This was the year of the developer. As our CTO Mike put it, “we no longer program—we just give feedback to an eager, fast, and loose intern” in the era of AI.
The Product of the Year reflects that shift. Each finalist turbocharged builders in different ways. O1 led the charge, giving developers superpowers. Supabase became the go-to database for top builders while setting the standard for launches with its Launch Week, going head-to-head with Cal.com. But Cursor takes the cake as the most shouted-out dev tool in our stack.
The best in each category
2024 was a game-changer for developers. Non-engineers are now building like devs, 1x engineers are 10x, and 10x engineers? Practically unstoppable. This year’s Developer Tools award winner, Supabase, played a huge role in that shift. Need a backend? Done. Authentication? Handled. Real-time databases? Built-in. Supabase turned what used to be complex infrastructure into a plug-and-play experience, letting developers focus on shipping instead of setup. Spin up a new app with bolt.new, refine an existing project with Cursor, and let Supabase take care of the backend—because now, the hardest part of building is deciding what to launch next.
2024 was a transformative year for design tools, and Figma AI stood out as the clear leader. With AI continuing to reshape creative workflows, Figma AI redefined how teams collaborate, automate repetitive tasks, and bring ideas to life. By seamlessly integrating AI into the design process, it empowered creators to work faster and smarter, solidifying its place as the year’s top design tool and setting a new standard for innovation in the industry.
No-code has always been about turning ideas into something real without touching a single line of code. Now, it’s faster than ever. This year’s No-Code award winner, Notion Sites, lets makers whip up a website straight from their Notion documents—no extra tools, no hassle. Whether it’s a portfolio, a landing page, or a full-fledged site, the process feels effortless. The gap between “I have an idea” and “Check out my website” has never been smaller, and that’s pretty incredible.
For years, data security felt like a locked box—important, but not exactly exciting. This year’s Data & Data Security award winner, Supabase AI Assistant, is changing that. It doesn’t just secure databases; it makes them smarter, turning raw data into a responsive, query-ready teammate. The trend is clear: it’s not enough to just protect data anymore. The new goal is to make it work for us—smarter, faster, and maybe even with a little personality.
Open-source had a huge year in 2024, proving that collaboration fuels some of the most powerful innovations. This year’s Open-Source award winner, Postgres dot new by Supabase, is transforming database management with AI-driven optimization. Llama 3 pushed open-source AI forward, while Helicone AI gave teams better tools to track and optimize usage. The takeaway? Open-source isn’t just keeping up—it’s leading the way.
Hardware had an interesting year, it felt like as techies we all reached a consensus that design must be appreciated however in that pursuit we might have gotten to close to the form over function. We've seen that over time, as hardware iterates and software updates it does improve and that's what Oura Ring proves this year. Maybe in 2026 we'll see more friends on the street with updated hard + software.
While AI visuals dominate, another medium is quietly evolving—audio. This year’s AI Audio award winner, ElevenLabs, makes speech synthesis more natural and expressive than ever. From lifelike voice cloning to radio-quality music, the line between human and AI-generated sound is blurring fast. Soon, telling them apart may not be so easy. The real question—does it matter?
AI models are shaping more of daily life than ever, and this year’s advancements are pushing the boundaries even further. This year’s AI Model award winner, Claude 3, stands out for making AI feel more intuitive, natural, and accessible. While GPT-4o focuses on speed and sharper context, Llama 3.1-405B proves the power of open-source, and Sora reimagines AI’s role in creativity, Claude 3 is refining how we interact with AI itself—bridging the gap between intelligence and usability. With models evolving this quickly, the real question isn’t just what they can do today, but where they’re leading us next.
AI video took a leap forward last year, but OpenAI's Sora stood out from the crowd, claiming this year's top award. Tools like Sora, Runway Gen-3, and Google Veo made high-quality synthetic video widely accessible, yet most people still haven’t felt the full shift. There's awareness of AI’s impact on film (see: the 2023 Hollywood writers' strike), but the next step? An AI-assisted blockbuster—maybe in 2025.
AI copilots became essential in 2024, transforming how developers build and iterate. This year’s AI Copilot award winner, Cursor, made AI-powered coding feel seamless, integrating directly into workflows to enhance productivity. Replit Agent focused on getting projects from 0 to 1, helping developers go from an idea to working code faster than ever. Supabase AI Assistant streamlined database management with intelligent automation.
Finance tech is moving beyond the basics, giving us tools that feel personal and powerful. Mercury Personal is this year's category winner for bringing its business-level features—like automation and seamless management—to personal banking, while runner-up Gilion is rethinking how we approach wealth with insights that feel tailored and actionable. Together, they’re part of a bigger trend: finance products that aren’t just about managing money but empowering you to make smarter decisions, whether you’re running a business or just your day-to-day life.
Mobile users spend an average of five hours a day on their phones, and with an app for everything, standing out is no small feat. This year’s Mobile App award winner, Remy AI, is doing just that. As a charismatic AI sleep coach, it helps users improve their sleep with in-depth analysis, personalized insights, and real-time energy tracking. With so many sleep products out there, Remy AI sets itself apart by offering science-backed guidance that actually helps people rest better.
Around 2020 another Web3 boom appeared, this time fueled by communities, NFTs, and promises on decentralizing the internet. While the adoption speed many were hoping for didn't quite happen at terminal velocity, we did start to see more traction in 2024 on focus on consumer apps vs meme coins. With Hardware becoming prettier, looking at you Burner, it looks like we're slowly starting to build thoughtful experiences around the blockchain but I bet that we won't start seeing consumer mass adoption until 2026 or 2027.
Productivity isn’t just about checking boxes anymore, and Raycast Notes proves it—winning this year’s Personal Productivity award for making note-taking feel seamless. It’s built for speed, letting users jot down ideas instantly without disrupting their flow. No clunky interfaces, no distractions—just quick, effortless access to thoughts when needed. Productivity tools earn trust by actually delivering value, and Raycast Notes does that by keeping things simple, fast, and frictionless. The future of productivity isn’t just about getting more done—it’s about making life feel a little easier.
The internet created a conglomerate of communities since the first forum was posted. Fast forward to 2025 and we're now trying to get folks to not only meet IRL but also introduce people. Feeling a little less like player one and a little more like 1990. Unicorns Club takes the cake here taking one of the lonliest journeys, entrepreneurship and connecting them with what could become their most valuable relationship, investors. Expect more "valuable" intros to become a trend in the future where we try to value our time offline more than on
Bootstrapped teams are out here reminding us that big budgets aren’t everything. VoiceNotes, this years Bootstrapped winner is one of those “how did I live without this?” tools, turning your voice memos into searchable notes that actually make sense. These tools aren’t flashy, over-engineered products—they’re just smart, thoughtful tools that make life a little easier. Honestly, that’s what makes them so good.
Every year, makers around the world take the risk and dive head first into building the product of their dreams. Sometimes, it’s a side project for fun. Other times, it’s a company on the fast track to becoming a unicorn. One thing common amongst all is that it takes passion, dedication, and guts to be a maker and each one makes Product Hunt a better place. That’s why we have the Maker of the Year award, to commemorate those who go out to change the world.
This year’s winner is Pascal. Pascal has been building and launch since the early days of Product Hunt (way back in 2015) and this year he doubled down on his passion project, Horse Browser. Alongside building, Pascal embodies the spirt of being a maker by getting involved with the community everywhere he can and supporting those around him.
