What is ShipAny Dir?
ShipAny Dir is a directory and navigation-site template built on ShipAny TanStack. It ships as an AI tools directory, and one config entry turns it into a directory for any niche: SaaS tools, MCP servers, agents, templates or startups.
Besides the directory itself, it has the ways makers pay you: premium submissions and monthly sponsor ads, settled by webhook and taken down again on refund. Every listing, category and tag page gets a keyword title, JSON-LD and a sitemap entry, so the site can rank from day one.
Underneath sits the full ShipAny SaaS engine (auth, payments, credits, RBAC, blog and an admin panel), so you focus on content instead of plumbing.
Who it's for
- Founders launching an AI tools directory
- SEO builders who monetize listings and ads
- Communities curating tools for a niche
- Developers who want a ready-made directory engine
Key features
Rich tool pages
Intro, how to use, features, use cases, FAQ, pros and cons, screenshots, extra links, badges and alternatives on every listing.
Categories, tags and collections
Browse by category or tag, curate collections, follow a "just added" feed and search across the directory.
Free and premium submissions
Free submissions go through admin review; a one-time premium submission goes live at once, is featured for 30 days and gets followed links.
Sponsor ads
Monthly Platinum, Gold and Silver placements with limited spots per tier, plus an admin-placed top banner.
Programmatic SEO
Keyword titles from each page's own data, canonical and hreflang, JSON-LD on every page type, indexable pagination, sitemap and llms.txt.
Maker self-service
Makers edit and preview their listings, upgrade to premium, resubmit after a rejection and track their ads under /settings.
Multiple directory types
Tools by default; add another type such as /mcp with a single config entry.
English and Chinese
Every page and every entry can be translated, served under a /zh URL prefix.
What's included
- Framework
- TanStack Start, React 19, TypeScript
- UI
- Tailwind CSS 4, shadcn/ui
- Database
- Drizzle ORM: SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Turso, Cloudflare D1
- Auth
- better-auth: email, Google, GitHub
- Payments
- Stripe, Creem, PayPal, Alipay, WeChat Pay
- Monetization
- Premium submissions, monthly sponsor ads
- SEO
- pSEO titles, JSON-LD, hreflang, sitemap, robots.txt, llms.txt
- Admin
- Review queue, categories, tags, collections, ads, plus the full ShipAny admin
- Deployment
- Cloudflare Workers, Node or Docker
Getting started
- 1
Run it locally
pnpm install, copy .env.example and set AUTH_SECRET, run db:push and rbac:init with your admin email, then pnpm dev.
- 2
Pick your niche
Rename the directory type, rewrite the dir.* copy in both locale files and set your brand, colors and logo.
- 3
Add content
Create categories, tags and tools in /admin, or load the demo data with pnpm dir:seed and remove it before launch.
- 4
Turn on payments and deploy
Set prices and sponsor tiers, connect a payment provider in Admin → Settings, deploy and submit the sitemap to Google.
What you can build with ShipAny Dir
AI tools directories
A curated index of AI products with paid listings and sponsor slots.
MCP and agent directories
List MCP servers, agents or prompts as an extra directory type.
Niche SaaS directories
Design tools, dev tools, startups or any vertical you know well.
SEO traffic sites
Thousands of keyword-targeted listing, category and tag pages that earn search traffic.
FAQ
Can I use it for something other than AI tools?
Yes. Rename the directory type and its copy, or add more types such as /mcp. Categories, tags and tools are all managed in the admin panel.
How does the directory make money?
Makers pay for premium submissions (instant publishing, 30 days featured, followed links) and for monthly sponsor ads with limited spots per tier. Prices are set in code.
Do I need a payment provider to launch?
No. Without one the site still works with free submissions only; connect Stripe, Creem, PayPal, Alipay or WeChat Pay when you are ready to charge.
Does it come with sample data?
Optionally. pnpm dir:seed loads 8 categories, 15 tags and 30 AI tools; pnpm dir:seed --clean removes them again without touching real submissions.
Where can I deploy it?
Cloudflare Workers with D1 or Postgres, a Node server, or Docker.