Why RoastRank exists
RoastRank is a pay-to-rank leaderboard. Anyone can submit a product and pay to claim the top spot in a category. To take #1 away, you pay more than the current holder. When you win, you unlock a one-line public roast at the product you just knocked down — and they can pay again to defend their spot and wipe the roast.
No ads. No API keys for users. No revenue sharing. The platform keeps 100% of bid revenue — every bid is a real commitment from a founder who thinks they belong at the top.
The loop, in four moves
- Claim. A brand-new category starts at $2. First mover gets the cheapest #1 that spot will ever have.
- Challenge. To take #1, pay at least the current price +10%, rounded up to the nearest dollar. That minimum is always shown before you pay.
- Roast. Win, and you get one 140-character jab at the product you knocked off. It goes through a quick human review before it's public.
- Defend. Knocked off? Pay the new price to reclaim #1 and delete the roast written against you. That's the whole mechanic — a constant bidding war with a public consequence.
Why it's interesting
The price of #1 in a category tracks the amount of conviction behind it. Cheap categories signal open territory; expensive ones signal that founders are willing to pay to stay. The roast gives every takedown a public edge — it's not just a number, it's a moment.
The boring-but-important part
Payments are handled by Paddle as the merchant of record, so sales tax and VAT are taken care of worldwide. Bids are final, except in one case: if two payments for the same spot land at nearly the same time, only the winning one sticks and the loser is refunded automatically. We remove spam, scams, and illegal content.