SaaS link building is getting your product linked from the pages software buyers read while they shortlist: “best X software” lists, “X alternatives” pages, integration directories, comparison pages, review sites, blogs and podcasts. Other software companies write most of those lists: in our check of 26 buying searches, they published 54% of Google’s top 10. Work the nine sources below with the templates on this page, or hire one of 14 SaaS link building agencies, from $375 a link to retainers of $5,000 a month and up.
No link source matches. Clear the search to see all nine.
These are the nine places SaaS links come from. They differ in who you pitch, what it costs and whether the link passes ranking credit. Start with the free, high-intent ones (lists, alternatives pages, integrations you already have, mentions), then build the pages and assets that earn links on their own.
Your SaaS gets links from:
Pitch someone
Get listed
Build it yourself
Line style from our checks on October 18, 2026: 117 ranking list pages, one live listing in nine integration marketplaces, and directory listings.
| Source | Real example | Who you pitch | Cost | Link | Time to live |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best-X tools lists | Zapier’s blog ranks top 10 for “best scheduling software”, “best survey tools” and “best time tracking software” | The marketer or editor who updates the list, often at a non-competing tool | Free to $500+ | 6 in 10 followed | Days to weeks: lists are updated on a schedule |
| X alternatives pages | tally.so ranks #1 for “typeform alternatives”; cap.so ranks #1 for “loom alternatives” | Other challengers to the same leader, who list several alternatives to look fair | Free | Mostly followed | Weeks |
| Comparison pages | Atlassian ranks #2 and #6 and Notion #3 for “notion vs confluence”; Klaviyo #3 for “mailchimp vs klaviyo” | Nobody: you publish it, then point list and partner links at it | Your writing time | You own the page | Ranks in months, converts from day one |
| Integration directories | Slack wants 10 active workspaces or 10 weekly active users; HubSpot wants 3 active installs | The partner or ecosystem manager at the other tool | Build the integration | Mostly followed | Weeks after the integration ships |
| Review sites and directories | SaaSHub’s “Visit website” link on Calendly’s listing is nofollow | Nobody: you fill in a profile and ask customers for reviews | Free; G2 Starter $299 a month | Mostly nofollow | Same day to a few weeks |
| Free tools, templates and data | CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer: 3,985 linking sites; Shopify’s business name generator: 1,511 | Writers who cite tools and numbers; then nobody, it compounds | Build cost, then free | Earned, followed | Months, then keeps earning |
| Guest posts on SaaS blogs | Zapier, Mailjet, GetResponse, NetHunt CRM and HR Cloud publish contributor guidelines | The blog’s content lead, with two or three specific topics | Your writing time | 1 to 2 links, varies | 4 to 10 weeks |
| Podcasts and expert quotes | The SaaS Podcast takes founders with $1M+ revenue; HARO sends up to 3 request digests a weekday | The show’s booker, or the writer behind a request | Free to paid tiers | Varies by outlet | 2 to 8 weeks |
| Unlinked mentions | Reviews, “tools we use” posts and newsletters that mention your brand name | The author of the post | Free | Usually followed | Days |
We pulled Google’s US top 10 for 26 searches a software buyer makes while shortlisting: 12 “best X software” searches, 10 “X alternatives” and 4 “X vs Y”, together about 34,660 US searches a month. Then we labelled who runs each of the 216 results and opened every ranking page to read its outbound links.
“Best X software”12 searches · 102 results
“X alternatives”10 searches · 83 results
“X vs Y”4 searches · 31 results
All 26 searches26 searches · 216 results
Google US, desktop, top 10 organic results, read October 18, 2026. Each result labelled by who runs the site: a software company’s own page or blog (Zapier, Brevo, Tally), a publisher or affiliate review site (Forbes, PCMag, Cloudwards), a review platform (G2, TechnologyAdvice), a forum or video site, or an agency.
54% of all results, and 57 of 83 results for “X alternatives”, are a software company’s own page or blog. They list tools that complement theirs, so your first pitches go to marketers at adjacent, non-competing products.
Of 117 ranking pages with 3 or more outbound links, 73 linked out mostly followed. Software companies’ pages did so 52 times in 75; publishers 18 in 37. Affiliate review networks such as thedigitalprojectmanager.com mark every product link rel="sponsored".
