For a SaaS company, HubSpot's partner directory is the App Marketplace, and HubSpot doesn't publish how it ranks listings there. Its partner guides name the inputs instead, which are reviews, installs, relevance to the buyer's setup and partner tier. Since January 2026, partners can also see their average position for every search term that surfaces their app. Certification adds a filter and a badge, not a documented ranking boost.
The other directory, the Solutions Directory, is for agencies, and since July 2026 joining it costs $400 a month. If you're looking for an agency, start with our guide to HubSpot integration agencies in the Solutions Directory.
Whether your team builds and lists the app itself or hands it off, the listing is where enterprise buyers check your HubSpot integration before a deal moves, and HubSpot says the Marketplace "sees over 1 million visits per month." Appnigma builds and ships native HubSpot apps for SaaS companies. Its marketplace apps projects include listing preparation, with HubSpot listing review and certification support where an app is eligible. A listing supports discovery and evaluation, but it isn't a promise of inbound leads.
Updated October 2026. Rewritten against HubSpot's current Marketplace and partner program documentation. It removes a ranking boost for certified apps that HubSpot doesn't document, and adds the 2026 partner tiers, listing analytics and review rules.
What HubSpot says affects placement
HubSpot doesn't publish its Marketplace ranking formula. Its partner material does name the inputs, and reviews come first. HubSpot's review sourcing guide for partners says "Higher review volume, strong star ratings, and recent activity all contribute to better placement in search results and featured sections."
Installs and fit matter for recommendations. The Technology Partner Program guide says recommendation sections "are based on factors such as customer reviews, install rates, and relevance to the user's HubSpot setup." The same guide says visibility "is influenced by your partner tier," and higher-tier partners may appear more often.
Install-driven sections such as Most popular and Now trending reward volume a new app doesn't have yet, and buyers can't filter or sort by star rating, per HubSpot's install guide. So a new app's placement starts in the listing. HubSpot's listing guide asks for the search terms buyers would use, and lets you choose up to two categories. Those two fields decide which searches the app can appear in at all. On launch day they're the only inputs you fully control, so take them from the words customers use on sales calls rather than from your positioning copy. Screenshots that show the integration working inside HubSpot, such as your app cards, convert the buyers who do find it. Copy about the company instead of the integration can hold the listing in Draft mode. Our HubSpot App Marketplace listing requirements guide covers every field.
Do certified apps rank higher?
HubSpot doesn't document a search ranking boost for certified apps. Its certification requirements list four benefits instead. A certified app gets a badge, appears when buyers apply the "HubSpot Certified App" filter, becomes eligible for curated collections, and gets favorable consideration in HubSpot's partner initiatives.
Google AI Mode and Bing's answer box currently say certified apps rank higher, citing a single Reddit comment. HubSpot's own pages don't say so. Certification still pays off through the filter and collections, and it's mandatory for the Premier tier. It's worth the review work once your buyers filter for it or your attached revenue is heading toward the upper tiers, not as a fix for a listing nobody finds. It also takes six months listed and 60 active installs before you can apply, as our guide to what HubSpot app certification requires explains.
Getting a new app its first installs and reviews
Every discovery input starts at zero, and HubSpot's rules decide how fast it grows. Before listing, apps on developer platform 2025.2 are capped at 25 installs, per the install limits changelog. Listing then needs 3 active installs from unaffiliated production accounts, and since August 19, 2026 the submission form checks this. Sandboxes and your own accounts don't count, so the first three customers have to be real ones.
Reviews follow installs, because only customers with the app installed can leave one. Each account allows only its first three reviewers, and employees, affiliates and trial users can't review at all, per rate and review apps. HubSpot emails a review request 30 days after each install, so its guide tells partners to send their own around day 45 to 60 instead. An aggregate star score appears once an app has 10 reviews.
| Stage | What HubSpot requires or offers |
|---|---|
| Before listing | Up to 25 installs, at least 3 of them active production accounts |
| Listing review | A first response within 10 business days |
| Months 1 to 6 | HubSpot's review email at day 30, and its suggested 5, 10 and 15 reviews |
| Month 6 onward | Certification opens once the app also has 60 active installs |
| Every quarter | Technology Partner tier upgrades on January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15 |
Integration reliability feeds discovery too. HubSpot counts an install as active only when the app had successful activity in that account in the past 30 days, and a call that returns an error doesn't count, per HubSpot's active install announcement. A customer whose sync has been failing for a month still has your app installed, but it drops out of your active install count. That count gates listing, certification and the 60-install bar, so an unmonitored integration loses discoverability without anyone uninstalling it. Keeping customer syncs healthy after launch is ongoing maintenance, which Appnigma's done-for-you delivery includes.
