Free backlink sites list: 1,964 places to get a link
A maintained list of 1,964 legitimate backlink sites: directories, profile creation sites, guest posting sites, launch platforms, registries and marketplaces. 1,628 are free or have a free tier, 44 usually give a dofollow link, and 781 have an estimated DA of 70 or more. Every row shows authority, link type, cost and effort, and links straight to the submit page.
- 1,964
- Opportunities
- 1,628
- Free or freemium
- 781
- Est. DA 70+
- 208
- Quick wins
All filters2
The table is wider than the screen — swipe it sideways for cost, effort and the preparation notes.
| # | Impact (sorted) | Site — sort by this | Est. DA — sort by this | Link | Domain | Type | Cost | Effort — sort by this | Priority | Status | What to prepare | Rules / caveat | Checked | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 91 | LinuxSecurity | 60 | Link type unknown | linuxsecurity.com | Publishing platforms | Not stated | Involved | Do first | Not submitted | Pitch an original advanced article with reproducible examples, such as local PII redaction or malicious-document inspection on Linux, linking only to a genuinely informative supporting page. | At least 1,200 words, intermediate-to-advanced depth, directly related to Linux/open source/cybersecurity, and at least three original images. Product promotion, company marketing, simple listicles, and links to promotional product pages are rejected. | 2026-08-03 | Open LinuxSecurity submit page (new tab)LinuxSecurity details |
| 2 | 86 | CodeNewbie Community | 60 | Nofollow | codenewbie.org | Publishing platforms | Free | Quick | High | Not submitted | Create a transparent human profile and publish a beginner-friendly build log or tutorial showing how one your tool privacy utility works and what tradeoffs it has. | Follow the community code of conduct, accessibility guidance, Markdown/editor rules, and honest authorship. Use canonical URLs where republishing and avoid promotional flooding. | 2026-08-03 | Open CodeNewbie Community submit page (new tab)CodeNewbie Community details |
| 3 | 84 | Bear Blog | 60 | Sometimes dofollow | bearblog.dev | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | High | Not submitted | Build a small founder-written knowledge blog with genuinely useful local-first privacy and file-safety guides. | The signup page explicitly bans backlink spam and domain squatting; free blogs require manual review before indexing or discovery. | 2026-08-03 | Open Bear Blog submit page (new tab)Bear Blog details |
| 4 | 84 | 90 | Nofollow | flipboard.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | High | Not submitted | Create a public digital-privacy magazine, curate reputable third-party resources, and occasionally add strong your tool guides with commentary. | Keep the magazine topical and balanced; Flipboard stresses authentic curation, and outbound links may be treated as UGC. | 2026-08-03 | Open Flipboard submit page (new tab)Flipboard details | |
| 5 | 84 | Start.me | 80 | Nofollow | start.me | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | High | Not submitted | Build a valuable public start page of privacy and productivity resources, then submit it to Community Pages after adding your tool selectively. | Community submission is reviewed, new accounts have a waiting period, and the page must be public and useful rather than self-promotional. | 2026-08-03 | Open Start.me submit page (new tab)Start.me details |
| 6 | 84 | Wakelet | 80 | Nofollow | wakelet.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | High | Not submitted | Publish a well-organized privacy-toolkit collection containing authoritative resources plus selected your tool utilities. | Starter limits collections and items; avoid a collection made only of self-links and expect UGC or redirect handling. | 2026-08-03 | Open Wakelet submit page (new tab)Wakelet details |
| 7 | 81 | 2600: The Hacker Quarterly | 60 | Link type unknown | 2600.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Involved | High | Not submitted | Submit an original hacker-spirit article on a privacy failure, scam-defense experiment, file-forensics method, or unusual defensive technique—not an your tool advertisement. | The editor selects intelligent, interesting work; publication is not guaranteed. Treat the piece as independent technical journalism and keep product promotion out of it. | 2026-08-03 | Open 2600: The Hacker Quarterly submit page (new tab)2600: The Hacker Quarterly details |
| 8 | 81 | CodeProject | 85 | Nofollow | codeproject.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Involved | High | Not submitted | Submit a substantial implementation article with code samples for a local privacy or document-processing technique used in your tool. | Articles are quality-reviewed and should include real code and explanation; marketing copy and unnecessary product links will be rejected. | 2026-08-03 | Open CodeProject submit page (new tab)CodeProject details |
