How we verify builds

Most directories list a project once and never look at it again. Follow the links on a launch list from three years ago and a large share of them are parked domains, expired trials, and 404s. We would rather mark our dead links than pretend they are alive.

At submission

When you submit, we request your URL before storing anything. It has to answer with a 2xx or 3xx status. We follow redirects, we fall back to a ranged GET if your server rejects HEAD, and we time out after ten seconds. Addresses on private networks are refused, so the checker cannot be pointed at anything internal.

Our crawler identifies itself as SoloShowBot/1.0 and links back to this page.

Every week

Every approved build is re-checked once a week and the result is written to a permanent log. That log is the reason we can eventually say something useful about how long solo projects survive.

What the statuses mean

• Live: the last check answered normally.
• Dormant: 3 checks in a row failed. The page stays listed with the status shown, because sites do come back.
• Offline: 6 checks in a row failed. The build is removed from listings and its page is noindexed.

If we get it wrong

A firewall or an aggressive bot filter can make a healthy site look dead to us. If your build is marked wrongly, email us and we will reset the counter and add your domain to the exception list.

What we do not check

We check that a site answers. We do not check that it works, that it has users, or that the numbers a builder gave us are accurate. Everything in the cost and revenue fields is self-reported, and it is labelled that way on every page.