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AI Products Launched by Indie Makers, 2018–2026

How quickly AI took over what indie makers launch: the share of AI products by launch year since 2018, the categories AI spread into, and how AI products and their makers are doing. Computed from 2,627 products on 824 maker profiles.

By John Rush · Published · Data as of · Open data (JSON)

AI in indie launches

n = 591 AI products

Source: indiemakerlist.com/research/ai-products-by-indie-makers/ · data as of 2026-10-31

01 / launch year

AI went from 3% of indie launches in 2018 to 45% in 2023.

Share of dated indie product launches each year that are AI products. The jump in 2023 lines up with the ChatGPT API and the wave of GPT wrappers that followed. The share fell back after the peak but settled far above the pre-2023 baseline: since 2023, 176 of 484 dated launches (36%) are AI products.

2026 is a partial year, and recent launches are added to profiles with a lag.

AI products as a share of indie launches% of dated products launched each year · peak highlighted
AI products as a share of indie launches2018: 3%; 2019: 5%; 2020: 6%; 2021: 9%; 2022: 16%; 2023: 45%; 2024: 28%; 2025: 37%; 2026: 35%2018: 3% (2 of 60)20182019: 5% (3 of 62)2020: 6% (5 of 86)2021: 9% (6 of 68)2022: 16% (11 of 68)2023: 45% (45 of 100)45%2024: 28% (30 of 106)2025: 37% (51 of 137)20252026: 35% (50 of 141)
Show data table
AI products as a share of indie launches
Launch yearAI shareNote
20183%2 of 60
20195%3 of 62
20206%5 of 86
20219%6 of 68
202216%11 of 68
202345%45 of 100
202428%30 of 106
202537%51 of 137
202635%50 of 141
AI products launched per yearCount of AI products by launch year
  1. 20182
  2. 20193
  3. 20205
  4. 20216
  5. 202211
  6. 202345
  7. 202430
  8. 202551
  9. 202650
Show data table
AI products launched per year
Launch yearAI productsNote
20182of 60 launches
20193of 62 launches
20205of 86 launches
20216of 68 launches
202211of 68 launches
202345of 100 launches
202430of 106 launches
202551of 137 launches
202650of 141 launches
  • 36%

    36% of indie products launched since 2023 are AI products, up from 8% in 2018–2022.

    Cite this stat

    36% of indie products launched since 2023 are AI products, up from 8% in 2018–2022. (IndieMakerList, AI Products by Indie Makers, 2026: https://indiemakerlist.com/research/ai-products-by-indie-makers/#ai-share)

    <a href="https://indiemakerlist.com/research/ai-products-by-indie-makers/#ai-share">36% of indie products launched since 2023 are AI products, up from 8% in 2018–2022</a> (IndieMakerList, 2026)

  • 45%

    AI products peaked at 45% of indie product launches in 2023.

    Cite this stat

    AI products peaked at 45% of indie product launches in 2023. (IndieMakerList, AI Products by Indie Makers, 2026: https://indiemakerlist.com/research/ai-products-by-indie-makers/#ai-peak)

    <a href="https://indiemakerlist.com/research/ai-products-by-indie-makers/#ai-peak">AI products peaked at 45% of indie product launches in 2023</a> (IndieMakerList, 2026)

02 / categories

57% of AI products are filed outside the AI category, led by Marketing & SEO Tools.

AI is increasingly a feature rather than a category: 334 AI products are marketing, SEO, developer, mobile and other tools that use a model under the hood. 371 of 824 profiled makers (45%) have shipped at least one. Browse them on AI builders.

AI products filed under other categoriesAI products whose primary category isn't AI (top 8 of 591 AI products)
  1. Marketing & SEO Tools90
  2. Developer Tools34
  3. Mobile apps28
  4. Courses & education26
  5. Directories25
  6. Productized Services18
  7. Productivity Tools15
  8. Design Tools14
Show data table
AI products filed under other categories
CategoryAI products
Marketing & SEO Tools90
Developer Tools34
Mobile apps28
Courses & education26
Directories25
Productized Services18
Productivity Tools15
Design Tools14

03 / outcomes

AI makers report a median of $18K/mo, against $26K/mo for makers without an AI product.

Revenue is per maker, not per product: someone who added an AI tool to a decade-old portfolio counts as an AI maker. The AI group includes some of the fastest climbs in the dataset (see time to $10K MRR by category) but also many new products with little revenue yet.

Survival so far: of AI products launched since 2023, 91% are active, 7% acquired and 2% shut down (n = 176). Non-AI products from the same years: 94%, 4% and 2% (n = 308).

