- #germany
- #german-language
- #software-downloads
- #desktop-apps
Submit to heise Download
The software download catalogue of the German tech publisher heise: programs, apps and web services for Windows, Mac, Linux and phones, sorted into categories with reader ratings and comments. Makers register as a developer with a heise online account and add or update their own program entries, and each product page has a button that goes to the maker's website. The whole catalogue is in German, and the FAQ says nobody has a right to be listed.
heise.de · Checked
heise Download at a glance
- Pricing
- Free
- Developer registration is free (the button reads 'Kostenlos Entwickler werden'). For commercial software the FAQ says to email software@heise.de about a commercial listing; no price is published. A 24-hour 'Deal des Tages' promotion is arranged on request, also with no price shown.
- Link type
- Dofollow
- Three product pages inspected: the 'Website besuchen' button links straight to the maker's site with no rel attribute, e.g. https://www.heise.de/download/product/artcraft and https://www.heise.de/download/product/advanced-ip-scanner-19718. One other, older product page carried a noindex robots tag, so thin entries may not be indexed. Whether a brand-new developer entry always gets the same button was not confirmed (checked 2026-11-12) What a dofollow link is
- Review
- Manual review
- Link back required
- No
- Account required
- Yes
- Domain Rating
- DR91
- Domain Rating by Ahrefs, checked Nov 12, 2026. A score of the whole site’s backlinks, not a Google metric.
- Tranco rank
- Not ranked
- No Tranco rank on record for this site.
- Who browses it
- German-speaking heise online readers looking for software, apps and games to download, mostly for desktop systems
- Last checked
How to submit to heise Download
Open the heise Download submission page
This is the page makers use to add a product.
Create an account
heise Download asks you to sign up before you can submit.
Have your assets ready
Name, tagline, description, logo and screenshots. The checklist below covers what to prepare so you can fill the form in one go.
Fill in the form carefully
Pick the most specific category the form offers and write the description for the people who browse heise Download (German-speaking heise online readers looking for software, apps and games to download, mostly for desktop systems), not for search engines.
Wait for review
A person reviews submissions, so it can take a while. Once it’s live, check the link on your listing points to the right page.
Tips for heise Download
- You need a heise online account first: the developer page only shows its free sign-up button once you are logged in, and the upload form for your program sits in the developer area behind it.
- The FAQ warns that suggested new entries can take several weeks to be processed and checked by the team, and that there is no guarantee of being included.
- Software has to be legal and either downloadable or sold as a full version. Makers of commercial software are asked to email software@heise.de with the subject 'Kommerzielle Listung bei heise Download' instead.
- The editors write the short description themselves from what the maker suggests, so send plain factual text plus your own screenshot of the program; the FAQ says entries without a screenshot simply had none on file.
From heise Download’s own guidelines and pages, in our words.
What to prepare
The basics every directory asks for, plus what matters most for regional startup directories.
- Product name and a one-line tagline (about 60 characters)
- A short description (1–2 sentences) and a longer one (a short paragraph)
- Square logo, at least 256×256 px, PNG or SVG
- 2–3 screenshots at a consistent size
- The exact page you want the link to point to
- Pricing model (free, freemium or paid) and a contact email
- Where the company is registered and where the team is based
- Founding year, team size and stage
- A description in the local language, if the directory publishes in one
- Links to local press, accelerator or programme pages, if you have them
Is heise Download worth it?
Good for your SEO foundation
heise Download reviews listings by hand and the listing link we inspected was followed. That combination is what makes a directory link worth having for a new site.
- Domain Rating by Ahrefs: 91 (top tier). That's the strength of links to the whole site, not a promise about what your listing passes on.
- No Tranco rank on record, so we can’t say how much traffic it gets.
- A person reviews submissions, so expect a wait and a real quality bar.
- Free to list, so the only cost is your time.
This verdict is worked out from the facts above with fixed rules (link type, review, price, Domain Rating by Ahrefs, Tranco rank), not paid for. The directory has no say in it.
Questions about heise Download
Is heise Download free?
Yes. Listing on heise Download is free. Pricing details: Developer registration is free (the button reads 'Kostenlos Entwickler werden'). For commercial software the FAQ says to email software@heise.de about a commercial listing; no price is published. A 24-hour 'Deal des Tages' promotion is arranged on request, also with no price shown. We checked on Nov 12, 2026.
Does heise Download give a dofollow link?
Yes. The listing link we inspected was a followed (dofollow) link. Evidence: Three product pages inspected: the 'Website besuchen' button links straight to the maker's site with no rel attribute, e.g. https://www.heise.de/download/product/artcraft and https://www.heise.de/download/product/advanced-ip-scanner-19718. One other, older product page carried a noindex robots tag, so thin entries may not be indexed. Whether a brand-new developer entry always gets the same button was not confirmed (checked 2026-11-12).
How do I submit to heise Download?
Submit at https://www.heise.de/download/developer/join. You need an account first. A person reviews each submission before it goes live. Tip: You need a heise online account first: the developer page only shows its free sign-up button once you are logged in, and the upload form for your program sits in the developer area behind it.
Alternatives to heise Download
All regional startup directoriesFree + paid options · DR 77 · Tranco #67,244
Free · DR 81 · Tranco #99,232
Free + paid options · DR 73 · Tranco #125,165
Free · DR 75 · Tranco #133,687
Free + paid options · DR 76 · Tranco #172,946
Free · DR 67 · Tranco #224,723
Also in these lists
heise Download appears on these niche lists, next to other places to submit the same kind of product.
Sources
The pages we opened on Nov 12, 2026 to write this page.