| 9 | 81 | DEV Community | 90 | Nofollow | dev.to | Publishing platforms | Free | Involved | High | Not submitted | Publish #showdev article about client-side privacy tools. | Write useful technical article; avoid thin promotion. | 2026-07-30 | Open DEV Community submit page (new tab)DEV Community details |
| 10 | 81 | DevDojo | 55 | Sometimes dofollow | devdojo.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Involved | High | Not submitted | Join as the developer and publish an original technical tutorial about a privacy-safe browser workflow, citing your tool only where relevant. | Community content must teach something; avoid copied blog posts, thin launch announcements, or promotional comment drops. | 2026-08-03 | Open DevDojo submit page (new tab)DevDojo details |
| 11 | 78 | 100 | Nofollow | linkedin.com | Publishing platforms | Free + paid tier | Involved | High | Not submitted | Create company page and publish case-study posts. | Use real company details; publish useful posts. | 2026-07-30 | Open LinkedIn submit page (new tab)LinkedIn details | |
| 12 | 77 | DevOps.com | 75 | Sometimes dofollow | devops.com | Publishing platforms | Not stated | Involved | High | Not submitted | Submit a 600–1,000 word practitioner article on secure CI/CD, dependency privacy, or local-first developer tooling based on real engineering experience. | The article must be original, exclusive to Techstrong Media, practitioner-focused, vendor-neutral, vendor-agnostic, and entirely non-promotional, including its links. | 2026-08-03 | Open DevOps.com submit page (new tab)DevOps.com details |
| 13 | 77 | LWN.net | 85 | Sometimes dofollow | lwn.net | Publishing platforms | Not stated | Involved | High | Not submitted | Pitch a timely, deeply researched Linux or open-source security story with primary sources and explain the author's direct expertise before drafting. | Contact the editors with a detailed pitch first. LWN requires factual, authoritative, concise, sourced, human-written work and explicitly does not publish text from large language models. | 2026-08-03 | Open LWN.net submit page (new tab)LWN.net details |
| 14 | 77 | Open Source For You | 65 | Sometimes dofollow | opensourceforu.com | Publishing platforms | Not stated | Involved | High | Not submitted | Pitch a vendor-neutral tutorial on building privacy-preserving local web tools or reviewing a genuinely open-source your tool component, then wait for topic and outline approval. | Pitch the idea first, then submit a table of contents and article for technical review. Topics must serve the open-source audience; acceptance is editorial and not guaranteed. | 2026-08-03 | Open Open Source For You submit page (new tab)Open Source For You details |
| 15 | 77 | PenTest Magazine | 50 | Link type unknown | pentestmag.com | Publishing platforms | Not stated | Involved | High | Not submitted | Submit a defensive security walkthrough, reproducible tool evaluation, or privacy-testing methodology with an author bio and original examples. | Premium articles are expected to be at least 1,500 words with an introduction, conclusion, technical substance, and author details; editorial review applies and promotional copy should be avoided. | 2026-08-03 | Open PenTest Magazine submit page (new tab)PenTest Magazine details |
| 16 | 77 | Tripwire State of Security | 75 | Sometimes dofollow | tripwire.com | Publishing platforms | Not stated | Involved | High | Not submitted | Apply with a named security practitioner, writing sample, biography, and a concrete proposal based on defensible privacy or scam-protection research. | The publication seeks security expertise and reviews prospective contributors; send real credentials and a useful topic, not a company-written backlink article. | 2026-08-03 | Open Tripwire State of Security submit page (new tab)Tripwire State of Security details |
| 17 | 66 | Padlet | 85 | Nofollow | padlet.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | Medium | Not submitted | Create a public searchable board that teaches a privacy workflow and links to supporting standards, guides, and relevant your tool utilities. | Public visibility must be enabled because boards default to restricted sharing; free limits apply and self-link-only boards add little value. | 2026-08-03 | Open Padlet submit page (new tab)Padlet details |
| 18 | 66 | Pearltrees | 80 | Nofollow | pearltrees.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | Medium | Not submitted | Create a structured collection about privacy-preserving web utilities and mix selected your tool pages with respected references. | Curate a balanced collection with descriptions; premium privacy features and link treatment may differ by plan. | 2026-08-03 | Open Pearltrees submit page (new tab)Pearltrees details |
| 19 | 66 | Symbaloo | 80 | Nofollow | symbaloo.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | Medium | Not submitted | Publish a public Webmix of trustworthy privacy resources with clearly labeled your tool tiles among independent sources. | Set the Webmix public, organize it for users, and avoid keyword-stuffed or AltFTool-only link grids. | 2026-08-03 | Open Symbaloo submit page (new tab)Symbaloo details |
