Median product "lifespan" has fallen from ~4y down to ~1.5y
Data from SaaSHub indicates that the median lifespan of software products has dropped significantly from four years to 1.5 years by 2026. The author attributes this to the ease of building software, leading to a saturated market where distribution and marketing are more critical than development.
Why it matters
This trend suggests a fundamental shift in the software industry toward rapid experimentation and high failure rates, impacting how startups approach product-market fit.
The "product graveyard" of SaaSHub has been tracking the status (and lifespan) of hundreds of thousands of products. It's been hovering around 4y for quite some time. However, there's a sharp decline in 2026 leading to about 1.5y these days. That's a huge drop. And, it matches my "human" observations. A lot of products are being vibe coded, released, and soon after that abandoned. It's become too cheap to produce software. So, a lot of people have been experimenting for 'free' with their ideas - only to find out that they weren't viable...
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in