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

> A Product Hunt launch checklist to tick off: account, listing fields and limits, thumbnail and gallery sizes, landing page, launch day and the week after.

Canonical: https://abacklaunch.com/blog/product-hunt-launch-checklist
Last updated: 2026-10-31

By Devvrat Hans, Founder. 10 min read. Published 2026-10-31.

A [Product Hunt](https://abacklaunch.com/launch-platforms/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](https://abacklaunch.com/blog/improve-product-hunt-launch-performance-tips), 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](https://abacklaunch.com/launch-platforms/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](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/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](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/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](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/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](https://abacklaunch.com/blog/how-to-write-startup-launch-tagline).

## 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](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/product-hunt-thumbnail-size-checker) | |
| Gallery images | 1270 x 760 pixels each. PNG, JPEG or GIF. | [Product Hunt gallery image size checker](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/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](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/utm-builder), so you can see what Product Hunt visitors did.
- **The link preview works.** Done when the [social preview checker](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/og-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](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/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](https://abacklaunch.com/blog/best-time-to-launch-startup-product) 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](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/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](https://abacklaunch.com/tools/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](https://abacklaunch.com/blog/improve-product-hunt-launch-performance-tips) 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](https://abacklaunch.com/launch-platforms/hacker-news-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](https://abacklaunch.com/blog/startup-onboarding-tips-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](https://abacklaunch.com/submit) 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](https://abacklaunch.com/badge/how-it-works).

## 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.

## Related

- [How Long Does SEO Take for a New Website? An Honest Timeline](https://abacklaunch.com/blog/how-long-does-seo-take)
- [How to Get Backlinks for a New Startup Website](https://abacklaunch.com/blog/how-to-get-backlinks-for-new-website)
- [How to Get Cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity: a Guide for Startups](https://abacklaunch.com/blog/how-to-get-cited-by-chatgpt-and-perplexity)
- [All founder guides](https://abacklaunch.com/blog)