LaunchList
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Early access signup for your beta or your next feature

LaunchList runs the early access signup for a new product or a new feature in your app. People join a list and say who they are, and you choose who comes in next, each with a personal code.

Start your early accessHow early access works

Free for your first 100 contactsNo credit card needed

At a glance

Updated

What it is
A list people join so they can use a product or a feature before everyone else, with a place in line, a link to share and a private status page for each person.
Who gets in
You decide who gets in and when. LaunchList sends the invites and records which codes were used, and your own app decides what an invited person can open.
Invites
First 100 invites on the Free plan, and unlimited invites on the Collect, Launch and Grow plans. Codes already sent keep working whatever the plan.
Several features
One project is one list in one order, so give each feature that needs a line of its own a project of its own. Projects: 1 on the Free plan, 3 on the Collect plan, 10 on the Launch plan and unlimited on the Grow plan.
Works with
Any product with a backend, through the API and signed webhooks. Testers for TestFlight or Google Play come from a CSV file you export; there is no direct connection to either.
Price
Nothing to pay for your first 100 contacts, and no card to start. A longer list moves to a plan sized to it, monthly or yearly.
How it works

How an early access signup works, for a beta or a new feature.

Early access comes in two shapes: a product nobody outside your team can use yet, and a new feature inside a product that already has users. Both start with a list of people who asked.

  • A closed beta for a new product

    People ask to join before the product is public, answer a question or two, and come in a few at a time. You watch each group use it and fix what breaks before the next group arrives.

    Use it when

    Nobody outside your team has used the product yet, and you want to pick who tries it first.

  • Early access to a feature in a live product

    Your users press a button inside the product to ask for the new feature. You turn it on for a first group, widen it in waves while it holds up, and then announce it to everyone.

    Use it when

    The product already has users, and the feature is risky, costly to run or still changing.

  • A gate without a line

    Clerk's Waitlist sign-up mode swaps your signup form for a waitlist, where you accept, reject or invite each entry. For a phone app, a TestFlight public link can cap testers at any number up to 10,000, and anyone can join a Google Play open test.

    Sources: Clerk's changelog of November 20, 2024, Apple's guide to external testers and Google's Play Console help on testing tracks.

    Use it when

    All you need is to keep sign-up closed and let people through, with no page to share, no referrals and no order in line.

Where LaunchList fits

Put the list in front of whichever gate you use. People sign up and wait on LaunchList, you pick each batch there, and your app, Clerk or the store's test track lets that batch through.

When to use it

A beta waitlist pays off when you cannot let everyone in at once.

A good fit when

  • You can only onboard a few people at a time, because of support, running costs or your own hours.
  • You want to choose who goes first, by what they told you at signup or by how many friends they brought.
  • A new feature is ready for some of your users but not yet for all of them.
  • You want the people waiting to see where they stand, rather than wonder whether their request arrived.

Not the right fit when

  • Anyone who wants the product can have it today: open it up and skip the list.
  • You need to charge people before they get in: LaunchList does not take payments.
  • You want the feature switched on in your code for you: that is a feature flag tool, and your app still decides who sees what.
Set it up

Set up an early access signup that hands each batch to your app.

  1. Collect the right people

    Add a "Single choice" question to the form, such as what they would use it for. For a feature in your app, your backend adds the signed-in person with one API call, on a form with "Ask people to verify their email" off, since your app has already confirmed their address, so nobody types or confirms anything.On every plan

  2. Choose the next batch

    Press "Invite people" and enter how many you can take this round: it picks subscribed signups, most referrals first. To pick by an answer instead, filter Signups and invite up to 1,000 at once. Every person invited gets an email holding a code that is theirs alone.On every plan

  3. Send them into your app

    Set "Invite links open" to "My own signup page" under "Invite settings", and "Claim access" sends each person to your app with their code. Your backend checks it with one API call, or hears from a signed webhook once it is used, and turns the feature on for that person.On every plan

In the docs: how early access works, adding a signup from your app and checking a code with the invitations API.

Real examples

Early access rollouts at Anthropic, Google and LBRY.

  • Claude in Chrome

    August 2025, research preview

    Source:Anthropic, August 25, 2025

    What they did

    Anthropic opened Claude in Chrome as a research preview: a pilot with 1,000 of its Max plan users, a waitlist to join it, and access to expand gradually as it built stronger safety measures. It reached all Max plan subscribers in November 2025, and Anthropic's Pro, Team and Enterprise plans that December.

    Take from it

    Start a risky feature with a fixed number of people from the waitlist, then widen it in steps you announce. In LaunchList, each step is one batch invited from Signups.

  • Google Search Labs

    May 2023, an experiment in Search

    Source:Google blog, May 10, 2023

    What they did

    Google opened a waitlist for Search Labs, its way to try early experiments in Search, in English and in the U.S. only. People joined by tapping the Labs icon in the Google app or on Chrome's desktop new tab page, the first experiments were to roll out over the coming weeks, each for a limited time, and testers could send feedback straight to the teams building them.

