Directory software
Online directory software: what to check before you choose
Directory software is what a directory website runs on. This page covers what it does, the questions worth asking before you pick one, and DirectoryDuck's answer to each, including what it does not do.
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What does directory software do?
Directory software keeps a list of businesses, tools or people, publishes it as a searchable website with a page for each listing, and helps you fill the list and keep it current; on DirectoryDuck's Free plan that is one directory with up to 100 listings, for $0.
DirectoryDuck finds businesses that fit your niche for you to approve. It hosts the directory at directoryduck.com/your-name, or puts it on the site you already have with one script tag. Businesses can claim their listings, visitors leave reviews that wait for your approval, inquiries land in your dashboard and, on Starter and up, you can sell featured spots.
What to check before you choose directory software
Six questions tell directory software apart. Each has DirectoryDuck's answer.
1. How do the listings get in?
An empty directory gives its first visitor no reason to stay, so ask how the first listings will arrive. DirectoryDuck has three ways in. AI discovery searches the web for businesses that fit your niche, reads each website and drafts a listing (name, website, description, contact details, location and categories) for you to approve. A CSV import brings in listings you already have, as prospects you publish in one click. Or you add them by hand.
A discovery job costs 10 credits, plus 1 for the web search and 2 for each business found, and the Free plan includes 100 starter credits. Check AI-drafted details before you publish: extraction can get a phone number or an address wrong. See how AI discovery works.
2. Who sells featured spots, and who collects the payment?
Selling featured spots is a common way for a directory to earn, so check who sets the price and who takes the money. In DirectoryDuck you set the price, sell the spot to the business and collect the payment yourself; DirectoryDuck takes no payment from the business. You pick the listing and an end date, and it shows first, with a Featured badge, on the hosted page, in the embed and in the listings widget until that date.
Featured listings are on Starter and up, with up to 10 per directory at a time. The local business directory page walks through selling one.
3. Can it run on your own domain?
On the Free plan the directory lives at directoryduck.com/your-name. Your own domain starts on Starter at $39/mo, with one domain; Growth and Pro allow one per directory. You buy the domain from a registrar, then add the DNS records shown in the directory's settings. DirectoryDuck does not sell domains.
4. Can search engines index the listings?
If search traffic is part of the plan, check how the listing pages are rendered. DirectoryDuck's hosted page is rendered on the server, with its own page for every published listing, so search engines can read it. While a directory has fewer than 5 published listings, its pages ask search engines not to index them, and that lifts once you publish enough.
The embed is drawn by JavaScript in the visitor's browser, so search engines may not index embedded listings as part of your site. The embed guide explains the trade-off.
5. Can you take your data with you?
Yes: export your listings to CSV or JSON, and your reviews to CSV, from the dashboard at any time, on every plan.
6. Is there an API, and can an AI agent use it?
The public REST API is on every plan, with the same rate limits on each. It reads your published listings and reviews and accepts new reviews and inquiries, for a front end you build yourself (API reference).
The MCP server lets an AI agent such as Claude or Cursor work on your account. On Starter and up a key can call every tool, from creating a directory to running discovery and publishing listings. On Free it can call the 3 read-only tools (list_listings, get_discovery_job and get_embed_snippet) and start_checkout. See the MCP server guide.
DirectoryDuck's plans
Prices are in US dollars. Paid plans are available now, billed monthly or yearly. The full limits and the credit packs are on pricing.
Free $0
- 1 directory at directoryduck.com/your-name
- 100 listings
- 100 starter credits
- DirectoryDuck branding
- Embeddable widgets
- Embed the directory on your site
- Public API
Starter $39/mo or $390/yr
- 1 directory
- 500 listings
- 250 credits/mo
- Embeddable widgets and public API
- Your own domain
- Embed the directory on your site
- Featured listings
- MCP server for AI agents (Claude, Cursor)
Growth $99/mo or $990/yr
- Everything in Starter
- 5 directories
- 2,000 listings each
- 1,000 credits/mo
- Own domain per directory
Pro $249/mo or $2,490/yr
- Everything in Growth
- Unlimited directories and listings
- 5,000 credits/mo
- MCP server at the highest rate limit
- Remove DirectoryDuck branding
What DirectoryDuck does not do
- No WordPress plugin. One script tag puts the directory on a WordPress page, but embedded listings may not be indexed as part of your site.
- No member logins or dues. The businesses you list do not get accounts and there are no paid memberships. A business can claim its listing by confirming its email address; once you approve the claim, it becomes the listing's contact.
- No payments from the businesses you list. DirectoryDuck bills you for your plan and any credit packs. It takes no payment from a business, for a featured spot or anything else, and has no paid claims or pay-per-lead billing.
- No visitors by itself. Publishing makes a directory reachable, but a new site has no search rankings and no audience yet. DirectoryDuck does not promise rankings, traffic or income.
If you are still at the idea stage, how to build a directory website covers the decisions before you sign up, and Explore has real directory websites to look at first.
Questions about directory software
- What is the best directory software?
- The one that fits how your directory will fill up and earn. Check how listings get in, who sells featured spots and collects the payment, whether it runs on your own domain, whether search engines can index the listing pages, whether you can export your data, and what the API allows. This page answers each of those for DirectoryDuck.
- Is there free directory software?
- Yes. DirectoryDuck's Free plan is $0 and includes one directory at directoryduck.com/your-name, 100 listings, 100 starter credits for AI discovery, the embed, the widgets and the public API. Your own domain and featured listings start on Starter at $39/mo.
- Does DirectoryDuck work with WordPress?
- Yes, through the embed rather than a plugin: one script tag on a WordPress page shows the whole directory there, with search, category filters, listing pages and an inquiry form, on every plan. Embedded listings may not be indexed as part of your site, so keep the hosted page as well if search traffic matters.
- Can I run a membership directory with DirectoryDuck?
- No. There are no member logins and no dues: the directory owner manages every listing. A business can claim its listing by confirming its email address, and once you approve the claim it becomes the listing's contact.
Pick a niche. We'll find the first listings.
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