What indie builders launched in 2026, category by category (bar chart race, no talking)

Every launch on Nick Launches from week 1 (4 May 2026) to 11 October 2026, counted day by day and raced by category. No voice, no stock footage: the chart is drawn in code and the music was written for this episode. How to read it: a launch carries up to three categories and counts once in each, so the bars add up to more than the number of launches. 1,851 launches had a launch date in the window; the 32 categories with 20 or more launches are in the race. What happens: AI leads on day one. Productivity takes the lead on 7 May and holds it until 3 June. AI leads from there to the end. The middle of the table is where the moves are: Marketing passes Developer Tools, and SEO and Education trade places in the last weeks. Final standings, 11 October 2026: AI 870, Productivity 824, Marketing 400, Developer Tools 344, Other 337, Communication 238, Content Creation 219, Analytics 202, E-Commerce 167, Education 135, SEO 135, Design Tools 118. Source: the public nicklaunches.com API, read on 12 October 2026. Comment RACE and I'll send you the week board with every launch since week 1. I run Nick Launches, a weekly launch directory for indie builders: a free launch with a badge, a week on the board, a permanent listing page, and a public list of about 190 launch directories. nicklaunches.com Chapters 0:00 Title 0:04 Week 1, 4 May 1:05 Week 5, 1 June 2:07 Week 9, 29 June 3:08 Week 13, 27 July 4:10 Week 17, 24 August 5:12 Week 21, 21 September 5:56 Final standings #buildinpublic #indiehackers #startup #datavisualization #barchartrace