How to launch a side project for free (in three fields)
Launching a side project takes a name, a link and one line. Launch on runs.space for free, join a weekly race and get fuelled by other makers.
Most launch advice starts with a to-do list: write the long description, record the video, prepare the screenshots, pick the day, stay up past midnight, ask your friends to vote. Then, on many boards, your launch lasts a day and the page moves on. I built runs.space because I wanted the opposite: a launch that takes three fields and keeps going after the first day.
To launch on runs.space you need three things: a name, one line about what your product does, and a link to it. Press Launch and your rocket is on the track at once. Then give a few fuel to other makers each day: the more people fuel you, the higher your rocket climbs. Launching and fuelling are free.
What does it take to launch a side project?
Less than the guides make it sound. People need to be able to find your product, understand it in one breath and click through to it. That is a name, a sentence and a link. The story, the screenshots and the video matter later, once someone is already curious. A launch page that asks for a week of copywriting mostly delays the one part that teaches you something: showing the thing to strangers.
How do I launch on runs.space?
- Sign in. You get a one-time code by email, or you continue with Google. There is no password to invent.
- Fill in three fields on the launch page: the name (up to 60 characters), a one-line tagline (up to 80) and the link to your product.
- Press Launch. There is no waiting line and no approval step: your rocket is on the track the moment you press the button.
That is everything that is required. If you want to, you can add a short description (280 characters at most), a logo link and a sector. If you skip them, runs.space guesses the sector from your words and picks up a preview image from your own page when it has one. You can edit all of it later for free, and your rocket keeps its fuel.
What is a rocket race, and why a whole week?
Every product is a rocket. Its height is its fuel: the support it has received from other makers, and nothing else. The week is a sprint from Monday to Sunday (UTC): the rocket that earned the most fuel that week leads. Alongside the sprint runs a marathon: collect 500 fuel in total and your rocket reaches Orbit and stays there for good.
A one-day board gives you twenty-four hours of attention and moves on. Here nothing disappears. A rocket that missed this week's sprint is still on the track next Monday, still climbing toward Orbit. A launch you can only make once is a gamble. One that keeps going is a habit.
How does fuel work, and why would anyone give it away?
Fuel is a vote of support, and you can only spend it on other people's rockets. A free account has 3 fuel a day to give, you cannot fuel your own rocket, and you can fuel any given rocket once a week. That one rule does most of the work: to climb, you have to look at what other makers are building, and they have to look at yours.
It takes a few seconds per rocket, and it is the part I like best. You read a stranger's tagline, you open the link, you decide whether it deserves a push. After you launch, your dashboard suggests three newly launched rockets to look at each day, so you never have to hunt for somewhere to start.
A rocket's height is its fuel and nothing else. Paid options exist, but they buy visibility, never fuel, rank or a better chance to win the week. I am a developer building this for developers and makers like me, and the rule I keep coming back to is simple: attention should be earned between people, not bought.
What does a weekly winner get?
The rocket with the most fuel at the end of the week is crowned, as long as it received fuel from at least two different people. There is no cash prize. The winner earns a gold badge to put on their own site, a story page of their own on runs.space, a blessing (one fuel worth five, to give to a young rocket) and a free day of Spotlight. It is small on purpose: the point is a reason to be looked at, and a reason to look at others. The results are on the winners page.
How do I get my first users for a side project?
No launch platform, mine included, replaces this part. What tends to work for a first handful of users:
- Go where the problem is already being discussed. Answer questions as a participant first, and mention your product only where it genuinely helps.
- Make the next step obvious. One clear link, a page that explains the product without a login wall, and a tagline a stranger could repeat to a friend.
- Ask for feedback, not for votes. People respond to a specific question about your product far more than to a request for a click.
- Support other makers. Fuel the rockets you like. It costs nothing, it puts your name in front of exactly the people who care about what you are building, and it is how a young track fills up.
Is it really free?
Launching, fuelling and editing are free. There are two honest limits. Free launches are capped each week, because the shared launch pads fill up, and each account has its own weekly limit too. When the pads are full you have three ways out: schedule your launch for the next Monday, which is free, buy a one-time Launch Pass, or wait for the week to reset. The current details and prices are on the pricing page.
There are paid products as well (a Runner ticket, a Spotlight, a Hangar page, a sponsor line). They buy visibility and convenience. None of them adds fuel, and the pricing page lists what is free, what is earned and what is bought, side by side.
What should I write in my three fields?
The name
The word people will type or remember. Use the real name of the product, not a slogan.
The tagline (80 characters)
Say what it does and for whom, in plain words. For example, weak: 'An innovative AI-powered platform for modern teams'. Better: 'Turn a folder of screenshots into a changelog video'. A good test: could a stranger repeat it to a friend after reading it once?
The link
Send people to the page that explains the product, not to a sign-in wall. Use https, and open it on your phone before you launch. If you add the optional description, use its 280 characters for what the tagline cannot say: who it is for, what it costs, what is still missing. Being honest about what is missing earns more trust than any adjective.
Where else should I launch?
runs.space is one channel, not a plan. Most launch guides agree on this and so do I: a launch works best spread over several places a few days apart, so you can answer the comments on each. A sensible mix for a side project is a launch board such as Product Hunt or one of its alternatives, a Show HN post if the product is technical, an Indie Hackers post about what you learned, and the r/SideProject subreddit. Ask people for a look and for feedback, not for votes (Product Hunt, for one, does not allow asking for upvotes).
What runs.space adds to that mix is the part that lasts: a place where your product stays on the track week after week, and where other makers keep finding it.
Will launching here help my SEO?
Honestly, do not launch anywhere only for the backlink. A link out of runs.space is marked nofollow until you earn a followed one, either by putting our badge on your own site (we check that it is really there) or by reaching Orbit. It cannot be bought. What a launch does give you is real people clicking through to your site, and a page of your own on runs.space that says what your product is.
Common questions
Can I launch more than one product?
Yes. One link is one rocket, for good, and an account can launch several, within the weekly limits.
Can I change my mind afterwards?
You can edit a rocket for free and it keeps its fuel. You can also delete it, unless it has reached Orbit: Orbit is the one thing that stays.
What if nobody fuels me at first?
Early on the track is quiet, and that is something we change together. Fuel a few rockets today. It is what makes the next person do the same, and it shows your name to the people most likely to look back. When the track is young, a handful of fuel moves a rocket visibly.
Is anyone there yet?
It is early. runs.space opened in September 2026 and about forty rockets are racing as I write this. That is the honest reason to come now: every fuel counts for more when the track is young, and the makers who show up first set the habit.
If you have a product that is live, or nearly, you already have what you need. Launch your rocket, then spend two minutes on what is already racing and fuel the one that surprises you. If you want the longer story of why I built a race instead of another directory, it is here.
Launch a rocket for free, or fuel someone else's. Every point is a real person's vote.