What free means here
No listing fee and no paid tier at all: nothing to skip a queue, nothing to get featured. If a directory has a free listing next to a paid one it is marked Freemium and lives on the full list, not here. Free directories are usually either large community platforms that never charged, or small curated lists run by one person.
Free is not the same as easy. Several of these have the strictest editorial review on the whole list, because the only thing keeping them useful is saying no.
How to work this list
Sort by what the link is worth: DR first, then whether it is followed. A free followed link from a DR 80 domain is the best deal in this business. A free nofollow listing on a DR 20 site is a form you can skip unless its readers are exactly yours.
Read the acceptance line before you start. The free lists with a real editor reject most submissions; the ones with a form and no editor accept everything and are worth correspondingly less.
What to expect
Queues are the cost. Free directories run on volunteer time, so two to eight weeks to publication is normal and some never reply. Submit, note the date, and move on; the rank plan tracks which ones went live.