# Shadow IT Index: January 2026

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

Shadow IT reveals a dual focus: optimizing daily work and developing internal AI capabilities.

## What the data says

Teams are doubling down on core efficiency, with Productivity (10) leading the most frequent app categories, followed by Developer Tools (9) and IT & Security (7). The most common tags point the same way, led by AI Platform and Open Source Management, each on 4 apps.

There is also a clear push toward building with AI: AI Agent and AI Generated Images and Videos each appear on 3 apps, and Developer Tools is the second-largest category.

In terms of adoption, the high use of apps like Logseq (20% Adoption Rate) and Juicebox AI (16% Adoption Rate) suggests employees are actively seeking high-powered tools for information capture and specialized AI assistance.

## At a glance

- Top 3: Logseq (20% adoption), Juicebox AI (16% adoption), Zen Browser (14% adoption).
- Highest Shadow IT scores: 4 apps score 100: DITTO, Floorp, Firefox, uBlock Origin.
- Biggest moves since last edition: uBlock Origin, down 27 to #38; DeeVid, down 10 to #12.

## What kinds of apps

AI-native apps: 21% (8 of the 39 apps). Share of this edition's apps by theme (one theme per app; definitions at https://www.toriihq.com/research/themes):

- Developer and data tools: 23% (9 apps: Neovim, GitHub, DITTO, ngrok, Bruno, Visual Studio, pgAdmin, DBeaver, FileZilla)
- Personal productivity: 13% (5 apps: Logseq, Reverso, Journal, Rectangle, Slides)
- Security and IT: 13% (5 apps: Cloudflare WARP, MacPaw, Bitwarden, uBlock Origin, Citrix)
- Work suites and collaboration: 10% (4 apps: Dropbox, Asana, Loom, ClickUp)
- Browsers and search: 10% (4 apps: Zen Browser, Waterfox, Floorp, Firefox)
- AI content and media: 8% (3 apps: Lovart, Hera Video, DeeVid)
- AI assistants: 5% (2 apps: ChatOn, Chatly AI)
- AI notes and voice: 5% (2 apps: Wispr Flow, Granola)
- Ops, HR, and finance: 5% (2 apps: Juicebox AI, UPS)
- Design and video: 3% (1 app: Artlist)
- Sales, marketing, and CX: 3% (1 app: Google Ads)
- Personal and consumer apps: 3% (1 app: Spotify)

## Rankings

Ranked by adoption.

| Rank | App | Category | Theme | AI-native | Adoption (%) | Shadow IT index | SOC 2 claimed | ISO 27001 claimed | GDPR claimed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logseq | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 20 | 93 | No | No | No |
| 2 | Juicebox AI | Human Resource | Ops, HR, and finance | Yes | 16 | 86 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 3 | Zen Browser | Productivity | Browsers and search | No | 14 | 96 | No | No | No |
| 4 | Cloudflare WARP | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 11 | 90 | No | No | No |
| 5 | Reverso | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 10 | 90 | No | No | No |
| 6 | Lovart | Design | AI content and media | Yes | 9 | 85 | No | No | No |
| 7 | Neovim | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 7 | 92 | No | No | No |
| 8 | Hera Video | Design | AI content and media | Yes | 5 | 82 | No | No | No |
| 9 | ChatOn | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | 5 | 85 | No | No | No |
| 10 | GitHub | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 5 | 81 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 11 | DITTO | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 5 | 100 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 12 | DeeVid | Design | AI content and media | Yes | 5 | 94 | No | No | No |
| 13 | Wispr Flow | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | 4 | 94 | No | No | Yes |
| 14 | Chatly AI | Analytics & BI | AI assistants | Yes | 4 | 88 | No | No | No |
| 15 | Granola | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | 4 | 83 | No | No | Yes |
| 16 | Dropbox | Operations | Work suites and collaboration | No | 4 | 88 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 17 | Journal | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 4 | 88 | No | No | No |
| 18 | Waterfox | IT & Security | Browsers and search | No | 4 | 82 | No | No | No |
| 19 | Asana | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | 4 | 87 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 20 | ngrok | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 81 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 21 | Google Ads | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 4 | 81 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 22 | Loom | Operations | Work suites and collaboration | No | 4 | 81 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 23 | Spotify | Operations | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 81 | No | No | Yes |
| 24 | Floorp | Productivity | Browsers and search | No | 4 | 100 | No | No | No |
| 25 | Firefox | IT & Security | Browsers and search | No | 4 | 100 | No | No | No |
| 26 | ClickUp | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | 4 | 92 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 27 | Bruno | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 92 | No | No | No |
| 28 | Visual Studio | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 86 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 29 | pgAdmin | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 86 | No | No | No |
| 30 | Rectangle | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 3 | 92 | No | No | No |
| 31 | UPS | Operations | Ops, HR, and finance | No | 3 | 92 | No | No | No |
| 32 | DBeaver | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 3 | 92 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 33 | Slides | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 3 | 92 | No | No | Yes |
| 34 | MacPaw | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 3 | 85 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 35 | Artlist | Design | Design and video | No | 3 | 85 | No | No | No |
| 36 | Bitwarden | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 3 | 85 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 37 | FileZilla | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 3 | 85 | No | No | Yes |
| 38 | uBlock Origin | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 3 | 100 | No | No | No |
| 39 | Citrix | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 3 | 91 | Yes | Yes | 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 two takeaways to match the table. The original counts did not match the apps listed in this edition. The point about Logseq and Juicebox AI was correct and is unchanged.
- 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: January 26" at toriiresearch.com/reports/shadow-it-index-report-january-26.

## How to cite

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

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