Zapier’s blog ranks top 10 for 8 of the 26 searches and Google’s AI Overview cited it in 15; its product links are nofollow, so a spot there buys readers and AI mentions, not ranking credit. Reddit ranked for 16 searches, and YouTube videos were cited in 25 of 26 AI Overviews. G2 ranked for only 3.
Google Ads puts the average cost per click at $141 for “zendesk alternatives” and $121 for “best help desk software” (US). A permanent line on the list that ranks for those searches earns those clicks for free.
| Search | Type | US / month | Cost per click | #1 result | Software cos. in top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| best crm software | Best X | 9,900 | $37.4 | brevo.com | 2 of 9 |
| best accounting software for small business | Best X | 5,400 | $44.61 | hipeople.io | 2 of 9 |
| best project management software | Best X | 3,600 | $42.94 | icagile.com | 4 of 8 |
| best screen recording software | Best X | 1,000 | $18.02 | youtube.com | 2 of 7 |
| best social media management tools | Best X | 1,000 | $28.67 | techjockey.com | 3 of 9 |
| best invoicing software | Best X | 720 | $69.07 | waveapps.com | 6 of 9 |
| best help desk software | Best X | 590 | $121.01 | proprofsdesk.com | 3 of 9 |
| best email marketing software | Best X | 390 | $97.37 | mailtrap.io | 3 of 7 |
| best scheduling software | Best X | 390 | $48.43 | peoplemanagingpeople.com | 5 of 9 |
| best password manager for business | Best X | 260 | $130.77 | passwordmanager.com | 3 of 8 |
| best survey tools | Best X | 260 | $22.61 | pollfish.com | 6 of 9 |
| best time tracking software | Best X | 260 | $16.29 | peoplemanagingpeople.com | 8 of 9 |
| notion alternatives | Alternatives | 1,300 | $12.72 | thebusinessdive.com | 4 of 9 |
| loom alternatives | Alternatives | 1,000 | $21.68 | cap.so | 6 of 8 |
| mailchimp alternatives | Alternatives | 1,000 | $46.46 | twilio.com | 7 of 8 |
| calendly alternatives | Alternatives | 880 | $10.3 | lunacal.ai | 5 of 9 |
| trello alternatives | Alternatives | 720 | $18.18 | cloudwards.net | 7 of 8 |
| zendesk alternatives | Alternatives | 720 | $141.18 | hiverhq.com | 5 of 7 |
| hubspot alternatives | Alternatives | 590 | $67.56 | reevo.ai | 6 of 9 |
| asana alternatives | Alternatives | 390 | $44.38 | cloudwards.net | 5 of 8 |
| typeform alternatives | Alternatives | 210 | $18.78 | tally.so | 8 of 9 |
| hotjar alternatives | Alternatives | 140 | $41.67 | analytics-alternatives.com | 4 of 8 |
| asana vs monday | X vs Y | 1,600 | $14.84 | reddit.com | 2 of 8 |
| hubspot vs salesforce | X vs Y | 1,300 | $38.11 | cobloom.com | 1 of 6 |
| mailchimp vs klaviyo | X vs Y | 720 | $14.72 | emailtooltester.com | 5 of 9 |
| notion vs confluence | X vs Y | 320 | $5.33 | reddit.com | 5 of 8 |
Google US desktop results and Google Ads search volume and cost per click (US, September 2026), read October 18, 2026. Domains labelled by hand. Outbound links read from each page’s HTML with the header, navigation, footer and social links removed.
Find every list that names two or more of your competitors and not you, check it’s worth it, and send the person who updates it a short, specific pitch. The same steps work for “X alternatives” pages written by other challengers.
Search Google for “best [category] software”, “best [category] tools for [audience]”, “[competitor] alternatives” and “[competitor] vs”, and ask ChatGPT and Perplexity the same questions: the pages they cite are lists too. Keep every page that names two competitors and leaves you out.
Updated in the last year, ranks on page one or gets cited by AI, links out with followed links (open the page source and look for rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored"), and isn’t written by a direct competitor. Affiliate sites that mark everything sponsored usually want an affiliate deal or a fee.
The byline or “updated by” name, then their email or LinkedIn. On a software company’s blog that’s usually the content marketing manager, not the founder.
Say which reader the list currently fails (a use case, a price point, an integration) and that you fill it. Offer a two-line description, a screenshot and a free account. Use the list template or the alternatives template.
One follow-up in the same thread after 4 to 7 days. Lists get updated on a schedule, so a “not now” is worth a note in your sheet for next quarter.
