Free Dofollow Backlinks for SaaS in 2027: 15 Ways to Earn Them (Without Buying Links)

Free dofollow backlinks for SaaS are possible to earn, but "free" means you pay with time, and a dofollow link is never a ranking guarantee. This guide lists 15 ways to get free backlinks for SaaS, shows how much effort each takes, and tells you which ones to try first. It covers saas link building for founders with no budget, answers how to get backlinks for a new website that nobody has heard of, and ends with a list of tactics to skip and a plan for the first 90 days.

What "free" and "dofollow" really mean

Free means no money changes hands for the link. Your time, your product and your writing are the price. If someone offers a link for a fee, that is advertising, and it should be labelled as such. Google's guidance says links bought for advertising or sponsorship are fine when qualified with sponsored or nofollow.

Dofollow is the informal name for a normal link with no restricting attribute. You do not control it. The site that links to you decides, and many sites use nofollow on outbound links by default. So "free dofollow" is a nice outcome, not a target you can promise yourself. For the full definitions, see dofollow vs nofollow vs sponsored.

Backlinks are a means, not the goal. A link helps a search engine find and judge your page, and it can send people. If it does neither, it is not worth chasing. A link from a page real people read is worth more than a hundred from pages nobody opens.

What Google says, in four lines

Google's spam policies define link spam as links created "primarily for the purpose of manipulating search rankings." Among the examples they list:

• buying or selling links for ranking;
• excessive link exchanges and partner pages made only for cross-linking;
• automated link creation;
• "links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts, or press releases distributed on other sites";
• low-quality directory or bookmark site links;
• forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature;
• links embedded in widgets that are distributed across many sites.

The same policies describe expired domain abuse: buying an expired domain and repurposing it "primarily to manipulate search rankings." Keep that in mind when you read advice that suggests buying old domains and redirecting them to your product.

None of this bans outreach, interviews or guest articles. It targets links made for ranking alone. The safest approach is simple: do things that are useful to readers, and let links follow.

What to expect from free link building

Free link building rewards patience and honesty. Advice in this area often skips the details a one-person team needs: how long each tactic takes, what it costs in effort, and what kind of link you actually get. It also tends to quote figures such as links per month or reply rates without saying where they come from, so treat any number without a named source with caution.

So each method below has an effort rating, a rough speed and a note on the risk. Where I quote a number, I name the source. Nofollow and sponsored links, which matter for free products, guest posts and embeds, are covered where they apply.

Before you build links: three things first

Links point at something. Make sure it is worth visiting.

1. A clear page. Your homepage should say what you do in a few seconds. See what great homepages do.
2. A consistent description. Use the same one-liner everywhere so people recognise you. The guide to the startup description and tagline shows how.
3. A tracking sheet. Columns: where, date, URL of the linking page, link type (checked by you), traffic from it, notes. You will need this in month three.

Also set up analytics and UTM-tagged links, so you can tell which links send visitors.

Fifteen ways to earn links for free

Effort and speed are my judgement for a solo founder. "Speed" means how soon a first link can appear.

1. Directory and review-site listings

Low effort, and a sensible first step. Many are nofollow or mixed, so treat them as visibility and a base of citations, not as a ranking plan. Choose carefully: Google lists "low-quality directory or bookmark site links" as link spam. The guide to the best startup and SaaS directories explains how to pick and in what order.

2. Launch boards and communities

A launch on a board or a post in the right community can send real visitors, and sometimes a link from a page others quote. Links are often nofollow. The value is the audience. See Product Hunt alternatives for options by product type.

3. Integration and partner pages

If your product connects to another product, ask whether they have an integrations directory or partner page. Many do, and these pages are made for exactly this. Build the integration first, make sure it works, then apply. One guide notes that integration directories such as those of large workflow and CRM tools are a common source. A link here is earned by doing real work, which is why it tends to last.

4. Customer and partner "used by" pages

Ask happy customers whether they would mention you on a tools or "our stack" page. Many companies list the software they use. Offer a short, ready-to-use sentence so it takes them a minute. This is a favour, not a deal: do not offer money or free service in exchange for the link.

5. Testimonials you give

Software companies often publish customer testimonials with a link. If you genuinely use and like a tool, write an honest testimonial and offer it. Only do this for products you actually use.

6. Free tools and calculators

A small, useful tool that solves one real problem for your audience can attract links for years. Think of a calculator, a template generator or a checker. It takes real effort, so choose one with clear demand. It also needs a short page that explains what it does.

