# AI Breakout: October 2025

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

The top five AI apps hold their places in October, while LM Studio enters the ranking at #9.

## What the data says

ChatGPT, Claude AI, Grammarly, Cursor AI, and OpenAI keep the same order as in September.

Three apps join the ranking: LM Studio at #9, Microsoft Copilot at #17, and Anthropic at #19.

Fireflies.ai, Grok, and Notion Mail each fall 3 places. The median Shadow IT index is 54.

Based on anonymized, aggregated usage data from September 1 to 30, 2025.

## At a glance

- Top 3: ChatGPT (#1), Claude AI (#2), Grammarly (#3).
- Biggest climbers: ClickUp, up 2 to #12; ElevenLabs, up 2 to #18; Google AI Studio, up 1 to #8.
- Biggest drops: Fireflies.ai, down 3 to #15; Grok, down 3 to #16; Notion Mail, down 3 to #20.

## 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, Grok, Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic)
- AI coding and building: 20% (4 apps: Cursor AI, Google AI Studio, LM Studio, Gemini Code Assist)
- AI notes and voice: 10% (2 apps: Granola, Fireflies.ai)
- AI content and media: 10% (2 apps: Grammarly, ElevenLabs)
- AI agents: 5% (1 app: n8n)
- 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 | 31 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2 | Claude AI | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 54 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 3 | Grammarly | Productivity | AI content and media | Yes | Same | 37 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 4 | Cursor AI | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | Same | 35 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 5 | OpenAI | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 37 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 6 | Zapier | IT & Security | Ops, HR, and finance | No | Same | 37 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 7 | Perplexity AI | Analytics & BI | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 62 | No | No | No |
| 8 | Google AI Studio | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | +1 | 62 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 9 | LM Studio | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | New | 75 | No | No | No |
| 10 | NotebookLM | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | -2 | 41 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 11 | Gemini Code Assist | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -1 | 62 | No | Yes | No |
| 12 | ClickUp | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | +2 | 48 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 13 | Granola | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | -2 | 60 | No | No | Yes |
| 14 | n8n | Operations | AI agents | Yes | +1 | 47 | No | No | Yes |
| 15 | Fireflies.ai | Sales & Marketing | AI notes and voice | Yes | -3 | 60 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 16 | Grok | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | -3 | 66 | No | No | Yes |
| 17 | Microsoft Copilot | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | New | 54 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 18 | ElevenLabs | Operations | AI content and media | Yes | +2 | 55 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 19 | Anthropic | IT & Security | AI assistants | Yes | New | 48 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 20 | Notion Mail | Productivity | Personal productivity | Yes | -3 | 60 | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Bottom line

October's ranking is stable at the top, with the first five apps unchanged. The movement is further down, where LM Studio, Microsoft Copilot, and Anthropic join the list.

## 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: Replaced a conclusion copied from the September edition. The original repeated September's text, including a claim about n8n that does not apply to this edition.
- 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: Added takeaways from this edition's data. This edition was first published with only a short introduction.
- 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: October 2025" at toriiresearch.com/reports/ai-breakout-report-october-2025.

## How to cite

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

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