Yes, and they are the pages your links should point at. Challengers rank their own pages for the market leader’s alternatives search, and leaders rank their own comparisons. Build one alternatives page per competitor you win against and one “[you] vs [them]” page each, with an honest pricing table, then send list, partner and guest post links to them.
| Search | US / month | Own page that ranks | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| typeform alternatives | 210 | tally.so, a Typeform challenger | #1 |
| loom alternatives | 1,000 | cap.so, a Loom challenger | #1 |
| calendly alternatives | 880 | lunacal.ai #1; calendly.com’s own “Compare Calendly” page | #1, #6 |
| zendesk alternatives | 720 | hiverhq.com, a help desk challenger | #1 |
| mailchimp alternatives | 1,000 | twilio.com #1, omnisend.com #3 | #1, #3 |
| asana vs monday | 1,600 | asana.com’s own comparison page | #2 |
| notion vs confluence | 320 | atlassian.com (#2 and #6) and notion.com (#3) | #2, #3 |
| mailchimp vs klaviyo | 720 | klaviyo.com #3, mailchimp.com #7 | #3, #7 |
Google US desktop, October 18, 2026; volumes from Google Ads, US, September 2026.
To get onto other people’s alternatives pages, pitch the challengers, not the leader. A challenger’s “[Leader] alternatives” page lists several tools to look fair; show them the reader segment their list doesn’t serve and offer the entry pre-written. Direct competitors won’t list you, and you shouldn’t ask.
Every integration you ship gives you two listings: one in the partner’s marketplace and one on the partner’s own integrations page, plus your own integration page that ranks for “[tool] + [partner]” searches. We opened one live listing in nine marketplaces on October 18, 2026. Seven of the eight we could read linked to the app maker with a followed link; Zapier’s directory was the exception.
| Marketplace | Link to the app maker | Listing we checked | Rule to get listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slack Marketplace | Followed | Calendly’s listing: links to calendly.com and its help center | Not accepted if installed on fewer than 10 active workspaces with fewer than 10 weekly active users; support must answer within 2 business days. Docs |
| HubSpot App Marketplace | Not checked | The listing page rendered no links for our checker | At least 3 active, unique installs from accounts outside your company, with app activity in the past 30 days. Docs |
| Zapier App Directory | Nofollow | Calendly’s app page: “Learn more” to calendly.com is nofollow | The app must be fully launched to the public (not invite-only or beta) and use production API endpoints. No user threshold is stated. Docs |
| Shopify App Store | Website followed, pricing nofollow | Klaviyo’s listing: developer website and docs followed, pricing links nofollow | Must meet every Shopify App Store requirement and pass app review; no install minimum is stated. Docs |
| Notion connections | Followed | Calendly’s connection page: “Website” to calendly.com | Public connections pass a Notion security review first, and only connections that install to any workspace qualify. Docs |
| Intercom App Store | Followed | Calendly’s app: links to Calendly’s help, terms and privacy pages | Not checked |
| Pipedrive Marketplace | Followed | Outfunnel’s Calendly sync: “Website”, pricing and docs links followed | Public apps go through an approval review that Pipedrive says may take up to 21 business days. Docs |
| Atlassian Marketplace | Followed, to a hosted wiki | Calendly for JSM: links go to the partner’s documentation wiki on atlassian.net | Apps are reviewed against Atlassian’s approval guidelines; Atlassian aims to decide within one week. Docs |
| monday.com marketplace | Followed | Task Roulette by Move Work Forward: “Developer website” followed | Not checked |
Thresholds are low and public: Slack wants 10 active workspaces or 10 weekly active users, HubSpot 3 active installs from outside your company. Once you’re listed, ask the partner for a spot on their own integrations page with the integration template, and link to them from yours. Calendly’s Slack integration page, for example, links to slack.com with a followed link.
For buyers and AI answers, yes. For link credit, rarely. Of the 28 review sites, directories and launch sites we checked, 7 gave every listing a followed link, 8 only paid or upvoted launches, and 10 used nofollow, a redirect or no link at all. Fill in the free profiles in a day, then spend outreach time on lists and partners.
G2
The basic profile is free (“Access to your basic G2 Profile will always be free”), but call-to-action buttons are not included on Free. The “Users Love Us” badge needs 20 reviews averaging 4.0 stars. Paid Starter: $299 a month or $2,999 a year in year one.
