ai · saas · directory

Ant Directory: requirements, how to submit, and what you actually get

Visit

Three followed links on the free lane, behind a queue their own pricing page puts at 180 days

antdirectory.com
Ant Directory homepage
Eligibility

Who Ant Directory accepts

You need
An account
A live product URL
A 1:1 icon and a 16:9 cover, both under 1MB
A link back to them, if you take the free lane
You'll be rejected if
A free submission when their slots are full, which their own pricing page warns may be rejected
Anything without a 1:1 icon and a 16:9 cover under 1MB each, which the form will not proceed without
AI toolsSaaS productsDesign toolsDeveloper tools
What you actually get
A page at /item/<slug> with your icon, cover, description and a long introduction, carrying three links to your site and no rel attribute on any of them. Their pricing page counts those three links as the free tier's whole offer, and a check of a live listing agrees. What you are waiting for is the queue, not the page.

How to submit to Ant Directory

  1. Sign in
    Submit redirects to /auth/login until you have an account. Once in, the header swaps Pricing for Dashboard and Settings.
  2. Fill the details screen
    Screen 1 of 3 takes the link, name, categories, tags, a short description and a Markdown introduction, plus a 1:1 icon and a 16:9 image, both capped at 1MB. An AI Autofill button beside the link field writes the text fields from your site.
  3. Choose the free plan on the payment screen
    Screen 2 is the same three tiers as /pricing. Free is selectable and the flow continues without a card.
  4. Submit to review
    The last screen ends in Submit to review rather than Publish, and answers "Successfully submitted to review". The item then sits in the dashboard at status Pending.

Ant Directory requirements

An account
Product URL
Name
Categories and tags
Description
Introduction
Markdown
Icon
1:1, PNG or JPEG, max 1MB
Cover image
16:9, PNG or JPEG, max 1MB

Gotchas

Their own free tier says "High volume of submissions, 180+ days wait at current pace" and "May be rejected due to limited free slots", so the free lane is a six month queue you can still lose.
The backlink condition is on the pricing page and nowhere in the form. Free is sold as a permanent link "with backlink maintenance" while both paid tiers say no backlink required, and nothing in the four screens asks you for one or gives you a badge to place.
Free is the only tier with no customer support, which on a queue this long means no way to ask where you are in it.

Let your agent submit to Ant Directory

Connect SubmitMap to your AI over MCP and this page stops being something you read and copy. Your agent asks for the Ant Directory playbook and gets the brief for this exact form, with the values already taken from your submission pack instead of placeholders you fill in by hand.

What it does for this platform
Checks your product against the 6 Ant Directory rules above, so you find out you would be rejected before you open a tab.
Hands your agent all 8 fields this form asks for, none of them optional, already filled from your pack.
Warns you that Ant Directory looks for its badge on your site, so it has to be live before you submit rather than after.
Tells you what paying buys here, so you pick it on purpose: free is a real lane and the form never asks for a card. $9.90 lists immediately and drops the backlink condition; $19.90 adds seven days at the top of the directory. Both paid tiers are struck through from $14.90 and $39.90.
Types it into Ant Directory in your own browser, and stops for you when the form wants a sign-in.
Records what it sent, so the dashboard can answer "did I ever submit to Ant Directory?".
Connect your agentHow this worksTools and endpointsWorks with Claude Code, Claude, Codex, Cursor, VS Code and Hermes.

Ant Directory FAQ

How long does Ant Directory approval take?
Ant Directory's typical time from submission to going live is 6+ months.
How much does it cost to submit to Ant Directory?
Ant Directory has a free submission option plus paid placement (Free is a real lane and the form never asks for a card. $9.90 lists immediately and drops the backlink condition; $19.90 adds seven days at the top of the directory. Both paid tiers are struck through from $14.90 and $39.90.).
Does Ant Directory give a dofollow backlink?
Yes, a listing on Ant Directory carries a dofollow link. The site has a domain rating of 33.
Does Ant Directory require a backlink to your site?
Yes, Ant Directory expects a link back from your site as part of listing.
What gets you rejected from Ant Directory?
A free submission when their slots are full, which their own pricing page warns may be rejected; Anything without a 1:1 icon and a 16:9 cover under 1MB each, which the form will not proceed without.