AI Breakout: October 2026
Claude AI reaches 98% adoption in October, and Grok breaks into the top 10.
#1Claude AI holds the top spot
+9Grok, the biggest climberSource: Torii Research, anonymized and aggregated usage data. Published October 8, 2026. Summary figures computed from the 30 apps in this report.
What kinds of apps
Every edition, by theme →Not in this edition, but in September 2026: Design and video (3%).
Share of the 30 apps in this edition, by theme. Each app has one theme, assigned by Torii Research from what the product does; AI marks the AI themes. Select a theme to filter the list below. How themes work.
Top of the index
Ranked by usage among AI apps. Rank change compares with the previous published edition.
All 30 apps
Productivity
Claude AI
Claude is a next-generation AI assistant capable of a wide variety of conversational and…
About Claude AI
Claude is a next-generation AI assistant capable of a wide variety of conversational and text-processing tasks while maintaining a high degree of reliability and predictability.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Productivity
ChatGPT
ChatGPT helps you get answers, find inspiration and be more productive. It is free to use and…
About ChatGPT
ChatGPT helps you get answers, find inspiration and be more productive. It is free to use and easy to try. Just ask and ChatGPT can help with writing, learning, brainstorming and more.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Productivity
OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company that conducts research and implements machine…
About OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company that conducts research and implements machine learning, known for creating powerful models like GPT-3 and GPT-4, which generate human-like text and are used in various applications.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Productivity
Google Gemini
Get help with writing, planning, learning, and more from Google AI.
About Google Gemini
Get help with writing, planning, learning, and more from Google AI.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Developer Tools
Cursor AI
Cursor is an AI Code Editor.
Productivity
Grammarly
Grammarly is an English language writing-enhancement platform. Grammarly's proofreading and…
About Grammarly
Grammarly is an English language writing-enhancement platform. Grammarly's proofreading and plagiarism-detection resources check for a writer's adherence to more than 250 grammar rules. Grammarly's free writing app ensures that everything you type is easy to read, effective, and mistake-free.
Theme: AI content and media · AI-native
Sales & Marketing
Gong
Gong helps B2B sales teams sell and coach better by recording, transcribing, and analyzing…
About Gong
Gong helps B2B sales teams sell and coach better by recording, transcribing, and analyzing their calls; demos using AI powered conversation intelligence technology.
Theme: Sales, marketing, and CX
Productivity
Grok
An AI assistant that delivers unfiltered, real-time insights by combining advanced reasoning,…
About Grok
An AI assistant that delivers unfiltered, real-time insights by combining advanced reasoning, coding support, document summarization, image generation, and integrated web search.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Productivity
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered tool integrated into Microsoft 365 applications like Word,…
About Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered tool integrated into Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, and Teams. It enhances productivity by automating tasks such as content generation, data analysis, and summarization, leveraging advanced AI capabilities from models like GPT-4.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Productivity
Granola
Granola transcribes your meetings and formats notes automatically, integrates with GPT-4 for…
About Granola
Granola transcribes your meetings and formats notes automatically, integrates with GPT-4 for post-meeting actions, and works on all platforms.
Theme: AI notes and voice · AI-native
Developer Tools
Claude Developer
A generative AI platform that allows developers and enterprises to build, deploy, and scale…
About Claude Developer
A generative AI platform that allows developers and enterprises to build, deploy, and scale AI-powered applications using Anthropic’s Claude models.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
IT & Security
Zapier
Zapier is a web-based service that allows end users to integrate the web applications they use.…
About Zapier
Zapier is a web-based service that allows end users to integrate the web applications they use. Zapier lets users easily connect the web apps they use, making it easy to automate tedious tasks.
Theme: Ops, HR, and finance
Developer Tools
Google Antigravity
An AI-enhanced Integrated Development Environment for software developers.
About Google Antigravity
An AI-enhanced Integrated Development Environment for software developers.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Operations
Read AI
Read AI improves meeting wellness through better scheduling, real-time analytics, summaries,…
About Read AI
Read AI improves meeting wellness through better scheduling, real-time analytics, summaries, transcription, playback, and automated recommendations.
Theme: AI notes and voice · AI-native
Productivity
Grok Bot
Provides AI teammates that use work tools, follow tasks end to end, keep context, and return…
About Grok Bot
Provides AI teammates that use work tools, follow tasks end to end, keep context, and return approved results while working in parallel across apps.
Theme: AI agents · AI-native
IT & Security
Anthropic
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that builds reliable, interpretable, and…
About Anthropic
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that builds reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Operations
ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs is an AI speech tool.
Sales & Marketing
Apollo
Unified AI sales platform combining a B2B contact and company database with outbound…
About Apollo
Unified AI sales platform combining a B2B contact and company database with outbound sequencing, inbound lead routing, data enrichment, deal management, and conversation intelligence for sales and marketing teams.
Theme: Sales, marketing, and CX
Developer Tools
OpenAI Codex
An AI coding partner that understands entire codebases, safely executes commands in sandboxed…
About OpenAI Codex
An AI coding partner that understands entire codebases, safely executes commands in sandboxed environments, and turns issues into reviewed, production ready pull requests.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Developer Tools
Gemini Code Assist
Enhances coding efficiency by integrating AI-driven assistance directly into popular IDEs,…
About Gemini Code Assist
Enhances coding efficiency by integrating AI-driven assistance directly into popular IDEs, offering automatic code completions and responsive chat capabilities for streamlined development tasks.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Developer Tools
ollama
Enables users to execute various large language models such as Llama 3.3 and Mistral locally…
About ollama
Enables users to execute various large language models such as Llama 3.3 and Mistral locally across different operating systems while facilitating seamless integration and exploration of AI capabilities.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Operations
n8n
n8n is a secure and AI-native workflow automation tool. It allows technical users to insert…
About n8n
n8n is a secure and AI-native workflow automation tool. It allows technical users to insert code when needed and offers full source code and self-hosting options.
