# AI Breakout: July 2025

Published July 1, 2025 by Torii Research (Torii). Updated October 7, 2026. Canonical URL: https://www.toriihq.com/research/reports/ai-breakout-july-2025

ChatGPT and Claude AI lead the first AI Breakout ranking, and half of the 20 apps are productivity tools.

## What the data says

ChatGPT ranks #1 and Claude AI #2, ahead of Grammarly and Cursor AI. Chatly AI rounds out the top 10.

Productivity (10) accounts for half of the list, followed by Developer Tools (3).

Shadow risk is moderate: the median Shadow IT index is 55.5, and no app reaches 70. Thirteen of the 20 apps claim at least two of SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR.

The AI Breakout Report offers a real-time snapshot of how artificial intelligence tools are being adopted across organizations today. The findings are based on real-time usage data from the period of June 1 to 30, 2025, drawn from real companies of all sizes. This dataset gives an unfiltered, accurate view into how AI apps are shaping modern SaaS stacks, spotlighting which tools are breaking through from niche to mainstream adoption.

## At a glance

- Top 3: ChatGPT (#1), Claude AI (#2), Grammarly (#3).
- Biggest climbers: ElevenLabs, up 4 to #15; Grok, up 4 to #16; Granola, up 3 to #14.
- Biggest drops: Notion Mail, down 4 to #11; Grammarly, down 1 to #3; Cursor AI, down 1 to #4.

## What kinds of apps

AI-native apps: 90% (18 of the 20 apps). Share of this edition's apps by theme (one theme per app; definitions at https://www.toriihq.com/research/themes):

- AI assistants: 40% (8 apps: ChatGPT, Claude AI, OpenAI, Perplexity AI, NotebookLM, Chatly AI, Grok, Cluely)
- AI content and media: 20% (4 apps: Grammarly, ElevenLabs, Midjourney, Descript)
- AI coding and building: 15% (3 apps: Cursor AI, Google AI Studio, ollama)
- AI notes and voice: 10% (2 apps: Fireflies.ai, Granola)
- Work suites and collaboration: 5% (1 app: ClickUp)
- Personal productivity: 5% (1 app: Notion Mail)
- Ops, HR, and finance: 5% (1 app: Zapier)

## Rankings

Ranked by usage among AI apps. Rank change compares with the previous published edition.

| Rank | App | Category | Theme | AI-native | Rank change | Shadow IT index | SOC 2 claimed | ISO 27001 claimed | GDPR claimed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ChatGPT | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 34 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 2 | Claude AI | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | +2 | 56 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 3 | Grammarly | Productivity | AI content and media | Yes | -1 | 38 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 4 | Cursor AI | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -1 | 41 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 5 | Zapier | IT & Security | Ops, HR, and finance | No | +1 | 37 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 6 | OpenAI | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | -1 | 41 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 7 | Perplexity AI | Analytics & BI | AI assistants | Yes | +1 | 62 | No | No | No |
| 8 | NotebookLM | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | +1 | 46 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 9 | Google AI Studio | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | +1 | 67 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 10 | Chatly AI | Analytics & BI | AI assistants | Yes | New | 64 | No | No | No |
| 11 | Notion Mail | Productivity | Personal productivity | Yes | -4 | 63 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 12 | ClickUp | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | Same | 49 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 13 | Fireflies.ai | Sales & Marketing | AI notes and voice | Yes | Same | 62 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 14 | Granola | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | +3 | 59 | No | No | Yes |
| 15 | ElevenLabs | Operations | AI content and media | Yes | +4 | 55 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 16 | Grok | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | +4 | 65 | No | No | Yes |
| 17 | Cluely | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | New | 55 | No | No | No |
| 18 | Midjourney | Design | AI content and media | Yes | New | 58 | No | No | Yes |
| 19 | ollama | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | New | 59 | No | No | No |
| 20 | Descript | Productivity | AI content and media | Yes | New | 54 | Yes | No | Yes |

## Bottom line

This month’s data highlights Chatly’s rise into the top 10 and the emergence of new entrants like Cluely AI, Midjourney, and Ollama. The theme is clear, AI adoption is diversifying rapidly. Staying ahead requires real-time visibility, careful inventory, and active discovery of new tools for cost and security control.

## Method

Anonymized, aggregated usage data from companies across industries and sizes, reported as percentages, ranks, and scores. No single organization is identifiable. Methodology: https://www.toriihq.com/research/methodology

## Changelog

- 2026-10-07, Correction: Rewrote the takeaways from this edition's data. The original takeaways were raw analysis notes (evidence lines and statistics) rather than readable findings.
- 2026-10-07, Clarification: Standardized the data source description. Torii Research describes its data as anonymized, aggregated usage data, reported as percentages, ranks, and scores.
- 2026-10-07, Update: Moved from toriiresearch.com; title standardized. Torii Research now lives on toriihq.com. It was first published as "AI Breakout Report: July 2025" at toriiresearch.com/reports/ai-breakout-report-july-2025.

## How to cite

Torii Research. (2025, July 1). AI Breakout: July 2025 [Data set]. Torii. https://www.toriihq.com/research/reports/ai-breakout-july-2025

Data: https://www.toriihq.com/research/data/ai-breakout-july-2025.csv and https://www.toriihq.com/research/data/ai-breakout-july-2025.json