through search, directories and word of mouth.
Launching a Figma plugin?
Plugins have extra steps before launch day: manifest fields Figma now requires, listing assets at specific sizes, a review, and rules for paid plugins. Our Figma plugin launch checklist covers them one by one.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I launch a design tool?
Where your users already look for tools. For plugins, that’s the host app’s marketplace, such as the Figma Community. For standalone tools, it’s a design-only directory such as The Design Tools with its weekly Launch Week, plus Product Hunt if you have an audience to bring on one day.
Where should I launch a Figma plugin?
Publish it to the Figma Community first, because that’s where people install plugins. Then launch it outside Figma on a design directory, a weekly launch board and design link sites, because the Community listing on its own is distribution, not a launch.
When is the best day to launch?
Pick a day you can spend answering questions. Product Hunt days start at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time, while Launch Week and Peerlist Launchpad weeks start on Mondays. Avoid weeks with major holidays in your main market.
Do I need Product Hunt to launch a design tool?
No. Product Hunt helps most when you can bring an audience on one day. Without one, a design-only directory and your host app’s marketplace usually reach more of the right people.
How much does it cost to launch a design tool?
It can cost nothing. Product Hunt, Show HN, the Figma Community, AlternativeTo and The Design Tools are all free. Paid options range from about ten dollars to skip a queue up to several hundred for the big AI directories.
How do I get designers to try my tool?
Let them try it without signing up, show real output instead of mockups, go where designers already browse, say what it doesn’t do yet, and answer every question fast.
Start with a free listing
A person reviews your tool within 7 days. Then book a week on the Launch Week board.
Already listed? Claim your page and book your week.