What SOTA is for
Building an AI product is only part of the work. Getting it in front of people is another. SOTA gives makers a place to introduce their products, explain the problem they solve, and link to where people can learn more or try them.
AI apps, commercial services, developer tools and open-source projects all fit within that purpose. A public source-code repository is not what makes a product useful.
The name
SOTA takes its name from “state of the art.” We are interested in the products people are building with AI and how they can be useful. A listing is an introduction, not a claim that a product leads every benchmark.
Who maintains SOTA
SOTA is maintained through the sotacc project on GitHub. Project suggestions and corrections are public so that the reasoning can be followed. The directory is independent of the projects it lists.
How a project earns its place
We look for a clear purpose, an identifiable product and useful information about who it helps. Official websites, demos, documentation and public repositories can all provide evidence. A submission is a proposal; it is not an automatic endorsement or publication.
Our profiles explain intended users, a reason to consider the project, limitations and a suggested evaluation. Popularity is contextual information, not a quality score; see how products are ordered.
What “reviewed” means
Each profile records its method and date. The current documentation reviews were prepared with AI assistance using linked official documentation and repositories. They are editorial assessments, not hands-on benchmarks, security audits or guarantees of production readiness.
A hands-on review must identify the version, environment, workload and observed results. A suggested test is labelled as an evaluation plan; it does not mean we ran it. Imported source notes and metadata snapshots keep their original scope and dates.
How products are ordered
Nobody ranks the collection by hand. Every day an automated job updates public signals, and the order follows from them:
- Trending (the default) lists products that are gaining ground first: a website climbing the Tranco traffic ranking over the last 30 and 60 days, or an open-source repository gaining GitHub stars. Products added in the last three weeks are also placed near the top while they are new. All other products share the remaining places in an order that changes daily, so size alone never decides who comes first. The first page shows at most three products from one category.
- Popular lists products by website traffic rank, largest first.
Some products cannot be measured this way, for example ones that live on a section of another company's website, or sites that entered the ranking within the last two months (often after a launch, rename or move). They take part in the daily rotation. Paid Boost placements never change either order.
Corrections and updates
If a claim is inaccurate or a project has changed, open a correction with the affected page and supporting evidence. We update the review date when we substantively recheck the content. Facts we cannot verify remain unknown.
Commercial independence
Sponsorship supports the collection and may buy clearly labelled placement. It does not buy a favorable assessment or a position in an editorial comparison. Paid links are identified as sponsored. Project owners may suggest factual corrections, but our selection advice remains separate.