7. Original data or a small survey

Journalists and bloggers like numbers. If you have anonymised product data or can survey a few hundred people in your niche, a short, well-presented report can earn mentions. Be honest about the sample size and method. Weak or inflated data does more harm than none.

8. Open-source, templates and docs

If you can share something useful (a code library, a template, a checklist, a public API guide), others will link to it when they write about the topic. Developer audiences tend to link to documentation they use. Keep it maintained, because a broken or abandoned resource loses links over time.

9. Podcasts and interviews

Podcast hosts need guests, and most publish show notes with links to the guest's site. Pitch a specific, useful topic, not "my startup." Prepare two or three stories with numbers and lessons. Not every show links, and some use nofollow, so check.

10. Expert quotes and reporter requests

Journalists look for sources. The original HARO service was reported to have shut down in December 2024, and several successor platforms have appeared; reported successors include services such as Qwoted, Featured and Source of Sources. Platforms and their rules change, so check which are active before you invest time. Reply quickly, answer the question directly, and keep it short.

11. Guest articles

Writing for another site can earn a link and put you in front of that site's readers. Google's spam policy lists links with optimized anchor text in guest posts as link spam, so do this for the readers: choose relevant sites, write something genuinely useful, and use a plain brand link. If the placement is paid, ask for sponsored. Treat this as high effort with an uncertain return.

12. Helpful answers in communities

Forums, Q&A sites and communities reward real answers. Links are usually nofollow, but a good answer brings readers and, over time, mentions. Do not paste links into every reply. Google lists "forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature" as link spam.

13. Unlinked mentions

When someone mentions your product without a link, ask politely whether they would add one. Set up a simple alert on your brand name. It is low effort and often works, because the writer already likes your product.

14. Resource pages and "best of" lists

Many sites keep a page listing tools for a topic. If your product fits and you can say why in one sentence, send a short, specific note to the owner. Do not mass-email. Fit matters: if you are not a good match, do not ask.

15. Broken-link replacements

When a page links to a dead resource, you can offer a working replacement if yours really fits. Finding such pages takes time, so keep this for after the basics.

A realistic order for a new site

This is how I would sequence the work if I were chasing free dofollow backlinks for SaaS with no budget and about five hours a week.

Weeks 1 to 2: set up.

• Fix your homepage and description.
• Create profiles on a few relevant directories (method 1).
• Set up analytics and a tracking sheet.

Weeks 3 to 4: visibility.

• Launch on one or two boards or communities (method 2).
• Ask for brand-mention fixes if any exist (method 13).
• Start answering questions in one community (method 12).

Month 2: partnerships.

• Apply to integration directories if you have integrations (method 3).
• Ask two or three customers about "used by" mentions (method 4).
• Pitch two podcasts (method 9).

Month 3: build something linkable.

• Pick one asset: a tool, a small report or a template (methods 6, 7, 8).
• Reply to reporter requests where you have real expertise (method 10).
• Review the tracking sheet: which methods sent visitors?

After month three, repeat the ones that worked and drop the rest.

Outreach messages that do not sound like spam

Most free backlinks for SaaS start with a short, polite message. In saas link building, a message that shows you read the page beats a polished template. Keep each one under 100 words, say what you noticed, and make the next step easy. If you are working out how to get backlinks for a new website, these three cover most cases. All are invented examples; change the details.

Unlinked mention

Integration page

Podcast pitch

A few rules apply to all three:

• One ask per message. Do not ask for a link, a review and a feature in one email.
• Be specific. Name the page, the episode or the section.
• Offer something useful. A fix, a fact, a correction or a resource.
• Follow up once, a week later, then stop.
• Never offer money or free service for a link. That turns it into a paid link.
• Accept a no. Thank them and move on.

A worked 90-day example

Here is how this might look for an invented product, a scheduling tool for small clinics. The numbers are made up to show the process, not to forecast results.

Month 1. The founder fixes the homepage, writes one description, and lists the product on five relevant directories. Three listings go live, one with a normal link and two nofollow. She finds two blog posts that mention the product without a link and asks for fixes. One agrees. She starts answering questions in one clinic-owner community.

Month 2. She builds an integration with a popular calendar tool and applies to its directory. It takes three weeks to be accepted, and the listing is a normal link. She asks three happy clinics whether they would mention the tool on their "systems we use" pages. Two do. She pitches two podcasts; one replies.

