AI Tools and Software Sentiment Report: Week of May 18, 2026
May 18, 2026
This report tracks aggregated community sentiment across AI tools and broader software, from coding platforms to CRM systems to video editors. The figures here summarize the tone of public online discussion, not any verdict on how well a product works. Across the data set we analyzed 8,631 relevant mentions for the reporting period running from May 11, 2026 through May 18, 2026, drawn from public posts and comments.
Of the 2,218 products we monitor, 129 cleared the threshold of at least 10 relevant mentions and were eligible for ranking this period. The mentions analyzed for May 11, 2026 through May 18, 2026 lean heavily on a handful of high-volume products, while many tracked tools saw only a trickle of chatter. Below we walk through the leaderboard, category movement, the biggest swings, a spotlight on the top-scoring product, and the themes shaping the conversation.
DaVinci Resolve sits at the top with a Pulse Score of 69, based on 10 mentions over the period, just edging out Writesonic at 68, based on 17 mentions, and Copy.ai at 67, based on 11 mentions. These three sit at the front despite modest mention counts, a reminder that the leaderboard rewards tone of discussion rather than sheer volume.
DeepSeek is the outlier on volume, posting a 65 across 521 mentions over the period, by far the deepest sample among the leaders. That makes its score one of the more stable reads on this list. Superhuman rounds out the top five at 64, based on 18 mentions. The spread between first and fifth is only five points, so the leading group reflects a tight band of broadly positive discussion rather than a runaway favorite.
Category View
At the category level, the most striking shift was video-editing, which moved from 56 to 67 over the period, the largest gain of any tracked category and consistent with DaVinci Resolve's climb. Communication rose from 43 to 49 and design from 46 to 50, while ai-chat ticked up from 48 to 52. Moving the other way, education fell from 54 to 47, the steepest category decline, and security slipped from 45 to 43, with cloud-storage and software both edging lower. Most other categories, including coding, crm, and finance, stayed within a point or two, suggesting the broader mood held steady while a few pockets did the moving.
Biggest Movers
Microsoft Copilot (riser, 36 to 57, based on 33 mentions). The largest upward move of the period belonged to Microsoft Copilot. Its praise themes centered on Strong features (41 mentions), Good integrations (32 mentions), and Easy to use (27 mentions), which points to discussion favoring how it slots into existing workflows. The picture was not one-sided, with complaints around Bugs (27 mentions), Compared to rivals (26 mentions), and Missing features (25 mentions) all clustered closely, so the positive tilt sat alongside active debate.
Copy.ai (riser, 51 to 67, based on 11 mentions). The ai-writing tool climbed 16 points with no complaint themes recorded this period. Its praise leaned on Strong features (5 mentions), Compared to rivals (5 mentions), and AI quality (4 mentions). On a sample of 11 mentions, that clean profile reads as a small but consistently favorable conversation rather than a broad groundswell.
Flux (riser, 33 to 49, based on 33 mentions). Flux gained 16 points on praise for AI quality (33 mentions), Strong features (22 mentions), and New releases (13 mentions). Those gains were tempered by complaints about Bugs (19 mentions), Performance (17 mentions), and Reliability (11 mentions), so the climb reflected enthusiasm for output quality running ahead of unresolved stability gripes.
Coursera (faller, 68 to 42, based on 22 mentions). The steepest drop of the period hit the education platform. Praise still showed up for Strong features (14 mentions), Easy to use (9 mentions), and Fair pricing (6 mentions), but complaints spread across AI quality (4 mentions), Pricing too high (4 mentions), and Missing features (4 mentions). The 26-point slide aligns with the wider education category decline and suggests the conversation soured even as feature praise persisted.
Surfshark (faller, 66 to 46, based on 20 mentions). The security product fell 20 points. It retained strong praise for Fair pricing (29 mentions) alongside Strong features (11 mentions) and Easy to use (7 mentions), while complaints were comparatively light at Compared to rivals (3 mentions), Missing features (2 mentions), and Pricing too high (2 mentions). The drop here is worth reading cautiously given the thin complaint volume against a heavier praise base.
Turborepo (faller, 74 to 60, based on 31 mentions). The coding tool gave back 14 points but still landed at a respectable 60. Praise was substantial, led by Strong features (68 mentions), Performance (45 mentions), and Good integrations (32 mentions), but complaints were also heavy, with Bugs (41 mentions), Reliability (26 mentions), and Missing features (9 mentions). That mix of strong praise and significant bug chatter explains a high score sliding back toward the middle.
Spotlight: DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve took the top Pulse Score this period at 69, based on 10 mentions over the period. Its weekly series shows a steady climb, moving from 58 on May 4, 2026 to 67 on May 11, 2026 and then to 69 on May 18, 2026. That upward path tracks closely with the broader video-editing category, which rose from 56 to 67 across the same window.
The theme breakdown helps explain the favorable tone. Praise was led by Easy to use (8 mentions) and Strong features (8 mentions), with Compared to rivals (2 mentions) also appearing. Complaints were minimal, with only AI quality (1 mention) recorded. For a video editor, the combination of usability praise and feature praise sitting on top of a near-empty complaint column is a clean profile, even if it rests on a small sample.
