Every submission runs through ten automated checks. The score is a 0–100 signal of whether an app is actually live, polished, and ready for visitors.
Most directories take any submission. We take quality seriously — a curated catalog only works if you can trust what's in it. The DevHunt Score is the first line of defense before a human curator even looks at a listing.
Score is rendered live on every listing's admin dashboard, and makers can re-check after fixing issues. The score does not affect listing order — visitors decide that with upvotes.
Each check is weighted by how strongly it predicts a real, usable app. Total: 120 weighted points, normalised to 0–100.
What we test: Your URL responds with an HTTP success status (anything below 500) within 15 seconds.
Why it matters: If we can't load it, neither can your visitors. This is the single biggest predictor of a usable submission.
How to pass: Make sure your site is actually deployed and responding. If you have an aggressive WAF or geo-block, allowlist the DevHuntAI checker.
What we test: The final URL uses https:// (after any redirects).
Why it matters: Browsers warn users on http://-only sites. SSL is free; the only reason not to have it is forgetting to set it up.
How to pass: Enable HTTPS on your host — Cloudflare, Fly, Vercel, Netlify, Render all do this with one click.
What we test: Your page returns its initial HTML in under 5 seconds.
Why it matters: Cold-start serverless functions and unoptimised SSR routinely take 10+ seconds. Visitors leave.
How to pass: Warm up your serverless function, enable edge caching, or move the landing page to a static deploy.
What we test: Your HTML has a non-empty <title> tag.
Why it matters: Browser tabs, search results, social shares — they all use <title>. A missing one looks like an unfinished project.
How to pass: Set <title>Your App Name — what it does</title> in the page head.
What we test: Your HTML has a <meta name='description'> tag.
Why it matters: Google uses this for the search snippet. Without it Google guesses, usually badly.
How to pass: Add <meta name='description' content='One sentence on what your app does'> to the head.
What we test: Your page has more than 50 words of real content (and contains no 'Lorem Ipsum' placeholder text).
Why it matters: Empty hero with a single 'Coming Soon' button reads like a stalled project — not worth a curated slot.
How to pass: Ship a real landing page. Hero, what it does, who it's for, screenshots, CTA. Even a paragraph is enough to pass this check.
What we test: Your page has at least one <button> or more than two real (non-anchor, non-javascript:) links.
Why it matters: A page with no way to interact is a screenshot. We want apps, not screenshots.
How to pass: Add visible CTAs in the HTML. Even 'Sign up' linking to a Stripe/Clerk hosted page counts.
What we test: Your page does not match any known boilerplate fingerprints (Vite + React default, Create React App splash, Next.js starter, 'Coming soon', empty <div id='root'>, Cloudflare waiting room, etc.).
Why it matters: Default templates indicate the project was never customised. We don't waste catalog space on those.
How to pass: Replace the default landing page. Even a single custom hero is enough.
What we test: Your page has a <meta name='viewport'> tag.
Why it matters: More than half your visitors will be on mobile. Without a viewport tag, the page renders at desktop width and gets zoomed out.
How to pass: Add <meta name='viewport' content='width=device-width, initial-scale=1'> to the head.
What we test: Your final URL is on your own domain — not a *.vercel.app, *.netlify.app, *.fly.dev, etc. subdomain, and not a raw IP.
Why it matters: Custom domains are a real signal of seriousness; a project on its own domain has crossed an effort threshold most weekend hacks haven't.
How to pass: Buy and configure a domain. $12/year on Namecheap. If you're a Prototype, see the FAQ below — we're considering relaxing this for that stage.
Honestly, sort of. Custom domains are a real signal of seriousness — a project on its own domain has crossed an effort threshold most weekend hacks don't. But free-host subdomains are perfectly fine for a Prototype or Beta, so we surface the stage tag alongside the score so visitors can calibrate. We're considering relaxing this check for apps tagged Prototype.
Client-rendered apps with an empty <div id="root">
look like a blank page to a checker that doesn't run JavaScript.
Add a server-rendered hero, a meta description, and visible text
in the HTML response. Bonus: this also helps Google index you.
Yes. A re-check button is coming to your app's detail page so you can verify a fix without re-submitting. Rate-limited so it doesn't become a DDoS amplifier against your own site.
No. Discovery is decided by upvotes and recency. The score is a trust signal — visible to you and to curators — that helps us keep the catalog clean. We never sort by score.