The State of the AI Stack: 1,421 tools, 58 jobs, 276 casualties

The numbers nobody else has

Computed directly from the elems dossiers, 2026-08-06. Every figure regenerates with each edition — cite it with the date.

We track 1,421 tools across the 58 jobs an AI-led startup staffs. 276 of them (23% of the field) are no longer what directories say they are: 63 dead, 40 renamed, 85 acquired, 12 sunsetting, 76 visibly fading. Meanwhile 516 of 1174 field tools (43%) still offer a free entry point, and 265 (22%) are open source. Behind the rankings sit 1,479 sources and 819 dated evidence claims.

What the stack costs

Of the 58 elements: 12 are free, 30 run under $30/mo, 13 run $30–150/mo, and only 3 cost $150+. A real minimal stack lands at $60–90/month; the full solo-founder compound at $150–400/month. The structural story of 2026 is billing-model churn: usage-based and credit pricing spread from agents to everything, and free tiers retreated at Google, Alibaba, and Amp.

Where the churn concentrates

Casualties are not evenly distributed. The categories with the most dead, renamed, or fading tools:

Method

Every tool was verified against its own site and primary coverage in the two weeks before 2026-08-06; statuses are conservative (a frozen blog is "fading," not "dead," until there's a shutdown notice). The full dataset is open: elems.ai/data, CC BY 4.0 — cite elems.ai with the edition. The complete casualty list is published separately.