Reddit's r/SaaS community has run the launch checklist debate dozens of times. The recurring verdict: most checklists are theatre. What matters is a clear pitch, a working product, and getting it in front of real people quickly. The founders who say that still keep a list, because the things that go wrong on launch day are boring: a broken payment flow, a support address nobody reads, a Product Hunt post at the wrong hour.
This is that list. Thirty-nine steps, pulled from the r/SaaS threads and from the launches that have gone through saasrocket.space, grouped by when you do them. Tick what applies; skip what does not. Nothing here needs a budget.
What Reddit founders actually include
Before launch, the consistent items are a waitlist with an early-bird incentive, a short demo video (Loom comes up most), analytics and error reporting set up before go-live, payments tested end to end, and a support email that a human reads. On launch day: directory submissions, posts on X, LinkedIn and the relevant subreddits following each sub's rules, an email to the list with one clear ask, and a Show HN if the product fits.
The pattern in the follow-up replies is where the value is. Founders who launched twice list the things they missed the first time: the pricing page nobody could find, the signup that broke in Safari, the announcement with three asks instead of one. Those are the steps most checklists leave out, and they are in the list below.
The 39-step SaaS launch checklist
Four weeks out (steps 1 to 12)
- Write the one-sentence promise: for whom, what outcome, without what pain.
- Pick the one channel where your buyers already gather. One, not five.
- Decide what "launched" means: a number of signups, a paying customer, or a date.
- Set the launch date and work backwards; put it in the calendar of everyone involved.
- Get the product running end to end for a stranger, without you on a call.
- Set up analytics and error reporting; confirm both fire from a private browser.
- Test payments with a real card, then refund yourself.
- Create a support address that lands in an inbox someone checks daily.
- Write the pricing page. Even "free during early access" needs a page.
- Start the waitlist with an early-bird reason to join.
- Record a 60 to 90 second demo showing the outcome, not the settings.
- Draft the launch announcement with exactly one ask.
One week out (steps 13 to 24)
- Run the signup flow on a phone, in Safari, and in a private window.
- Fix the onboarding step that confused the last three testers.
- Prepare three screenshots that show the result the promise describes.
- Write the FAQ from the five objections you have heard most.
- Prepare the Product Hunt listing, if the product fits, and pick a Tuesday to Thursday.
- Draft the Show HN post: understated title, direct link, honest first comment.
- Line up the directory submissions and their copy; the launch platform comparison has the ones that sent real traffic.
- Read the rules of each subreddit you plan to post in. Some ban launch posts outright.
- Email the waitlist with the date and what they will get for showing up.
- Ask five people who explicitly agreed to be there on the day.
- Check the site under load: open the pages with 20 tabs and watch the error log.
- Freeze the product. No new features in the last seven days.
Launch day (steps 25 to 32)
- Publish in the primary channel first, at the hour that channel is awake.
- Send the list email with the one ask.
- Submit to the two or three directories you picked, not all thirty.
- Post the Show HN if it fits; do not repost if it sinks.
- Reply personally to every comment and question within the hour.
- Watch the first ten signups in the analytics and note where they stall.
- Write objections down in the customer's words, not from memory.
- Thank everyone who tested it, including the ones who did not buy.
The week after (steps 33 to 39)
- Follow up with every qualified conversation from launch day.
- Fix the single biggest activation problem before anything else.
- Publish one honest lesson from the launch where your audience reads.
- Check which referral source sent people who activated, not just visits.
- Ask three users where they normally discover tools like yours.
- Decide: keep the channel, change the message, or relaunch later.
- Put the permanent record of the launch somewhere people can link to for months.
The seven steps most founders skip
From the same threads, the items that show up in "what I would do differently" replies: the Safari test (13), the pricing page (9), one ask instead of three (12), reading subreddit rules before posting (20), the seven-day freeze (24), writing objections down (31), and the follow-up week (33 to 38). None of them take an afternoon.
Where saasrocket.space fits
saasrocket.space is step 39. Paste your product URL and saasrocket.space turns the launch into a short cinematic video, a permanent star on the galaxy map, and a replay page people can share weeks later. It is free during early access, and every rocket also gets a listing on directree.io. If your checklist includes a Product Hunt launch, a flight is the companion asset; the video travels where a listing does not.
For the six weeks before this checklist starts, the pre-launch phase checklist covers positioning, validation and pricing. For the 14 days around launch, the two-week launch plan is the day-by-day version.
FAQ
What are the 7 steps of a product launch? Define the customer and promise, get the product to run without you, prepare the assets (demo, screenshots, FAQ), pick one primary channel, announce with one ask, respond in real time, then follow up and fix activation. The 39 steps above are those seven, broken into things you can tick.
How do you launch your SaaS? Soft launch to one community first to find what breaks, then hard launch on a date with a coordinated announcement. The types of product launch guide explains when each fits.
Is a paid launch platform worth it? Only where the money bought a visible result. In our own launch month, one paid listing sent more visits than the free platforms combined; see the comparison for the numbers and the pricing page at saasrocket.space/#pricing for what a flight includes.