Best Places to Post Your PWA Application for Free

First, a reframe: your PWA is a website, and that's an advantage

There are two stores for native app developers. App Store and Google Play. And you either spend $99 a year on the former or $25 plus some testing stuff on the latter. That's your entire map of options.

You're not in that sandbox. Your Progressive Web App has a URL that people can just click.

Which means that every directory of websites, software, or tools is fair game for you to submit to. Native devs can't do that. All they have to offer to a directory is a store link that nobody clicks.

The vast majority of devs spend a month getting rejected and accepted in one store. Reverse the order. Cover your free web channels first, then apply to a store or two. You'll see results in two weeks instead of a month.

Below, sorted by your time value.

App stores: how far a PWA actually gets

Microsoft Store — free, and the first one you should do

Cost: $0 · Review time: 24–48 hours · Tool: PWABuilder

Microsoft cancelled individual developer account fee in September 2025, and then for company accounts in May 2026. Registration is free now. And you don't even need a credit card. You prove your identity with scanning a government ID and taking a selfie.

Three simple steps:

1. Create an app reservation in Partner Center and claim your app name.
2. Go to pwabuilder.com, input your URL, choose Windows, enter Publisher ID and other data that Partner Center gives you, and download the package.
3. Upload the package back in Partner Center, fill in the listing data and screenshots, submit.

No code changes are necessary. If you have a manifest and a service worker, PWABuilder creates an MSIX.

Why it's worth it: it's free, fast, and at the end you get a real store page on microsoft.com. Even if Windows isn't your primary platform, this page appears in searches for your product name. And it's solid proof of having an official store listing.

Watch out for: your manifest must contain name, short_name, description, icons (at least 512×512), and start_url. Fail to provide one, and PWABuilder will spit an error. For screenshots you have to reshoot images in Windows sizes. Phone screenshots will be rejected.

Google Play — it works, but the process is longer than you think

Cost: $25 one-time · Tool: PWABuilder or Bubblewrap

Google's approach is TWA, or Trusted Web Activity. It's a Chrome window without any browser UI, so user can't understand that it's a website. In technical terms, it's currently the best PWA store experience available.

What you need before starting:

• HTTPS. It's a strict requirement.
• Full manifest: name, icons, start_url, display, background_color, theme_color.
• Digital Asset Links file at /.well-known/assetlinks.json. Without it, your app will have an extra browser address bar stuck on top. Looks pretty unprofessional.
• Lighthouse score in "Progressive Web App" report section above 60.

This part stops a lot of people from proceeding. Personal developer account created after November 13, 2023 has to go through closed testing period first. At least 12 testers, opted in for 14 consecutive days, before you can apply for production access. If you lose even one tester and fall below 12, it resets your clock. Personal developer accounts registered as business entity are exempt.

So if you're a sole developer and trying to publish to Google Play for the first time, you have to allocate at least three weeks for the process. And you have to find 12 testers first.

What to do: submit to Microsoft Store right away and recruit testers meanwhile. Don't let Google Play block everything else.

App Store — keep the $99

Apple's guideline 4.2 is minimum functionality. 4.2.2 explicitly mentions "web clipping" as a violation.

Every year, somebody tries anyway. He pays the $99, submits a WKWebView shell, and gets the 4.2 rejection email. Rare cases that pass had added substantial native functionality: local storage, background tasks, real push notifications, native UI elements. That means that at this point you didn't publish a PWA. You rewrote the app.

For iOS, try the opposite approach. Make your "Add to Home Screen" work well. Safari supports PWAs, including icons, splash screen, and standalone mode. Put two lines of installation instructions on your landing page.

Meta Horizon Store — only if you're making WebXR

Meta's Horizon Store actually supports PWAs, both 2D and immersive WebXR ones, and PWABuilder can package it for Meta Quest.

Honestly speaking though: unless your product makes sense inside a headset, there's no audience match. Just good to know.

PWA-only directories: which ones are still alive

Bad news first. Most "PWA store" lists out there were written between 2019 and 2021, and half of the sites mentioned are not alive now.

Appscope — dead. This is the most-cited PWA directory out there, and it currently returns 503 error. The site is hosted on Heroku and nobody's maintaining it. All the articles still citing it never clicked the link. Don't waste your time.

PWA Directory — alive, accepts submissions. Around 477 apps, divided into 15 categories. Free submission goes into review queue, and they say they reject around 30%. They make sure you're a PWA (have manifest + service worker), use HTTPS, and do something meaningful. Plus they have €49 fast-track option that guarantees decision within 48 hours, paid on approval. Go for the free queue first.

Store.app — alive, made by PWA Labs. It has "Have an app? Get Listed" button on the main page. Out of all these, it's the one that feels like a real store.

