SaaS Launch Checklist: Everything You Need to Ship and Get Your First Users

Launching a SaaS product is both a technical and marketing event. Miss the technical side and users have a broken experience. Miss the marketing side and nobody shows up. This checklist covers both.

Before launch day, make sure you've validated demand first — see The Complete Guide to Validating a SaaS Idea.

30 Days Before Launch

Product

• [ ] Core feature works end-to-end without bugs
• [ ] Onboarding flow guides users to their first "aha moment"
• [ ] Error states and loading states are implemented
• [ ] Mobile responsive (even if not optimized)
• [ ] Password reset works
• [ ] Email delivery tested (check spam folders)
• [ ] Stripe billing integrated and tested with real card
• [ ] Basic analytics in place (at minimum: signups, activation events)

Marketing

• [ ] Landing page live with clear value proposition (see How to Write a High-Converting SaaS Landing Page)
• [ ] SEO meta tags on all pages (title, description, OG image)
• [ ] Domain email configured ([email protected])
• [ ] Social profiles created (Twitter/X, LinkedIn at minimum)
• [ ] Product Hunt draft prepared
• [ ] Email list of 100+ warm contacts ready

1 Week Before Launch

• [ ] Beta test with 5 real users who match your target persona
• [ ] Fix all bugs reported by beta users
• [ ] Record a 60-second demo video (Loom is fine)
• [ ] Write launch posts for: Reddit, Indie Hackers, Twitter/X, LinkedIn
• [ ] Submit to BetaList (requires advance submission)
• [ ] Prep Product Hunt hunter asks (5–10 people in your network)
• [ ] Set up Intercom or a simple support email
• [ ] Configure uptime monitoring (UptimeRobot — free tier)

Launch Day

First thing in the morning

• [ ] Double-check all systems are running
• [ ] Post on Product Hunt at 12:01 AM PST (if doing PH launch)
• [ ] Post Show HN on Hacker News (format: "Show HN: [Product] – [one sentence description]")
• [ ] Post launch thread on Twitter/X
• [ ] Email your personal contact list
• [ ] Post in relevant Reddit communities (follow each sub's rules)
• [ ] Post on LinkedIn
• [ ] Notify your email waitlist

Throughout the day

• [ ] Reply to every comment on Product Hunt
• [ ] Reply to every tweet/mention
• [ ] Respond to all support emails within 1 hour
• [ ] Monitor error logs and fix critical bugs immediately
• [ ] Post progress updates on social media

Week 1 Post-Launch

• [ ] Email every new signup within 24 hours (personal email, not template)
• [ ] Submit to directory sites — see 50+ Best SaaS Directories for the full list
• [ ] Write a launch retrospective post on Indie Hackers
• [ ] Analyze signup funnel: where are users dropping off?
• [ ] Interview 5 new signups via video call
• [ ] Fix the #1 onboarding friction point based on interviews
• [ ] Set up weekly metrics review (MRR, signups, activation rate, churn)

Technical Launch Checklist

Security

• [ ] HTTPS enforced everywhere
• [ ] API rate limiting active
• [ ] Input validation on all forms
• [ ] SQL injection protection (use parameterized queries / ORM)
• [ ] Sensitive data encrypted at rest
• [ ] Environment variables not exposed to frontend

Performance

• [ ] Page load under 3 seconds on mobile (check with PageSpeed Insights)
• [ ] Images compressed and next-gen format (WebP)
• [ ] Static assets cached
• [ ] Database queries optimized (no N+1 queries)

SEO

• [ ] Sitemap.xml submitted to Google Search Console
• [ ] Robots.txt configured
• [ ] Canonical URLs set
• [ ] Structured data (JSON-LD) on key pages
• [ ] Core Web Vitals passing (LCP < 2.5s, FID < 100ms, CLS < 0.1)

Monitoring

• [ ] Error tracking configured (Sentry free tier)
• [ ] Uptime monitoring active
• [ ] Daily automated database backups
• [ ] Log aggregation (Papertrail or Logtail — free tiers available)

The Most Important Thing

None of this matters if you don't talk to your users. The week after launch, schedule 10 video calls with new signups. Ask them:

1. What made you sign up?
2. What were you trying to accomplish?
3. What confused you?
4. What would make you tell a colleague about this?

These conversations will tell you exactly what to build next. For long-term customer acquisition strategy, read How to Find Your First 100 SaaS Customers.