No fine-print tricks
How RankAI works
One metric decides the leaderboard: each startup's cumulative confirmed payments to RankAI.
01 · Accumulation
Every payment adds to your lifetime total.
Top-ups never replace an earlier bid. Pay $100, then $50, and your ranked total is $150.
02 · Takeovers
You must exceed the startup above.
Matching a competitor's total is not enough. The takeover calculator shows the minimum whole-dollar payment needed to finish above them.
03 · Race conditions
A position is never guaranteed during checkout.
Another startup may move before your payment confirms. Your confirmed payment still increases your lifetime total, and the board recalculates from the latest totals.
04 · One leaderboard
There is only one #1.
Every ranked startup competes on the same lifetime-payment leaderboard. There are no category ladders or separate balances.
05 · Transparency
Rank is not a quality score.
RankAI does not evaluate products, revenue, funding, popularity, or technical merit. A high position means only that a startup has paid more through RankAI.
06 · Identity
One public root domain, one listing.
Entering the same canonical root domain creates a top-up. Private or local addresses, non-HTTPS destinations, credential-bearing URLs, invite links, and URL shorteners are rejected.
07 · Confirmation and refunds
Only confirmed Polar orders count.
Failed, abandoned, duplicated, invalid, or unrelated-product payments do not affect placement. Refunded amounts stop contributing to the lifetime ranked total.
08 · Participation
No public account is required.
Anyone may pay to raise an eligible listing. Polar hosts payment confirmation and its customer portal.
Founding 50
The first 50 distinct startups with a confirmed Polar payment receive a permanent numbered marker for joining early. It has zero ranking weight, adds no bidding advantage, and is not an endorsement.