| 20 | 63 | Hashnode | 85 | Sometimes dofollow | hashnode.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Involved | Medium | Not submitted | Post technical/product story with canonical link. | Use original article; don't duplicate everywhere. | 2026-07-30 | Open Hashnode submit page (new tab)Hashnode details |
| 21 | 63 | Scoop.it | 85 | Nofollow | scoop.it | Publishing platforms | Free + paid tier | Moderate | Medium | Not submitted | Curate a public online-privacy topic page and add expert notes to a diverse mix of industry sources and your tool guides. | Add meaningful insight to every scoop and verify current free-tier limits; repetitive self-promotion can be moderated. | 2026-08-03 | Open Scoop.it submit page (new tab)Scoop.it details |
| 22 | 60 | HackerNoon | 90 | Sometimes dofollow | hackernoon.com | Publishing platforms | Free + paid tier | Involved | Medium | Not submitted | Pitch/write article about privacy-first browser tools. | Editorial quality required; not instant. | 2026-07-30 | Open HackerNoon submit page (new tab)HackerNoon details |
| 23 | 60 | Medium | 95 | Nofollow | medium.com | Publishing platforms | Free + paid tier | Involved | Medium | Not submitted | Publish founder/productivity article linking your tool. | Canonical/duplicate strategy needed. | 2026-07-30 | Open Medium submit page (new tab)Medium details |
| 24 | 56 | UXfolio | 55 | Link type unknown | uxfol.io | Publishing platforms | Paid | Moderate | Medium | Not submitted | Document your tool privacy, accessibility, and tool-discovery UX as a credible case study and link to the live product from relevant case-study text. | Publishing requires a paid plan; the portfolio must show a real UX process and outcome rather than a promotional landing page. | 2026-08-03 | Open UXfolio submit page (new tab)UXfolio details |
| 25 | 48 | Tumblr | 95 | Nofollow | tumblr.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Quick | Later | Not submitted | Create visual/tool tip microblog with canonical links. | Only useful with regular posts. | 2026-07-30 | Open Tumblr submit page (new tab)Tumblr details |
| 26 | 46 | Blogger | 95 | Sometimes dofollow | blogger.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | Later | Not submitted | Create official your tool update/tutorial blog if needed. | Avoid duplicate content; canonical strategy needed. | 2026-07-30 | Open Blogger submit page (new tab)Blogger details |
| 27 | 46 | Blogosphere | — | Link type unknown | text.blogosphere.app | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | Later | Not submitted | Submit your tool (or its blog/feed where required) under productivity, privacy or developer tools. | Human review may apply; use a natural brand title and avoid keyword stuffing. Dofollow is reported but recheck after approval. | 2026-07-30 • https://www.submission.directory/site/blogosphere | Open Blogosphere submit page (new tab)Blogosphere details |
| 28 | 46 | Blogroll.org | 40 | Link type unknown | blogroll.org | Publishing platforms | Free | Moderate | Later | Not submitted | Submit your tool (or its blog/feed where required) under productivity, privacy or developer tools. | Human review may apply; use a natural brand title and avoid keyword stuffing. Dofollow is reported but recheck after approval. | 2026-07-30 • https://www.submission.directory/site/blogroll-org | Open Blogroll.org submit page (new tab)Blogroll.org details |
| 29 | 45 | beehiiv | 80 | Nofollow | beehiiv.com | Publishing platforms | Free + paid tier | Quick | Later | Not submitted | Create tool-of-the-week newsletter linking your tool. | Only valuable if consistently published. | 2026-07-30 | Open beehiiv submit page (new tab)beehiiv details |
| 30 | 45 | Substack | 95 | Nofollow | substack.com | Publishing platforms | Free + paid tier | Quick | Later | Not submitted | Create your tool updates newsletter with homepage link. | Useful if maintained; not one-off spam. | 2026-07-30 | Open Substack submit page (new tab)Substack details |
| 31 | 45 | WordPress.com | 95 | Sometimes dofollow | wordpress.com | Publishing platforms | Free + paid tier | Quick | Later | Not submitted | Create official tutorials/mirror with links. | Avoid thin duplicate posts. | 2026-07-30 | Open WordPress.com submit page (new tab)WordPress.com details |
| 32 | 43 | InfoQ | 85 | Sometimes dofollow | infoq.com | Publishing platforms | Free | Involved | Later | Not submitted | Pitch only major developer/security story. | High authority but low acceptance. | 2026-07-30 | Open InfoQ submit page (new tab)InfoQ details |
| 33 | 40 | DZone | 85 | Nofollow | dzone.com | Publishing platforms | Free + paid tier | Involved | Later | Not submitted | Publish/pitch dev-tool article if accepted. | Technical content only; avoid promo. | 2026-07-30 | Open DZone submit page (new tab)DZone details |
How to build backlinks with this list
Four steps that work for a new site, a SaaS or a side project. No paid link packages, nothing that risks a penalty.
Get the basics right first
Before submitting anywhere, have a one-line description, a 150-word description, a square logo and two or three screenshots ready. Every form asks for some mix of these.
