Eight proven software business categories from $100M in AppSumo sales

Executive overview

AppSumo has sold over $100M in digital software, revealing which categories consistently generate multi-million dollar businesses. Software scales cheaply once built — upfront development costs are offset by near-unlimited distribution. The list covers eight categories, each validated by real marketplace sales data.

The fastest path to a software business is building in a category already proven by others, then carving a niche within it.

AI tools for automating repetitive tasks

• GPT-3-style tools can auto-generate content from a few keywords
• Best applied to entry-level repetitive work: research, basic copywriting, ads
• Example: Market Muse identifies SEO opportunities, drafts articles, scores content vs competitors
• Look for adjacent verticals — e.g. the same concept applied to YouTube production

Tools for video creators

• Video content is rising across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok
• Any tool that reduces production time has a large and growing audience
• Example: Happy Scribe auto-generates transcripts and subtitles from speech
• Idea: mobile editing tool for TikTok with more flexibility than the native app

Email tools

• Email marketing is a large category with room for niche players
• Competition doesn't mean saturation — restaurants compete; the good ones survive
• Differentiation angles: behaviour-based automation, outbound sales, recruiting
• Substack charges 10% on paid newsletters — a free alternative with a different revenue model is viable

No-code applications

• Non-technical founders need tools to build and run businesses without writing code
• Examples already validated: Squarespace, Shopify, Swipe Pages (landing pages)
• To find the idea: identify a manual process, do it with pen and paper first, then find a coder to productise it
• Opportunity area: no-code tools for blockchain applications

Integration tools

• Businesses use many disconnected tools and pay for overlapping subscriptions
• Opportunity: pick one type of business, identify the 2–3 tools they all use, combine them
• Review a customer's credit card bill to see what they're actually paying for
• Example: SweetDash bundles CRM, client portals, file sharing, project management, invoicing

Stock asset libraries

• Bloggers, YouTubers, and podcasters constantly need photos, video, audio, and graphics
• Deposit Photos — a library of 195M+ images — was one of AppSumo's best-performing deals
• Niche opportunity: curated stock library for Zoom backgrounds
• Specialising by asset type or customer segment reduces competition

Templates for any workflow

• Templates eliminate from-scratch creation time and are applicable to almost any industry
• Validated examples: spreadsheet templates (Better Sheets), design templates (Crello), Notion templates
• Identify who needs recurring templates: content creators, crypto users, real estate agents, YouTube thumbnail designers
• Recipes are templates — any repeatable output can be templatised and sold

All-in-one online course platforms

• Online courses projected to be worth $300B+ by 2025
• Opportunity is in selling infrastructure to course creators, not courses themselves
• Example: Gurcan — mobile-first platform for courses, memberships, webinars, and automation
• Adjacent idea: act as a broker or manager helping subject-matter experts get their content online