Submit Your Indie Tool to MyTools
Building a tool yourself and getting it seen by real people, instead of dropped into an automated queue, comes down to one thing: submitting through the MyTools submission form, where the operator personally reviews it before anything goes live. This page covers who qualifies, what to prepare, how the review actually works, and what happens once you hit submit.
MyTools is a hand-curated directory built for indie makers, solo founders, and small teams who ship real, working products. Unlike mass AI-tool aggregators or paid multi-directory distribution services, every listing here passes through one person's eyes before it gets published. That's not a marketing line. It's how the directory has worked since the first listing went live, and it's still how MyTools operates today.
Who Should Submit to MyTools
MyTools was built for people who make things themselves, not marketing teams representing a corporate product line. Your tool is a strong candidate if you fall into one of these groups:
- Indie hackers shipping their own SaaS, app, or side project
- Solo founders running a one-person business
- Small teams (two to five people) building and maintaining their own product
- No-code builders who launched something real, not just a template
- Developer tool makers building utilities, APIs, libraries, or dev-focused SaaS
MyTools generally doesn't fit very large enterprise software, venture-scale products with dedicated marketing departments, or corporate tools that weren't built by the team submitting them. That guidance isn't a guarantee of acceptance or rejection, just a general read on fit. If you're unsure where you land, submit anyway and let the review process make the call.
Want a sense of the range of products already accepted? Browse indie products on MyTools before you start. You'll find analytics tools like Datafast, boilerplates like Shipfast, and screen recording software like Screen Studio.
What You'll Need Before You Start
Gather these details before opening the submission form. Having them ready turns the process into something that takes minutes instead of stalling halfway through:
- Tool name - the exact name your product is known by
- Live URL - a working link to your product, not a waitlist or coming-soon page
- Short description - one or two sentences explaining what it does and who it's for
- Category - the closest fit from MyTools' existing categories (for example, no-code tools or developer tools for indie hackers)
- Pricing model - free, freemium, paid, or one-time purchase
- Logo or screenshot - a clean visual if your product has one ready
- Contact email - where you'll hear back about your submission
For a full walkthrough of each form field, see the how to submit your indie tool guide.
Submission Requirements at a Glance
Here's what the operator checks before a listing goes live:
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Tool status | Must be live and publicly accessible, not a landing page or waitlist |
| Maker fit | Built and run by an indie maker, solo founder, or small team |
| Category | Pick the closest existing category rather than requesting a new one |
| Description | Clear, accurate, free of unverifiable claims or excessive marketing language |
| Pricing tag | Correctly labeled as free, freemium, paid, or one-time |
| Contact email | Valid address for follow-up or approval notification |
How the Review Process Works
A person, not a script, checks every submission to MyTools. That means the operator opens your link, looks at what you built, reads your description against the actual product, and makes a judgment call.
The operator is generally checking for three things: does the product genuinely fit an indie-first directory, does the tool work as described, and is the submitted information accurate. There's no secret scoring system and no pay-to-skip-review option. A separate guide on what makes a listing get featured covers the criteria for standing out enough to be featured, rather than simply listed.
Every submission is reviewed by a real person, not a bot. That's the whole point of a curated directory: someone with actual context on the indie-tooling space decides what belongs, instead of an algorithm accepting anything with a valid URL.
Manual Review vs. Automated Directories
The difference between a curated listing and an automated one comes down to who, or what, makes the accept-or-reject decision.
| Manual (Operator-Run) Review | Automated Directory Queue | |
|---|---|---|
| Who reviews | A named human operator | A script or rules-based filter |
| Speed | Slower, but deliberate | Near-instant |
| Quality control | Checks product fit, accuracy, working links | Checks basic form completion only |
| Listing consistency | Consistent tone and categorization across the directory | Variable, depends on submitter input |
| Trust signal for visitors | Higher, since a person has vetted every listing | Lower, since anything can get through |
MyTools deliberately trades a bit of speed for that quality control. A curated listing means someone stood behind the decision to publish it.
What Happens After You Submit
Once you send in your submission, here's the general sequence:
- Confirmation. You'll get an acknowledgment that your submission was received.
- Review window. The operator reviews submissions personally, so turnaround depends on current volume. There's no fixed guaranteed timeline, but the queue moves in the order submissions arrive.
- Outcome notification. You'll hear back at the contact email you provided, with one of three outcomes:
- Approved and listed - your tool goes live with its own listing page, correct category, and relevant tags.
- Follow-up requested - the operator needs more information or a correction before deciding (a broken link, a mismatched category, an unclear description).
- Not accepted this time - your tool doesn't fit the directory's current scope or criteria.
- Resubmission, if needed. If your tool wasn't accepted, you're welcome to fix the issue and resubmit later. A decline isn't permanent; it just means something needed to change.
Most directory submission pages skip this part entirely. You deserve to know what "under review" actually means and what the possible outcomes look like, not just a black box that either works or goes silent.
Submit Your Tool
If you've built something real and you're ready to get it in front of people who actually look for indie products, submit it now. Every submission gets a real, personal look: no bots, no pay-to-play acceleration, no faceless queue. Just an operator who cares about keeping the directory genuinely useful.
Head to the MyTools homepage to find the submission form and start the process today.
Related Resources
Before or after you submit, these pages fill in the details this one intentionally leaves out:
- How to submit your indie tool - a full field-by-field walkthrough of the submission form
- What makes a listing get featured - the criteria behind featured placement, beyond basic approval
- Browse indie products on MyTools - see what's already live before you submit
- No-code tools directory - browse by category if you're not sure where your tool fits
- Solo founder resources - tools and guides built specifically for one-person teams
FAQ
How long does review take? There's no fixed turnaround because the operator reviews submissions manually rather than running them through an automated system. Submissions are reviewed in the order received, and you'll get a notification once a decision is made.
Is submitting free? Yes. Submitting your tool for consideration in the standard directory listing doesn't cost anything.
What happens if my tool is rejected? You'll be notified, and in many cases you'll know roughly why (missing information, unclear fit, or a broken link). A decline isn't final. You can address the issue and try again.
Can I resubmit a tool that was previously declined? Yes. Fix whatever caused the decline (an incomplete description, a dead link, wrong category) and submit again.
Can I update my listing after it's approved? If details about your tool change after approval, such as pricing or description, you can reach out to have your listing updated.
Does MyTools accept non-indie or enterprise tools? MyTools is built around indie makers, solo founders, and small teams. Large enterprise products built by dedicated marketing or growth teams generally aren't the right fit, though this isn't an automatic rejection rule.
How do I get featured, not just listed? Featured placement follows its own separate criteria beyond standard approval. Read what makes a listing get featured for the full explanation.
