Free · No email gate · Updated 24 October 2026

The Dofollow Backlink Directory

Nearly every "166 dofollow backlink sites" list ends at row twenty and asks for your email. This one doesn't. Here are 109 real link sources, each with the domain rating, the link type you actually get, what it costs and how hard it is to land — in one table you can sort, search and export. We use this list to build links for our own clients.

109Sources listed
10Categories
85Average DR
₹0Cost to use this
The directory

Filter it down to the ten links you'll actually build this month

Sort any column, search by name, or narrow by category, link type, cost and difficulty. Export the exact shortlist to a spreadsheet and work through it.

Showing 109 of 109 sources · sorted by DR, high to low
Source ↕ DR ↓ Link ↕ Category ↕ Type ↕ Cost ↕ Effort ↕
WordPress.com Free blog subdomain. Add the link in your author bio box, not the body copy.
100
Mixed Publishing Web 2.0 blog Free Easy ↗
Blogger Google-owned. Fast to set up, good for branded keyword mentions.
100
Mixed Publishing Web 2.0 blog Free Easy ↗
Tumblr Still drives real traffic. Treat it as distribution, not link equity.
99
Nofollow Publishing Web 2.0 microblog Free Easy ↗
Weebly Free plan gives you a subdomain page with a dofollow footer link.
95
Mixed Publishing Site builder Free Easy ↗
Substack Best used to build an audience you can later pitch to.
93
Nofollow Publishing Newsletter Free Easy ↗
Ghost Trial accounts index publicly. Good for a niche publication you own.
92
Mixed Publishing Blog platform Freemium Medium ↗
LiveJournal Aged domain. Low effort, low reward — only for brand mentions.
91
Nofollow Publishing Web 2.0 journal Free Easy ↗
Jimdo Free site builder with an indexable subdomain.
89
Mixed Publishing Site builder Free Easy ↗
Strikingly One-page site. Sits well as a campaign landing page.
87
Mixed Publishing Site builder Free Easy ↗
Hashnode Cross-post technical articles with a canonical back to your site.
85
Dofollow Publishing Developer blog Free Easy ↗
HubPages Expect editorial review. Long-form only, and keep it original.
85
Mixed Publishing Web 2.0 article Free Medium ↗
Penzu Public journal entries. Rarely worth the ten minutes.
60
Nofollow Publishing Web 2.0 journal Free Easy ↗
Medium Great reach, nofollow. Use it for syndication and audience, not DR.
96
Nofollow Publishing Web 2.0 blog Free Easy ↗
GitHub Profile website field. Free SEO-adjacent credibility plus referral traffic.
98
Nofollow Tech & Dev Profile link Free Easy ↗
Stack Overflow Answer real questions in your stack. Links stay nofollow but rank in LLM answers.
96
Nofollow Tech & Dev Q&A answer Free Medium ↗
npm Ship a small open-source tool and put your site in the package metadata.
95
Nofollow Tech & Dev Package page Free Medium ↗
GitLab Mirror your repos here for a second brand-controlled profile.
92
Nofollow Tech & Dev Profile link Free Easy ↗
Bitbucket Same play as GitHub, useful if your team already lives in Atlassian.
93
Nofollow Tech & Dev Profile link Free Easy ↗
SourceForge Project page links are dofollow. Only list software you actually maintain.
93
Dofollow Tech & Dev Project listing Free Medium ↗
CodePen Portfolio pens with your site in the profile. Good for design/dev credibility.
92
Nofollow Tech & Dev Profile link Free Easy ↗
Kaggle Publish a notebook on your niche data and link the write-up.
92
Nofollow Tech & Dev Profile link Free Easy ↗
Replit Host a tiny free tool as a public repl with your brand in the description.
90
Nofollow Tech & Dev Profile link Free Easy ↗
Hacker News No link equity, but one front-page thread sends qualified traffic all week.
90
Nofollow Tech & Dev Community post Free Medium ↗
Dev.to Publish a build log, not a sales pitch. Links in the body often pass.
90
Mixed Tech & Dev Community post Free Easy ↗
Product Hunt Launch a free internal tool. The badges and referral traffic are the prize.
93
Nofollow Startup & Launch Product launch Free Medium ↗
Crunchbase Claim your profile. It is a trust signal investors and journalists actually check.
90
Nofollow Startup & Launch Business listing Paid Medium ↗
AlternativeTo Get listed as an alternative to a tool your buyers already use.
87
Mixed Startup & Launch Directory listing Free Medium ↗
BetaList Only for unreleased products. Queue it before you go live.
85
Mixed Startup & Launch Product launch Free Medium ↗
Indie Hackers Post revenue and build breakdowns. The community punishes obvious link drops.
85
Mixed Startup & Launch Community post Free Easy ↗
F6S Startup profile with a site link plus access to perks and programs.
79
Mixed Startup & Launch Startup listing Free Easy ↗
Peerlist Designer/dev profile. Keep it updated, it gets crawled often.
70
Mixed Startup & Launch Profile link Free Easy ↗
SaaSHub Fast approval, indexed badges. Fine as a supporting listing.
60
Mixed Startup & Launch Directory listing Free Easy ↗
Startup Stash Curated tools directory with a long queue. Submit once, follow up by email.
62
