You asked about Design Tools
101 people built something like it. 22 are gone.
That is 24% of the ones whose fate we could settle, against 23% across the whole register. 9 were acquired.
| Launched | What it was | Today |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-04-01 | mailstudio.app | still up |
| 2021-01-20 | sundayy.app | gone~28mo |
| 2021-05-11 | codewell.cc | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCNovatr Online cohort based courses for architects, engineers and designers… · novatr.com | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCAwesomic Get matched with top 1% of talents in 24h · awesomic.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCGigs The OS for Embedded Telecom · gigs.com | still up |
| 2021-08-02 | openby.design | moved |
| 2021-01-01 | YCAlokai Frontend Platform for eCommerce · alokai.com | still up |
| 2021-07-19 | primerlabs.io | unverified |
| 2021-06-08 | designingelectronics.com | still up |
| 2021-11-23 | tamagui.dev | still up |
| 2021-11-23 | unsafeperform.io | still up |
| 2021-12-06 | postdrc.com | gone |
| 2021-03-18 | inventhub.io | unverified |
| 2021-09-25 | vizcom.co | moved |
| 2021-06-03 | assetroulette.com | gone |
| 2021-06-01 | YCVerihubs AI-powered Deepfake Detection · verihubs.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCMindee AI Document Understanding API · mindee.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | Application Development Platform (Native Mobile + Web Apps) · flutterflow.io | still up |
| 2021-02-05 | softr.io | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCVapi Voice AI for developers. · vapi.ai | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | Stripe for online identity verification · authologic.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | User research on autopilot. · greatquestion.co | still up |
| 2021-06-06 | flag.rachel.systems | still up |
| 2021-03-29 | launchdisco.com | gone |
| 2021-01-01 | YCauthzed Authorization Infrastructure securing AI at OpenAI, Zoom, & more · authzed.com | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCPluggy Plaid for Brazil: we allow developers to access users' financial data · pluggy.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Making it easy to sell personalized products online. · customily.com | still up |
| 2021-08-11 | uiguideline.com | still up |
| 2021-07-10 | airclick.io | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCSpline Design and collaborate in multiple dimensions. · spline.design | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCMach9 AI CAD Software for Civil Engineering · mach9.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Executable specifications in English for test automation · testrigor.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | API for developers and AIs to access health data · tryterra.co | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Subscription infrastructure & paywall experimentation for mobile apps · superwall.com | still up |
| 2021-11-11 | sw.ink | gone |
| 2021-01-01 | Shift FinOps Left: Proactively Find & Fix Cloud Cost Issues · infracost.io | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | The fastest way to ship airtight AI · openlayer.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCUiflow No-code platform for enterprise software companies · ycombinator.com | acquired |
| 2021-01-01 | YCRunway Easier and more reliable mobile app releases for teams. · runway.team | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCReplo Sell anything · replo.app | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCAbstra Automate finance operations with Python and AI · abstra.io | still up |
| 2021-02-10 | flowtrack.co | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCNoloco Flexible Business Apps for Modern Teams · noloco.io | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Affogato AI — Your Agent for instant TikToks, Reels, and ads. · affogato.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | AI native mobile testing. · mobileboost.io | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Automated e2e screenshot testing without writing or maintaining tests · meticulous.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YChotglue Native user-facing SaaS integrations for your customers · hotglue.com | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCArchbee TURN STATIC DOCS INTO INSTANT ANSWERS · archbee.com | still up |
| 2021-11-27 | uifoundations.com | still up |
| 2021-06-22 | designify.com | unverified |
| 2021-04-24 | toolkit.addy.codes | still up |
| 2021-05-21 | proficience.io | gone |
| 2021-06-01 | YCLocale Organic and gourmet high-protein meals, designed for longevity. · shoplocale.com | still up |
| 2021-06-19 | readyui.co | still up |
| 2021-05-20 | tailwind-figma.com | unverified |
| 2021-11-20 | loremfaces.com | still up |
| 2021-07-26 | uihut.com | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Plan and review AI generated code · vibekanban.com | still up |
| 2021-07-26 | bluespace.tech | unverified |
How this compares
Y Combinator reports its own outcomes, including acquisitions. The other two are judged by asking the domain, so they are not measured the same way and are never averaged together.
The register re-probes every domain it holds. Some that answered last month stop answering. We send that list — what went quiet, and what it was — once a month. Nothing else.
How this was made. Show HN entries are every post from 2021 to 2023 with at least five points that linked to its own domain; code hosts and free hosting are excluded, because a repository outlives the effort behind it. Product Hunt entries needed 100 votes — a far higher bar, so they are the promoted top slice rather than a like-for-like sample. Both are judged by asking the domain whether it still answers: gone means it no longer resolves, refuses the connection, serves a parking page, or says plainly that it shut down. An HTTP error is not counted as gone — a server answering 404 is one somebody still pays for, and an audit of 25 gone-calls found two such sites alive with only a moved homepage. Y Combinator entries use the status YC publishes itself, which is why only those can say acquired. Squatted domains — a lapsed name now serving somebody else's site — are not detected, so these figures run slightly low.