How are products ranked on Vuru?

By upvote count within a launch window. Daily uses 24 hours from midnight UTC, and there are weekly, monthly and all-time boards using the same rule over longer periods.

What does the #1 badge mean?

It means the product finished first by upvotes in that window. The top three of each day keep gold, silver or bronze badges permanently on their listing. Badges cannot be purchased.

Can I vote for my own product?

Yes, once, from your own account. What is not allowed is creating additional accounts or incentivising votes, which results in removal.

Does the time I launch affect my ranking?

Only through how much of the window you get. Launching early in the UTC day gives you the full 24 hours to gather votes, which matters if you are close to a badge and is otherwise irrelevant.

Do star ratings affect ranking?

No. Ranking is upvotes only. Star ratings show on your listing and shape how people judge the product, but they do not move you up or down a board.

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How Vuru Ranking Works (And How to Win a Badge)

27 August 20267 min read

Diagram of the daily, weekly, monthly and all-time ranking windows

The short answer

Products are ranked by upvotes within a launch window, and the top three of each day keep a badge permanently. Daily, weekly, monthly and all-time boards all use the same rule over longer periods, so a slow build can still win a month after losing its day. One vote per account per product, and vote manipulation gets accounts removed.

Most launch boards do not explain how ranking works, which means makers end up optimising for imagined mechanics. Ours is deliberately simple, and this is all of it.

Launch windows

A launch day runs midnight to midnight UTC. Products are ranked within that window by upvote count. When the window closes, the top three keep their badge permanently — it stays on the product page and in the feed for as long as the listing exists.

Board	Window	What it rewards
Daily	24 hours, UTC	A concentrated launch day
Weekly	7 days	Steady interest across a week
Monthly	30 days	Products that build slowly
All time	Everything	Durable, lasting interest

The four boards, all using the same underlying rule.

What counts as a vote

One vote per account per product. Voting again removes your vote — it is a toggle, not a counter.
You need an account to vote. Anonymous voting would make the board meaningless within a week.
Votes are not weighted by account age or activity. A new account's vote counts the same as ours.
Imported listings may carry a historical vote count from their original source. That figure is shown as-is and is separate from votes cast here.

The podium badges

Top three in a window earn a badge: gold for first, silver for second, bronze for third. They appear next to the product name in every feed it shows up in. There is no way to buy one, and we do not hand them out for anything other than finishing in the top three.

What actually moves ranking

Having watched a lot of launches now, the pattern is consistent and slightly deflating: the biggest single factor is whether anyone knew you were launching.

**Told people beforehand.** Not asking for votes — just building in public for a few weeks so the launch is not a surprise.
**A tagline that works in a list.** Most people only ever see your name, one line, and a small logo. See how to write a product tagline.
**A first screenshot that explains the product.** It is what appears when anyone shares your launch.
**Replying to every comment.** Threads with maker replies keep pulling people back in a way nothing else does.
**Launching early in the window.** Only matters if you are close to a badge, but it costs nothing to post at the start of the UTC day.

Bar chart of factors that move ranking, led by pre-launch awareness — Whether anyone knew you were coming outweighs everything else.

Vote manipulation

We will be blunt about this because it is the one thing that would make the board worthless. Multiple accounts, incentivised voting, paid engagement and vote rings are all straightforward to spot in the data, and accounts doing it get removed without a warning.

The practical argument against it is stronger than the moral one: votes obtained that way produce no users. You end up with a number next to your name and an empty analytics dashboard. There is more on this in our content policy.

Reviews and ratings are separate

Upvotes and star ratings do different jobs. Upvotes are a signal of interest on a given day and drive ranking. Star ratings reflect experience of actually using the product and do not affect ranking at all.

A product can rank first with no reviews, and a product with a 5.0 average can sit low on the board. If you want reviews, ask for them properly — they matter more than ranking for anyone evaluating you months later.

Frequently asked questions

How are products ranked on Vuru?: By upvote count within a launch window. Daily uses 24 hours from midnight UTC, and there are weekly, monthly and all-time boards using the same rule over longer periods.
What does the #1 badge mean?: It means the product finished first by upvotes in that window. The top three of each day keep gold, silver or bronze badges permanently on their listing. Badges cannot be purchased.
Can I vote for my own product?: Yes, once, from your own account. What is not allowed is creating additional accounts or incentivising votes, which results in removal.
Does the time I launch affect my ranking?: Only through how much of the window you get. Launching early in the UTC day gives you the full 24 hours to gather votes, which matters if you are close to a badge and is otherwise irrelevant.
Do star ratings affect ranking?: No. Ranking is upvotes only. Star ratings show on your listing and shape how people judge the product, but they do not move you up or down a board.

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