FindPWA — alive, has a /submit page. Client-side rendered, small directory, but submitting costs you five minutes.

PWA Store — alive, personal project. Redirects to pwastore.arnaudfavier.com. Made as a personal project. Don't expect any traffic here.

The honest take: combined, these four probably don't get as much monthly traffic as a single general directory below. However, it's the intent that matters — people who are browsing these sites are actively looking for PWAs. But if you want traffic, read on.

The ones that bring traffic: general directories that don't care

These sites list "software" and "tools." You give them a URL, they check that it works, and they don't bother asking you if you're native or not. That's the part PWA devs usually ignore.

Everything below is free to submit. The numbers are provided by the directory database.

Software and alternative directories (the long-term search strategy)

SourceForge — DR 92 · 2.5M visits/mo · dofollow · Free

How to submit: create a SourceForge account, then go to vendor page creation at sourceforge.net/software/vendors/new. Many people still believe that SourceForge is only for open source software. Its software directory has been listing SaaS and web apps for many years already.

Watch out: fill everything. List features, pricing, screenshots. Unfinished pages don't rank in category pages.

AlternativeTo — DR 80 · 1.3M visits/mo · dofollow · Free

How to submit: alternativeto.net/manage-item/. You list your product as an alternative to a well-known tool.

Watch out: it's community-voted, so new entries stand still until people vote them up. Choose the right thing to be an alternative to — something people actively search for. And mark your platform as Web / Online. It's a plus here, not an exception.

SaaSHub — DR 68 · 1.6M visits/mo · dofollow · Free

How to submit: saashub.com/submit. You list your competitors and verify with an email on your product's domain.

Watch out: domain email is a must. Gmail won't work. Register hi@yourdomain.com before starting.

Alternative.me — DR 77 · 2.0M visits/mo · Free

How to submit: alternative.me/how-to/submit-software/. The same principle as AlternativeTo, only smaller and less strict.

StackShare — DR 79 · 1.6M visits/mo · Free

How to submit: stackshare.io/submit/.

Watch out: non-technical products get rejected almost every time. If your PWA is a development tool, an API or something else that belongs in a stack, it's a good match. If it's a budgeting app, skip this.

TheSaaSDirectory — DR 88 · dofollow · Free

Simple form, quick approval, clear link. Low traffic, but ten-minutes work for a high-DR dofollow link.

TechDirectory — DR 67 · dofollow · Free

AppaList — DR 50 · dofollow · Free

It has "App" in the title, and it accepts web apps in practice. Easy one.

Webwiki — DR 77 · 15K visits/mo · Free

How to submit: webwiki.com/info/add-website.html. This unit lists "websites," so PWA fits here perfectly.

Launch boards (traffic for one day)

Product Hunt — DR 75 · 6.0M visits/mo · nofollow · Free

PWAs have an edge over native apps here. People can click and use it right there. No installation, no TestFlight invitation, no waiting. Conversion rate is higher than for native apps just because of that.

How to submit: producthunt.com/posts/new. Launch at 12:01 AM Pacific to grab the whole day.

Watch out: the link is nofollow, so expect zero SEO value. And never ask for upvotes publicly. PH strips those votes and can bury you.

Micro Launch — DR 19 · 60K visits/mo · Free

Monthly rankings instead of a 24-hour sprint. Friendlier to early products, and you get a month of exposure instead of a spike.

Launching Next — DR 51 · 13K visits/mo · Free

Watch out: the free queue is slow. Submit two weeks early.

PitchWall — DR 64 · 59K visits/mo · Free

Watch out: pure link-grab submissions rarely get approved. Write a real description that says what problem the thing solves.

SideProjectors — DR 67 · 52.6K visits/mo · Free

Human-reviewed. Good fit for side projects and small tools.

OpenHunts — DR 56 · dofollow · Free

Today Launches — DR 60 · dofollow · Free

Both are low-effort dofollow links. Do them in the same sitting.

Dev communities (one post beats one listing)

DEV Community — DR 90 · Free

Don't post an ad. Write "how I got my PWA into the Microsoft Store" or "what broke when I packaged a TWA," and link your product naturally in the body. dev.to posts rank well in Google. One decent technical post can feed you traffic for six months.

Watch out: it has to be real technical content. Fluff gets removed.

Indie Hackers — Free

Same deal. Post the process, the numbers, the parts that went wrong. Straight promo posts get nuked.