G2 seller plans, read Oct 18, 2026
Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice
G2 agreed to buy all three from Gartner in January 2026, and Capterra’s and GetApp’s “get listed” buttons now lead to G2. On their product pages, “Visit website” is a button, not a link, so a profile there is for buyers, not link credit.
G2’s announcement, Jan 29, 2026; listing pages from archived copies, Oct 2026
Product Hunt
Launching is free. Product Hunt suggests launching at 12:01 am Pacific, and its one rule: you can’t ask people directly to upvote. The “Visit website” link is marked ugc, so it passes no ranking credit; the launch is a day of buyers’ attention.
Product Hunt launch guide, read Oct 18, 2026
The other 23
SaaSHub and AlternativeTo use nofollow; DevHunt, Uneed, Fazier and Tiny Launch give a followed link to paid or top-voted launches; a few free directories want a link back first.
The ones that do a job your buyer has before they need you. HubSpot’s marketing statistics page has links from 15,909 sites because writers need numbers; Shopify’s business name generator solves the first problem of anyone starting a store. Build one, make it free with no signup wall, and pitch it to the lists of free tools in your category.
Writers need a number to cite, and this page answers hundreds of them
One URL in, a score out: easy to recommend in “free SEO tools” lists
A free slice of the paid product, linked from every “free SEO tools” roundup
Writers recommend it to other writers, who write about writing
Partners link to their own Zapier page from docs and integration pages
Solves the first problem of anyone starting a store, before they need Shopify
Shows up in every “how to make an email signature” guide
Template creators link to the gallery where their work is listed
Distinct sites (referring domains) with a live link to each page, from a live backlink index, read October 18, 2026. Website Grader includes its subdomains.
Yes, as relationship work rather than volume. Write for the blogs your buyers read, talk on the shows they listen to, answer journalists in your niche, and claim the mentions you already have.
| Blog | Category | What their guidelines say |
|---|---|---|
| Zapier | Automation | 750 to 2,500 words, original, no AI-written drafts. No guest posts for app comparisons or best-apps lists. Pitch by form; 4 to 6 weeks to publish. |
| Mailjet | Pitch first. 800 to 1,200 words, not promotional. 1 to 2 links to your own site, no links to competitors. | |
| GetResponse | Email marketing | 1,300+ words, original. Claims link to research. No competitor citations, no paid promos. |
| Moosend | Email marketing | At most 4 guest slots a month. No reply in 4 weeks means no; published within 4 to 12 weeks. |
| NetHunt CRM | Sales | 1,000 words minimum, 1,500 ideal. One natural link to your site. Reviewed within 10 days. |
| LeadFuze | Sales data | Writers affiliated with a brand only, no freelancers placing client links. Up to 2 links in the author bio, none to product pages. |
| Paymo | Project management | 1,500 to 2,000 words, exclusive. No affiliate or competitor links. Paymo doesn’t take money to publish. |
| Businessmap | Project management | 1,200 to 1,800 words, no promotional pieces. A link to the author’s site. |
| HR Cloud | HR | 1,200 to 1,500 words written by a person. Links only in the author bio, up to 2. 30 to 60 days to publish. |
| Keka | HR and payroll | 1,000 to 2,500 words, exclusive. One contextual body link; Keka decides whether it’s followed. |
| Airbyte | Developer, data | Paid: $300 to $500 an article, topics from their list. For data and AI practitioners. |
| AppSignal | Developer, monitoring | Paid for experienced Node, Ruby, Python and Elixir writers. About 1,500 words with code. |
| Podcast | Run by | How to pitch |
|---|---|---|
| The SaaS Podcast | SaaS Club (Omer Khan) | B2B SaaS and AI founders, usually the CEO, with at least $1M in annual revenue. Suggest form. |
| SaaStr Podcast | SaaStr | Open guest submission form; wants a fresh take or something unusual done at your company. |
| saas.unbound | saas.group | “Be a guest” form on the podcast page. |
| Code Story | Noah Labhart | Technical founders; guest intake form. |
| Finite | Clarity (B2B tech marketing) | For B2B tech marketers; invites prospective guests on the show page. |
| Platform | What it is | Price |
|---|---|---|
| HARO | Journalist requests by email, up to 3 digests a weekday. Owned by Featured.com since April 2025. | Free |
| Qwoted | Journalist and podcast requests with real-time alerts. | Free: 2 pitches a month; Pro $149 a month for 35 |
| Featured.com | Requests from HARO, LinkedIn and more, with an AI drafting assistant. | Free; paid plans from $29 a month billed annually |
| Connectively | Publisher questions and bylined answers, run by the Featured team. | Free: 3 answers a month; paid from $19 a month |
| MentionMatch (formerly Help a B2B Writer) | B2B writers ask for expert input by email; run by Superpath. | Free |
| Source of Sources | Peter Shankman’s journalist queries by email, up to three a day. | Free |
| PodMatch | Matches guests with podcast hosts. | Guest plans $32 or $64 a month |
| Rephonic | Podcast database with contacts and audience estimates. | $99, $149 or $299 a month |
| PodcastGuests.com | Free newsletter of guest requests plus a paid expert directory. | Free newsletter; directory from $15 a month (annual) |
Search Google for your brand name in quotes while excluding your own site (“"Your product" -site:yourdomain.com”), set a Google Alert for the name, and check new results each week. Every post that names you without a link gets the one-line mention template. The writer already chose to name you, so the ask is small.
