sales-altern

What this skill does

# Altern Platform Help

Helps with everything related to using Altern — a curated directory of 10,000+ AI tools and agents across 100+ categories, with dofollow backlinks, editorial content, and a weekly newsletter. Founded by Dariush Abbasi.

## Step 1 — Gather context


If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What are you trying to do on Altern?**
   - A) Submit my AI tool / get listed
   - B) Get featured (Gold/Silver/Bronze placement)
   - C) Understand the backlink and SEO value
   - D) Compare Altern with other AI directories
   - E) Get included in the newsletter
   - F) Something else — describe it

2. **What's your product?**
   - A) AI coding tool / IDE assistant
   - B) AI agent / automation
   - C) AI API / developer tool
   - D) AI SaaS / web app
   - E) AI content tool (writing, image, video)
   - F) Other AI tool — describe it

3. **What stage are you at?**
   - A) Pre-launch — building, no users yet
   - B) Just launched — looking for first users
   - C) Growing — have some traction, want more
   - D) Established — looking for directory presence and backlinks

**If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step.** Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to another skill, route:
- Multi-directory launch planning → `/sales-launch-directory`
- Product Hunt launch → `/sales-producthunt`
- Futurepedia-specific questions → `/sales-futurepedia`
- TAAFT-specific questions → `/sales-theresanaiforthat`
- Other AI directories (Toolify) → `/sales-launch-directory` for comparison
- SEO strategy → `/sales-semrush`
- Landing page optimization → `/sales-checkout`

Otherwise, answer directly from the Altern knowledge below.

## Step 3 — Altern platform reference

### Platform overview

Altern is a curated AI tools and agents directory focused on developer-oriented products. Unlike general startup directories (Product Hunt, Uneed), Altern is AI-only — every listing is an AI tool, agent, SDK, or developer product. The directory emphasizes curation over volume, with editorial content, reviews, and a weekly newsletter.

### Core modules

**Tool listings** — Each tool gets a dedicated page with:
- Description and feature overview
- Pricing model (free/freemium/paid/student pricing/open-source tags)
- Screenshots and company background
- User reviews and star ratings
- Direct link to tool website (dofollow, with UTM tracking)
- Category tags and "alternatives" cross-links
- Schema.org SoftwareApplication structured data (good for search)

**Categories** — 100+ categories organized by function:
- IDE assistants, coding agents, app builders
- Testing/QA automation, code review, documentation generators
- Security tools, DevOps, infrastructure
- Content generation (writing, image, video)
- Data analysis, research, productivity

**Alternatives pages** — Tool-vs-tool comparison pages (e.g., "Cursor Alternatives") that aggregate related tools. High SEO value — these pages rank for "[Tool] alternatives" queries.

**Newsletter** — Weekly digest covering AI tools and agents, published via newsletter.altern.ai. Curated by Dariush Abbasi. Two sections: AI Tools and AI Agents.

**Featured tiers** — Promoted visibility with tiered placement:
- **Gold** — highest visibility, homepage placement
- **Silver** — mid-tier promotion
- **Bronze** — entry-level featured
- **Standard** — free listing (no promotion)

Featured listings include homepage display (at least 1 week) and a dedicated page with a follow link.

### Submission process

1. **Authentication**: Sign in with GitHub or Google
2. **Submit tool**: Provide tool name, URL, description, category, pricing model
3. **Review**: Editorial review (timeline not publicly documented)
4. **Listing goes live**: Tool page created with dofollow backlink
5. **Optional**: Upgrade to featured tier (Gold/Silver/Bronze) for homepage placement

### Backlink and SEO value

- **Backlink type**: **Dofollow** — external links have no nofollow attribute (confirmed via HTML inspection)
- **DR**: Not publicly confirmed — estimated in the low-to-mid range given traffic (~5-28K/mo)
- **Structured data**: JSON-LD SoftwareApplication schema on every tool page — helps search engines understand your tool's category and pricing
- **Alternatives pages**: Your tool appears on "[Competitor] Alternatives" pages, capturing comparison search traffic
- **UTM tracking**: Links include `utm_source=altern.ai&utm_medium=directory&utm_campaign=altern`

### Altern vs other AI directories

| Factor | Altern | TAAFT | Futurepedia | Toolify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | AI tools & agents (dev-focused) | All AI tools (task-based search) | AI tools (business-focused) | AI tools (trending) |
| Size | 10,000+ tools | 42,000+ tools | 5,700+ tools | 20,000+ tools |
| Traffic | ~5-28K/mo | ~2M/mo | ~2M/mo | High |
| Backlink | Dofollow | Dofollow | Dofollow | Varies |
| Curation | Editorial | Community + editorial | Editorial + reviews | Algorithm + community |
| Newsletter | Weekly (AI tools + agents) | Yes | Yes (+ YouTube) | Yes |
| Submission | Free + featured tiers | $347 (free monthly thread) | Paid only ($497+ Verified) | Free |
| Best for | Developer/AI agent tools | Broad AI discovery | Business use cases | Trending tools |

### Pricing

| Tier | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Free | Tool listing page, dofollow backlink, category placement, alternatives pages |
| Bronze | Not public | Entry-level featured placement |
| Silver | Not public | Mid-tier promotion |
| Gold | Not public | Homepage placement (1+ week), maximum visibility |

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

Based on the user's situation:

**For submitting a tool to Altern:**
1. Sign in with GitHub (preferred for dev tools — shows credibility)
2. Write a clear, specific description — lead with what the tool does, not marketing fluff
3. Choose the most specific category (e.g., "Coding Agents" over "AI Tools")
4. Include accurate pricing info — Altern shows free/freemium/paid/student/open-source tags
5. Add screenshots showing the tool in action
6. After listing goes live, verify the dofollow backlink in your SEO tools

**For getting featured:**
1. Start with the free listing to establish presence
2. Contact the team about featured tiers — pricing isn't public, so you'll need to inquire
3. Featured listings get homepage display and higher visibility in category pages
4. Time your featured placement with other launches for maximum impact

**For maximizing SEO value:**
1. Your tool page includes SoftwareApplication structured data — search engines pick this up automatically
2. The alternatives pages ("Cursor Alternatives", etc.) capture high-intent comparison traffic — ensure your tool is properly categorized to appear on relevant alternatives pages
3. The dofollow backlink passes link equity — combine with other directory submissions via `/sales-launch-directory`

**For newsletter inclusion:**
1. Submit your tool first — newsletter features come from the editorial pipeline
2. Tools that are genuinely novel or solve a clear problem get newsletter coverage
3. The newsletter covers two sections: AI Tools and AI Agents — make sure your tool clearly fits one

## Gotchas

*Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and pricing that may be outdated.*

- **Featured tier pricing is not public.** Gold/Silver/Bronze costs aren't listed on the site. Contact the team to inquire. Budget accordingly — you may need to ask before committing.
- **DR is unconfirmed.** Altern's domain rating hasn't been independently verified in public sources. The dofollow backlink is confirmed, but treat the SEO value as additive rather than primary.
- **Submission requires login.** You need GitHub or Goo