Mixed Startup & Launch Directory listing Free Medium ↗
Dev Hunt Weekly dev-tool launch board. Less noise than Product Hunt.
56
Mixed Startup & Launch Product launch Free Easy ↗
Sideprojectors List a side project you are willing to sell or showcase.
46
Mixed Startup & Launch Directory listing Free Easy ↗
Launching Next Free launch post that stays indexed for years.
39
Mixed Startup & Launch Product launch Free Easy ↗
Google Business Profile Not a backlink source. It is the single highest-leverage local signal you have.
100
Nofollow Directories Local citation Free Medium ↗
Bing Places Ten minutes, and it feeds Copilot answers too.
96
Nofollow Directories Local citation Free Easy ↗
Yelp Review profile. Matters more for trust than for DR.
94
Nofollow Directories Review listing Free Medium ↗
Yellow Pages Check the category and NAP match against your other citations.
92
Nofollow Directories Business listing Free Easy ↗
Foursquare Feeds map data to dozens of downstream apps.
92
Nofollow Directories Local citation Free Easy ↗
G2 Needs real customers to review. The buyer trust is worth more than the link.
91
Nofollow Directories Review listing Free Hard ↗
Capterra Gartner-owned. Good for software categories with comparison searches.
91
Nofollow Directories Review listing Free Hard ↗
Justdial Essential for Indian local search. Free listing, aggressive upsells.
88
Mixed Directories Business listing Free Easy ↗
IndiaMART B2B supplier listings. Only if you sell a physical or productised offer.
86
Mixed Directories Business listing Freemium Medium ↗
Clutch Paid verification plus client interviews. Still one of the best agency links.
86
Dofollow Directories Agency listing Free Hard ↗
Software Advice Same G2 family. Claim it for consistency, not for DR.
86
Nofollow Directories Review listing Free Hard ↗
Manta Small-business directory with a described profile field.
85
Mixed Directories Business listing Free Easy ↗
Sulekha Indian services directory. Match your city and service categories.
84
Mixed Directories Business listing Freemium Easy ↗
GoodFirms Agency and software listings. Free tier is enough to start.
82
Mixed Directories Agency listing Free Medium ↗
Hotfrog Free local listing, quick approval, low competition.
82
Mixed Directories Business listing Free Easy ↗
Brownbook Global business directory with an editable description.
82
Mixed Directories Business listing Free Easy ↗
Cylex One of the more reliable citation sources in India.
81
Mixed Directories Business listing Free Easy ↗
Alignable Small-business network. Useful if you serve US-based clients.
81
Mixed Directories Business listing Free Easy ↗
DesignRush Free listing with a portfolio. Paid placements do exist — skip them.
80
Mixed Directories Agency listing Free Medium ↗
Trustpilot Review velocity here helps conversion more than rankings.
93
Nofollow Directories Review listing Free Medium ↗
YouTube Channel description link plus the first line of every description.
100
Nofollow Profiles & Social Video profile Free Medium ↗
Instagram Bio link. Link-in-bio tools pass no equity either.
99
Nofollow Profiles & Social Social profile Free Easy ↗
LinkedIn The contact-info website field is the strongest use of it.
98
Nofollow Profiles & Social Social profile Free Easy ↗
X Profile link. Treat as distribution, not authority.
96
Nofollow Profiles & Social Social profile Free Easy ↗
Facebook Page profile. Needed for local credibility and ad eligibility.
96
Nofollow Profiles & Social Social profile Free Easy ↗
Pinterest Surprisingly good for visual niches like interiors, food and design.
94
Nofollow Profiles & Social Social profile Free Easy ↗
Behance Adobe's portfolio network. Strong for creative service businesses.
92
Nofollow Profiles & Social Portfolio Free Easy ↗
Dribbble Design credibility. Clients do look you up here.
92
Nofollow Profiles & Social Portfolio Free Easy ↗
Gravatar Your author image everywhere. Not a link play, but a brand one.
91
Nofollow Profiles & Social Profile link Free Easy ↗
About.me Rare free profile that still passes equity. Ten minutes, do it.
78
Dofollow Profiles & Social Profile link Free Easy ↗
Wellfound Startup profile with a site link. Decent crawl frequency.
82
Mixed Profiles & Social Startup profile Free Easy ↗
Awwwards Submit a site you built. A nomination is real client-facing proof.
85
Nofollow Profiles & Social Portfolio Freemium Medium ↗
HubSpot Blog Inbound-led pitches only. One published post here outlasts fifty profile links.
93
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Hard ↗
Search Engine Land Needs a genuinely new data point or a named case study.
91
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Hard ↗
VentureBeat Founder-voice opinion pieces, usually tied to a funding or launch moment.
91
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Hard ↗
YourStory Indian startup media. Founder journey stories, no product pitches.
90
Mixed Editorial Guest post Free Hard ↗