Claim profiles and free listings
Start with the free, quick rows: profile creation sites and free directories. They are one form each and build the entity signals search engines use to understand who you are.
Go after a few strong links
Then pick a handful of high DA and dofollow sites that fit your niche, and write proper guest posts or launch posts for them. Ten relevant links beat a hundred random ones.
Track and keep it clean
Note where you submitted and when. Recheck after a month, update stale descriptions, and never pay for bulk link packages: they put the whole site at risk.
Behind the list
A link opportunity is not a link.
Every row here starts as a line in a sheet, gets normalised into one of 16 groups, scored for cost, effort and impact, and written up with the steps to actually submit. The floor below represents that pipeline.
Open the sheet viewAn illustration of the AltF Backlinks floor: opportunities sourced at the back, vetted for cost and effort by the engineering pod, written up for outreach by the design pod, then tracked to placement along a line.
Backlink sites by category
Product launch sites87
One-shot launches where timing and preparation decide the outcome.
Guest posting sites55
Publications that accept contributed articles. Slow and editorial, but the links are earned.
AI tool directories200
Fast-growing listings specifically for AI-powered tools.
App stores and marketplaces273
Extension, plugin and integration stores. Real review processes, real distribution.
Startup directory submission sites120
Startup listings, beta lists and founder media.
Software directory submission sites215
General tool and software catalogues with real search traffic.
Software review sites29
B2B review sites. Slow to approve, strong once live.
Developer platforms for backlinks139
Package, image and docs hosting that carries real authority.
Web design galleries for backlinks87
Showcases judged on craft. A good screenshot matters more than copy.
Web 2.0 and publishing sites214
Write once, link back. Editorial standards vary widely.
PR and press release sites41
Get quoted or distribute a release. Slower, higher ceiling.
Business directory submission sites109
Company and local listings. Unglamorous, consistently indexed.
Profile creation sites163
Owned pages you control: company, founder, knowledge-panel entities.
Forum and community backlink sites61
Answer real questions. Never drop a bare link.
Social bookmarking sites18
Brand surface and referral traffic more than link equity.
More backlink opportunities153
Everything that does not fit the buckets above.
Common questions
Do backlinks still matter for ranking in 2026?
Links remain one signal among many, and low-quality bulk links do more harm than good. What still works is being listed where your buyers actually look — directories with real traffic, registries your peers use, and launch platforms with engaged audiences. Every entry in this list is a place a human might plausibly find you, which is why they are worth submitting to regardless of link equity.
Which submissions should I do first?
Start with the quick wins filter: free, low effort, and not in the lowest priority band. 208 of the 1,964 entries qualify, and those are the ones where a single form submission gets you a live listing the same week. Launch platforms are worth saving until your product is genuinely ready, because you only get one good attempt at each.
How is the impact score calculated?
It starts from a hand-assigned priority band (do first, high, medium, later), then adjusts for cost and effort. A free, quick opportunity scores above a paid, involved one in the same band, because it is the one you can realistically finish today. The score is a queueing aid, not a measure of domain authority.
Are these links free?
1,628 of the 1,964 entries are free to submit to or offer a free tier that includes a listing. Cost is shown on every row, and the "nothing to pay" filter narrows the list to exactly those.
Which backlink sites are dofollow?
44 entries are known to give a followed link on a normal listing, and more give one only in some placements. The link type is shown on every row and can be filtered. Sites change their link policy without notice, so treat the label as a starting point and check the live page after you are listed. A nofollow link from a busy site still sends visitors and helps search engines discover you.
What does the DA number mean?
It is our estimate of the site's domain authority, a third-party style 0-100 score of how strong a domain's link profile is, rounded to the nearest 5. 1,580 of the 1,964 sites have one. It is useful for comparing sites, not a Google metric, so relevance to your niche still matters more.
How do I get backlinks for a new website?
1. Get the basics right first: Before submitting anywhere, have a one-line description, a 150-word description, a square logo and two or three screenshots ready. Every form asks for some mix of these. 2. Claim profiles and free listings: Start with the free, quick rows: profile creation sites and free directories. They are one form each and build the entity signals search engines use to understand who you are. 3. Go after a few strong links: Then pick a handful of high DA and dofollow sites that fit your niche, and write proper guest posts or launch posts for them. Ten relevant links beat a hundred random ones. 4. Track and keep it clean: Note where you submitted and when. Recheck after a month, update stale descriptions, and never pay for bulk link packages: they put the whole site at risk.
Will submitting everywhere hurt my site?
Submitting to spam directories can. That is why this list is curated rather than scraped, and why entries carry a status showing whether they have been verified as live. Skip anything that promises hundreds of links for a fee, and prefer places where a real person reviews submissions.