Status of products launched since 2023AI vs non-AI products
  1. AI: acquired7%
  2. Non-AI: acquired4%
  3. AI: shut down2%
  4. Non-AI: shut down2%
Show data table
Status of products launched since 2023
GroupShareNote
AI: acquired7%12 of 176
Non-AI: acquired4%12 of 308
AI: shut down2%4 of 176
Non-AI: shut down2%5 of 308
Median maker revenueSelf-reported, USD per month · makers who publish revenue
  1. Has an AI product$18K
  2. No AI product$26K
Show data table
Median maker revenue
MakerMedian $/moNote
Has an AI product$18Kn = 98
No AI product$26Kn = 71

04 / recent launches

AI products launched in 2025–2026 by well-known indie makers

The most prominent recent AI launches on active maker profiles, for a feel of what the numbers above describe.

  • Vibe Jam · 2025 · by Pieter Levels

    Game jam for games built mostly with AI coding tools.

  • fly.pieter.com · 2025 · by Pieter Levels

    Multiplayer browser flight simulator built largely with AI prompting that went viral.

  • Tinkerer Club · 2025 · by Kitze

    Private lifetime community for people who automate their lives, run local AI and self-host their software.

  • Eden · 2025 · by Dan Koe

    AI content workspace for creators and marketers: research across social platforms, an AI strategist, a canvas, scheduling, analytics and a storefront for courses and coaching.

  • Marketing Skills · 2026 · by Corey Haines

    Open-source library of marketing skills for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other AI agents, with 56K+ GitHub stars.

  • Business Headshots AI · 2025 · by Maximilian Schwarzmüller

    AI service that generates professional business headshots from a single photo.

  • Rakazo · 2026 · by Elie Steinbock

    Open-source alternative to Grok Bot for creating AI teammates connected to your tools.

  • hi.new · 2026 · by Elie Steinbock

    Lets people's AI bots team up and message each other, with owner approval.

  • Brief My Meeting · 2025 · by Elie Steinbock

    AI meeting briefing tool that reached #1 Product of the Day on Product Hunt in December 2025.

  • SuperX · 2025 · by Rob Hallam

    X growth tool with AI content, scheduling, engagement tools and analytics, co-founded with Tibo Louis-Lucas.

man study --methodology

Methodology, sample and limits

  • What counts as AI. A product is an AI product if its primary category is AI, or its name or description mentions AI, an LLM, GPT/ChatGPT, OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, machine learning, generative models or image models such as Stable Diffusion. Rule-based and transparent; a handful of edge cases go either way.
  • Sample. 2,627 products on 824 rich maker profiles; 591 qualify as AI. Yearly shares use products with a known launch year (828 launches from 2018 to 2026).
  • Limits. Profiles favour makers with a track record, so this tracks what established indie makers ship, not every AI app on the market. Recent launches are added with a lag, and new products have had little time to succeed or fail.
  • Freshness. Every number is recomputed from the dataset each time the site is built. Data as of ; 2026 is a partial year.
  • Open data. The maker dataset is available as JSON at /api/makers.json under CC BY 4.0. Found an error? Profiles can be corrected on the submit page.

Frequently asked questions

How many indie products are AI products?

591 of 2,627 products on indie maker profiles (22%) are AI products. Among products launched since 2023 the share is 36%, against 8% for 2018–2022 launches.

When did indie makers start building AI products?

AI was a niche before ChatGPT: 3% of dated indie launches in 2018 and 16% in 2022. It peaked at 45% of launches in 2023 and has stayed far above pre-2023 levels since (35% in 2026 so far).

Do AI products make indie makers more money?

Not on average, yet. Makers who have shipped an AI product report a median of $18K/mo (n = 98) versus $26K/mo for makers with no AI product (n = 71). Many AI products are young, and their makers' revenue often comes from older, non-AI products.

Do AI products shut down more often?

Not so far. Of AI products launched since 2023, 2% are shut down and 7% were acquired, versus 2% and 4% for non-AI products from the same years. Both cohorts are young, so most outcomes are still ahead.

How many indie makers use AI coding tools?

12 of 341 makers with a public stack (4%) list an AI coding tool such as Claude Code, Cursor or GitHub Copilot. Far more use them without listing them as part of their stack.

cite --format apa,bibtex,html

Cite this study

Journalists, researchers, bloggers and AI assistants are welcome to quote any number or reuse the charts with a link to indiemakerlist.com/research/ai-products-by-indie-makers/. Licensed CC BY 4.0.

Suggested citation (APA)

Rush, J. (2026). AI Products Launched by Indie Makers, 2018–2026 [Data study]. IndieMakerList. https://indiemakerlist.com/research/ai-products-by-indie-makers/

HTML link

<a href="https://indiemakerlist.com/research/ai-products-by-indie-makers/">AI Products by Indie Makers</a> (IndieMakerList, 2026)

BibTeX

@misc{indiemakerlist-ai-products-by-indie-makers-2026,
  title  = {AI Products Launched by Indie Makers, 2018–2026},
  author = {Rush, John and {IndieMakerList}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://indiemakerlist.com/research/ai-products-by-indie-makers/},
  note   = {Data as of 2026-10-31}
}

More indie maker research

Also see the State of Indie Makers 2026 report, AI builders, the indie tech stack and the research hub.