A founder says Claude’s connector directory brought 24,000 sign-ups in five weeks. Here’s how listing works

A founder who listed a flight and hotel price tracker in Claude’s Connectors Directory says it brought in more than 24,000 new accounts in about five weeks. The account, posted to Reddit’s r/mcp community and shared widely on X by SEO consultant Hridoy Reh, is one company’s self-reported numbers. Anthropic’s own documentation explains why a listing can go live, and start getting found, so quickly.

Claude brought 24,000+ users in 5 weeks:

— Hridoy Reh (@hridoyreh) November 8, 2026

What the founder reported

The founder, who didn’t name the product in the post, wrote that they built an MCP connector “using Claude Code” in about a week in September, and that it was added to the Claude directory by the end of that month. Then:

For about 2 weeks, it was a major topic of discussion, drawing up to 1,500 new sign-ups daily. Now it’s holding steady at about 250 a day. 24,000 new accounts so far. The listing is what did it.

Founder’s post on r/mcp

The founder said Claude now recommends the tool “right next to Expedia and Booking” when people ask about flights or hotels, and that because more than 20,000 people have it connected, Claude can call it whenever they ask about a trip. Those figures haven’t been independently confirmed, and sign-ups aren’t the same as active users.

Reh turned the story into a five-step recipe:

How to get 24,000+ users from Claude:

1. Build an MCP server.
2. Set up OAuth 2.0 authentication.
3. Host it on a remote cloud platform.
5. Submit it to Claude Connectors.
6. Optimize the page for discovery.

A real-world example:

— Hridoy Reh (@hridoyreh) November 9, 2026

What Anthropic requires

Each of those steps maps onto Anthropic’s submission guide. A connector has to be a remote MCP server reachable over HTTPS; a local server can’t be submitted on its own. Tools that act on a user’s account need OAuth 2.0, and Claude supports Dynamic Client Registration and Client ID Metadata Documents, so developers don’t have to register a client with Anthropic first. Servers that only serve public data can skip sign-in.

Every tool needs a title and a readOnlyHint or destructiveHint annotation, and Anthropic asks developers to test each one by adding the server to Claude as a custom connector first. A submission also needs a documentation link, a privacy policy, a support contact, an icon and a fully populated test account for reviewers. Anyone on a paid Claude plan can submit, through the portal at claude.ai/directory/manage. The directory policy adds rules such as keeping tool names under 64 characters, returning helpful errors and being “frugal” with tokens.

The step that matters most for speed comes after submission. Anthropic says it:

scans your submission automatically for policy compliance and, by default, lists it as a Community connector with no action from you.

Claude Docs

Some submissions also get a human review, with times that “vary with queue volume”. A Community listing can later earn a Verified label.

How ChatGPT’s route differs

The founder also compared Claude with ChatGPT, saying the tool was live in ChatGPT’s store but had been waiting a month for approval, and that unapproved apps don’t show up in ChatGPT’s app search. OpenAI’s submission guide describes a more involved review. Developers upload a plugin package from a verified developer identity, verify their domain and pass automated scans. For an MCP plugin, the review team also needs five positive and three negative test cases, a video walkthrough and a test account. Only one review can be active per plugin, and once a plugin is approved the developer chooses when to publish.

OpenAI doesn’t publish typical review times, and the founder’s experience is one case. The same remote MCP server can be listed in both places, since both directories take remote servers with OAuth.

What carries over

Reh’s last step, optimising the listing for discovery, is the least documented. Anthropic’s guide covers what a listing needs, not how Claude chooses which connector to suggest. The founder’s numbers also came from a category, travel search, where people ask Claude for help often and where the tool sat alongside big brands. A niche connector shouldn’t expect the same curve.

The practical lesson is narrower than “24,000 users”: a working remote server with OAuth, annotated tools and complete listing material can reach Claude’s directory without a long wait, and once it’s there, Claude itself becomes the distribution channel.