Best waitlist software,
compared

The one that fits your launch. For a waitlist you want to start free and run in one place (page, trust checks, referrals, email and invites), LaunchList, free for 100 contacts, then from $9 a month on the Collect plan. For several referral campaigns at once, Prefinery. For a simple widget whose price does not grow with your list, Getwaitlist. For a page builder whose price does not grow with subscribers, Waitlister. For contests and giveaways, KickoffLabs. For referral programs with existing customers, Viral Loops.

Counted across the 63 features on the full comparison pages: LaunchList includes 57, Waitlister includes 38, KickoffLabs includes 35, Viral Loops includes 34, Mailchimp includes 31, ConvertKit (Kit) includes 30, Prefinery includes 29 and Getwaitlist includes 20. From one list, LaunchList runs the page and the form, scores every signup for trust, credits referrals and rewards, emails your whole list, sends automatic email series and invites, and gives you analytics, an API, webhooks and an MCP server.

Every tool in the chart has a REST API: LaunchList (Every plan), Prefinery (From Essentials), Getwaitlist (Small documented set), Waitlister (Full from Growth), KickoffLabs, Viral Loops (From Plus), ConvertKit (Kit) and Mailchimp. LaunchList's comes with a published OpenAPI file, read-only or full-access keys and signed webhooks with retries, and an MCP server lets an AI assistant work on your list. Its official Zapier and Make apps work both ways, its official Slack app posts signups to a channel and its Google Sheets app adds each new signup to a sheet, all on the Launch and Grow plans. Its WordPress plugin and Framer plugin are on every plan, and ChatGPT and Claude list it in their app directories.

Two ways. AI that writes your waitlist page: LaunchList (From one sentence), Waitlister (With monthly credits) and KickoffLabs (Drafts from a brief), and in part Viral Loops (AI picks a template) and ConvertKit (Kit) (Through its MCP, paid plans). An MCP server, so an AI assistant you already use can read and work on your list: LaunchList (Listed in ChatGPT and Claude), Waitlister (Official, every plan), Viral Loops (Participants and rewards, from Plus), ConvertKit (Kit) (Creator and Pro) and Mailchimp (Standard and Premium plans). LaunchList does both: AI writes your page from one sentence about your product, and you ask for changes in plain words.

Removing the tool's own branding: LaunchList (From the Launch plan), Prefinery (From Essentials), Waitlister (From Launch), KickoffLabs (Business plan), ConvertKit (Kit) (Every paid plan) and Mailchimp (Every paid plan). In part: Getwaitlist (Widget from Advanced, emails Pro) and Viral Loops (From Growing). On LaunchList, our branding comes off from the Launch plan, your page runs on your own domain from the Collect plan, and email goes from your own domain from the Launch plan.

The lowest paid plan of each tool in the chart, billed monthly: LaunchList at $9/mo (Collect plan, 500 contacts), Mailchimp at $13/mo (Essentials, 500 contacts, US price), Getwaitlist at $15/mo (Basic, unlimited signups), Waitlister at $19/mo (Launch, unlimited subscribers), KickoffLabs at $19/mo (Hobby, 500 leads a month), ConvertKit (Kit) at $39/mo (Creator, 1,000 subscribers), Prefinery at $49/mo (Lite, 1,000 users) and Viral Loops at $49/mo (Start-up, 1,000 participants). The entry price says little on its own. What a plan includes, and what it costs at the list size you expect, differ far more, so compare both before you choose.

LaunchList (100 contacts), Waitlister (100, no referrals or email), KickoffLabs (50 leads a month), ConvertKit (Kit) (Up to 10,000 subscribers) and Mailchimp (250 contacts) have a free plan. Prefinery (14-day trial), Getwaitlist (Closed to new accounts) and Viral Loops (14-day trial, 10 participants) do not. Before you rely on one, see whether it includes referrals and email.

Billed monthly, for 10,000 signups: ConvertKit (Kit) at $0/mo (Free plan, up to 10,000), Getwaitlist at $15/mo (Basic), LaunchList at $19/mo (Collect plan), Waitlister at $19/mo (Launch), Prefinery at $94/mo (Lite with extra users), KickoffLabs at $145/mo (Business, 10,000 leads a month) and Viral Loops at $229/mo (Growing). Some tools count the people on your list, one counts everyone who has ever joined, and one counts new signups each month, so check how each one counts before you compare.

One you can start free and pay for as your list grows. LaunchList starts free for 100 contacts, and the Collect plan is from $9 a month, billed monthly, and grows with your list. Contacts past your size are held for you, not deleted, so there is no surprise bill.

For collecting signups, yes: both have signup forms and landing pages. What they do not have is the waitlist around it. Mailchimp has no referral links of its own, no place in line and no invite codes. Kit has referral links only on its Pro plan, through SparkLoop, and no leaderboard of its own, place in line or invite codes.

Export your list as a CSV file from the tool you use now, then import it into the new one. LaunchList imports a CSV export from Prefinery, Getwaitlist, Waitlister, KickoffLabs and Viral Loops, and each tool's own comparison page lists the steps.

We make LaunchList, so we have a reason to favor it, and we have tried to be fair anyway. Every other tool's facts were read on its own website (its pricing page, feature pages and help docs), last checked on October 21, 2026. The LaunchList column comes from the product and our live price list. Prices and plans change, so check each tool's pricing page before you buy.

LaunchList is pre-launch waitlist software for founders, from a first launch to an established startup. It gives you a hosted waitlist page or a form for your own site, a trust check on every signup, referrals and rewards, email broadcasts and automations, invites for early access, and analytics, all working from one list.

The Free plan covers 100 contacts at no cost. Paid plans are priced by the size of your list, from 500 to 100,000 contacts: the Collect plan from $9 a month, the Launch plan from $19 a month and the Grow plan from $39 a month. Yearly billing is 2 months free. There is no charge for extra contacts: contacts past your size are kept, never deleted. Extra campaign emails are $3 per 1,000, and you approve the charge first.