I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve opened an article titled something like “Top 50 AI Tools You Need in 2026” only to find the exact same tools, the same vague descriptions, and zero real information.
No clear pricing.
No source links.
No idea when the data was last checked.
Just rankings that somehow always favor whoever paid the most or shouted the loudest.
So a few months ago I started collecting this information myself — real pricing where available, source links, deployment context, and how fresh the data actually is. It slowly turned into a public research index.
Right now it covers 36,000+ AI, developer, open-source, and SaaS tools.
What I tried to do differently:
- No invented popularity rankings
- Source context is visible
- Freshness signals are shown
- Pricing is classified instead of just saying “freemium”
- Unknowns are left visible instead of hidden
It’s still early and definitely incomplete in places, but it’s already more useful to me than 90% of the directories and listicles floating around.
You can check it here: https://oryxen.in
I’m curious what you all think.
What’s the most frustrating part for you when researching new tools?
Is it outdated pricing? Missing alternatives? Too much marketing language? Something else?
Would love honest feedback especially the critical kind.