Smashing Magazine They pay per published article. Highest-authority design/dev byline available.
90
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Paid Hard ↗
Content Marketing Institute Practical, example-led pieces. Read the last twelve posts before pitching.
89
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Hard ↗
Social Media Today Open contributor program with a real editor. Good for social and content angles.
88
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Medium ↗
Creative Bloq Design and creative contributor network. Pitch a tutorial, not an essay.
86
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Medium ↗
SitePoint Pays for tutorials. Strong author bio on a DR 86 dev site.
86
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Paid Medium ↗
A List Apart Slow, heavily edited, permanent. Worth one carefully written piece.
86
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Hard ↗
Inc42 Indian tech and startup coverage. Story angle, not SEO copy.
85
Mixed Editorial Guest post Free Hard ↗
Social Media Examiner Very strict originality rules. Evergreen how-to angles only.
85
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Hard ↗
CoSchedule Marketing workflow and content ops topics. Include a real screenshot walkthrough.
85
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Medium ↗
Mailjet Email marketing angles. Usually accepts one or two dofollow links.
85
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Medium ↗
Business2Community High volume contributor site. Quality varies, but the domain is aged.
84
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Medium ↗
MarketingProfs B2B marketing audience. Needs a takeaway readers can use on Monday.
83
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Hard ↗
Mangools SEO tooling blog. Practical, tool-augmented tutorials do well.
82
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Medium ↗
Webdesigner Depot Design opinion pieces with a strong point of view.
80
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Medium ↗
Jeff Bullas Paid submission with an author bio. Vet any blog with a fee.
79
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Paid Medium ↗
Tweak Your Biz Small-business growth topics, quick editorial turnaround.
70
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Free Medium ↗
Addicted2Success Motivational business content. Paid, but consistent publishing.
69
Dofollow Editorial Guest post Paid Medium ↗
Quora Answer the buying-intent questions your clients actually type.
92
Nofollow Forums & Q&A Q&A answer Free Easy ↗
Reddit Pick one subreddit and be useful for a month before linking anything.
92
Nofollow Forums & Q&A Community post Free Medium ↗
Webmasters Stack Exchange SEO and technical questions, answered properly. Great for AI citation.
96
Nofollow Forums & Q&A Q&A answer Free Medium ↗
Warrior Forum Old-school marketing forum. Signature link, low competition.
84
Mixed Forums & Q&A Forum answer Free Easy ↗
GrowthHackers Share experiments with numbers. Generic posts get ignored.
78
Mixed Forums & Q&A Community post Free Easy ↗
Digital Point Older SEO forum. Signature links, but keep posts substantive.
78
Mixed Forums & Q&A Forum answer Free Easy ↗
Craigslist Service listings in your city. Traffic only, no equity.
91
Nofollow Local & Classifieds Classified ad Free Easy ↗
Gumtree UK and AU classifieds. Useful for local service offers.
90
Nofollow Local & Classifieds Classified ad Free Easy ↗
OLX India-focused listings. Expect low-quality enquiries.
88
Nofollow Local & Classifieds Classified ad Free Easy ↗
Locanto Multi-country classifieds with an indexable ad page.
78
Nofollow Local & Classifieds Classified ad Free Easy ↗
FreeAds UK classifieds. Only relevant if you serve a UK market.
79
Nofollow Local & Classifieds Classified ad Free Easy ↗
There's An AI For That Big AI directory. Paid fast-track, but the referral intent is strong.
79
Nofollow AI Tools Tool listing Paid Medium ↗
Futurepedia Rank and file listings. Only worth it if you sell an AI product.
76
Nofollow AI Tools Tool listing Paid Medium ↗
FutureTools Free submission queue. Approval is inconsistent, apply twice.
70
Mixed AI Tools Tool listing Free Easy ↗
Toolify Huge auto-generated catalog. Low authority, quick listing.
68
Nofollow AI Tools Tool listing Paid Easy ↗
TopAI.tools Paid listing with a dofollow trial sometimes. Verify after publish.
65
Nofollow AI Tools Tool listing Paid Easy ↗
AI Tool Hunt Smaller directory. Only useful as part of a wider launch push.
50
Nofollow AI Tools Tool listing Paid Easy ↗
EIN Presswire Distribution, not ranking. Real journalists do read it.
80
Nofollow Press Press release Paid Easy ↗
openPR Free release with an indexed brand mention. Keep it newsworthy.
82
Mixed Press Press release Free Easy ↗
PRLog Free tier is enough for a launch announcement.
82
Mixed Press Press release Free Easy ↗
Nothing matches those filters. Try a wider DR range or clear the search box.
DR 90+ DR 80–89 DR 70–79 Below 70 Dofollow Mixed / depends Nofollow

