There's An AI For That Alternatives: 13 AI Directories Checked for 2026

Checked on 4 November 2026 by Brian Millot, who runs LaunchIt. We read every directory's own submit, pricing and FAQ pages that day and pulled live Ahrefs Domain Rating figures. Where a directory does not publish something, this post says so. LaunchIt is one of the options below, so weigh that entry accordingly.

If you make an AI tool, There's An AI For That is the first directory everyone mentions, and since it moved to paid listings it is also the first one that asks for money. The good news is that it is far from the only place AI users go looking for tools. The bad news is that most lists of alternatives were copied from older lists: they still send you to submit forms that no longer exist and quote prices that changed months ago.

We fill in these forms every week. We run LaunchIt and a directory submission service, and in September we submitted one product to 106 directories, 32 of them AI directories (the full results are in we submitted one product to 106 AI directories). This post is the shorter answer to a narrower question: if not There's An AI For That, or not only There's An AI For That, then where?

There's An AI For That in 2026: what it costs

There's An AI For That (TAAFT) is still the biggest general AI directory. It claims 3.5M+ monthly visitors and a newsletter with 1.8M+ subscribers sent three times a week. Listing is paid, and the launch page sets out the options:

• $49 one-time: a permanent listing after a review that takes 1 to 2 days on average, with a $100 ad credit. TAAFT estimates 50 to 100 clicks in the first week.
• $437 one-time: everything above plus a guaranteed spot in the newsletter, priority review and a $300 ad credit. This is the only way into the newsletter.
• Free: only through a thread on X that TAAFT runs once a month. It picks one tool from each thread and lists it for free.

Two details matter before you pay. The ad credit only applies if your tool "must not appear on any other platform before the launch", so submitting anywhere else first gives it up. And TAAFT refunds the fee in full if your tool is not published. Its pages do not say whether listing links are followed or nofollow.

For a head-to-head with our own platform, read There's An AI For That vs LaunchIt. The rest of this post is about the other places.

Why makers look for alternatives

• The price. $49 is reasonable for the biggest directory; $437 for the newsletter is a real bet for a tool that has not made money yet.
• The free route is a lottery. One tool per monthly thread is not a plan.
• Crowded categories. In a directory with tens of thousands of tools, a new one can sit far down its category.
• Different audiences. Some directories are read by developers, some by business users, some by indie makers. The right one depends on who buys your tool.

The short answer

• No budget: submit to Future Tools, AI Tools Directory and Insidr AI (free, editorial review), then Dang.ai and Toolpilot if you are willing to link back to them.
• A small budget: a fixed-price listing on TopAI.tools ($47), Dang.ai ($49) or Toolify ($99), or LaunchIt Premium at $24.99, before spending $437 anywhere.
• A launch, not just a listing: LaunchIt or Launch Llama, which give your tool a launch day, votes and comments.
• A real marketing budget: TAAFT's $437 package or The Rundown's newsletter ads reach the largest AI audiences.

The alternatives compared

Domain Rating measures how strong a site's own backlinks are. It says nothing about how many people will see your tool, so use it to compare directories, not to predict traffic.

The big general AI directories

1. Future Tools

Matt Wolfe's curated directory, tied to a twice-weekly newsletter that it says reaches 250,000+ readers. Submitting is free, and every tool is reviewed by a person, but Future Tools is blunt about the odds: "Over 75% of the tools that are submitted to this site do not get approved", and you will likely not hear back either way. There is no paid listing; featured slots (at most two a week) and newsletter sponsorships are sold separately, and they never influence the hand-picked Top 20. We submitted here in our September run.

Best for: a polished tool that is genuinely useful on its own. Worth the five minutes even with long odds.

