If your company works with service partners, referral partners, or tech integrations, you need a partner directory. Full stop.
It’s the foundation for discoverability — helping customers and prospects explore your ecosystem and see how your product connects to the rest of their stack. But here’s the catch: not all partner directory software is created equal.
Below, I’ll break down the top options, what they’re best for, and what to watch out for — so you can choose the one that actually helps you scale.
1. Partner Fleet 🏆
Let’s start with the obvious one. Partner Fleet is the go-to partner directory platform for B2B SaaS companies that want something fast to launch, easy to manage, and powerful enough to scale as your ecosystem grows.
Partner Fleet lets you:
- Build your partner directory in weeks, not months
- Add integrations, services, or referral partners — all organized with dynamic taxonomies
- Create listing content at scale with their AI generator
- Translate listings to dozens of languages, either by hand or using ChatGPT
- Embed your directory in-app so customers can discover and install integrations directly inside your product
- Automate partner onboarding with gated content, document signing, and approval workflows
- Allow partners to manage their own listings (saving you hours of admin work)
It’s purpose-built for SaaS. You can start with your partner directory, then expand into an integration marketplace, developer portal, or partner program hub — all in one platform.
In short: it’s scalable, self-serve, and actually built for modern ecosystems.
2. AppDirect
AppDirect is a solid solution — but it’s in a very different league. Think of it as the enterprise-grade, heavy-lift version of a partner directory platform.
If your business model involves actual transactions through your marketplace — like selling or provisioning third-party apps — AppDirect might make sense.
But for most SaaS companies, it’s overkill.
Here’s why:
- It’s extremely expensive (think enterprise pricing, not SaaS pricing)
- It’s custom-built, which means months (or quarters) to implement
- Any updates or changes require dev involvement
- It’s built for transactions, not for discoverability or SEO
In other words: if you’re building an app store that processes payments and licenses, AppDirect might be right.
If you just want a clean, fast, modern partner directory that grows with your ecosystem — Partner Fleet is a better fit.
3. PartnerPage
PartnerPage is a lightweight directory solution. It covers the basics — listing your partners, adding filters, and managing profiles — but that’s about where it stops.
If you only need a simple partner list, it might get the job done. But if you’re running a tech partner program or care about customization, design flexibility, or SEO, it’s going to feel limited fast.
Think of it like a Squarespace site for partners: easy, functional, and good for small-scale use cases. Just don’t expect much more.
4. Building in your CMS (WordPress, Webflow, etc.)
Technically, you can build your partner directory right into your CMS. It’s “free” (since you’re already paying for the tool) and it gives your marketing team control over design.
But scalability is where it all falls apart.
Every change — adding a partner, updating a logo, editing text — requires your marketing or web team. That means tickets, reviews, delays, and revisions. So updates pile up, partners get frustrated, and the directory slowly goes stale.
If your ecosystem is growing, this approach will drive you crazy within six months.
5. PRMs with a “partner directory add-on”
Some partner relationship management (PRM) platforms have tried to tack on a basic partner directory module. A few examples include Allbound, Impartner, Euler or Zift Solutions.
But they’re not true directory tools.
These are PRMs first, and “marketplaces” second. They’re often buggy, limited in design, and not meant for partner happiness, SEO or customer-facing usability.
If you’ve ever clicked on one, you know the look — clunky, outdated, and disconnected from your brand.
So while it might sound appealing to have everything in one platform, it’s rarely worth the trade-off. Your partners, and your customers, deserve a better experience.
6. Building in-house
Yes, you can build your own partner directory from scratch. But unless you have a spare engineering team sitting around, you probably shouldn’t.
Building in-house gives you full customization — but it can easily take six months to a year and tie up valuable dev resources. And once it’s built? Every update still requires more engineering time.
We actually built a Build vs. Buy Calculator for this exact reason. Spoiler: buying usually wins.
The takeaway
There are plenty of ways to build a partner directory — but if you care about speed, scalability, and impact, your best bet is Partner Fleet.
It’s the only out-of-the-box platform that grows with your ecosystem and makes your partners (and your marketing team) look great.
👉 Want to see what to include in your partner directory?
Download our free Partner Directory Checklist to make sure you’re not missing anything.
