Most MVPs ship missing half of these items. Then founders wonder why users do not trust the product, why Google does not find it, or why they cannot debug issues when things break. Here is the non-negotiable checklist before you tell anyone your product exists.
Pre-Launch Checklist - 12 Items Required Before Launch
Run through this 48 hours before launch, not on launch day.
1. Authentication
Email and password at minimum. Google sign-in strongly recommended. It removes friction and is commonly cited to increase signups by 30 to 40 percent. Never build auth from scratch. Use a service that handles sessions, password resets, and OAuth flows out of the box.
2. Payments
If your MVP has a paid tier, payments must be live before launch. A waitlist with no payment option is just a list. A waitlist with a "pay to skip the queue" option is revenue. Set up checkout, billing portal, and webhook handling before you announce anything.
3. Error Tracking
Set up error tracking on day one. You need to know when things break before your users email you. Shipping without error tracking means you are flying blind. Your first production bug will take ten times longer to fix without proper tooling.
4. SEO Basics
Title tags, meta descriptions, and social share images on every page. A sitemap that search engines can find. Canonical URLs to prevent duplicate content. This takes a few hours and determines whether Google ever indexes your product.
5. Analytics
You need to know which features get used, where users drop off, and what the conversion funnel looks like. Without analytics you are guessing. Set up a product analytics tool before launch, not after.
6. Mobile Responsiveness
Test on a real phone before launch. Not just browser developer tools. A real phone. A large share of your users will be on mobile within the first week. If your checkout does not work on a phone, you are losing a significant chunk of potential revenue.
7. SSL Certificate
Non-negotiable. Every modern hosting platform includes automatic SSL via Let's Encrypt. Verify it is active before you share any URLs. Browsers mark pages without SSL as "Not Secure," which kills trust instantly.
8. Loading States for Every Data Fetch
Users should never see a blank screen, a frozen button, or a partially loaded page. Every data fetch needs a loading state, an empty state, and an error state. Skeleton loaders are better than spinners. They show the page structure while content loads, making the wait feel shorter.
9. Privacy Policy and Terms of Service
Required by Stripe, PayPal, and every major payment processor. You cannot launch a paid product without them. Do not copy from another site. Use a template service like Termly or GetTerms that generates policies specific to your product type and jurisdiction.
10. Confirmation Emails After Signup
Users need to know their signup worked. Send a confirmation email immediately. Include what happens next and when they should expect to hear from you. A simple transactional email via Resend or SendGrid costs pennies and prevents users from wondering whether their signup went through.
11. Rate Limiting on Auth Endpoints
Login, signup, and password reset endpoints need rate limiting to prevent brute force attacks. Without it, a bot can attempt thousands of password combinations per minute. Supabase and Auth.js include built-in rate limiting. If you built auth from scratch, add it yourself before launch.
12. Monitoring and Uptime Alerts
Set up a simple uptime monitor before you launch. BetterUptime, Pingdom, or even a cron job that pings your landing page. You should know within five minutes if your product goes down, not when a user emails you to complain.