# AI Breakout: March 2026

Published March 3, 2026 by Torii Research (Torii). Updated October 7, 2026. Canonical URL: https://www.toriihq.com/research/reports/ai-breakout-march-2026

ChatGPT and Claude AI hold the top two spots in March as OpenAI Codex enters the top 10.

## What the data says

ChatGPT and Claude AI stay at #1 and #2, and Cursor AI moves up 1 place to #3.

Four apps are new to the ranking, led by the coding agent OpenAI Codex at #10. ChatBox AI, ChatOn, and Genspark also join.

The local model runner ollama is the biggest climber, up 5 places to #20. ClickUp falls 8 places to #26 and Read AI 6 places to #25.

## At a glance

- Top 3: ChatGPT (#1), Claude AI (#2), Cursor AI (#3).
- Biggest climbers: ollama, up 5 to #20; NotebookLM, up 2 to #7; Granola, up 2 to #13.
- Biggest drops: ClickUp, down 8 to #26; Read AI, down 6 to #25; Grok, down 5 to #22.

## What kinds of apps

AI-native apps: 90% (27 of the 30 apps). Share of this edition's apps by theme (one theme per app; definitions at https://www.toriihq.com/research/themes):

- AI assistants: 33% (10 apps: ChatGPT, Claude AI, OpenAI, NotebookLM, Google Gemini, Perplexity AI, ChatBox AI, Chatly AI, Grok, ChatOn)
- AI coding and building: 30% (9 apps: Cursor AI, Google Antigravity, OpenAI Codex, Claude Developer, Gemini Code Assist, Google AI Studio, ollama, Base44, Warp.dev)
- AI notes and voice: 10% (3 apps: Granola, Fireflies.ai, Read AI)
- AI content and media: 10% (3 apps: Grammarly, Gamma App, ElevenLabs)
- AI agents: 7% (2 apps: n8n, Genspark)
- Work suites and collaboration: 3% (1 app: ClickUp)
- Sales, marketing, and CX: 3% (1 app: Gong)
- Ops, HR, and finance: 3% (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 | 32 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2 | Claude AI | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 43 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 3 | Cursor AI | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | +1 | 29 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 4 | OpenAI | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | -1 | 34 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 5 | Grammarly | Productivity | AI content and media | Yes | Same | 37 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 6 | Gong | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | Same | 23 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 7 | NotebookLM | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | +2 | 41 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 8 | Zapier | IT & Security | Ops, HR, and finance | No | Same | 37 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 9 | Google Antigravity | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -2 | 62 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 10 | OpenAI Codex | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | New | 80 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 11 | Claude Developer | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | +1 | 46 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 12 | Gemini Code Assist | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -2 | 55 | No | Yes | No |
| 13 | Granola | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | +2 | 54 | No | No | Yes |
| 14 | Google Gemini | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | +2 | 41 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 15 | Gamma App | Sales & Marketing | AI content and media | Yes | -4 | 61 | Yes | No | No |
| 16 | Google AI Studio | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -3 | 55 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 17 | Perplexity AI | Analytics & BI | AI assistants | Yes | -3 | 59 | No | No | No |
| 18 | ElevenLabs | Operations | AI content and media | Yes | +2 | 54 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 19 | ChatBox AI | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | New | 70 | No | No | No |
| 20 | ollama | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | +5 | 57 | No | No | No |
| 21 | Chatly AI | Analytics & BI | AI assistants | Yes | +1 | 62 | No | No | No |
| 22 | Grok | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | -5 | 64 | No | No | Yes |
| 23 | Fireflies.ai | Sales & Marketing | AI notes and voice | Yes | -2 | 59 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 24 | Base44 | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -1 | 57 | No | No | No |
| 25 | Read AI | Operations | AI notes and voice | Yes | -6 | 59 | Yes | No | No |
| 26 | ClickUp | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | -8 | 50 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 27 | n8n | Operations | AI agents | Yes | -3 | 41 | No | No | Yes |
| 28 | ChatOn | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | New | 64 | No | No | No |
| 29 | Warp.dev | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | Same | 55 | Yes | No | No |
| 30 | Genspark | Productivity | AI agents | Yes | New | 68 | No | No | No |

## 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: Recalculated rank changes against February 2026. 8 of 30 original figures did not match the ranks published in that edition, so every value now compares against it. Apps not in that list show as new.
- 2026-10-07, Correction: Rewrote the takeaways from this edition's data. The original text repeated the February 2026 edition, so its apps and figures did not match the table on this page.
- 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: March 26" at toriiresearch.com/reports/ai-breakout-report-march-26.

## How to cite

Torii Research. (2026, March 3). AI Breakout: March 2026 [Data set]. Torii. https://www.toriihq.com/research/reports/ai-breakout-march-2026

Data: https://www.toriihq.com/research/data/ai-breakout-march-2026.csv and https://www.toriihq.com/research/data/ai-breakout-march-2026.json