# Shadow IT Index: October 2026

Published October 8, 2026 by Torii Research (Torii). Updated October 8, 2026. Canonical URL: https://www.toriihq.com/research/reports/shadow-it-index-october-2026

AI agents lead October's Shadow IT Index, with Grok Bot first at 27% adoption.

## What the data says

Grok Bot (27% adoption), an AI agent from xAI, ranks first by a wide margin, ahead of Instinct.com (13% adoption) and New Gen AI (10% adoption).

Productivity (9) is the largest category, and 5 apps carry the AI Agent tag, including all three leaders.

The median Shadow IT index is 82, and 2 of the 28 apps score 90 or higher. The property payments app Unlocker reaches the maximum of 100.

This edition covers September 2026 usage data.

## At a glance

- Top 3: Grok Bot (27% adoption), Instinct.com (13% adoption), New Gen AI (10% adoption).
- Highest Shadow IT scores: Unlocker (100), Market Data (93), Willow Voice (88).
- Biggest moves since last edition: Bionic, down 5 to #19.

## What kinds of apps

AI-native apps: 25% (7 of the 28 apps). Share of this edition's apps by theme (one theme per app; definitions at https://www.toriihq.com/research/themes):

- Security and IT: 21% (6 apps: RCLONE, Apple Business Manager, Bionic, Virtru, RealVNC, Wireguard)
- AI agents: 18% (5 apps: Grok Bot, Instinct.com, New Gen AI, Leah, Metaview.ai)
- Personal productivity: 14% (4 apps: Drawboard, Pocket, TickTick, Thunderbird)
- Developer and data tools: 11% (3 apps: Market Data, Cronofy, VirtualBox)
- Ops, HR, and finance: 11% (3 apps: Unlocker, Okular, Remote)
- Sales, marketing, and CX: 7% (2 apps: ContentSquare, Firehose)
- Personal and consumer apps: 7% (2 apps: Cabify, Final Draft)
- AI coding and building: 4% (1 app: OpenCode)
- AI notes and voice: 4% (1 app: Willow Voice)
- Design and video: 4% (1 app: Dash.app)

## Rankings

Ranked by adoption.

| Rank | App | Category | Theme | AI-native | Adoption (%) | Shadow IT index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grok Bot | Productivity | AI agents | Yes | 27 | 87 |
| 2 | Instinct.com | Productivity | AI agents | Yes | 13 | 82 |
| 3 | New Gen AI | Sales & Marketing | AI agents | Yes | 10 | 82 |
| 4 | Willow Voice | Productivity | AI notes and voice | Yes | 10 | 88 |
| 5 | ContentSquare | Customer Success | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 7 | 70 |
| 6 | Dash.app | Design | Design and video | No | 6 | 88 |
| 7 | Cabify | Operations | Personal and consumer apps | No | 5 | 86 |
| 8 | Leah | Operations | AI agents | Yes | 5 | 86 |
| 9 | RCLONE | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 5 | 83 |
| 10 | Final Draft | Productivity | Personal and consumer apps | No | 5 | 86 |
| 11 | Metaview.ai | Human Resource | AI agents | Yes | 5 | 82 |
| 12 | Drawboard | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 5 | 81 |
| 13 | Unlocker | Finance | Ops, HR, and finance | No | 4 | 100 |
| 14 | Pocket | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 4 | 73 |
| 15 | OpenCode | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 4 | 84 |
| 16 | Market Data | Analytics & BI | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 93 |
| 17 | Apple Business Manager | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 43 |
| 18 | TickTick | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 4 | 69 |
| 19 | Bionic | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 88 |
| 20 | Cronofy | Productivity | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 64 |
| 21 | Okular | Operations | Ops, HR, and finance | No | 4 | 81 |
| 22 | Remote | Human Resource | Ops, HR, and finance | No | 4 | 67 |
| 23 | Thunderbird | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 4 | 70 |
| 24 | Virtru | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 68 |
| 25 | Firehose | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 3 | 86 |
| 26 | RealVNC | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 3 | 72 |
| 27 | Wireguard | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 3 | 78 |
| 28 | VirtualBox | IT & Security | Developer and data tools | No | 3 | 72 |

## 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



## How to cite

Torii Research. (2026, October 8). Shadow IT Index: October 2026 [Data set]. Torii. https://www.toriihq.com/research/reports/shadow-it-index-october-2026

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