Pingsold is a startup directory that ranks listed startups by website traffic read directly from each company's own analytics account through read-only connections, re-synced once a day. Instead of screenshots or founder-typed numbers, the leaderboard shows verified monthly visitors, month-over-month change, a 30-day trend, and which analytics provider the figures came from.
What is Pingsold?
Pingsold is a web-based startup directory and public leaderboard whose ranking input is live traffic data pulled from a founder's own analytics tool, and whose output is a ranked list of startups by verified visitors over the last 30 days. Founders submit a startup, connect an analytics account with read-only access, and the site checks that the traffic actually belongs to the listed domain before ranking it. The project is run by an indie founder who published the verification logic and its early bugs on dev.to, and it keeps a public count of startups listed (7 at the time of the page) versus startups with verified traffic (2).
What makes Pingsold stand out?
- Read-only analytics connections — founders link Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom, PostHog or DataFast without write access, and can disconnect at any time.
- 80% domain threshold — a startup is only ranked when at least 80% of its pageviews land on the domain it listed, which blocks traffic borrowed from unrelated projects.
- Daily re-verification — numbers sync once a day, and credentials are re-checked on every sync rather than only at the moment of connection.
- Registrable-domain matching — the check compares registrable domains, so a www subdomain no longer fails against the bare apex domain (a bug the founder documents from version one).
- Preview traffic excluded — localhost and preview deploy traffic is dropped from the domain check instead of being counted against the wrong site.
- No self-reported numbers — there is no field where a founder can type in a visitor count, including the operators themselves.
- Featured slots kept separate — paid featured placement lasts 7 days and is explicitly excluded from ranking, which comes only from verified traffic.
- Leaderboard columns — each row shows rank, monthly visitors, month-over-month change, a 30-day trend and the verification provider.
Who should use Pingsold?
- Early-stage and bootstrapped founders: list a product on a leaderboard where the current top entry shows 46 visitors a month, so a small site can still rank and be seen.
- Founders with real but unproven traction: replace a cropped analytics screenshot with a third-party "Verified via Google Analytics" attribution on their listing.
- Founders in a hurry to go live: pay a one-time fee to skip the manual review queue rather than wait for listing approval.
- Researchers and directory browsers: compare startups by verified visitor counts, month-over-month movement and 30-day trend instead of marketing claims.
What can you do with Pingsold?
- Solo founder launching a new product: submit the site, connect Plausible or PostHog read-only, and appear in the "New this week" feed alongside tools like Aba Search and Replace, RadarMakers and ImageSVG.
- Growth-focused startup: monitor the month-over-month and 30-day trend columns, and use the separate fastest-growing page to see which listed startups are accelerating.
- Directory visitor or journalist: open the all-categories leaderboard to see which startups have verified traffic and which providers they verified through, checking the claim before repeating it.
How does Pingsold work?
- Connect an analytics provider (Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom, PostHog or DataFast) with read-only access.
- Pingsold verifies the domain, and only ranks the site when at least 80% of pageviews come from the listed registrable domain.
- Numbers sync once a day, and the ranking moves as the audience grows.
Pricing
Listing on Pingsold is free. A one-time payment of $29 lets a founder skip the review queue and go live sooner, and there is a separate paid featured placement that runs for 7 days. Featured status never affects the traffic ranking.
FAQ
How does Pingsold verify startup traffic?
Pingsold connects to a startup's own analytics with read-only credentials and reads visitor numbers itself. A site is ranked only if at least 80% of pageviews land on the listed domain, checked against the registrable domain, with localhost and preview deploys excluded. Connections are re-checked and re-synced daily.
Which analytics tools can I connect?
Google Analytics, Plausible, Fathom, PostHog and DataFast are supported, all through read-only access that can be disconnected at any time.
Is listing a startup on Pingsold free?
Yes. Standard listing is free and goes through a review queue. Founders who want to be live sooner can pay a one-time $29 fee to skip that queue, and optional featured placement lasts 7 days.
Does paying for a featured spot improve my rank?
No. Pingsold states that featured placement for 7 days never affects the rankings, which come only from verified traffic. There is also no way to enter a visitor number manually.
What is the 80% rule on Pingsold?
At least 80% of a startup's pageviews must land on the domain it listed. Traffic from other domains, localhost or preview deploys is excluded, which prevents a founder from borrowing traffic from an unrelated high-traffic site.
