Where to promote your app for free? [2026 update]

Promoting/marketing apps is pretty tough, and if you don't have thousands of followers on social media, it may seem impossible without getting lucky with the press. However there are ways you can try to get the word out yourself.

Let's take a look.

2026 Update: This post was originally written in 2021. I recently updated it with new opportunities and removed some that are no longer relevant.

MacRumors Forums

The popular news site about all things Apple has forums and there is dedicated section where app developers can share their apps.

You can start a thread for each of your apps and then post whenever you have new update out to keep it fresh and you can also include images hosted directly by MacRumors.

At the time of updating this article in January 2026 my thread about GamingBuddy has over 16 000 views, I initially posted in 2023.

I don't have any downloads numbers for this source but I believe this is one of the best options out there and you are reaching enthusiasts visiting forums about Apple and apps.

Indie App News Subreddit

Reddit is generally not friendly towards self-promo by app developers. That is the reason why I started my own subreddit where devs can freely post about their apps. Since Reddit is used by LLMs and other robots as training and answer site I think it makes a lot of sense to have presence there.

HackingWithSwift Forums

HackingWithSwift is one of the most popular websites in the iOS developer community, and there is "App Announcements" section you can use to let others know about your app. It can be TestFlight or App Store version.

What is cool is that you can follow up on your initial message and inform about app updates, deals or similar. I think I have quite successful threads there. One is about my app Scan it and has over 4000 views. And another about my app Chill Zones is close to 3000 views. Not super huge, but I think these views count way more than just impressions on Twitter, because people were at least interested in clicking and reading the thread.

TIP: While the HWS Forums doesn't let you host images, you can host them elsewhere and link them just fine.

IndieAppsCatalog NewsFromDevs

In addition to submitting your apps directly to the catalog and have them available in the listing, you can also submit "app news" whenever you have significant update.

You can also submit your TestFlight apps there.

Submit here.

Indie Dev Monday - Look at me

Josh Holtz, who runs the great Indie Dev Monday newsletter, has an excellent "Look at me" section in each issue that spotlights either new or updated apps. This is another great way how to get your app in front of other indie developers.

You can fill this form and Josh will very likely include you.

ProductHunt

I initially did not want to include this, but it is still a place to submit your app without anyone's permission. There is a ranking system, so unless you have a lot of people willing to upvote you, your app can quickly get lost among the day's submissions. But still you can get at least some SEO boost from this.

Although everyone can give you just a single upvote, they have different weights based on the user's activity on the site. So if you get your friends to create an account to upvote you, the weight will be pretty low.

Anecdotally I have heard that even if you manage to get a lot of upvotes there, these don't necessarily translate well into downloads/sales.

My hunch is that since being active on the site gives your upvotes more weight, it means that there is a lot of people who are just chasing this "score" and will praise your app without caring about it. Or maybe I am just too pessimistic 🤨

Here are tips directly from ProductHunt how to launch there.

Your own "channels"

Not sure how much this is obvious or not, but I wanted to include it regardless. If you have a more than one app, you can "cross promo" your other apps. I usually put app icons with titles and short description to About screens. In my more recent apps, I started linking my profile on the IndieAppsCatalog.

If you have a developer blog or a personal site, you should definitely have links to your apps there. As an additional SEO boost you can write a short description or couple of posts about your apps.