2. Dang.ai

The most specific traffic figure of any directory we checked: it claims 270K+ monthly visitors, citing its own Google Analytics for September 2026, plus 7,000+ tools and a weekly newsletter of 9,800+ readers. The free listing requires a crawlable link back to Dang.ai and can take up to 4 weeks. Basic, at $49 one-time, needs no link, reviews in about 4 days and adds a Featured badge; Pro is $30 then $19 a month for faster review, more categories and a newsletter feature.

Best for: makers who will add a link to Dang.ai for a free listing, or pay $49 once to skip it.

3. Toolify

A large general AI directory (Ahrefs DR 73). Listing costs $99 one-time, with no queue: the tool is listed within 48 hours. We found no free option.

Best for: AI tools that want a place in a big directory quickly, for a fixed price.

4. TopAI.tools

A general AI directory (Ahrefs DR 65) with the lowest fixed price among the larger ones: $47 one-time for a listing that goes live within 48 hours with no queue, a spot in the homepage's "Just landed" section, a permanent listing and free edits to it later. We found no free option.

Best for: a fast, permanent listing for under $50.

5. Toolpilot

A general AI directory with coupon codes and lists of free tools. Free listings now require "a link back to our site" (one of its badges or logos) and may take up to 60 days. Priority Listing is $99 one-time and goes live within seven days; Premium is $199 for the first month, then $39 a month, adding editorial work and homepage placement.

Best for: a free listing if you accept a Toolpilot badge on your site.

6. AI Tools Directory

A curated directory of about 770 tools, where editors may rewrite your description. The free submission is reviewed by hand and is not a guarantee of publication. Fast Track, at $99 one-time, guarantees a listing within 3 days with an editor-written write-up; homepage and featured positions cost $299 to $499 for 30 days. It does not accept crypto, gambling, adult or AI companion tools. We submitted here in our September run.

Best for: makers who can wait for a free curated listing, or want a guaranteed one for $99.

7. AI Tools Inc

A directory organised by job and task, connected to The Recap AI newsletter and a community of 28K automation builders (its figure). The free route is a queue of 30 to 90 days with no guaranteed placement; Fast Lane, at $129 one-time, guarantees placement within 24 to 48 hours or a full refund, and makes the tool eligible for newsletter placements. We submitted here in our September run.

Best for: automation and workflow tools, free if you can wait one to three months.

Launch platforms with an AI audience

8. LaunchIt

Our own platform. LaunchIt is a launch platform rather than a pure AI directory: your tool gets a launch day, community votes and reviews, and a permanent page in our AI and Machine Learning category and its tags. Free launches need our badge on your site and join a queue (the next free date was 8 January 2027 when we checked). Premium is $24.99 one-time: any open day from tomorrow, a guaranteed homepage spot all launch day, a verified badge, a feature in our newsletter and a submission to our partner directory, DirPilot. For the full comparison with TAAFT, see There's An AI For That vs LaunchIt.

Best for: AI tools that want a launch moment and a permanent page, not only a directory entry.

9. Launch Llama

A launch platform with a weekly leaderboard and a Tuesday newsletter, covering AI, SaaS and developer tools. The free route is "$0 forever" with a review of about 4 weeks; its directory homepage also asks free launches to upvote 5 tools, leave a review and embed its badge. Instant Launch is $39 one-time. Featured is $99 a month (shown as $23 a week), covering up to 3 tools, an instant launch, priority placement at the top of the directory and one newsletter feature a month to 20,000+ founders. It claims 95,000 monthly visitors, though it quotes four different newsletter sizes on different pages. In our September run, our listing appeared on Launch Llama the same day we submitted it.

Best for: indie makers who want a free listing with a chance at the weekly leaderboard.

Newsletters with a directory

10. The Rundown (Supertools)

The Rundown AI's newsletter claims 2.1M subscribers, and its tools directory (once called Supertools, now at therundown.ai/tools) lists about 1,575 tools. There is no form: you email the team with your tool's name, link, category and a one-sentence description, and they review it for inclusion; the page does not say it is free or paid. Newsletter ads, from a main ad to a full takeover, are priced on request.