One per source, short enough to read on a phone. Fill the [brackets] from the page you are pitching; a pitch that could go to any site gets ignored. For a sense of reply rates: on BacklinkGPT’s own sites, 17% of pitched contacts replied and 26% accepted a LinkedIn invite, with the fastest link live 2 days and 9 hours after the first email.
Best-X tools list
Hey [Name],
Your [list title] is the one I send people to when they ask about [category]. The [specific section or tool they rate] part is spot on.
One gap: nothing on the list handles [the job your product does], which is why [type of customer] use [Your product]. [One fact: price, free plan, the integration they care about].
If it helps, I can send a two-line description, a screenshot and a free account so you can try it before you decide.
[Your name], [role] at [Your product]
Why it works: It names the list, proves you read it, and gives the editor everything needed to add you without a call.
X alternatives page
Hey [Name],
Saw your [Leader] alternatives page. We lose the same customers to [Leader] that you do, but we serve a different slice: [your niche, e.g. teams under 10 / agencies / EU data residency].
Readers who need [that slice] currently leave your page with no answer. A short entry for [Your product] would cover them, and it doesn’t compete with what you sell.
Happy to write the entry in your format, pricing included, so it’s a copy-paste.
[Your name]
Why it works: Challengers list several alternatives to look fair. Showing you fill a gap they don’t is what gets you in.
Integration directory
Hey [Name],
Our [Their product] integration went live on [date]: [one line on what it does, e.g. new bookings create deals automatically]. [Number] of our customers already connected it.
Could we get a listing on your integrations page at [their integrations URL]? I’ve put the logo, a 40-word description, setup steps and a support contact here: [link to a doc].
We’ve published our side at [your integration page URL] and linked to you from it.
[Your name]
Why it works: Partner teams list integrations that already have users and a ready-made listing. Send both.
Review site
Hey [Name],
Thanks for [the thing they said or did, e.g. the kind note in support last week]. Would you share that on [review site]? It takes about two minutes: [direct review link].
Honest is better than glowing: buyers trust reviews that mention what [Your product] doesn’t do yet.
[Your name]
Why it works: A direct link and a recent good moment make the ask feel small. Review counts unlock badges and category rankings.
Free tool
Hey [Name],
Your [list title] is a great starting point for [audience]. One free tool it doesn’t have yet: our [tool name], which [does one job] from [one input]. No signup, no email gate: [link].
If it’s useful, it fits next to [similar tool on their list].
[Your name]
Why it works: Free, ungated tools are easy for editors to recommend. Naming where it fits saves them a decision.
Unlinked mention
Hey [Name],
Thanks for including [Your product] in [post title]. Glad [the thing they said about you] worked for you.
Would you mind linking our name to [exact URL] so readers can find it? That’s the page for [the use case they wrote about].
[Your name]
Why it works: The writer already chose to name you. The ask is one sentence and a URL.
Guest post
Hey [Name],
I read your contributor guidelines. Three ideas for [blog name] readers, none covered on the blog yet:
1. [Title with a number or a result]: [one line on what it shows].
2. [Title]: [one line].
3. [Title]: [one line].
Each comes from work we did at [Your product], with real numbers and screenshots. Two samples: [link], [link].
[Your name], [role]
Why it works: Content leads pick specific, data-backed ideas that fit their guidelines. Three options make a yes easy.