A few easy extras

• F6S — DR 86 · 1.6M visits/mo · dofollow · Free. You're filling in company info, and it has to be real and in English.
• Crunchbase — DR 80 · 10M visits/mo · nofollow · Free. Verify with a social account. The link passes nothing, but the profile shows up on page one for your brand name.
• Startup Fame — DR 83 · Free. You have to put a verification badge on your homepage to get approved.
• LandBook — DR 72 · dofollow · Free. It's a landing page gallery with human curation. PWA landing pages tend to be better designed than average SaaS pages, so the hit rate here is decent.

Get these ready before you submit anything

Stores and directories want slightly different things, but there's a lot of overlap. Do it once and the rest is copy-paste.

Manifest must-haves: name, short_name, description, start_url, display set to standalone, background_color, theme_color, and icons up to at least 512×512 (include a purpose: "any maskable" version too). Microsoft Store packaging and TWA packaging both read these. Missing one throws an error.

Digital Asset Links: only needed for Google Play. File goes at /.well-known/assetlinks.json, and the SHA-256 fingerprint has to match your signing cert. Get it wrong and users see a browser address bar on top of your app.

Screenshots, two sets. Windows-sized for Microsoft Store, 1280×720 landscape for directories. Vertical phone shots submitted to a desktop store get bounced.

Write your description at three lengths. One line (under 60 characters, for directory taglines), one paragraph (about 150 characters, for listing pages), and long form (500+ words, for store pages). Write once, use thirty times.

A working email on your own domain. SaaSHub and others verify with it. Gmail won't pass.

A four-week rhythm, not one big day

Week 1 — get your assets done. Fill out the manifest, run Lighthouse, write the three description lengths, shoot both screenshot sets, set up the domain email. Also go claim your app name in Partner Center.

Week 2 — carpet the free directories. SourceForge, AlternativeTo, SaaSHub, Alternative.me, TheSaaSDirectory, TechDirectory, Webwiki, AppaList in one sitting. These are slow to approve but they feed search traffic for years, so earlier is better. Package with PWABuilder and submit to Microsoft Store the same week.

Week 3 — launch boards. Pick a Tuesday or Wednesday for Product Hunt. Stack Micro Launch, Launching Next, PitchWall, SideProjectors, OpenHunts, and Today Launches around it. Write the dev.to post this week about what broke during packaging.

Week 4 — clean up. See what got approved, what got rejected, and why. Grab your Microsoft Store page link and put it on your own landing page. Now decide whether Google Play is worth the $25 and the 12 testers.

Common ways this goes wrong

• Submitting to Appscope because an old article said to. It's been down for a while. Click every link in any pre-2022 PWA directory list before you trust it.
• Going store-first and nothing else. Store review takes days or weeks, and you sit idle. You can hit a dozen web directories in an afternoon.
• No description in the manifest. PWABuilder won't complain. You find out in Partner Center when the store listing is blank.
• Only shipping a 192×192 icon. Stores want 512 minimum plus a maskable version. Icon rework is the most common do-over.
• Fighting the App Store anyway. You pay $99, you get the 4.2.2 rejection, you don't get the money back.
• Pasting the same description everywhere. Directories run duplicate content checks, and readers notice. At minimum, rewrite the first sentence each time.
• Submitting and forgetting. Half these sites are human-reviewed and email you when they reject. That email lands in spam.

FAQ

Can a PWA get into the App Store?

You can package one. It won't pass review. Guideline 4.2.2 blocks web clippings by name. Unless you add substantial native functionality, don't count on it. Focus on Safari's Add to Home Screen instead.

Is Microsoft Store really free now?

Yes. Free for individual developers since September 2025 and for company accounts since May 2026. Review usually takes 24–48 hours.

Do I really need 12 testers for Google Play?

If your personal developer account was created after November 13, 2023, yes. Accounts registered as a business entity are exempt. So if you have a legal entity, register with it and skip that whole round.

Are PWA-only directories enough on their own?

No. Together they're too small. They're precise, but general software directories and launch boards are where the volume is.

Will general directories reject me for "not being a real app"?

Almost never. They list software or websites, and you're handing them a URL that works on click. That's actually less friction than a native app — the reviewer tries it in one tap.

If I only do three, which three?

Microsoft Store (free, fast, real store page), SourceForge (DR 92 and dofollow), and AlternativeTo (1.3M monthly visits and long-term search traffic). Do those, then add more as you find time.

Useful sources

• PWABuilder — official tool for Windows / Android / iOS / Meta Quest packages
• Publish a PWA to the Microsoft Store — Microsoft's own docs
• Bubblewrap — Google's TWA packaging CLI
• Play Console testing requirements — the official page on the 12-tester rule
• App Store Review Guideline 4.2 — minimum functionality, in Apple's words

Work through that list and your PWA ends up more visible in search than most native apps. They live in two stores. You can live in dozens. To keep going, browse directories, dev tools, and SaaS — there are a few hundred more sites in there.