Best for: strong tools that can earn an editorial pick, and teams with an ad budget.

11. Insidr AI

A small curated directory (500+ tools) for business users, attached to a newsletter it says reaches 75,000+ subscribers and a community of 9,000+. Submitting is free and approved tools are added to the directory; sponsored spots (top five in a category plus a newsletter write-up) are priced on request and marked as sponsored. When we checked, the submit form showed unfilled placeholders, so confirm it works before you rely on it. We submitted here in our September run.

Best for: business-focused AI tools, more as a newsletter sponsorship than a listing.

Cheap guaranteed listings

12. BAI.tools (Best AI Tools Directory)

The cheapest fast listing we found: $19.90 one-time for a listing within 24 hours and seven days on the homepage and top category spots, or $29.90 for 30 days. The free route needs no link back but takes "at least 1 month (up to 6 months)". It publishes no traffic figures. We submitted here in our September run.

Best for: a guaranteed extra listing for under $20. Expect little traffic.

13. AI With Me

No free route: a single tool is $26.90 one-time and listed within 48 hours; $39.90 a month covers unlimited tools; $99 adds 30 days of banner ads. The site runs in five languages. In our September run, our listing appeared on AI With Me the same day we submitted it.

Best for: a cheap, quick listing in front of a multilingual audience.

What changed, and what to skip

• Futurepedia has no public submit form. One of the best-known AI directories, but its submit page returned a 404 when we checked and the site links to no other way in. Contact them if you want to be listed.
• Supertools moved. Its old address now redirects to The Rundown, where submission is by email.
• SaaS AI Tools did not load at all, and AI Valley and AIcyclopedia show no new content since late 2024 and September 2025. Older lists still recommend all three.
• Easy With AI blocked our check, so we cannot confirm its current price. Read it on its submit page before you pay.

In what order to submit

1. Prepare once. A one-line description, a 150-word description, a square logo, two screenshots and your pricing. Every directory asks for the same things, and our launch checklist covers them.
2. Decide on TAAFT first. If you will pay for it, launch there before anywhere else to keep its ad credit.
3. Then the free editorial directories: Future Tools, AI Tools Directory, Insidr AI and The Rundown. They cost five minutes each.
4. Then the link-back and launch platforms: Dang.ai, Toolpilot, Launch Llama and LaunchIt, depending on whether you will add their badges.
5. Pay only where the audience fits your buyers, and check after a month which listings actually send visitors, in your own analytics.

For launch platforms beyond AI directories, see where to launch your startup in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Is There's An AI For That free?

Not for most tools. A listing costs $49 one-time, and $437 adds a guaranteed spot in its newsletter. The only free route is a thread on X that TAAFT runs once a month, where it picks one tool to list for free.

What is the best free alternative to There's An AI For That?

Future Tools, AI Tools Directory and Insidr AI are free with an editorial review and no link back required, though Future Tools turns down most submissions. Dang.ai and Toolpilot are free if you link back to them, and LaunchIt is free with our badge on your site.

Is Futurepedia still accepting submissions?

Not through a public form. On 4 November 2026 its submit page returned a 404 and the site linked to no other submission route, although its terms still describe paid verified listings. Contact Futurepedia directly if you want to be listed.

Which AI directory has the most traffic?

By their own figures, There's An AI For That claims 3.5M+ monthly visitors and The Rundown's newsletter 2.1M subscribers. Among the smaller directories, Dang.ai gives the most specific number, 270K+ monthly visitors from its own Google Analytics. These are the companies' own claims, not measured by us.

The bottom line

There's An AI For That is still the biggest stage, and $49 is a fair price for a permanent place on it. It just should not be the only one. Start with the free editorial directories, add one or two paid listings where your buyers actually look, and keep the newsletter money until you know which audience converts. If you want a launch day rather than another directory entry, launch on LaunchIt.