Podcast
Hey [Name],
Loved the episode with [recent guest] on [topic]. A follow-up angle your listeners might want: [the story, e.g. how we got to $1M ARR with no sales team].
What I can cover: [point one], [point two], and [a number you can share on air].
I’ve been on [past show, if any]: [link]. Happy to work around your recording schedule.
[Your name], founder of [Your product]
Why it works: Hosts book stories, not products. A recent episode reference shows you listen to the show.
Any of the above
Hey [Name], bumping this in case it got buried. If [list / page / show] isn’t taking additions right now, just say so and I won’t follow up again.
[Your name]
Why it works: One polite follow-up in the same thread recovers replies that the first email missed; a second rarely does.
From your own time to $16,000 a month. Per-link prices from SaaS agencies run $300 to $520, packages $1,250 to about €6,000 a month, and retainers that bundle links with content or AI search work $3,000 to $16,000. Every price below is from the seller’s own site, read October 18, 2026. For per-link prices across the whole market, see link-building-pricing.com.
| Route | Cost | What you get | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | Your time, plus tools if you want them | Every link you can win with the templates below | Founders and small teams with a few hours a week |
| BacklinkGPT (AI outreach agent) | $149, $399 or $999 a month, plus any site fee you approve | Finds the lists and pages, drafts each pitch, sends from your inbox or LinkedIn after you approve | SaaS teams that want the legwork done but the sending under their own name |
| Per-link agency | $300 to $520 a link (Quoleady, Editorial.Link, Above Apex) | Placed links at a set DR, usually with a replacement window | Teams that want a fixed number of links without managing outreach |
| Link packages | $1,250 to about €6,000 a month for 5 to 20 links (SAASY LINKS, SaaS Link Builder) | A monthly link count, listicle packages sold separately | Steady monthly volume on a known budget |
| SEO or GEO retainer | $3,000 to $16,000 a month (Growfusely, MADX, uSERP, TripleDart, DerivateX, Rock The Rankings) | Links plus strategy, content or AI-visibility tracking | Funded teams that want one partner for search |
Agencies that sell link building to software companies, sorted by the cheapest published way in. Every price, term and client below comes from the agency’s own site, read on October 18, 2026; where an agency’s pages disagree with each other, the card tells you what to ask. Most “best SaaS link building agencies” lists on Google are written by agencies that put themselves first (Quoleady’s, Contensify’s, Linkflow’s and TripleDart’s do). This one ranks nobody first: pick by model, budget and proof.
SAASY LINKS$1,250 to $5,250 5 to 15 links
Above Apex$1,500 to $3,500 per-link minimum to 8-link package
MADX$2,500 to $9,500 placement minimum to Scale retainer
Growfusely$3,000 to $4,000 retainer to 90-day sprint
uSERP$5,000 to $10,000 links to managed SEO and AI search
TripleDart$5,000 starting price only
Rock The Rankings$5,500 to $16,000 90-day rate to Authority, month to month
DerivateX$6,000 to $15,000 retainer plus placement budgetPublished monthly prices, read on each agency’s site October 18, 2026. Not shown: Editorial.Link ($375 a single link), SaaS Link Builder and Quoleady (priced in euros), and Linkflow, Skale and Scalerrs (no monthly price published).
