Product Hunt Launch Checklist: Every Item, With a Done Test

A Product Hunt launch has a lot of small parts, and most launches that go badly miss one of them. A tagline cut off mid-word, a blurry gallery image, a sign-up flow that breaks on a phone, or nobody told until the day. This checklist puts every part in one list, in the order you should finish them, with a simple test for when each one is done.

It is the companion to our step-by-step Product Hunt launch guide, which explains why each step matters and gives an hour-by-hour plan for the day. Use the guide to plan. Use this list to make sure nothing is missing.

Before the checklist: is Product Hunt the right place?

Product Hunt suits consumer and prosumer software, productivity and design tools, and AI products people can try in a minute. It suits products that need a sales call, a long setup or a narrow industry audience much less. If that sounds like yours, look at the Product Hunt alternatives first, or launch there as well as here.

Also know what the link is worth. On the listings we checked, the link from a Product Hunt page to the product's site carries rel="ugc", so it passes little search value. The value of the day is visitors, users and feedback.

Four weeks out: account and product

• Your personal account is active. Done when you have used Product Hunt for a few weeks as a member: browsing, upvoting what you genuinely like, leaving useful comments. An account created the week of the launch looks like it arrived only to promote.
• Your profile is complete. Done when it has your real name, photo, a one-line headline and a link to your site or X profile. Visitors click through to see who made the product.
• Co-founders and teammates have accounts. Done when everyone who built the product has an account, so you can add them as makers on the listing.
• The product works for a stranger. Done when someone who has never seen it signs up on a phone, with no help, and reaches the first useful result.
• There is a free way in. Done when a visitor can try the product without a card: a free plan, a trial or a live demo.
• You have read Product Hunt's current launch guidelines. Done when you know their rules on who can post, what counts as a new launch, and how they choose which launches to feature. The rules change, so read them on the site rather than in an old blog post.

Three weeks out: the listing copy

• Name. Done when it is just the product name, with no slogan attached.
• Tagline, up to 60 characters. Done when it says what the product does and for whom, in plain words, without the product name or hype words, and the Product Hunt tagline checker shows it fits. Product Hunt stops you typing past 60, so a tagline written long gets cut where you did not plan.
• Description, up to 260 characters. Done when the first sentence says what the product does and the second says why it is different, and the Product Hunt description checker confirms the length. Save the story for the first comment.
• Topics. Done when you have picked the few topics people actually browse for your kind of product, not the biggest ones.
• First comment drafted. Done when it covers who you are, the problem, why you built it, what is different, any launch offer, and one question for readers. The maker comment generator gives you a first draft to edit.
• Launch offer decided. Done when you know whether you will offer a longer trial, a discount or extra credits to the Product Hunt community, and the offer works when you test it.

For patterns that work in the tagline and description, see our launch copy guide.

Two weeks out: thumbnail, gallery and video

Asset	Size	Check with
Thumbnail	240 x 240 pixels, square. PNG, JPEG or an animated GIF.	Product Hunt thumbnail size checker
Gallery images	1270 x 760 pixels each. PNG, JPEG or GIF.	Product Hunt gallery image size checker
Video (optional)	A short video link, starting with the result.	Watch it once on a phone with the sound off.

• Thumbnail. Done when your logo mark (not the full wordmark) reads clearly at the small size it is shown in the daily list. If you use a GIF, done when the first frame works on its own and the movement is subtle.
• First gallery image. Done when it shows the product doing its main job, with a short headline a phone user can read. Not the logo, not a team photo.
• Next three to five images. Done when each shows one feature as a result ("Notes in Slack two minutes after the call"), in one consistent style.
• Every image at the right size. Done when each passes the gallery size checker. Images in other shapes are cropped or letterboxed, which looks careless next to launches that got it right.
• Video, if you have one. Done when it is under about a minute, starts with the result rather than a login screen, and makes sense without sound.

Two weeks out: the page they land on

• The headline matches the tagline. Done when someone who clicked "Invoices that write themselves" lands on a page that says the same thing.
• One clear call to action. Done when the main button names the result ("Start sending invoices"), not the mechanism.
• The offer is visible. Done when Product Hunt visitors see the launch offer on the page, or get it automatically through the link.
• The link is tagged. Done when the URL on the listing carries UTM parameters from the UTM builder, so you can see what Product Hunt visitors did.
• The link preview works. Done when the social preview checker shows the right title, description and image, because the launch will be shared on X, LinkedIn and Slack.
• It is fast on a phone. Done when the page speed checker shows nothing heavy blocking the first view.
• Sign-up holds up under load. Done when you have tested sign-up, the welcome email and password reset with a fresh email address, and know your email provider's sending limits.

