I spent 20 hours manually researching "best startup directories" for my last launch. Found outdated GitHub lists, dead links, and no data on which directories actually matter. So I built this instead.
*Live*: https://awesome-directories.com *GitHub*: https://github.com/awesome-directories/awesome-directories
*What It Is*
An open-source aggregator of 300+ verified launch directories with:
- Domain Rating scores (Ahrefs), dofollow/nofollow badges, pricing filters - Community voting, favorites, and submission tracking per project - CSV export and multi-select checklist
*Tech Stack*
- Frontend: Astro.js + Tailwind → GitHub Pages (static) - Backend: Supabase (PostgreSQL + Auth) - Data: Ahrefs API via Supabase Edge Functions (weekly updates) - Cost: $20/month
*Why Open Source*
Apache-2.0. Fork it, remix it. I'm building reputation, not revenue. The indie hacker community helped me learn—paying it forward.
*Technical Questions*
1. Client-side filtering vs Supabase full-text search: I went client-side for <500 directories. At what scale would you switch? 2. PDF generation: Currently client-side (jsPDF). Worth moving server-side?
*The Retention Problem*
Directory aggregators have a fundamental issue: once you find your directories, you never return.
Current ideas to solve this:
- Weekly digest of new directories - User-submitted launch stories ("I got 200 signups from BetaList") - Crowd-sourced directory performance rankings
How would you solve this?
*Feedback Wanted*
- Is the UI too busy? (Backend engineer, not a designer) - What directories am I missing? - Would you add performance tracking (which directories drove actual traffic)?
Looking for contributors to expand the directory list or improve the stack.
Thanks for reading.