indie · saas · ai
Startup Fame: requirements, how to submit, and what you actually get
Paste a URL, let their AI write the listing, then pay for it with a badge: free verification in seven days, or $19 a month to skip it.
startupfa.me
Eligibility
Who Startup Fame accepts
You need
A Google account or an email sign-in
A live URL, which is the only thing the create step asks for
Their badge on your homepage, on the free lane
An English version of your site
A domain rating above zero
You'll be rejected if
A brand-new domain with a domain rating of zero, which their verification checklist names outright
A site with no English version
StartupsSaaS productsAI toolsDeveloper toolsIndie projectsMarketing tools
What you actually get
A dedicated startup page with your logo, tagline, six feature bullets, a category, a country and a founder profile, and their claim of 10 or more followed backlinks. Two of those are switches on the edit form: setting a location and ticking I am the founder are each labelled +1 dofollow link.
How to submit to Startup Fame
1
Sign in
Submit in the nav is a link to /login; /submit itself is a 404. The card offers Continue with Google or Continue with Email.
2
Paste a URL and let their AI write it
Add startup takes the URL alone and generates the name, category, tagline, description and six feature bullets from a scrape. It takes about half a minute.
3
Correct what it wrote
The edit form is where the listing is actually decided. On this walk the AI's tagline described the product as something it is not. Location and a founder checkbox sit at the bottom, each labelled +1 dofollow link.
4
Choose Verified, and put their badge up
The Promote tab holds the three lanes. Verified is free and needs their badge on your homepage; Highlight and Spotlight are monthly and publish instantly.
5
Tick the checklist and verify
Four conditions: badge visible, an English site, a product that delivers, and a domain rating above zero. Ticking the box enables Verify now, and their stated review is seven days.
Startup Fame requirements
Account (Google or email)
Live URL
Their badge on your homepage, on the free lane
Name, tagline, description and one category from 59
Six feature bullets, prefilled by their AI
A domain rating above zero and an English site
Country, which adds a followed linkoptional
Founder checkbox, which adds another and puts the startup on your profileoptional
Monthly recurring revenueoptional
Gotchas
Their AI writes the whole listing from a scrape before you see it, and it gets the positioning wrong: on this walk it described a directory as an automation tool. Read all eight fields, not just the name.
A domain rating of zero fails the free lane's own checklist, so a brand-new domain is refused here rather than queued.
Two of the promised followed links are opt-in switches at the bottom of the edit form, labelled +1 dofollow link each: a country and a founder checkbox. Skip them and the listing is worth less than the plan says.
/submit is a 404. The nav item labelled Submit points at /login, and the real control is Add startup inside the dashboard.
Let your agent submit to Startup Fame
Connect SubmitMap to your AI over MCP and this page stops being something you read and copy. Your agent asks for the Startup Fame 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 7 Startup Fame rules above, so you find out you would be rejected before you open a tab.
Hands your agent all 9 fields this form asks for, 3 of them optional, already filled from your pack.
Warns you that Startup Fame 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: highlight is $19 a month for a rotating homepage slot and instant publishing with no badge. Spotlight is $99 a month, marked down from $149 with a 33% badge and a 1 spot left counter. Both skip the verification queue entirely.
Types it into Startup Fame 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 Startup Fame?".
Connect your agentTools and endpointsWorks with Claude Code, Claude, Codex, Cursor, VS Code and Hermes.
Startup Fame FAQ
How long does Startup Fame approval take?
Startup Fame's typical time from submission to going live is about a week.
How much does it cost to submit to Startup Fame?
Startup Fame has a free submission option plus paid placement (Highlight is $19 a month for a rotating homepage slot and instant publishing with no badge. Spotlight is $99 a month, marked down from $149 with a 33% badge and a 1 spot left counter. Both skip the verification queue entirely.).
Does Startup Fame give a dofollow backlink?
Yes, a listing on Startup Fame carries a dofollow link. The site has a domain rating of 83.
Does Startup Fame require a backlink to your site?
Yes, Startup Fame expects a link back from your site as part of listing.
What gets you rejected from Startup Fame?
A brand-new domain with a domain rating of zero, which their verification checklist names outright; A site with no English version.