One week out: date and people

• Date chosen. Done when you have picked a day that avoids holidays in your main market and big industry events, and decided between a busier weekday and a quieter weekend. Our guide to the best time to launch compares the options.
• Launch scheduled for 12:01 AM Pacific. Done when the launch is set to start the Product Hunt day, so it gets all 24 hours. The launch time planner shows what that is in your time zone.
• Every field filled and previewed. Done when you have looked at the scheduled listing on desktop and on a phone.
• Your people told. Done when your waitlist, beta users, newsletter and friends who would genuinely use the product know the date. Ask them to try it and leave honest feedback. Not to upvote: Product Hunt discourages asking for votes and discounts coordinated voting.
• Personal messages written. Done when you have a short, personal note ready for each person you will message on the day, rather than one mass message.
• Social posts and the email written. Done when posts for X, LinkedIn and Bluesky, and the email to your list, are drafted and within each limit. The launch post generator drafts them from one set of details.
• Coverage planned. Done when you know who is answering comments at each hour of the Pacific day, and who sleeps when.

Launch day

• Live listing checked. Done when you have opened the live page logged out, on a phone, and every image, link and offer works.
• First comment posted. Done within the first minutes of going live.
• People messaged. Done when each person on your list has had a personal note with the link.
• Social posts out. Done once per network, with a screenshot and the link.
• Every comment answered. Done when no comment has waited more than an hour, all day. Specific, honest replies to criticism count for more than thanks.
• Notes kept. Done when every question, complaint and feature request is in one running document.
• Breakages fixed and announced. Done when anything that broke is fixed and you have said so in the comments.

The launch guide has the hour-by-hour version of this list.

The week after

• New users emailed. Done when every person who signed up on the day has had a personal email asking one question: what did you expect it to do?
• Top three issues fixed. Done when you have shipped fixes for the three things people raised most, and told the people who raised them.
• Results read by source. Done when you know how many Product Hunt visitors signed up and reached the first useful result, not just how many visited.
• The badge decided. Done when you have decided whether to show a Product Hunt badge on your site, which some visitors read as social proof.
• The next launch planned. Done when you have picked the next platform, such as Show HN for a technical product or a weekly launch site. Note what you will change based on this one.

Our guide to onboarding, feedback and metrics after launch covers the follow-up emails in detail.

The checklist on one screen

1. Account used for weeks; profile complete; teammates have accounts.
2. Product tested by a stranger on a phone; a free way in.
3. Current Product Hunt guidelines read.
4. Tagline under 60 characters; description under 260.
5. Topics chosen; first comment drafted; offer tested.
6. Thumbnail 240 x 240; gallery images 1270 x 760; video under a minute.
7. Landing page matches the tagline; one CTA; UTM link; preview card works.
8. Sign-up and emails tested under load.
9. Date chosen; scheduled for 12:01 AM Pacific; listing previewed.
10. People told and messages written; posts and email drafted; coverage planned.
11. On the day: check live, first comment, messages, posts, replies, notes.
12. After: emails, fixes, results by source, next launch.

Where Aback Launch fits

Aback Launch is a weekly launch platform, which makes a good second launch after Product Hunt. Products go live every Friday at 00:00 UTC and collect upvotes all week, so you are not racing a single day. Every product keeps a permanent page, and the link to your site becomes dofollow once you add our badge.

FAQ

What do I need for a Product Hunt launch?

A name, a tagline of up to 60 characters and a description of up to 260. A 240 x 240 thumbnail and gallery images at 1270 x 760. A few topics, a first comment, and a landing page that matches the tagline. Plus people who know the date.

How far ahead should I prepare a Product Hunt launch?

About four weeks. Start using Product Hunt as a member and testing the product first. Write the copy three weeks out and make the images two weeks out. Tell people and schedule the launch in the last week.

What size are Product Hunt gallery images?

Product Hunt recommends 1270 x 760 pixels. Images in other shapes are cropped or letterboxed. The thumbnail is a 240 x 240 square.

What time does a Product Hunt launch start?

The Product Hunt day starts at 12:01 AM Pacific Time and lasts 24 hours. Schedule your launch for that minute to get the whole day.

Do I need a hunter?

No. Founders can launch their own products, and many do.