DR is an Ahrefs-style Domain Rating estimate and drifts every time a site's link profile changes. "Link" is the attribute we last observed for a normal submission — attributes change without notice, so check your live link before you count it. Difficulty is our read on editorial gates, not a promise.

The routine

What to do with this list for the next 30 minutes

Link building fails when it becomes a pile of open tabs. Pick a small batch, finish it, and only then open the next tab.

Claim the free wins first

Filter to Free and Easy, then work down the list. Profiles, business citations and About.me-style pages take minutes each and complete your brand footprint.

Pick one context link per week

One genuinely useful community post or guest article beats twenty directory drops. Choose the category your buyers actually read.

Point links at pages that can convert

A link to a page with no offer wastes the authority. Send traffic to a service page that has a clear next step. Run a free page audit first.

Log it, then forget it

Export your shortlist as CSV, add a status column in Sheets, and review it monthly. Half-built links are the normal failure mode.

The one rule that matters

A backlink is a recommendation, not a transaction. If the page you're linked from would embarrass you in front of a client, it isn't worth the DR. Public link networks, mass-generated guest posts and "500 backlinks for $49" gigs do more damage to a founder-led brand than having no links at all.

Free tools

Three tools that make this list faster to work through

They run in your browser and they don't ask for an account.

BUILD

Technical SEO

Backlinks don't fix a crawl, index or speed problem. See how we handle technical SEO before you spend a month on outreach.

POSITION

Local SEO & GBP

For service businesses, the map pack outranks organic. Local SEO and Google Business Profile optimisation usually beat another round of directory links.

PUBLISH

Content that earns links

Nobody links to a service page. They link to a useful answer. Our content writing service builds pages designed to be cited.

Want it done for you?

Book a call and we'll map your first ten links together.

Twenty minutes, no pitch deck. We'll look at your current backlink profile, pick the categories from this list that fit your market, and tell you which pages deserve the links — plus what to fix before any outreach starts.

Real link targets, not vanity metrics Built for coaches, consultants and B2B founders You leave with the plan either way
Questions

Backlink questions people actually ask us

Are these links actually dofollow?

Every row carries the attribute we last observed when a normal submission or profile was published: Dofollow, Mixed (depends on the page or plan) or Nofollow. Attributes change silently, so check your live link with a browser extension or a link audit before you count it. Filter to Dofollow only if that is all you want.

Is this list free, or is there a paywall after the first 20?

The whole directory is free and ungated. No email capture, no unlock link, no drip feed. There are 109 sources on this page and you can filter, sort and export all of them.

How many backlinks should I build per month?

For a founder-led consulting or coaching business, 8 to 15 genuinely relevant links a month beats 200 directory drops. Build slowly, keep the anchor text natural, and make sure the page you link to can actually convert a visitor.

Do web 2.0 and profile links still work in 2026?

Mostly as brand mentions and referral traffic, not as ranking fuel. A WordPress.com profile link will not move a competitive keyword. Editorial links, real business citations and links from communities your buyers read are what still move rankings.

How long does it take to see results from backlinks?

Indexation usually happens in days, ranking movement in four to twelve weeks for a page that already has some authority. If a page has thin content or no internal links pointing at it, no amount of link building will save it.

Should I buy backlinks or guest posts?

Paid placement is legal, but links sold at scale are usually discounted by Google and can put you on the wrong side of a manual action. If a site charges a fee, ask whether the fee is for editorial work or for the link itself. We only pursue paid placements where the publication is a real audience.

Compiled and maintained by KGP Hustle House — a website and search growth partner for founder-led B2B businesses. Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Spotted a dead link or a site that went nofollow? Tell us and we'll fix the row.