Theme: AI agents · AI-native
Project Management
ClickUp
ClickUp's productivity software is making more productive projects with a beautifully designed…
About ClickUp
ClickUp's productivity software is making more productive projects with a beautifully designed and intuitive platform.
Sales & Marketing
Fireflies.ai
Fireflies automates data entry for sales reps by capturing notes & next steps inside your CRM…
About Fireflies.ai
Fireflies automates data entry for sales reps by capturing notes & next steps inside your CRM after each call.
Theme: AI notes and voice · AI-native
Productivity
Instinct.com
Manages tasks and personal errands across apps and devices by understanding context, handling…
About Instinct.com
Manages tasks and personal errands across apps and devices by understanding context, handling follow ups, and arranging calls, texts, rides, and bookings with simple conversation.
Theme: AI agents · AI-native
Developer Tools
OpenCode
Enables coding within any terminal or IDE by providing an open-source AI agent that supports…
About OpenCode
Enables coding within any terminal or IDE by providing an open-source AI agent that supports multiple models and simultaneous sessions for enhanced productivity.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Analytics & BI
Perplexity AI
Perplexity is a research assistant for your curiosity that lets you ask questions or get…
About Perplexity AI
Perplexity is a research assistant for your curiosity that lets you ask questions or get instant summaries while you browse the internet.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Design
Higgsfield
Offers advanced visual effects and intuitive camera controls for creating ultra-realistic…
About Higgsfield
Offers advanced visual effects and intuitive camera controls for creating ultra-realistic images with customizable avatars and inpainting for engaging product placements.
Theme: AI content and media · AI-native
Sales & Marketing
New Gen AI
An AI commerce platform that connects product catalogs to conversational AI and shopping agents…
About New Gen AI
An AI commerce platform that connects product catalogs to conversational AI and shopping agents while generating personalized content and enabling agentic checkout experiences.
Theme: AI agents · AI-native
Developer Tools
Google AI Studio
A platform that allows developers to integrate and build applications using AI models from…
About Google AI Studio
A platform that allows developers to integrate and build applications using AI models from Google DeepMind, particularly the Gemini series, via an API.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Source: Torii Research, anonymized and aggregated usage data. Published October 8, 2026. Summary figures computed from the 30 apps in this report.
What the data says
Claude AI (98% adoption) and ChatGPT (93% adoption) lead, with OpenAI (74% adoption) holding third.
Grok climbs 9 places to #8, the top climber for a second month.
Four apps are new to the ranking, led by Grok Bot at #15. Perplexity AI is down 4 places to #27, the largest drop.
This edition covers September 2026 usage data.
The data
Show the full data table (30 rows)
| Rank | App | Category | Theme | AI-native | Rank change | Shadow IT index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude AI | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 41 |
| 2 | ChatGPT | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 39 |
| 3 | OpenAI | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 44 |
| 4 | Google Gemini | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 61 |
| 5 | Cursor AI | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | Same | 43 |
| 6 | Grammarly | Productivity | AI content and media | Yes | +1 | 49 |
| 7 | Gong | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | -1 | 48 |
| 8 | Grok | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | +9 | 75 |
| 9 | Microsoft Copilot | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | -1 | 65 |
| 10 | Granola | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | Same | 64 |
| 11 | Claude Developer | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -2 | 56 |
| 12 | Zapier | IT & Security | Ops, HR, and finance | No | -1 | 45 |
| 13 | Google Antigravity | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | +1 | 71 |
| 14 | Read AI | Operations | AI notes and voice | Yes | -2 | 67 |
| 15 | Grok Bot | Productivity | AI agents | Yes | New | 87 |
| 16 | Anthropic | IT & Security | AI assistants | Yes | Same | 48 |
| 17 | ElevenLabs | Operations | AI content and media | Yes | -2 | 63 |
| 18 | Apollo | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | +1 | 62 |
| 19 | OpenAI Codex | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | +3 | 74 |
| 20 | Gemini Code Assist | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -2 | 67 |
| 21 | ollama | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -1 | 74 |
| 22 | n8n | Operations | AI agents | Yes | +2 | 60 |
| 23 | ClickUp | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | +3 | 62 |
| 24 | Fireflies.ai | Sales & Marketing | AI notes and voice | Yes | +1 | 65 |
| 25 | Instinct.com | Productivity | AI agents | Yes | New | 82 |
| 26 | OpenCode | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | +2 | 84 |
| 27 | Perplexity AI | Analytics & BI | AI assistants | Yes | -4 | 62 |
| 28 | Higgsfield | Design | AI content and media | Yes | New | 76 |
| 29 | New Gen AI | Sales & Marketing | AI agents | Yes | New | 82 |
| 30 | Google AI Studio | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | -3 | 68 |
Free to quote with attribution to Torii Research and a link to this page. A plain-text version is at ai-breakout-october-2026.md.
How to read this index
- Rank
- Position by real usage among AI-driven apps in this edition.
- Rank change
- Places gained or lost versus the previous published edition. New marks an app that was not in that edition.
- Shadow IT index
- How often the app is left unsanctioned, 0 to 100.
Definitions in the glossary; formulas and limitations on the Methodology page.