| Agency | Model | Way in | Focus | Based |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Editorial.Link | Per link | $375 a link | One niche of several | St. Petersburg, Florida (Editorial Link LLC) |
| SAASY LINKS | Link packages | $1,250 a month | SaaS only | Remote team, hiring in India (founded 2022) |
| Above Apex | Per link | $1,500 a month minimum | SaaS only | Not stated on the site |
| SaaS Link Builder | Link packages | €1,499 a month | SaaS only | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Quoleady | Per link | €1,500 a month minimum | SaaS only | Tallinn, Estonia (Quoleady OÜ) |
| MADX | Retainer | $2,500 a month minimum | SaaS first | London |
| Growfusely | Retainer | $3,000 a month | SaaS first | Ahmedabad, India |
| uSERP | Retainer | $5,000 a month | SaaS first | Denver, Colorado |
| TripleDart | Retainer | $5,000 a month | SaaS first | Plano, Texas and Bengaluru |
| Rock The Rankings | Retainer | $5,500 a month | SaaS only | Not stated (serves North America and EU) |
| DerivateX | Retainer | $5,000 a month + placements | SaaS only | Bengaluru, India |
| Linkflow | Retainer | Price in a gated PDF | SaaS first | Austin, Texas |
| Skale | Retainer | No published price | SaaS only | Not stated (remote, EMEA) |
| Scalerrs | Retainer | No published price | SaaS first | France (address in its terms) |
Editorial.Link$375 a link
Checked Oct 18, 2026: Pricing, PandaDoc case
SAASY LINKS$1,250 a month
Above Apex$1,500 a month minimum
Checked Oct 18, 2026: SaaS link building, Action1 case
SaaS Link Builder€1,499 a month
Checked Oct 18, 2026: Link building plans, Homepage FAQ
Quoleady€1,500 a month minimum
Checked Oct 18, 2026: Pricing, Link building
MADX$2,500 a month minimum
Checked Oct 18, 2026: Pricing, Link building
Growfusely$3,000 a month
Checked Oct 18, 2026: Homepage pricing, SaaS link building
uSERP$5,000 a month
Checked Oct 18, 2026: Start page, monday.com case
TripleDart$5,000 a month
Checked Oct 18, 2026: SaaS link building
Rock The Rankings$5,500 a month
DerivateX$5,000 a month + placements
Checked Oct 18, 2026: Pricing, Gumlet case
LinkflowPrice in a gated PDF
Checked Oct 18, 2026: SaaS link building, Kickstart
SkaleNo published price
Checked Oct 18, 2026: Link building, Piktochart story
ScalerrsNo published price
Checked Oct 18, 2026: Pricing, Link building
For agencies that don’t specialize in SaaS, see link-building-agencies.com.
Written like a changelog: what to ship in each stretch, in order. It assumes one person spending a few hours a week; an agency or an agent compresses the pitching weeks, not the setup.
SaaS link building is getting links to a software product’s site from the pages buyers read while they shortlist: “best X software” lists, “X alternatives” pages, integration directories, comparison pages, review sites, and the blogs and podcasts of the category. The links help the product rank, and the same pages are what AI assistants cite when someone asks which tool to buy.
Of the 14 SaaS link building agencies we checked on October 18, 2026, the cheapest published way in was $375 for a single link (Editorial.Link). Link packages run $1,250 to about €6,000 a month for 5 to 20 links, and retainers start at $3,000 to $5,500 a month; Rock The Rankings says most of its engagements land above $10,000 a month. Three of the 14 publish no monthly price.
Links from the pages your buyers already read: category lists, alternatives pages, integration directories and comparison pages. In our check of 26 software-buying searches, software companies published 54% of the top 10 results and Google’s AI Overview appeared on all 26, so a spot on those lists counts for rankings and for AI answers.
Yes. Google’s own documentation says it “uses links as a signal when determining the relevancy of pages and to find new pages to crawl” (Link best practices for Google). What changed is where the useful links sit: on the lists, comparisons and directories that rank for buying searches.
The AI Overviews we read on October 18, 2026 cited the same kinds of pages that rank: across 26 software-buying searches, Zapier’s blog lists were a source in 15, Reddit threads in 17 and YouTube videos in 25. Getting onto those lists, and into the videos and threads about your category, is how a product gets named in the answer.
Many list owners ask for a fee, and some agencies sell single listicle spots from $350 (unlinked) to $500 (linked). Google’s spam policies count buying links for ranking purposes as link spam unless the link is marked rel="sponsored" or nofollow (Google spam policies). Paid inclusion with a sponsored link still buys you readers and AI mentions; it just doesn’t pass ranking credit.
Listing a partner because your customers use both tools is normal, and integration pages do it all the time. Google’s spam policies list “excessive link exchanges” and partner pages that exist only for cross-linking as link spam (Google spam policies). The test: would the page link to them if no link came back?
Links on lists and directories can go live within days. MADX, a SaaS link building agency, tells readers to expect three to six months before ranking movement is clear, and says AI visibility can move faster or slower and is more volatile.
There is no fixed number. Look at the pages that rank for your target search, count the sites linking to them, and aim to match the top three. For a category list, being on the five to ten lists that rank on page one matters more than any total.
Yes. Most of the work is a list of the right pages and a personal email to the person behind each one; the templates on this page cover each source. Software can take over the legwork: BacklinkGPT, for example, finds the lists that fit your product, drafts a pitch for each and sends it from your inbox after you approve, from $149 a month (pricing).