# Shadow IT Index: May 2026

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

Everyday utilities lead May's shadow IT, with screen capture and PDF tools at the top.

## What the data says

ShareX (20% adoption), an open-source screen capture tool, and PDFx (19% adoption), a PDF editor, sit well ahead of the rest of the list. No other app reaches 10% adoption.

Developer Tools (7) is the largest category, including LinqPad, Composio, and ollama, followed by Productivity (5) and Sales & Marketing (4).

The median Shadow IT index is 79, and 3 of the 24 apps score 90 or higher, led by LinqPad and VyprVPN at 92. No app reaches the maximum of 100 in this edition.

## At a glance

- Top 3: ShareX (20% adoption), PDFx (19% adoption), LinqPad (9% adoption).
- Highest Shadow IT scores: LinqPad (92), VyprVPN (92), ShareX (90).
- Biggest moves since last edition: QR.io, up 5 to #20.

## What kinds of apps

AI-native apps: 21% (5 of the 24 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: 21% (5 apps: LinqPad, Expo, Araxis Merge, Optro, App Store Connect)
- Sales, marketing, and CX: 21% (5 apps: Conductor, NorthPoint, PandaDoc, QR.io, Bitly)
- AI coding and building: 17% (4 apps: Composio, ollama, Firecrawl, OpenRouter)
- Personal productivity: 12% (3 apps: ShareX, PDFx, Shottr)
- Work suites and collaboration: 8% (2 apps: Linear, ClickShare)
- Security and IT: 8% (2 apps: RCLONE, VyprVPN)
- AI notes and voice: 4% (1 app: WhisperAI)
- Design and video: 4% (1 app: CapCut)
- Personal and consumer apps: 4% (1 app: Forkable)

## Rankings

Ranked by adoption.

| Rank | App | Category | Theme | AI-native | Adoption (%) | Shadow IT index | SOC 2 claimed | ISO 27001 claimed | GDPR claimed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ShareX | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 20 | 90 | No | No | No |
| 2 | PDFx | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 19 | 88 | No | No | No |
| 3 | LinqPad | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 9 | 92 | No | No | No |
| 4 | WhisperAI | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | 9 | 82 | No | No | No |
| 5 | Composio | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 5 | 79 | Yes | No | No |
| 6 | ollama | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 5 | 75 | No | No | No |
| 7 | Conductor | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 5 | 74 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 8 | CapCut | Design | Design and video | No | 4 | 76 | No | No | Yes |
| 9 | Linear | Project Management | Work suites and collaboration | No | 4 | 71 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 10 | RCLONE | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 84 | No | No | No |
| 11 | Firecrawl | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 4 | 76 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 12 | Expo | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 3 | 69 | No | No | Yes |
| 13 | OpenRouter | Productivity | AI coding and building | Yes | 3 | 78 | No | No | Yes |
| 14 | NorthPoint | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 3 | 86 | No | No | No |
| 15 | PandaDoc | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 3 | 73 | Yes | No | Yes |
| 16 | VyprVPN | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 3 | 92 | No | No | No |
| 17 | Araxis Merge | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 3 | 85 | No | No | No |
| 18 | Forkable | Operations | Personal and consumer apps | No | 3 | 85 | No | No | No |
| 19 | Optro | Analytics & BI | Developer and data tools | No | 3 | 85 | No | No | No |
| 20 | QR.io | Operations | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 3 | 73 | No | No | Yes |
| 21 | Shottr | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 3 | 80 | No | No | No |
| 22 | App Store Connect | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 3 | 79 | No | Yes | Yes |
| 23 | Bitly | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 3 | 73 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 24 | ClickShare | Operations | Work suites and collaboration | No | 3 | 78 | No | 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: Rewrote the takeaways from this edition's data. The original text repeated the February 2026 edition, so its apps and figures did not match the table on this page.
- 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: May 26" at toriiresearch.com/reports/shadow-it-index-report-may-26.

## How to cite

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

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