# Shadow IT Index: February 2026

Published February 1, 2026 by Torii Research (Torii). Updated October 7, 2026. Canonical URL: https://www.toriihq.com/research/reports/shadow-it-index-february-2026

Shadow IT reveals a strong focus on productivity, from daily organization to creative AI development.

## What the data says

In this report, we saw a clear focus on core efficiency, with Productivity (16) dominating the most frequent app categories. This drive extends to creative work, highlighted by top tags like AI Generated Images and Videos (7) and AI Agent (4).

Developer adoption is also key, with Developer Tools (5) among the top categories. Individual apps like Async (18% Adoption) for AI-driven project management and Kimi (13% Adoption) for intelligent assistance are leading the push toward higher productivity.

## At a glance

- Top 3: Async (18% adoption), Kimi (13% adoption), ChatOn (9% adoption).
- Highest Shadow IT scores: 3 apps score 100: MasterClass, Netto, Opal.
- Biggest moves since last edition: Artlist, up 17 to #18; Wispr Flow, up 8 to #5; ChatOn, up 6 to #3.

## What kinds of apps

AI-native apps: 28% (14 of the 50 apps). Share of this edition's apps by theme (one theme per app; definitions at https://www.toriihq.com/research/themes):

- Personal and consumer apps: 18% (9 apps: Kahoot!, SoundCloud, Indeed, WhatsApp, MasterClass, iTunes, TripAdvisor, Quizlet, Scribd)
- Work suites and collaboration: 10% (5 apps: Async, WebEx, Smartsheet, Skype for Business, Microsoft Outlook)
- Personal productivity: 10% (5 apps: PDF House, reMarkable, Cal.com, Doodle, Obsidian)
- Developer and data tools: 10% (5 apps: Upstash, Netlify, Grafana Cloud, Termius, Firebase)
- AI coding and building: 8% (4 apps: Base44, Exa, OpenRouter, MiniMax.io)
- AI assistants: 6% (3 apps: Kimi, ChatOn, PopAi)
- AI content and media: 6% (3 apps: Photoroom, Imagine art, Higgsfield)
- Security and IT: 6% (3 apps: NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Sada)
- Design and video: 6% (3 apps: Artlist, Wondershare, Picsart)
- Ops, HR, and finance: 6% (3 apps: Ramp, Netto, SignNow)
- AI agents: 4% (2 apps: Manus, Genspark)
- AI notes and voice: 4% (2 apps: Wispr Flow, Fellow)
- Sales, marketing, and CX: 4% (2 apps: Eventbrite, Opal)
- Browsers and search: 2% (1 app: Vivaldi)

## Rankings

Ranked by adoption.

| Rank | App | Category | Theme | AI-native | Adoption (%) | Shadow IT index | SOC 2 claimed | ISO 27001 claimed | GDPR claimed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Async | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | 18 | 90 | No | No | No |
| 2 | Kimi | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | 13 | 88 | No | No | No |
| 3 | ChatOn | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | 9 | 85 | No | No | No |
| 4 | Manus | Productivity | AI agents | Yes | 7 | 93 | No | No | Yes |
| 5 | Wispr Flow | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | 7 | 83 | No | No | Yes |
| 6 | Base44 | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 7 | 88 | No | No | No |
| 7 | Genspark | Productivity | AI agents | Yes | 7 | 85 | No | No | No |
| 8 | Upstash | Analytics & BI | Developer and data tools | No | 7 | 85 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 9 | PDF House | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 5 | 95 | No | No | No |
| 10 | Photoroom | Design | AI content and media | Yes | 5 | 90 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 11 | NordVPN | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 5 | 85 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 12 | Kahoot! | Human Resource | Personal and consumer apps | No | 5 | 85 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 13 | reMarkable | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 5 | 85 | No | No | Yes |
| 14 | Netlify | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 5 | 81 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 15 | WebEx | IT & Security | Work suites and collaboration | No | 5 | 81 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 16 | SoundCloud | Operations | Personal and consumer apps | No | 5 | 89 | No | No | Yes |
| 17 | Grafana Cloud | IT & Security | Developer and data tools | No | 5 | 89 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 18 | Artlist | Design | Design and video | No | 4 | 94 | No | No | No |
| 19 | Cal.com | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 4 | 94 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 20 | ExpressVPN | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 88 | No | No | Yes |
| 21 | Termius | Operations | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 88 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 22 | Indeed | Human Resource | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 83 | No | No | No |
| 23 | WhatsApp | Operations | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 83 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 24 | MasterClass | Human Resource | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 100 | No | No | No |
| 25 | Exa | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 4 | 93 | No | No | No |
| 26 | Wondershare | Design | Design and video | No | 4 | 93 | No | No | No |
| 27 | PopAi | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | 4 | 93 | No | No | Yes |
| 28 | Sada | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 88 | Yes | No | No |
| 29 | Smartsheet | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | 4 | 88 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 30 | Doodle | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 4 | 88 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 31 | OpenRouter | Productivity | AI coding and building | Yes | 4 | 88 | No | No | Yes |
| 32 | Eventbrite | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 4 | 88 | Yes | Yes | No |
| 33 | Obsidian | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 4 | 88 | No | No | No |
| 34 | Firebase | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 88 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 35 | Skype for Business | Operations | Work suites and collaboration | No | 4 | 88 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 36 | iTunes | Operations | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 82 | No | Yes | Yes |
| 37 | Ramp | Finance | Ops, HR, and finance | No | 4 | 82 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 38 | Microsoft Outlook | Productivity | Work suites and collaboration | No | 4 | 82 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 39 | TripAdvisor | Productivity | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 82 | No | No | No |
| 40 | Netto | Finance | Ops, HR, and finance | No | 4 | 100 | No | No | Yes |
| 41 | Opal | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 4 | 100 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 42 | Quizlet | Human Resource | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 93 | No | No | No |
| 43 | MiniMax.io | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 4 | 93 | No | No | Yes |
| 44 | Scribd | Human Resource | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 93 | No | No | No |
| 45 | Fellow | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | 4 | 93 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 46 | Picsart | Design | Design and video | No | 4 | 93 | No | No | No |
| 47 | SignNow | Operations | Ops, HR, and finance | No | 4 | 87 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 48 | Vivaldi | Productivity | Browsers and search | No | 4 | 87 | No | No | Yes |
| 49 | Imagine art | Design | AI content and media | Yes | 4 | 87 | No | No | Yes |
| 50 | Higgsfield | Design | AI content and media | Yes | 4 | 81 | No | No | Yes |

## 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: Corrected category and tag counts in the takeaways. The original counts were taken from the top 40 apps rather than the full list of 50 shown here.
- 2026-10-07, Update: Moved from toriiresearch.com; title standardized. Torii Research now lives on toriihq.com. It was first published as "Shadow IT Index Report: February 26" at toriiresearch.com/reports/shadow-it-index-report-february-26.

## How to cite

Torii Research. (2026, February 1). Shadow IT Index: February 2026 [Data set]. Torii. https://www.toriihq.com/research/reports/shadow-it-index-february-2026

Data: https://www.toriihq.com/research/data/shadow-it-index-february-2026.csv and https://www.toriihq.com/research/data/shadow-it-index-february-2026.json