Shadow IT Index: July 2025
Every app in the first Shadow IT Index scores the maximum of 100, so this edition ranks them by viral score.
Updated October 7, 2026 · ChangelogSource: Torii Research, anonymized and aggregated usage data. Published July 1, 2025. Summary figures computed from the 10 apps in this report.
What kinds of apps
Every edition, by theme →Share of the 10 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 Shadow IT index, then viral score.
All 10 apps
These are the top shadow IT apps from the period of June 1 to 30, reflecting adoption patterns across both specialized and general-purpose tools.
Productivity
Semantic Scholar
Employees may be using Synaptics for enhanced user interaction or specialized biometric needs not met by current approved solutions · addressing a gap in existing enterprise software capabilities for intuitive interfaces.
About Semantic Scholar
Semantic Scholar enhances academic research with AI, providing access to a vast database of scientific papers. It improves the efficiency and relevance of literature searches, helping researchers find crucial information faster and more effectively for their studies.
Theme: AI assistants · AI-native
Vendor claims: none listed
Analytics & BI
Datawrapper
Employees might use it for quick · easy data visualization when company tools are too complex or slow · streamlining their reporting and communication needs without formal IT approval.
About Datawrapper
Datawrapper creates interactive data visualizations like charts, maps, and tables without coding. It helps users present data clearly and engagingly, enhancing storytelling with easy-to-use tools for visual communication and reporting.
Theme: Developer and data tools
Vendor claims: ISO 27001, GDPR
Project Management
Eraser
Employees likely use Eraser for its specialized engineering collaboration and real-time diagramming · finding it more efficient for technical workflows than approved · less specialized tools.
About Eraser
Eraser is a collaboration whiteboard tool designed specifically for engineering and technical teams. It provides a visual workspace for brainstorming, diagramming, and real-time collaboration, helping teams communicate complex ideas effectively and streamline their technical workflows.
Theme: Work suites and collaboration
Vendor claims: none listed
Sales & Marketing
Hunter
Employees likely use Hunter to bypass cumbersome official tools for quick contact acquisition · suggesting a need for more agile networking solutions or a gap in existing approved enterprise software capabilities for efficient outreach.
About Hunter
Hunter is an app that helps you find email addresses quickly, enabling you to connect with important contacts for your business. It streamlines the process of discovering professional email addresses, making outreach and networking more efficient and accessible.
Theme: Sales, marketing, and CX
Vendor claims: GDPR
Productivity
TranscribeToText.AI
Employees likely use this app for quick · accurate transcription needs unmet by approved tools · possibly due to a lack of efficient in-house solutions or a desire for personal convenience.
About TranscribeToText.AI
TranscribeToText.AI accurately converts audio and video into text quickly. It supports various platforms, offering an efficient solution for professionals needing reliable transcription services.
Theme: AI notes and voice · AI-native
Vendor claims: GDPR
Productivity
Obsidian
Employees might be using Obsidian because it offers a highly personalized and flexible note-taking experience that conventional enterprise tools may lack · empowering their unique thought processes.
About Obsidian
Obsidian is a private, flexible note-taking application designed to adapt to your thinking process. It allows you to create and connect notes in a way that mirrors your thoughts, enhancing organization and recall.
Theme: Personal productivity
Vendor claims: none listed
Developer Tools
Firecrawl
Employees likely use Firecrawl for its efficient web content extraction into AI-friendly formats · suggesting existing tools are insufficient or too complex for quick data preparation for their AI-driven tasks.
About Firecrawl
Firecrawl extracts content from web pages and converts it into clean markdown or structured data. It is suitable for AI applications by providing a streamlined way to get web content in a usable format for various AI-driven tasks and analyses.
Theme: AI coding and building · AI-native
Vendor claims: SOC 2, GDPR
IT & Security
Halp
Employees likely use Halp for its seamless Slack integration and ease of use · suggesting existing internal tools may be cumbersome or inefficient for quick · conversational support and operations requests.
