Video and image lead rising AI sites, not new launches

Jason T. · 2026-10-05

Source: New Site Radar's rising board monthly snapshot, AI-tool sites registered 2025+. Free 20-site sample; Pro shows every site.

Video and image tools made up 57% of our August 2026 rising board. New Site Radar counted 228 sites registered in 2025 or later and gaining traffic. Developer tools led our separate launch snapshot. Use launches for product research and the rising board for traffic reporting.

Launch and rising counts at a glance

Our free Just launched list showed 556 sites on 2026-10-05. The most common categories were:

Developer tools: 83 sites.
Productivity: 74 sites.
Marketing: 68 sites.
Business: 59 sites.
Video: 39 sites.
Chat: 29 sites.
Image: 29 sites.
SaaS: 28 sites.
Education: 25 sites.
Support: 25 sites.

The August 2026 rising board had a different mix:

Video: 70 sites.
Image: 61 sites.
Productivity: 8 sites.

Developer tools led the launch list with 83 sites. Video and image together represented 57% of the rising board. Productivity had 74 sites in the launch snapshot but 8 on the rising board. These are counts of listed sites. Our August category write-up covers the traffic-board breakdown.

What qualifies, and why the dates matter

The launches list covers AI tool sites registered in the last 90 days that pass our checks: the domain responds, there is a real homepage, it is an AI product, and it is safe to list. It counts new sites that exist and work, and shows no traffic numbers. The rising board requires at least 5,000 visits in the latest month and a confirmed registration date. The August 2026 board covered sites registered in 2025 or later. The launch figures are a snapshot from 2026-10-05; the rising figures describe August 2026. A category with many launches can still have few sites with traffic yet. Our methodology explains how we build both lists. That leaves a useful, limited finding: developer, productivity, marketing and business tools were the most common launch categories, while video and image were the most represented among sites already gaining traffic.

For founders: choose the list that answers your question

If your question is "What kinds of AI products are appearing now?", start with Just launched. For a developer-tool research session, the 83 listed sites are the relevant starting group. For productivity research, start with the 74 productivity sites. Marketing and business provide separate groups of 68 and 59. If your question is "Which kinds of sites are already gaining traffic?", start with the rising board. Its August mix puts video and image at the center of that review. Those categories account for 70 and 61 sites respectively. A founder researching video could use both lists, but for separate tasks: the launch list to examine newly appearing products, and the rising board to examine sites meeting the traffic requirements. We would choose the research question before opening either list.

For editors: choose the list that supports the headline

For a launch roundup, use Just launched. A precise summary is: "Developer tools led New Site Radar's launch list with 83 of the 556 sites shown on 2026-10-05." The next categories were productivity, marketing and business. For traffic coverage, use the rising board. The August finding is: "Video and image tools made up 57% of New Site Radar's 228-site rising board." For a piece comparing launches with traffic, put the date beside each list when introducing its figures. Then report the category contrast. Readers can see the difference without an explanation of why it happened. The choice is practical: a new-product issue needs the launch list; an issue about sites gaining traffic needs the rising board.

What the launch screening removes

Most newly registered AI-named domains never make our launches list. Across our screening so far, the most common reasons were no response, at 1,358; an empty page, at 1,013; and not an AI tool, at 849. For a directory editor, that is the relevant scope of the 556-site count.

What to record for the next update

For recurring coverage, keep these dated category counts as your baseline. In the next dated snapshot, compare launch categories with this launch snapshot and rising categories with the August board. For now, choose a category and the appropriate list. Review launches to see what is appearing. Review the rising board to see what is gaining traffic. Disclosure: New Site Radar is our product.

Free RSS: rising sample, 20-site monthly sample; just launched, AI tool sites registered in last 90 days; no traffic numbers.