LaunchList
Start free
For AI startups

Waitlist software for AI startups

LaunchList runs the waitlist for an AI app or agent before it opens to everyone, so you can let people in only as fast as your capacity grows.

Start from this pageHow AI launches work

Free for your first 100 contactsNo credit card needed

AI startup waitlist landing page template: Marlo in the Midnight style

Midnight. Dark and focused: a near-black page with a soft glow behind the headline and cards that read as lit surfaces. Suits AI, developer and fintech products.

Marlo is a made-up assistant for company data, so its answers, numbers and prices are examples. Start from it and the words describe your product, from its name and one sentence of yours.

At a glance

Updated

What it is
The line in front of an AI app or agent: who is waiting, what they want it for, and who goes next.
Starting page
Marlo, the AI tool template: a text-led page with a product demo, the questions it answers as cards, and pricing.
Access
Up to 1,000 people a press, each with an invite that works once; the Free plan includes the first 100 invites.
Works with
Your own app, where one API call checks each code, and Claude or ChatGPT, which can run the list through LaunchList's MCP server. Accounts, usage limits and billing stay in your product.
Price
The first 100 contacts are free, and a bigger list is billed by its size, monthly or yearly.
How launches work

How an AI launch opens, from a waitlist to open signup.

Every user an AI product lets in costs compute and shows you how it gets used, so the question is how fast to open the door.

  • A waitlist, then waves

    You let in a few people, learn what each one costs and does, then let in more. OpenAI opened GPT-4 to developers this way, inviting them gradually to balance capacity with demand.

    Source: OpenAI, GPT-4, March 14, 2023

    Use it when

    Each user costs real inference and you can only take so many a week.

  • Open signup with a usage limit

    Anyone can sign up, and an allowance of requests or credits caps what each person costs you. Nobody waits, but nobody gets unlimited use either.

    Use it when

    You can afford every user, just not unlimited use, and the product is ready.

  • A developer preview

    Builders get in first, with a limited number of places, and their feedback shapes the product. GitHub ran Copilot as a technical preview for a year, with more than 1.2 million developers in it, before it opened to all.

    Sources: GitHub blog, June 29, 2021 and GitHub blog, June 21, 2022.

    Use it when

    Your first users build on your model or API.

Where LaunchList fits

A usage limit or a developer preview needs no waitlist; reach for one only when access itself is scarce.

When to use it

Waitlist or open signup for an AI product: how to choose.

A good fit when

  • Your inference budget sets how many people you can serve each week.
  • You want to see what people will use it for before you open it to everyone.
  • Your agent acts on people's accounts or data, and you want to watch the first users closely.
  • You want the people who share it to get in first.

Not the right fit when

  • Each user costs you little and the product is ready: let everyone in with a usage cap instead.
  • You want to charge for early access: LaunchList takes no payments.
  • You only want to tell people when you launch, with no access to give: a newsletter is enough.
Set it up

AI waitlist batches sized to what your models can serve.

  1. Ask what they will use it for

    Give your signup form two questions: the use case as a "Single choice", the company as "Short text". Both answers become filters on Signups.On every plan

  2. Invite as many as you can serve

    Filter Signups by use case, select as many people as this week's capacity allows and press "Invite". Each of them gets an invite code by email.On every plan

  3. Run it from your own agent

    Connect LaunchList to Claude or ChatGPT through its MCP server, then ask for today's signups, or have it invite named people, up to 50 at a time.On every plan

In the docs: connecting your AI agent, adding questions to your form and how invites work.

Real launches

How DALL·E and Notion AI let people in.

  • DALL·E

    2022, OpenAI

    Sources:OpenAI, July 20, 2022OpenAI, September 28, 2022

    What they did

    A research preview for 200 artists, researchers and trusted users in April; from July, invitations to 1 million people from the waitlist over the following weeks; by September, no waitlist and more than 1.5 million users.

    Take from it

    Open in steps you choose, and say when the next step comes. Each batch in LaunchList is one press of "Invite", sized to what you can serve that week.

  • Notion AI

    2022 to 2023, Notion

    Sources:Notion blog, November 16, 2022Notion blog, February 22, 2023

    What they did

    A private alpha open by waitlist only from November 2022, then ten weeks of testing on an invite-only basis, then open to everyone in February 2023, after nearly two million waitlist signups.

    Take from it

    An AI feature added to an existing product can open from a waitlist too. Invite the users you already know first, and ask them what they would use it for.

The details

Guardrails and hand-offs for an AI waitlist.

  • Bots held at the door

    Each device and each IP address can only send so many signups, and a device behind several of them raises each one's spam score.On every plan

  • Your own CAPTCHA

    Bring keys for Turnstile, reCAPTCHA or hCaptcha and turn the challenge on for the forms scrapers will find first.On every plan

  • A form inside your app

    Collect signups from your own React or Next.js frontend with a headless form, or from your backend through the API.On every plan

  • Rewards your product gives

    Set a reward at 3 or 10 referrals. A jump up the line or bonus points happen on their own; credits in your product are yours to hand out, and a reward.granted webhook tells your app who earned them.From the Collect plan

  • Saved use-case segments

    Save "Researchers" or "Teams over 50" as segments that keep themselves up to date, and open either one to pick the next batch.From the Launch plan

  • A note before each wave

    Tell the next batch what has changed since they signed up, by email from the same list, before their codes go out.From the Collect plan
FAQ

Questions about running an AI waitlist.

Why do AI startups use waitlists instead of open access?
To open no faster than they can serve people well, and to learn what the product is used for before everyone arrives. OpenAI, for one, let developers into GPT-4 a few at a time so capacity could keep up, and opened DALL·E to everyone in stages.
How do I rate-limit access to my AI product?
Let people in by batch rather than all at once. Filter Signups, select up to 1,000 and press "Invite", or let "Invite people" pick those with the most referrals. LaunchList has no daily drip of its own: you decide when each batch goes, or an automation invites people once they bring a number of friends, on the Launch and Grow plans. Usage limits inside the product stay in your own code.
Can I prioritize users by use case or company?
Yes. Put a use-case question and a company question on the signup form, filter Signups by the answers, and invite the people who fit first. Everyone else keeps their place in line.
What referral reward works for AI products?
Earlier access, since it costs you nothing and it is what people on an AI waitlist want: LaunchList can jump a referrer ahead in line by itself. Credits or a newer model inside your product work too; you hand those out, and the reward.granted webhook names who earned one. Referral rewards need the Collect, Launch and Grow plans.
Does LaunchList handle abuse and bots on an AI waitlist?
Yes, on every plan. Every signup gets a spam score, signups from one device or one IP address are capped, and a referral only counts after the friend confirms by email. For a launch that scrapers will find, add your own CAPTCHA keys as well.
Can I run the waitlist from Claude or ChatGPT?
Yes. LaunchList is an MCP server, so an AI agent you connect can read your signups, tag people and invite people by name, as many as 50 in one call, using the same actions you have in the dashboard. It cannot delete anyone or publish a page, and connecting costs nothing extra on any plan.
How much does it cost to run an AI waitlist?
The Free plan holds 100 contacts with no card, and it already includes the page, invite codes and the MCP server. A bigger waitlist is billed on its size, by the month or the year.

An AI waitlist that opens at your pace.

Your capacity sets the pace, and you choose who comes through the door in each batch.

Build your waitlist

Free for your first 100 contactsNo credit card needed