# Shadow IT Index: September 2026

Published September 1, 2026 by Torii Research (Torii). Updated October 8, 2026. Canonical URL: https://www.toriihq.com/research/reports/shadow-it-index-september-2026

Web browsers top September's Shadow IT Index, with Apple Safari first at 15% adoption.

## What the data says

Apple Safari (15% adoption) and the screen recorder ScreenPal (15% adoption) share the highest adoption, ahead of the AI security tool Alice (13% adoption).

Four browsers make the list: Apple Safari, Brave, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox. IT & Security (7) and Operations (7) are the largest categories.

The median Shadow IT index is 70, and 2 of the 28 apps score 90 or higher: Bionic at 92 and Alice at 91.

This edition covers August 2026 usage data.

## At a glance

- Top 3: Apple Safari (15% adoption), ScreenPal (15% adoption), Alice (13% adoption).
- Highest Shadow IT scores: Bionic (92), Alice (91), Certified Mail (88).
- Biggest moves since last edition: WorkOS, down 9 to #13.

## What kinds of apps

AI-native apps: 14% (4 of the 28 apps). Share of this edition's apps by theme (one theme per app; definitions at https://www.toriihq.com/research/themes):

- Personal productivity: 14% (4 apps: Superhuman, Obsidian, PDFgear, WeTransfer)
- Developer and data tools: 14% (4 apps: Bruno, WorkOS, DBeaver, FileZilla)
- Browsers and search: 14% (4 apps: Apple Safari, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Firefox)
- Personal and consumer apps: 14% (4 apps: Discord, Telegram, