# Indie SaaS Launch Statistics 2026: 239 Analyzed

> 97 of 239 launches (41%) are free, 86 (36%) are freemium and 56 (23%) are paid. Pricing is chosen by the maker at submission. Free launches outnumber paid launches: 97 of 239 (41%) vs 56 of 239 (23%).

Canonical: https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches
Last updated: 2026-11-05

## Key findings

1. 97 of 239 launches (41%) are free, 86 (36%) are freemium and 56 (23%) are paid. Pricing is chosen by the maker at submission. [Link to this finding](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#pricing-split)
2. Free launches outnumber paid launches: 97 of 239 (41%) vs 56 of 239 (23%). [Link to this finding](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#free-vs-paid)
3. The median launch has 3 upvotes; the mean is 4.5 and the most-upvoted launch has 24. 18 of 239 (8%) got no upvotes. [Link to this finding](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#upvotes)
4. 58 of 239 launches (24%) received at least one comment. [Link to this finding](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#comments)
5. The most common categories are Productivity (106 of 239 launches, 44%), Marketing (72, 30%) and AI (61, 26%). A launch can list up to three categories, so shares do not add up to 100%. [Link to this finding](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#top-categories)
6. 175 of 239 launches (73%) use all three category slots. [Link to this finding](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#three-categories)
7. 9 of 239 launches (4%) are open source, as declared by the maker. [Link to this finding](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#open-source)
8. 34 of 239 launches (14%) include a demo video. [Link to this finding](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#demo-video)

## Breakdowns

### Launches by pricing model

| Pricing | Launches | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | 97 | 41% |
| Freemium | 86 | 36% |
| Paid | 56 | 23% |

Denominator: all 239 live launches. Pricing is self-reported by the maker.

### Launches by category

| Category | Launches | Share of launches |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Productivity | 106 | 44% |
| Marketing | 72 | 30% |
| AI | 61 | 26% |
| Developer Tools | 60 | 25% |
| Analytics | 42 | 18% |
| Launch Platforms | 32 | 13% |
| SEO | 27 | 11% |
| Content Creation | 26 | 11% |
| Video | 18 | 8% |
| Lifestyle | 17 | 7% |
| Other | 16 | 7% |
| Communication | 15 | 6% |
| Education | 15 | 6% |
| Social Media | 15 | 6% |
| Design Tools | 14 | 6% |
| Finance | 13 | 5% |
| Health & Fitness | 12 | 5% |
| Data | 8 | 3% |
| DevOps | 8 | 3% |
| Monitoring | 8 | 3% |
| Jobs & Careers | 7 | 3% |
| Sales | 7 | 3% |
| Security | 7 | 3% |
| Gaming | 6 | 3% |
| Writing | 6 | 3% |
| Image | 4 | 2% |
| Music | 4 | 2% |
| CMS | 3 | 1% |
| HR & Recruiting | 3 | 1% |
| Open Source | 3 | 1% |
| Search | 2 | 1% |
| Travel | 2 | 1% |
| E-commerce | 1 | 0% |
| Legal | 1 | 0% |
| Web3 | 1 | 0% |

Denominator: all 239 live launches. A launch can list up to three categories, so the column adds up to more than 100%.

### Launches by month

| Month | Launches |
| --- | --- |
| 2026-09 | 102 |
| 2026-10 | 115 |
| 2026-11 | 22 |

By the month the launch went live (UTC). The current month is partial.

### Launches by number of screenshots

| Screenshots | Launches | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | 123 | 51% |
| 2 | 19 | 8% |
| 3 | 36 | 15% |
| 4 | 23 | 10% |
| 5 | 38 | 16% |

Denominator: all 239 live launches.

## Methodology

- Source: every launch that is publicly live on LaunchAF on 2026-11-06: 239 launches.
- Excluded: drafts, launches still in review, rejected launches, delisted launches and free launches whose badge check failed. They are not public pages, so they are not counted.
- Pricing model, open-source status, categories, screenshots and demo video are entered by the maker at submission. Upvotes and comments come from signed-in LaunchAF members.
- Refreshes continuously: the page is recomputed from the database at most once an hour, and the data date is the newest launch's publication time.
- Rounding: percentages are rounded to the nearest whole percent; medians and means to one decimal.
- A finding is only stated when at least 20 rows stand behind its denominator.

## Suggested citation

LaunchAF, "Indie SaaS Launch Statistics 2026: 239 Analyzed", https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches, November 2026.

## Frequently asked questions

### What percentage of indie SaaS launches are free?

97 of 239 (41%) of the live launches on LaunchAF are free, 86 (36%) are freemium and 56 (23%) are paid, as declared by their makers. [Link to this answer](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#faq-free-share)

### How many upvotes does a typical launch get?

The median launch has 3 upvotes and the mean is 4.5; the most-upvoted launch has 24. [Link to this answer](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#faq-typical-upvotes)

### What is the most common category for new indie launches?

Productivity: 106 of 239 (44%) launches list it. A launch can pick up to three categories. [Link to this answer](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#faq-common-category)

### How many indie launches are open source?

9 of 239 (4%) launches are marked open source by their makers. [Link to this answer](https://launchaf.com/research/indie-launches#faq-open-source)

## Related

- [All research](https://launchaf.com/research)