How ranking works.

• One vote per account

  Any signed-in account can vote for a launched startup once. Voting again takes the vote back.

• Counted as they are cast

  A vote counts the moment it is cast. The front page can take up to a minute to re-order around it.

• Only launched startups

  Startups still in the queue, hidden by a moderator or deleted can't be voted on.

• Rate limited

  Voting is limited per account, so a burst of clicks can't be scripted.

• Front page

  The front page shows today's launches (UTC) ordered by votes. A tie goes to the more recent launch. The top one is the lead story. Before anything has launched today, the most recent launch leads.

• Leaderboard

  Startups that went live in the last 24 hours, the last 7 days, or ever, ordered by all the votes they have. A tie goes to the more recent launch.

• Category pages

  The ten most-voted startups in the category (a tie goes to the earlier launch), then every startup in the category, newest first.

• Monthly “best of” pages

  Startups launched in that month, ordered by votes. A tie goes to the earlier launch.

• Free: the queue

  Free submissions wait at least 24 hours, then go live in the next open release slot, 10 a day, oldest first.

• Free: pick a date

  You can schedule a launch at least 24 hours ahead instead.

• $9: skip the queue

  Your launch goes live as soon as the payment is confirmed. It changes only when you appear. If it can no longer skip by then (it already went live for free, or a moderator took it down), you are refunded automatically.

• Can't buy

  Votes, a place in any ranked list, or extra weight in the order. None of these are for sale.

• $29: a featured week

  7 days in a separate band at the top of the front page, labelled as a paid placement that is not ranked by votes. At most 2 startups are featured on any day, and a featured startup keeps exactly the votes and rank it has in every ranked list.

Every launched startup gets its own page. A page with a description of at least 120 characters, or with an update, can appear in Google; very short pages stay out of search until they say more. That rule is about search only: it has no effect on votes or on any list here.