The State of Startups 2026
by•
There's never been a better time to build. AI tools, smaller teams, faster product cycles.
Last year, @Supabase surveyed over 2,000 startup founders and builders to uncover what's powering modern startups: tech stacks, GTM, and approach to AI. [1]
Many things have changed since then, and they want to know what building at startups looks like in 2026.
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Done! For us, Supabase is low friction and powerful. along with a few other startup friendly tools, it is a game changer for me as a founder. The survey itself is very insightful
The tricky part now is to get some visibility. Making your product visible get even more difficult, because the produced applications are too much. Everybody has ideas (including me), and AI makes the ideas easier to be produced.
To be honest, sometimes I feel bored. I open a listing, forum, and all I see is the same. People produce something that is AI-relared/AI-based. I read about, I don't have what to ask, there is nothing technical to impress me, because all technical complexities are moved to the AI. All is paid, because AI is paid.... I am concerned that users and investors can get bored as well. They will need to evaluate too many options.... And they might say: "Another AI thing. Nothing special."
How can you fund-raise in such polluted environment?
@stoyan_minchevI completely agree with your feelings. Nowadays, over 50% of products are linked to AI. While this has added more features and flexibility, it has also become necessary to incur computational costs, which inevitably increases user usage costs.
Hello, is necessary for me to use Supabase when im using Firebase from google rn? Can you tell me which is better or better for which type of use? <3 Im solo newbie dev with just 1 ready project and preparing relaunch with so much updates and functions so i will be happy for every answer that can help me deliver best product for you here <3
Thank you so much!
(tried supabase some time ago but was lost there :D - but going to take the survey <3 )
This survey hits home. I built Debt Clarity Tools as a solo founder — calculators, lead magnets, email automation — mostly with AI tools and a lean stack. What used to take a dev team now takes one person (me) and a weekend. Would love to see the 2026 data show how many solo builders are quietly shipping real products. Excited to participate in this survey!
I agree with the people who have posted. AI has taken out the complexity of coding so people can found their own company with their product, me included. But there is more than just coding and features that go into a product and that will differentiate people/companies'/founders. There are complexities in a software that still have to be included and security is the biggest one, If you do not know how to at least ask the questions to get the security built in, you are just one bad prompt away from bankruptcy and a failure of trust in your name and products. Everyone thinks user friendly, but does that take away from functionality. It is still a balancing act to produce a well designed product that is functional, user friendly, secure, and the right niche to get traction.
I think a lot of these developers have an idea, but no actual experience, I could be wrong, but I think the idea of owning your own company and making your own money not having to rely on a 9-5 is appealing to people, me included, and that is what they want. But if don't go about it the right way it will fail. AI cannot correct mistakes you don't know your making or answer the questions you don't know to ask.
The "smaller teams" part is what strikes me most. Two years ago, 5-person teams were competing with 50-person teams and losing on execution speed. Now that equation has flipped — the overhead of large teams (alignment, communication, slow PRs) is the disadvantage. What I'd love to see in the survey: how founders are handling the
quality bar
as speed increases. It's easy to ship fast. It's harder to ship fast without accumulating invisible debt that surfaces six months later. Curious if the data shows any correlation between AI tool adoption and team size — my hunch is the 1-3 person teams are capturing disproportionate upside here.