Month 3. She publishes a small report on how long cancelled slots stay empty, based on anonymised data, with the method written out in a short section. A local newsletter links to it. She records the podcast. At the end she opens her sheet and sees that the integration link and the clinic mentions sent more visitors than all five directories together.

The point of the example is not the totals. It is that the slower methods, which involve real work with real people, did more than the quick ones. That is typical, but your results may differ.

What to skip

• Buying links, or paying for a "dofollow package." That is the thing the policy is written against, unless the link is qualified.
• Link swaps and partner pages made for cross-linking. Google lists excessive link exchanges as link spam.
• Bulk or automated submissions. The same list names automated link creation.
• Comment and signature spam. It earns nofollow links at best and a bad reputation at worst.
• Expired-domain redirects. Google describes repurposing expired domains to manipulate rankings as abuse.
• Fake reviews or fake personas. Illegal in some places and damaging everywhere.
• Identical badges on many sites with exact-match anchor text. Vary and keep it natural.
• Chasing a single score. A third-party score such as domain rating is not a Google metric. Use it as a rough filter, not a goal.

Check every link you earn

When a link goes live:

1. Open the page and view the source (Ctrl+U, then search for your address).
2. Read the rel attribute on the link. No restricting value means a normal link.
3. Record the result in your sheet.
4. Visit the page in a private window to see how a reader sees it.
5. Look at your analytics for visits from that page over the next weeks.

The explainer on dofollow vs nofollow vs sponsored walks through this in detail. Do the check yourself; do not trust a tool's label alone.

How many links are enough?

There is no number. Guides quote figures such as 15 to 30 links in the first month, or "the first 30 referring domains drive a jump", but they rarely show data. Rankings depend on content, competition and relevance as well. A small number of relevant links to a page that answers a real question will usually do more than a large number of weak ones.

Look at it this way: ask whether each link could send a real visitor, and whether you would be glad to have it if search engines did not exist.

Where CircleSaaS fits

I will be brief and honest. CircleSaaS gives every listed startup its own page and a link. A free tile's link starts as nofollow and becomes dofollow once you place the CircleSaaS badge and it is verified; how to add the badge covers the steps and the trade-offs. Paid tiles use normal links, but Google's guidance says paid links should be qualified, so I would treat a paid tile as visibility first and link value second. It is a new board, and it is one small link among the fifteen methods above.

What may change in 2027

No one can say for sure. These are reasonable expectations.

• Quality filters will probably keep tightening. Spam policies already name link schemes, expired domain abuse and low-quality directories.
• Brand mentions may count for more. Search engines and AI assistants already read plain mentions. How much weight they give is not public.
• Reporter-request and outreach platforms will keep changing. Check what is active before you pay or invest time.
• Assets that people actually use will keep earning links. Tools, data and genuine help age better than tactics.

I will update this post if any of this proves wrong.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get dofollow backlinks for free?

Yes, but you do not choose the attribute. The site owner does. Earn links by being useful, then check what you got.

How long does it take to get my first links?

Directory listings and mention fixes can land in days to weeks. Partnerships, podcasts and assets take longer. Plan in months.

Are nofollow links worthless?

No. They can send visitors and mentions, and Google treats nofollow as a hint. They are less likely to pass ranking credit.

Is guest posting still worth it?

Sometimes, for the audience and the credibility. Avoid keyword-stuffed anchors and low-quality sites.

Should I buy expired domains?

I would not. Google describes repurposing expired domains to manipulate rankings as abuse.

Do I need a blog first?

A blog helps, but you can start with listings, integrations, podcasts and reporter replies. Add a blog when you have something to say.

How do I know which links helped?

Track visits and sign-ups from each linking page, and watch rankings for the pages they point to over several months. Many other things change at the same time, so be modest in your conclusions.

Can a badge exchange be a good link?

It can be fine in moderation: one clear badge for a listing you actually have. Mass badge swapping looks like a link scheme.

Summary

Free dofollow backlinks for SaaS come from being useful where people already look: listings, integrations, interviews, tools and honest mentions. Treat free backlinks for SaaS as a by-product of good work, start with the cheap methods, and keep a tracking sheet. Good saas link building avoids buying, swapping and automating. If you wonder how to get backlinks for a new website, pick three methods from the table and review them in 90 days.