There’s a lot of noise about whether AI is “killing SaaS” or creating infinite opportunity. I wanted to look at actual data instead of anecdotes. So I pulled 267k Product Hunt launches from Jan 2020 to Jan 2026, classified each as AI vs non-AI using keyword rules, cleaned out spam, and tracked how launch volume, AI share, and growth rates changed over time. The main findings: AI-positioned launches went from ~5% pre-ChatGPT to ~40% by late 2025 — a ~6.5× increase. But total launch volume nearly doubled YoY too. Non-AI launches didn’t collapse — they surged alongside AI products. 2,027 products “pivoted” to AI — they originally launched without AI branding, then relaunched with it. Median pivot time: 11.5 months. 69% of AI-positioned launches only use generic “AI” branding with no mention of specific models or techniques. So a big chunk of this is marketing, not necessarily deeper integration. Explicit “vibe coding” mentions are still tiny — only 245 launches total since the term emerged. The timeline is interesting too. You can see three distinct waves that line up with major releases: ChatGPT (late 2022) drove the first explosion in AI-positioned products. Claude Code (Feb 2025) and Opus 4.5 (Nov 2025) coincided with surges in total launches — AI and non-AI — which is more consistent with “AI made shipping easier” than just “people slapped AI on their marketing.” My honest takeaway is two things: Software is being commoditized. More people are building and launching than ever, almost certainly because AI tools have lowered the barrier dramatically. Software is converging on AI — whether through real integration or just repositioning. Whether that’s good or bad for founders, whether SaaS margins are improving or collapsing — this data can’t answer that. It only shows launch behavior and positioning. Important caveats: “AI-related” means AI appears in the name or description — it doesn’t verify actual implementation. Product Hunt is one platform, not the whole market. And the late-2025 volume spike could partly be Product Hunt dynamics (SEO, moderation changes), not just AI tooling effects. Full writeup with methodology, charts, and all the data: https://asanchez.dev/blog/ais-real-impact-on-software-launches-evidence-from-product-hunt/ Happy to answer questions or hear pushback on the approach. submitted by /u/asanchezdev
Originally posted by u/asanchezdev on r/ArtificialInteligence
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