How to get your first 100 users for a side project (2026)

One post rarely gets a side project to 100 users. What works is a handful of small channels, done by hand, each sending a few people who actually have the problem. This guide covers the ones that are free, with the rules each one publishes, so you do not get banned on day one.

By 0xvibly · Published 2026-10-01 · Every rule quoted was read from its source on 2026-10-01

1. Before you post anywhere

• Let people try it without signing up. The Show HN guidelines (news.ycombinator.com) put it plainly: make it easy to try your thing, "ideally without barriers such as signups or emails. You'll get more feedback that way." That holds for every channel below.
• Say what it is in one sentence. HN moderator dang's Show HN tips warn that without a clear statement of what your project does, "the discussion will consist of 'I can't tell what this is'".
• Use a domain you own. Some launch directories reject free hosting subdomains, and any link you earn should point at a site you keep. The launch directory comparison lists which ones.
• Decide what "user" means. Signed up, used it twice, or paid. Pick one before you start counting, or 100 will mean nothing.

2. Show HN, if your project qualifies

Show HN is Hacker News' section for "something you've made that other people can play with", according to the Show HN guidelines (news.ycombinator.com). It is free and the feedback is blunt, but the rules are specific:

• It must be tryable. Blog posts, sign-up pages, newsletters and lists are off topic. "If your work isn't ready for users to try out, please don't do a Show HN." Landing pages and fundraisers are out.
• It must be non-trivial. The guidelines now say: "Don't post quickly-generated one-offs; anybody can do that now." Explain how and why you made it.
• Be around to discuss it. The project must be something you worked on personally and are around to talk about.
• No vote rings. "Please don't ask friends to upvote or comment. That's not ok on HN." dang's tips add that booster comments from friends get spotted and treated as spam.
• Write the text yourself. The Hacker News guidelines say "Please don't put generated text in HN posts", and dang's tips (updated 2026-03-28) ask makers not to use an LLM to generate or even edit their Show HN text.
• Drop the marketing voice. dang's tips: "Drop any language that sounds like marketing or sales." Give the backstory and what is different about it.

To post, submit a story whose title begins with "Show HN". It appears on the shownew page, and moves to the Show page once it clears a small points threshold. The Show HN launch guide has more detail.

3. Reddit

The sitewide Reddit Rules (redditinc.com) ask you to "Participate authentically in communities where you have a personal interest, and do not spam or engage in disruptive behaviors (including content manipulation)". On top of that, the same page asks you to abide by community rules, and each subreddit can write its own, which may cover self-promotion and links.

We could not load individual subreddit rule pages when writing this (Reddit blocked our automated fetch), so this guide does not quote any. Before you post, open the community's rules and sidebar and follow them exactly. What tends to work within those rules:

• Pick subreddits where your users already ask for help, not only maker subreddits where everyone is promoting.
• Comment usefully for a while before you post anything of your own.
• When you do post, lead with the problem and what you learned building it, say plainly that you made it, and stay to answer every comment.

4. Launch directories

Directories such as Product Hunt, Uneed and Peerlist can send a burst of early visitors, and some give a backlink. Free tiers usually cost you something else: a long queue, a badge on your site, or an upvote target. Rather than repeat it here, the where to launch comparison covers free tiers, paid prices and dofollow status for each one, checked on the directory's own pages. Disclosure: this guide is published by VibeKing, which is one of the directories in that comparison.

5. Communities your users are already in

Your best early users rarely hang out where makers launch. They are in niche forums, Slack and Discord groups, and newsletters about the problem you solve. Treat each one the same way: read its rules, help people for a couple of weeks, and only then share the project where it answers someone's question.

For maker-to-maker feedback, Indie Hackers describes itself as a place where the founders of profitable businesses and side projects share their stories and "give and receive feedback". Expect other makers there, which is useful for feedback and less useful for finding customers.

6. Cold DMs and cold email

Writing to people one at a time is slow, and it is often the most reliable way to get your first 10 users. Find people who have publicly described the exact problem you solve, and send a short, personal note: why you are writing to them, what you made, and an easy way to try it. No templates blasted at a list, no automation.

If you email about a commercial product and the recipients are in the US, the FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide applies, and it "makes no exception for business-to-business email". Among its requirements:

• Accurate "From", "To" and routing information, and a subject line that reflects the content.
• A clear disclosure that the message is an advertisement, and your valid physical postal address.
• A clear way to opt out, honored within 10 business days.
• Penalties of up to $53,088 for each separate email in violation.

For DMs on social platforms, each platform publishes its own spam and automation rules. X's help center refused our fetch when we wrote this, so we make no claim about its DM policy; read it before you message at any volume.

7. Content and SEO basics

Search is slow but it compounds, and it is where people with your problem go to look. Google's own guidance keeps it simple:

• Write for people. Google recommends "people-first content" rather than "search engine-first content made primarily to gain search engine rankings".
• Answer real questions. Write one page per question your users search for: a how-to, an honest comparison with the tool they use today, a template.
• A sitemap is optional. The Google Search Central: SEO starter guide says submitting a sitemap "isn't required, and you should first focus on making sure people know about your site." The same guide says that in many cases Google finds pages through other websites linking to them.
• Be patient. The same guide says some changes take effect in a few hours and "others could take several months", and suggests waiting a few weeks to judge a change.

8. Building in public

Posting what you are building as you build it gives every other channel something to point at. It works best when the posts are specific: real numbers, a screenshot of the thing working, a mistake and what you changed. Reply to people in your niche more than you post; replies put you in front of people who do not follow you yet. Keep the numbers honest; one inflated claim costs more trust than a small real number.

A plan for your first 100 users

1. Make it tryable. Remove the signup wall or add a demo, write one sentence that says what it is, and put it on a domain you own.
2. Write down who the first 100 are. Name the people and the places they already gather: forums, subreddits, Slack and Discord groups, newsletters.
3. Post where trying things is the point. A Show HN if it qualifies, then a launch directory or two, staying in every thread to answer questions.
4. Join two communities as a member first. Answer questions and give feedback for a couple of weeks before you mention your own project.
5. Message people one at a time. Short, personal messages to people with the exact problem, and follow the rules for commercial email.
6. Publish one useful page a week. Answer a question your users actually search for, and be patient: search takes weeks to months.
7. Count every user and where they came from. Tag links with UTM parameters, talk to the first users, and double down on the channel that worked.

This is a plan, not a promise. Most of the 100 will come from the one or two channels that fit your product, and you only find out which by trying several and counting.