Browse 133 growth tactics by category, for founders and early marketers
Browsing by category shows you only the tactics filed under one funnel stage or channel, each with an impact and effort rating. The Growth List files its 133 free tactics in 21 categories. Founders and early marketers start from the stage where growth is stuck, narrow to a channel, then pick one high-impact, low-effort tactic.
- Tactics
- 133
- Categories
- 21
- Price
- Free, no account
- Ratings reviewed
Quick picks: what are you trying to do?
- Get your first visitors: Acquisition, then start with build in public.
- Turn sign-ups into active users: Activation, then free migration (rated high effort).
- Stop customers leaving: Retention, then allow to pause subscriptions.
- Earn more per customer: Revenue, then disabled premium features.
- Get users to bring others: Referral, then run an affiliate program.
How to use it, step by step
- Open the home page and read the funnel stage table. It shows how many tactics each stage has and names one to start with.
- Pick the one stage where growth is stuck right now, and open its category page. Done looks like a list of 11 to 22 tactics instead of 133.
- If you already know the channel, such as SEO or cold email, use the category filter on the home page instead; the table below shows how many tactics each one holds.
- On the list, read the impact and effort meters. Shortlist the tactics rated High impact and Low effort first; 15 tactics carry that rating across the whole library, and the home page lists 13 of them as quick wins.
- Open one tactic and do its first step this week. Done looks like one tactic chosen and its first action on your calendar.
Prefer to search? The list on the home page also filters by keyword and by category, and shows how many of the 133 match.
The five funnel stages
| Stage | The job | Tactics | High impact | Start with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acquisition | Getting people to find you | 22 | 7 | Build in public |
| Activation | Getting new users to a first win | 13 | 4 | Free migration |
| Retention | Keeping people who signed up | 20 | 6 | Allow to pause subscriptions |
| Revenue | Turning use into money | 13 | 6 | Disabled premium features |
| Referral | Getting users to bring others | 11 | 4 | Run an affiliate program |
The 16 channel and topic categories
Sorted by size. Low effort counts the tactics we rate as quick to set up.
| Category | Tactics | High impact | Low effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conversion | 27 | 5 | 19 |
| SEO | 18 | 1 | 6 |
| Sales | 17 | 10 | 5 |
| Content | 14 | 1 | 6 |
| Awareness | 13 | 4 | 7 |
| Email Marketing | 13 | 6 | 10 |
| Social Media | 13 | 2 | 10 |
| Lead Generation | 11 | 5 | 5 |
| Cold Email | 9 | 6 | 7 |
| Data | 9 | 4 | 5 |
| Ads | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Customer Support | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| Free Trial | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| Automation | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Onboarding | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Product Hunt | 4 | 1 | 3 |
What it does not do
- A tactic can sit in more than one category. 109 of the 133 do, so the counts in the tables add up to more than 133.
- The ratings are editorial. Across the library, 37 tactics are rated High impact, 64 Medium and 32 Low; 74 are Low effort. Nobody measured these on your product.
- There is no filter by business model or company size yet. Read the examples on each tactic page to judge fit, for example on usage-based pricing or launching on Product Hunt.
- Nothing is saved to an account, because there are no accounts. Bookmark the category page you use most.
Price
Free ($0). Every category page and every tactic page is public, with no sign-up and no paid plan. If you are about to launch, the pre-launch tactics page puts the relevant ones in order. Comparing libraries? See The Growth List vs Growth.Design.
Questions people ask
How many categories does The Growth List have?
21 categories hold at least one tactic: the five funnel stages (acquisition, activation, retention, revenue and referral) and 16 channel or topic categories such as SEO, cold email and sales. Conversion is the largest, with 27 tactics.
Is browsing the growth tactics free?
Yes. All 133 tactic pages and every category page are free to read with no account and no paid plan.
Why does a tactic show up in more than one category?
A tactic is filed under every category it fits. 109 of the 133 tactics sit in two or more, so the category counts add up to more than 133.
Are the impact and effort ratings measured results?
No. They are our own editorial ratings, last reviewed November 5, 2026. Use them to sort a shortlist, then judge each tactic against your own product and audience.
Sources
- The Growth List tactic library: 133 tactics and their categories and ratings, last reviewed November 5, 2026. Every count on this page is computed from it when the page is built.