    Take from it

    Put the waitlist inside the product, where your users already are, and say up front that the feature is an experiment that may not last. In LaunchList, your app's own button adds each person with one API call.

  • LBRY

    August 2016, a beta

    Source:LBRY news, August 22, 2016

    What they did

    The waiting list for the LBRY beta passed 100,000 people. Those who referred others had been moved toward the front; LBRY changed the rule so a place came from the people someone had referred plus the weeks they had waited, let in about 2,000 people that way, and planned about 500 more a week.

    Take from it

    Say how the order is decided and how many people you let in each week, and say so in public when the rule changes. In LaunchList, "Invite people" takes the most referrals first, then the order people signed up.

The details

Early access controls for each batch and each feature.

  • A button inside your product

    Your backend adds a signed-in user with one API call and keeps your own user ID beside them. Calling again for the same person returns the signup you already have.On every plan

  • Referrals set the order

    Every signup gets a link to pass on, and "Invite people" starts with whoever brought the most friends, so your keenest people are in the first batch.On every plan

  • One code for a whole group

    Give a community or a partner team a single code that stops after the number of seats you set and accepts only the email domains you list.From the Launch plan

  • Invites on a trigger

    An automation can invite someone the moment they reach the number of referrals you choose, so nobody waits for you to pick them by hand.From the Launch plan

  • The day it opens to all

    Email everyone still waiting when the product or the feature opens to all, from the same list, inside your plan's emails a month.From the Collect plan

  • Your backend kept in step

    Signed webhooks tell your app when someone is invited, uses their code or has it turned off, so it can switch the feature on or off for that person.On every plan
FAQ

Early access signup: waves, referrals and testers.

What is an early access signup?
A form where people ask to use a product or a feature before it opens to everyone. Unlike a newsletter signup, it promises one thing, access, and you decide who gets it and when: a small batch at a time, so the first people get proper attention and each group teaches you something before the next one comes in.
How do I invite users in waves with LaunchList?
On Signups, filter to the people you want, for example by an answer they gave, select them and press "Invite"; one press covers up to 1,000 people. Or press "Invite people" on the Invites tab, enter a number, and LaunchList picks subscribed signups with the most referrals first. Each person gets an email with their own code, and Analytics shows how many from each batch used theirs. The Free plan covers your first 100 invites, and the Collect, Launch and Grow plans have no limit.
Can I require a referral to get in?
Not as a hard rule, but you can let referrals decide the order. Sort Signups by "Most referrals" and invite from the top, or let "Invite people" pick, since it takes the people with the most referrals first. On the Launch and Grow plans, an automation can also invite people for you at a referral count you set.
Can I ask for custom information at signup?
Yes. Add questions to the signup form, such as a "Dropdown" for the plan they are on, a "Single choice" for the feature they want first or a "Short text" for what they would use it for. Each answer is saved with the signup, so you can filter Signups by it, include it in a CSV export and receive it with the signup in a webhook.
Does LaunchList send trial-start or early-access emails?
It sends the early access email: everyone you invite gets one with their own code and a link to their private status page, where a "Claim access" button waits. You can rewrite its words, and these emails never count toward a plan's emails a month. To tell everyone still waiting that you are open, send a campaign, on the Collect, Launch and Grow plans. A trial-start email comes from your own product once the person has an account, because LaunchList does not create accounts or start trials.
Is a waitlist overkill for a small early access?
For 20 people you already know, a spreadsheet and a personal email to each is enough. A waitlist earns its place once more people want in than you can take, you need to choose who goes first, or want to know whose code was used without asking. LaunchList costs nothing for your first 100 contacts, so a small early access can start there and grow.
How do I invite testers into TestFlight or Google Play closed testing?
Through a file, since LaunchList has no connection to App Store Connect or Play Console. Ask which phone each person uses, filter Signups to iPhone or to Android, and export that view as a CSV file. In App Store Connect, add the iPhone group as external testers by email or from a CSV file, up to 10,000 per app; in Play Console, put the Android addresses on an email list for closed testing, which holds up to 2,000.
Closed beta or open beta: which should I run?
Run a closed beta while the product still breaks in ways you need to watch: you choose each tester, keep the group small enough to talk to, and add people as fixes land. Move to an open beta once it holds up and you want volume more than control; anyone can join, so no list or code is needed. Starting closed is the safer order, because a beta is hard to close again once everyone is in.
Can I run early access for a new feature in an app people already use?
Yes. Put a "Get early access" button in your app that adds the signed-in person to a LaunchList project with one API call; switch "Ask people to verify their email" off on that form, since your app knows them already. When the feature is ready for more people, invite the next batch, and have your app turn it on for each person whose code is used. One project holds one list, so two features with separate lines need a project each.

Let the people who asked in first.

Open the list before the build is done, and every batch you invite will be people who asked to be there and said what they need it for.

Build your waitlist

Free for your first 100 contactsNo credit card needed