The review math is tight as well. Only customers with the app installed can review, so HubSpot's suggested 15 reviews by month six means getting reviews from up to 15 customer accounts in your first half year. Plan sales and customer success work against that calendar. A listing that launches with three friendly installs and no review plan reaches month six without the reviews or installs certification needs. Since February 2026 you can reply to each review twice, and certification requires a reply to every negative one. Our guide to building a HubSpot app covers the private distribution stage before listing.
Measuring discovery with search analytics
Since January 2026, HubSpot's search analytics show each search term that surfaced your app, with its average position. That's the only official ranking data a partner gets. Check it before rewriting a tagline or changing categories, because it shows which wording already works. A term with impressions but few clicks usually means the tagline doesn't match what the buyer typed. A term that earns clicks but few installs points at the listing page itself, such as screenshots that show your product instead of the integration.
The same analytics list the companies that viewed your listing and whether they installed. Logged-in visitors who click a screenshot or the install button also land in a Marketplace contacts segment your sales team can follow up. For a SaaS company selling to enterprise HubSpot customers, that turns the listing into a pipeline source rather than a brochure.
App Marketplace vs Solutions Directory for a SaaS company
| App Marketplace | Solutions Directory | |
|---|---|---|
| Who's listed | Apps, agents and workflow templates from Technology Partners and HubSpot | Solutions Partners, meaning service firms and agencies |
| Size, October 2026 | HubSpot says 2,000+ apps. The live catalog showed 2,632 | 3,563 partner profiles |
| How you get in | An approved app listing. You join the Technology Partner Program when it goes live | Solutions Partner membership and a directory profile |
| Cost | No listing fee, certification fee or revenue share | $400 a month since July 15, 2026, waived above $400 a month in HubSpot spend |
| Ordering HubSpot states | No published formula | "Profiles are ranked by review count as well as tier" |
| Partner tiers | Partner, Rising, Leading, Premier | Solutions partner, gold, platinum, diamond, elite |
Should a SaaS company also join the Solutions Directory?
Only if it genuinely sells HubSpot implementation services. HubSpot's 2026 entry and tiers policy requires the paid membership and a Partner Certification exam. From January 2027, a partner also has to bring HubSpot some new business each year to stay listed. The free Provider program closed to new members on February 25, 2026, so older guides describing free listings are out of date.
The directory still matters to an ISV indirectly. Solutions Partners list the integrations they specialize in on their profiles, and buyers can filter partners by supported apps. An agency that implements your app becomes a second route to customers.
Mistakes that keep a listed app hard to find
- Writing about the company. HubSpot wants copy about the integration and can hold a listing in Draft mode without it.
- Expecting certification to fix search. It adds a filter, a badge and collection eligibility, and it isn't available for six months.
- Counting sandbox installs. They don't count toward the 3 active installs needed to list.
- Letting failed syncs go unnoticed. Accounts whose calls keep failing stop counting as active installs after 30 days.
- Guessing at wording. Search analytics already shows your position for each term.
- Adding a review request at day 30. HubSpot sends one then, and a second email that week annoys the customers you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I rank higher in the HubSpot App Marketplace?
HubSpot publishes no formula. Its guides point to recent reviews, installs and partner tier, and search analytics shows where you stand for each term.
What are the HubSpot Technology Partner tiers?
Partner, Rising, Leading and Premier, set by attached revenue and reviews. Certification is preferred for Leading and mandatory for Premier.
Can Appnigma build and list our HubSpot app?
Yes. Appnigma builds native HubSpot apps for SaaS companies and prepares the listing, with HubSpot listing review and certification support where the app is eligible. HubSpot decides approval.
About the author
Sunny Chauhan is the co-founder and CEO of Appnigma AI, which builds and maintains customer integrations and native Salesforce and HubSpot apps for B2B SaaS teams. Before Appnigma, he was on Salesforce's AppExchange team, where he worked with more than 300 SaaS partners. He has spent close to a decade on the Salesforce platform, including work at Zennify, and holds Salesforce certifications including Platform Developer II, Platform App Builder, Administrator, Data Cloud Consultant, and AI Associate.
Related articles
- HubSpot Marketplace complete guide
- HubSpot app certification requirements
- Solutions Partner vs Technology Partner programs
- HubSpot App Marketplace listing, done for you
Sources
- Technology Partner Program and program guide, HubSpot
- Marketplace review sourcing and management guide, HubSpot
- Install apps in the HubSpot Marketplace, HubSpot Knowledge Base
- Rate and review apps, HubSpot Knowledge Base
- List your app and listing requirements, HubSpot Developers
- Measure app performance, HubSpot Developers
- Developer updates for January 2026, HubSpot Developer Changelog
- Certification requirements, HubSpot Developers
- Solutions Partner tiers and benefits 2026, entry and tiers policy and how tiers work, HubSpot
- Marketplace distribution app install limits, HubSpot Developer Changelog
