diff --git a/projects/managers.py b/projects/managers.py
index 2aca6843..7f5d2568 100644
--- a/projects/managers.py
+++ b/projects/managers.py
@@ -7,34 +7,38 @@
 
 class ProjectManager(Manager):
     def get_projects_for_list_view(self):
-        return self.get_queryset().prefetch_related(
-            Prefetch(
-                "industry",
-                queryset=Industry.objects.only("name").all(),
-            ),
-            Prefetch(
-                "leader",
-                queryset=CustomUser.objects.only("id").all(),
-            ),
-            # Prefetch(
-            #     "collaborator_set",
-            #     queryset=Collaborator.objects.filter(
-            #         id__in=Subquery(
-            #              Collaborator.objects
-            #              .filter(project_id=OuterRef('project_id')).values_list('id', flat=True)[:4]
-            #         )
-            #     ),
-            #     to_attr='collaborators'
-            # ),
-            # Yes, this fetches the entire collaborator_set even though we only need 4 and the total count.
-            # No, You can't do it any other way than this.
-            # Above is a hack that can fetch max 4 vacancies, but if you use it the count will always be <=4.
-            # To get the count right using the thing above you either have to make another godawful hack,
-            # Or override the default QuerySet to always ask the DB only count after all the filters.
-            # (ticket referring to the reason why you can't
-            # prefetch N items easily https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/26780)
-            # (seems like in django 4.2.0 it'll be fixed but at the time of writing the latest version is 4.1.3
-            Prefetch("collaborator_set"),
+        return (
+            self.get_queryset()
+            .filter(draft=False)
+            .prefetch_related(
+                Prefetch(
+                    "industry",
+                    queryset=Industry.objects.only("name").all(),
+                ),
+                Prefetch(
+                    "leader",
+                    queryset=CustomUser.objects.only("id").all(),
+                ),
+                # Prefetch(
+                #     "collaborator_set",
+                #     queryset=Collaborator.objects.filter(
+                #         id__in=Subquery(
+                #              Collaborator.objects
+                #              .filter(project_id=OuterRef('project_id')).values_list('id', flat=True)[:4]
+                #         )
+                #     ),
+                #     to_attr='collaborators'
+                # ),
+                # Yes, this fetches the entire collaborator_set even though we only need 4 and the total count.
+                # No, You can't do it any other way than this.
+                # Above is a hack that can fetch max 4 vacancies, but if you use it the count will always be <=4.
+                # To get the count right using the thing above you either have to make another godawful hack,
+                # Or override the default QuerySet to always ask the DB only count after all the filters.
+                # (ticket referring to the reason why you can't
+                # prefetch N items easily https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/26780)
+                # (seems like in django 4.2.0 it'll be fixed but at the time of writing the latest version is 4.1.3
+                Prefetch("collaborator_set"),
+            )
         )
 
     def get_projects_for_detail_view(self):
@@ -42,6 +46,9 @@ def get_projects_for_detail_view(self):
             self.get_queryset().prefetch_related("achievements", "collaborator_set").all()
         )
 
+    def get_projects_for_count_view(self):
+        return self.get_queryset().filter(draft=False).only("id")
+
     def check_if_owns_any_projects(self, user) -> bool:
         # I don't think this should work but the function has no usages, so I'll let it be
         return user.leader_projects.exists()
diff --git a/projects/urls.py b/projects/urls.py
index c042e236..09beb211 100644
--- a/projects/urls.py
+++ b/projects/urls.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     AchievementList,
     AchievementDetail,
     ProjectCollaborators,
+    ProjectCountView,
 )
 
 app_name = "projects"
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@
     path("", ProjectList.as_view()),
     path("<int:pk>/collaborators", ProjectCollaborators.as_view()),
     path("<int:pk>/", ProjectDetail.as_view()),
+    path("count/", ProjectCountView.as_view()),
     path("steps/", ProjectSteps.as_view()),
     path("achievements/", AchievementList.as_view()),
     path("achievements/<int:pk>/", AchievementDetail.as_view()),
diff --git a/projects/views.py b/projects/views.py
index 4db5aec6..d381ca1f 100644
--- a/projects/views.py
+++ b/projects/views.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from django_filters import rest_framework as filters
-from rest_framework import generics, permissions
+from rest_framework import generics, permissions, status
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.views import APIView
 
@@ -73,6 +73,17 @@ class ProjectDetail(generics.RetrieveUpdateDestroyAPIView):
     permission_classes = [IsProjectLeaderOrReadOnly]
 
 
+class ProjectCountView(generics.GenericAPIView):
+    queryset = Project.objects.get_projects_for_count_view()
+    serializer_class = ProjectListSerializer
+    # TODO: using this permission could result in a user not having verified email
+    #  creating a project; probably should make IsUserVerifiedOrReadOnly
+    permission_classes = [permissions.IsAuthenticatedOrReadOnly]
+
+    def get(self, request):
+        return Response({"count": self.get_queryset().count()}, status=status.HTTP_200_OK)
+
+
 class ProjectCollaborators(generics.GenericAPIView):
     """
     Project collaborator retrieve/add/delete view