Brex has released the first edition of its annual Startup Starter Kit index, a basket of the most‑common software and hardware purchases made by brand‑new companies in their first 90 days. The 2026 kit totals $4,417, a 14% increase over the 2023 baseline.
What the kit includes
The fixed core of the kit—items bought by at least one in ten startups each year—remains largely unchanged. Fifteen merchants consistently meet the 10% threshold: Google Workspace, Amazon, OpenAI, Slack, Apple, LinkedIn, GitHub, Zoom, AWS, Intuit, GoDaddy, DocuSign, Microsoft, Figma and Notion. New AI‑focused vendors Claude and Cursor entered the core after 2023.
Price trends
Across the four cohorts, the kit’s cost was $3,886 in 2023, $3,391 in 2024, $3,772 in 2025 and $4,417 in 2026. After a dip in 2024, the index recovered and then jumped 17% in 2026. Stripping out Apple and Amazon—whose prices are volatile—still shows a software‑only kit rising from $1,525 to $1,766, a 16% increase.
Infrastructure costs grew sharply. AWS’s median spend rose from $186 to $295, Microsoft from $68 to $150, Intuit from $70 to $118 and Google Workspace from $72 to $101. By contrast, collaboration tools deflated: Figma fell from $144 to $65, Slack from $88 to $60 and Zoom from $93 to $54.
AI takes the lead
AI services now dominate early‑stage spend. Claude, an Anthropic model, appears in 62% of 2026 cohorts—more than any other item, even Google Workspace (41%). The median Claude buyer spends $507 in the first 90 days, typically on a top‑tier plan. Cursor’s median spend grew from $40 in 2023 to $223 in 2026, and it appears in 31% of new companies.
The time from a company’s first card charge to its first AI charge fell dramatically, from 24 days in 2023 to just nine days in 2026. One in five 2026 startups records an AI purchase as its very first expense, up from under 3% in 2023.
What founders should know
Founders planning a new venture should budget AI subscriptions as a day‑one line item rather than a later add‑on. With AI now the most common early purchase, allocating funds for top‑tier plans will help avoid cash‑flow surprises.
The living kit—allowing each year’s unique mix of vendors—remains roughly flat at $4,940 in 2026, showing that the higher cost of AI is largely offset by the removal of older tools such as Webflow, Google Domains, Paddle, Calendly, Dropbox and Upwork.
Looking ahead
Brex will continue to track the kit annually. The 2026 print marks the first time the fixed kit’s cost has risen, reflecting both higher software prices and the rapid adoption of AI. Future reports will reveal whether AI pricing stabilizes and whether the overall spend trajectory remains steady.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
