Product Hunt launch rules: what makers can and can't do

Product Hunt has one rule it calls the only real rule: you can't ask people directly to upvote your product. You can share your launch link anywhere and ask people to visit and comment. Post from a personal account (company accounts are prohibited), and never pay for votes, hunts or traffic, which can get the product removed and the makers banned.

As of October 16, 2026, those rules come from Product Hunt's own Launch Guide and Help Center. They're spread over several pages, so I put them together here with the page each one comes from.

The limits for the launch post, in one table

These are the hard limits from Product Hunt's launch guide pages, with the page each one comes from. Most of them only bite when you're filling in the form the night before.

Item	Rule	Source page
Account	Personal account only. Company accounts can't post products or comment.	Launch Guide, How Product Hunt works
New account	Has to wait 1 week before it can post a product.	Before launch
Name	Only the product's name. No description or emoji unless they're really part of the name.	Preparing for launch
Tagline	60 characters max. No gimmicks or over-the-top language.	Preparing for launch
Description	500 characters max.	Preparing for launch
Link	Direct link to the product page. Shortened links (bit.ly) and tracking links (UTM tags) aren't accepted.	Preparing for launch
Thumbnail	Required, square, 240x240 recommended, under 3MB.	Preparing for launch
Gallery	At least 2 images before it shows on the post page. 1270x760 recommended, each under 3MB.	Preparing for launch
Video	Optional. YouTube links only.	Preparing for launch
Launch tags	Up to 3.	Preparing for launch
Shoutouts	3 per launch.	Preparing for launch
Scheduling	Up to 1 month ahead.	Preparing for launch

The link rule is the one I'd double-check, since it's easy to paste a tagged link out of habit. Put the plain URL in the post and look at Product Hunt visits by referrer in your analytics instead.

Can I ask people to upvote?

No. The Launch Guide says it plainly: "you cannot ask people directly to upvote your product." The Help Center adds that upvotes should come from people who genuinely like the product, and that asking for or incentivizing votes may lead the algorithm to lower the product's ranking or take it off the homepage.

What you can do is share the link however you want and ask people to take a look and leave a comment. The same goes for the first comment on your own post: the "Preparing for launch" page says to ask for feedback, not upvotes.

Message	OK?
"We launched on Product Hunt today, would love your feedback in the comments."	Yes
"Please upvote us on Product Hunt!"	No
"Upvote and get 3 months free."	No (incentivizing upvotes can push the product down or off the homepage)
Paying a service for votes, hunts or traffic	No (the product can be removed, and makers may be permanently banned)

Bought votes may not even count. In a team post about vote selling, Product Hunt says it has systems in place to neutralize that kind of gaming, that every vote counts for a different number of points, and that a vote from a newly created Gmail account with no history of quality contributions counts for 0.

Do I need a hunter?

No. Product Hunt encourages makers to hunt their own products and says there's no clear advantage to using a third-party hunter. A hunter can be anyone with a personal account, including you or a co-maker. If you add co-makers, they need their own accounts, set up well before launch day.

When should I launch?

There's no required time. For makers planning ahead, Product Hunt recommends 12:01 a.m. Pacific time, because the homepage runs on a 24-hour cycle in Pacific time and that gives you the whole day. It also says the best day is the day you're most prepared, and you can schedule the post up to a month ahead.

If someone else already hunted your product, Product Hunt suggests launching again later or letting Product Hunt know right away so it can help. You can relaunch as often as you have significant new iterations of the product.

What gets a product removed or buried?

What you do	What Product Hunt says happens
Pay anyone for upvotes, hunts or traffic	The product is removed, and makers may be permanently banned.
Spam your audience	The product is removed. Spammers are permanently removed from the site.
Ask for or incentivize upvotes	Ranking may be lowered, or the product taken off the homepage.
Post a blog post, a list, or a closed beta people can't try	Usually not a good fit for the homepage.
Launch with an unclear or broken website	Named by Product Hunt as a problem for launch day.

That last point is the one I'd worry about most as a solo maker. If the page people land on is confusing or half-broken, that's what visitors judge you on, whatever your ranking. If you want a second pair of eyes on that page before you schedule, I'll check your launch page for free.

What I'd do

A week or more before launch, make sure your personal account is older than a week, then fill in the post using the table above: a plain link with no UTM tags, a tagline under 60 characters, a square thumbnail and two gallery images. Schedule it for 12:01 a.m. Pacific, write a first comment that asks for feedback, and tell your friends to come comment, not vote.