MakerHunt pricing explained

This expands Free vs Premium vs Featured vs SEO with buyer intent. Open pricing beside it, and keep FAQ handy for edge cases. If you only need the submit flow, jump to how to launch after you pick a SKU.

MakerHunt sells scheduling and chrome, not invented domain rating or traffic. Votes still decide ranks. Product of the Day is not for sale. The Featured-on homepage badge used for the free crawl is not the same thing as the paid Featured launch SKU. Confused people mix those labels constantly. This post is the decision tree.

Quick map

Deep compare for the last two rows that look similar on a dark homepage: sponsor sidebar vs Featured.

Free (€0)

Buy: a launch day after the Featured-on crawl passes.
Do not expect: a home Featured tile, skip-crawl, or a paid pill.

You place a Featured-on MakerHunt badge on your product homepage. We crawl it. When crawl is green, you get the next eligible launch day (~09:00 UTC go-live; see UTC playbook). Rules and embeds: Featured-on guide, add the badge, legal/badges.

Best when you control the homepage and can keep the badge live through crawl and launch day. Recrawl-if-removed is still ops-sensitive; treat the badge as part of the product surface, not a one-hour stunt.

Buyer mistakes

• Putting the badge only on a blog post or /pricing page nobody crawls as “homepage.”
• Removing the badge the minute crawl succeeds, then wondering why trust breaks later.
• Calling the free Featured-on badge “I bought Featured” in social copy. You did not. You used the free attribution path.

Premium (€7)

Buy: skip badge crawl, Premium pill, next-day launch, dofollow-style launch path without the free badge requirement.
Do not expect: a home Featured grid cell.

Best when you cannot place a badge (client site, App Store only, brand guidelines block third-party badges) but still want on the hunt.

Buyer mistakes

• Paying €7 and then expecting the three-cell home strip. That is Featured or SEO.
• Skipping Free when you could place a badge and just wanted “faster.” Premium is for constraint, not flex.

Featured (€19)

Buy: everything in Premium plus Featured chrome and a slot in the three-cell home Featured strip (shared with SEO launches). Empty cells link back to pricing.
Do not expect: Product of the Day. Votes still decide ranks (PotD ranking).

Best when launch-day visibility on the homepage strip matters and you have a real go-live day to fill.

Buyer mistakes

• Treating Featured as “guaranteed #1.” Strip placement is entitlement chrome; ranking is votes.
• Confusing Featured-on badge (free crawl proof) with Featured SKU (€19). Say the full phrase every time.
• Buying Featured for a soft beta with no audience plan. Chrome does not replace comments and upvotes prep.

SEO Growth (€39)

Buy: Featured entitlements plus a queued operator review / SEO article (fulfill is an ops queue, not instant publish the minute Stripe returns).
Do not expect: a live /reviews/[slug] URL before the queue runs.

Best when you want a lasting review-style URL in addition to the hunt day, and you can wait for operator writing.

Buyer mistakes

• Expecting same-day article publish after checkout.
• Buying SEO when you only needed the Featured strip. Use Featured if you do not care about the article.
• Assuming the article invents DR for your domain. It is content on our site under our editorial process; see honest proof.

Sidebar sponsor (€29/mo)

Not a launch type. Buy: home Sponsors list + site-wide rails (up to 10 slots).
Do not expect: PotD, a free badge waiver for a product launch, or MakerWall logos mixed into a fresh hunt as if they were today’s products.

Pick sponsor when you want always-on advertiser presence. Sales page: sponsors. Compare again: sponsor vs Featured.

Decision tree

1. Shipping a product launch this week? Stay on Free / Premium / Featured / SEO. Sponsor alone is the wrong SKU.
2. Can you keep a Featured-on badge on the real homepage? Prefer Free unless you need strip or article.
3. Cannot badge? Premium minimum. Want strip? Featured. Want strip + queued article? SEO.
4. Want logo on rails for a month regardless of launch day? Sponsor. Optionally stack with a launch SKU.
5. Want PotD? You cannot buy it. Prep votes and comments; clock is UTC.

Honesty rules

We do not sell invented DR or traffic. The home proof bar uses a third-party widget when shown; that measures makerhunt.space, not a promise about your domain. Refund posture for one-shot launches: treat payment as scheduling a day; details live in legal copy as we finish pre-publish. For badge usage, stay inside legal/badges.

Checklists

Before you pay

• Goal is launch day vs always-on ads (wrong goal → wrong SKU)
• Free path: badge live on homepage, crawl understood
• Paid path: Stripe path from submit, not a DM invoice
• You accept PotD is earned, not purchased
• You know Featured-on ≠ Featured SKU

After you pay (or Free crawl green)

• Confirm scheduled UTC date matches your social calendar
• Draft maker comment and share posts (playbook)
• Bookmark trending?filter=today and winners

Next step

Pick a path on pricing, skim FAQ, then follow how to launch on MakerHunt into submit.