Five years of Payments launch data. Volume, engagement, and the products that stood out.
We've been tracking Payments since 2021. 289 products indexed. The trajectory tells you where builders are investing and where the market sees opportunity.
Below: launch volume by year, engagement patterns by quarter, and the products that defined each period.
| Quarter | Launches | Avg Interest Score | Top Product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | 11 | 126 | ChaChing |
| Q1 2025 | 18 | 117 | Kintsugi |
| Q2 2025 | 15 | 104 | Web Checkout by Paddle |
| Q3 2025 | 11 | 123 | Creem 1.0 |
| Q4 2025 | 14 | 189 | Sentra by Dodo Payments |
| Q1 2024 | 15 | 182 | Rainex |
| Q2 2024 | 17 | 167 | Marvin |
| Q3 2024 | 11 | 103 | GPT Builder Tools by Top Road (YC W22) |
| Q4 2024 | 14 | 244 | Widgets for Stripe |
| Q1 2023 | 16 | 140 | HyperSwitch |
| Q2 2023 | 15 | 119 | Fake It Till You Make It |
| Q3 2023 | 24 | 144 | Digital Products by Graphy |
| Q4 2023 | 18 | 181 | ByeDispute |
| Q1 2022 | 9 | 129 | Tip Jar by Swapstack |
| Q2 2022 | 12 | 111 | Invoice Generator by Saldo Apps |
| Q3 2022 | 9 | 134 | tranch |
The Payments category has been steady over the past 6 years of tracked data. Total launches went from 51 in 2021 to 11 in 2026.
Average engagement ratio across all Payments launches: 0.28. Products above that line tend to solve a specific, painful problem. Products below it often entered a crowded space without clear differentiation.
Payments peaked in 2023 with 73 launches. That was 3 years ago. The decline since then could signal market consolidation, saturation, or attention shifting to adjacent categories.
Average engagement per product has risen from 0.26 in 2021 to 0.36 in 2026. That upward trend means the community is spending more time with each new launch. Either the products are getting better, or the audience is getting more selective. Probably both.
The highest-performing quarter was Q4 2024, with an average interest score of 244 across 14 launches. Widgets for Stripe led that quarter.
240 B2B launches (83%) vs 49 B2C (17%) across the full Payments dataset. Payments is heavily B2B. The products here target teams, companies, and professional workflows.
2021: 51 launches. Average interest: 149. Average engagement: 0.26. Top launch: Stripe Payment Links (752 interest).
2022: 39 launches (-24% vs 2021). Average interest: 136. Average engagement: 0.26. Top launch: Launch by Burb (401 interest).
2023: 73 launches (+87% vs 2022). Average interest: 147. Average engagement: 0.28. Top launch: ByeDispute (719 interest).
2024: 57 launches (-22% vs 2023). Average interest: 177. Average engagement: 0.19. Top launch: Widgets for Stripe (715 interest).
2025: 58 launches (+2% vs 2024). Average interest: 132. Average engagement: 0.40. Top launch: Creem 1.0 (706 interest).
2026: 11 launches (-81% vs 2025). Average interest: 126. Average engagement: 0.36. Top launch: ChaChing (424 interest).
Current year launches compared to the same period last year. Positive means more products launching. Negative means the category cooled. Neither is inherently good or bad. A mature category with fewer but better launches is often healthier than one flooding the market with clones.
Launch volume drops but engagement per product rises. Fewer builders entering, but the ones that do find a more receptive audience. That's an opportunity signal. We flag it when we see it.
We report what happened. We don't predict. Five years of data shows patterns, but markets surprise people for a living.
Three common reasons. The market consolidated around winners. The technology matured and stopped generating new startups. Or builder attention shifted to adjacent categories. Usually it's a combination.
Volume without engagement is saturation. Engagement without volume is opportunity. Check which one you're looking at.
Sum of all interest scores in the quarter divided by number of products. Simple average. We don't weight by category or product age.
Depends on what's declining. If volume drops but engagement rises, the market is maturing. That's often good for existing players. If both drop, the category may be dying. The quarterly breakdown on each page tells you which pattern you're seeing.