The caveat is volume. Ten mentions is right at the eligibility line, so DaVinci Resolve's lead should be read as a snapshot of a small, consistently positive conversation rather than a high-confidence verdict. A handful of additional posts in either direction could move the score noticeably next period, which is exactly the kind of thin-sample sensitivity worth keeping in mind when interpreting any tightly clustered leaderboard.
Themes Driving the Conversation
On the praise side, Strong features led decisively with 2,713 mentions, followed by AI quality with 1,145 mentions, Easy to use with 1,018 mentions, Good integrations with 788 mentions, and Compared to rivals with 384 mentions. The feature theme shows up almost everywhere, anchoring high-volume profiles like Claude Code (249 mentions), Claude (229 mentions), and ChatGPT (183 mentions). AI quality praise concentrated in the chat and model tools, with Claude (234 mentions), ChatGPT (159 mentions), and Gemini (149 mentions) carrying much of that weight, while DeepSeek's praise tilted toward Compared to rivals (136 mentions) and Fair pricing (118 mentions).
Complaints were dominated by Bugs at 4,346 mentions, well ahead of Reliability at 2,755 mentions, Missing features at 1,075 mentions, AI quality at 598 mentions, and Compared to rivals at 591 mentions. The bug and reliability themes are where heavy-volume products concentrate their negative chatter, including Loom (211 bug mentions), Stripe (188 bug mentions), Vercel (170 bug mentions), and Tailscale (174 bug mentions). It is notable that AI quality appears on both the praise and complaint lists, reflecting split opinion on tools like Gemini, where AI quality drew 149 praise mentions but also 112 complaint mentions, and Grok, where AI quality split 79 praise to 183 complaint mentions.
Watchlist
A large share of tracked products did not reach the 10-mention threshold this period and were excluded from rankings. This is a measure of discussion volume only, not a judgment on quality. Several recognizable names sat just under the line, including Sublime Text (9 relevant mentions), Affinity (9 relevant mentions), Mint (9 relevant mentions), and Koala AI (8 relevant mentions). Others with single-digit chatter included CrowdStrike (8 relevant mentions), SentinelOne (8 relevant mentions), Klarna (8 relevant mentions), Luma AI (8 relevant mentions), Thinkific (8 relevant mentions), Basecamp (8 relevant mentions), Codemirror (8 relevant mentions), Visual Studio Code (7 relevant mentions), Stability AI (7 relevant mentions), Pika (7 relevant mentions), Coverity (7 relevant mentions), Unstructured (7 relevant mentions), and Hygraph (7 relevant mentions).
These below-threshold products are worth revisiting if their mention counts rise. A product can be widely used and still generate little public discussion in any given week, so a quiet period here often reflects the rhythm of online conversation rather than anything about the tool itself. We exclude thin samples precisely because a small number of posts can produce an unstable score that swings sharply week to week.
What To Watch Next Week
First, watch whether DaVinci Resolve can hold its lead. Its score climbed across all three weeks of the digest to 69, but it sits on just 10 mentions over the period, so the read is sensitive to small shifts in volume. A modest change in either direction could reshape the top of the leaderboard given the five-point spread among the leaders.
Second, watch the education category and Coursera specifically. The category fell from 54 to 47, and Coursera dropped 26 points to 42 while still drawing praise for Strong features (14 mentions). Whether that gap between feature praise and a sliding score narrows or widens is the thing to monitor.
Third, watch the bug and reliability themes among the high-volume products. With Bugs at 4,346 mentions and Reliability at 2,755 mentions leading the complaint side, products like Vercel, Stripe, Loom, and Tailscale that carry heavy bug chatter are the ones whose scores could move most if that discussion eases or intensifies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which product had the highest Pulse Score this period?
DaVinci Resolve had the highest Pulse Score at 69, based on 10 mentions over the period, narrowly ahead of Writesonic at 68 and Copy.ai at 67.
Which product moved the most this period?
Microsoft Copilot was the biggest riser, climbing from 36 to 57 for a 21-point gain, based on 33 mentions. The steepest faller was Coursera, which dropped from 68 to 42, a 26-point decline, based on 22 mentions.
How many mentions were analyzed?
We analyzed 8,631 relevant mentions for the period running from May 11, 2026 through May 18, 2026, with 129 of 2,218 tracked products clearing the 10-mention threshold for ranking.
What was the overall category mood this period?
Movement was mixed. Video-editing rose the most, from 56 to 67, while education fell the most, from 54 to 47. Most other categories, including coding and finance, stayed within a point or two.
About This Data
Pulse Scores summarize the tone of public online discussion on a 0-100 scale and reflect community sentiment, not a verdict on a product's quality or a recommendation. We report on complete calendar weeks only, and products with fewer than 10 relevant mentions in the period are excluded from rankings to avoid unstable reads on thin samples.
Public discussion is collected from Hacker News, Stack Exchange, GitHub, Bluesky, the Apple App Store, and YouTube. Automated sentiment analysis can misread sarcasm, jokes, or niche context, mention volumes vary widely between products, and scores can move from week to week. Any company that wants to respond to its coverage is welcome to reach out. For more on how scores are calculated, see our methodology.