About Halp
Halp is a deprecated conversational ticketing helpdesk for operations teams, integrated with Slack. It simplifies assigning, prioritizing, and answering requests directly from Slack, enhancing efficiency for support and operations workflows. Importantly, Halp has since been deprecated by Jira Service Management, yet some previous users still have access to old accounts
Theme: Work suites and collaboration
Vendor claims: SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR
Operations
ClickShare
Employees might be using ClickShare for its intuitive · seamless content sharing that simplifies presentations · suggesting a need for more efficient and engaging collaboration tools than currently provided.
About ClickShare
ClickShare by Barco provides visual display and collaboration solutions for various industries. It is designed to facilitate seamless content sharing and presentation in healthcare, enterprise, and entertainment settings, enhancing efficiency and engagement.
Theme: Work suites and collaboration
Vendor claims: ISO 27001, GDPR
Developer Tools
CodeSandbox
Employees likely use this for quick prototyping and collaboration · bypassing slower internal processes or tools that lack the rapid · browser-based development environment needed for agile experimentation.
About CodeSandbox
CodeSandbox is an online IDE and prototyping tool for rapid web development. It allows users to quickly create, share, and get feedback on web projects, making it ideal for experimenting with new ideas and collaborating with others in a browser-based environment.
Theme: Developer and data tools
Vendor claims: SOC 2, GDPR
Source: Torii Research, anonymized and aggregated usage data. Published July 1, 2025. Summary figures computed from the 10 apps in this report.
What the data says
Semantic Scholar, an AI tool for academic research, leads with a viral score of 8.0, ahead of Datawrapper, Eraser, Hunter, and TranscribeToText.AI, all at 6.1.
Productivity (3) and Developer Tools (2) are the only categories with more than one app, including Obsidian at #6 and CodeSandbox at #10.
Vendor compliance claims are thin: 3 of the 10 apps claim SOC 2, 3 claim ISO 27001, and 7 claim GDPR. Only Halp claims all three.
This Shadow IT Index offers a real-time view into how unsanctioned applications are spreading across modern SaaS stacks. The findings of this report are based on real-time usage data from the period of June 1 to 30, drawn from diverse organizations. This dataset uniquely captures actual adoption patterns, showing which tools employees are embracing outside official IT approval.
Bottom line
Shadow IT adoption in June highlighted a balance between niche tools like Eraser and Hunter, and broader-use platforms like Obsidian and Datawrapper. Organizations should strengthen visibility into unsanctioned usage, ensuring app discovery, inventory, and controls support both productivity and security.
The data
Show the full data table (10 rows)
| Rank | App | Category | Theme | AI-native | Shadow IT index | Viral score | SOC 2 claimed | ISO 27001 claimed | GDPR claimed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Semantic Scholar | Productivity | AI assistants | Yes | 100 | 8 | No | No | No |
| 2 | Datawrapper | Analytics & BI | Developer and data tools | No | 100 | 6.1 | No | Yes | Yes |
| 3 | Eraser | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | 100 | 6.1 | No | No | No |
| 4 | Hunter | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 100 | 6.1 | No | No | Yes |
| 5 | TranscribeToText.AI | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | 100 | 6.1 | No | No | Yes |
| 6 | Obsidian | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 100 | 5.7 | No | No | No |
| 7 | Firecrawl | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 100 | 5.3 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 8 | Halp | IT & Security | Work suites and collaboration | No | 100 | 5.3 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 9 | ClickShare | Operations | Work suites and collaboration | No | 100 | 4.9 | No | Yes | Yes |
| 10 | CodeSandbox | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 100 | 4.9 | Yes | No | Yes |
Free to quote with attribution to Torii Research and a link to this page. A plain-text version is at shadow-it-index-july-2025.md.
How to read this index
- Adoption
- The percentage of monitored organizations where the app was adopted during that month: a monthly figure, not a running total. The list is ranked on this number where it is available.
- Shadow IT index
- How often the app is left as "discovered" rather than sanctioned through SSO or procurement, normalized to 0 to 100.
- Why it surfaced
- The app's top functional tags. Open an app for its full profile across every edition.
Definitions in the glossary; formulas and limitations on the Methodology page.
Changelog
- CorrectionRewrote the takeaways from this edition's data.
- ClarificationStandardized the data source description.
- UpdateMoved from toriiresearch.com; title standardized.