How UpstartRadar works
Creators list projects and say what help they need. Scouts back the projects they believe in and give useful feedback. Both earn credits, and credits put projects at the top of the page. Every account can do both.
If you've built something
- List it in about a minute. Paste your website and we fill in the name, description and logo. New launches, relaunches and projects that have been online a while are all welcome.
- Say what you need. Add up to 3 open asks, such as "feedback on my pricing page" or "testers for the new sign-up flow". Specific asks get specific answers.
- Reply and post updates. Mark useful comments as helpful (that earns the scout points) and post updates as you improve things. Active projects attract more backers.
- See who's looking. Your project's Manage page shows how many people viewed your listing and clicked through to your website in the last 7 and 30 days, and where they came from. Only you see these numbers.
- Rise. When 25 members have backed your project, it rises: it gets a Risen badge, and you earn 10 points.
If you like finding things early
- Join and confirm your email. Free, and your backing only counts once your email is confirmed.
- Back projects you believe in. Backing is free. If a project you backed rises, you earn points, and the earlier you backed it the more you earn.
- Give feedback creators can use. Answer their asks or point out what's confusing. When a creator marks your comment helpful, you earn 5 points.
- Build a scout record. Your profile shows the picks that rose and the feedback creators valued. The Leaderboards show who spots good projects first.
What you earn
Every point you earn also adds a credit. Points are your reputation and never go down. Credits are what you spend.
| When | Points | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| A project you backed rises, and you were one of its first 10 backers | 10 | 10 |
| The same, as backer 11 to 25 | 5 | 5 |
| The same, as a later backer | 1 | 1 |
| Your own project rises | 10 | 10 |
| A creator marks your comment helpful | 5 | 5 |
| Your first visit each day (2 for Founding Members) | 0 | 1 |
| All three of the day's quick tasks done | 0 | 2 |
| Someone you invited joins, confirms their email, and backs or lists a project | 0 | 25 |
What reputation unlocks
Reach 50 reputation and RuleRadar, our Reddit posting companion, is yours free. It keeps track of each subreddit's self-promotion rules so you can share your project without breaking them. It's available separately for A$15; members who qualify download it from their Account page.
The first 100 members are Founding Members and get it straight away, along with other Founding Member benefits.
What credits buy
Spend 200 credits to feature any live project, yours or one you believe in, at the top of the home page for a week (Monday to Sunday). There are 3 featured places each week, first come, first served. Featured places can only be bought with credits, never with money. How UpstartRadar stays free
Five minutes a day
Signed-in members see three quick tasks on the home page each day: back a project, leave a useful comment, and either reply on your own project or help one that needs a boost. They tick themselves when you do them, and doing all three earns 2 bonus credits.
You decide what gets built
Founding Members suggest new features. Ideas that fit the site go on a shortlist, every member votes, and the top idea gets built. The founder behind it earns the Shaped the Radar badge. See the Founders' ideas
Built for search and AI
A listing on UpstartRadar helps people find your project outside the site too.
- A dofollow link to your website. Free, once your listing is approved. Every listing is checked by hand and links are never sold, so we give approved projects a normal link that search engines follow. (Other launch sites charge for this.)
- A project page search engines can read. Your own page with a clear title, description and structured data, plus a proper preview image when it's shared on Reddit, X or elsewhere.
- In our sitemap from day one. Every live project is listed in UpstartRadar's sitemap, so search engines find your page quickly.
- Ready for AI tools. UpstartRadar publishes an llms.txt guide and an open feed of live projects, so AI assistants and search tools can find and describe your project accurately.
- A badge for your own site. Show "Listed on UpstartRadar" on your website. It links back to your listing, and visits through it show in your stats.
Keeping it fair
- Backs from accounts less than 7 days old show on the project but don't count towards rising, so new accounts can't push a project up.
- Once a project rises, its backs are locked, so points can't be farmed by backing and withdrawing.
- Creators can mark up to 10 comments helpful a week, and can't mark their own.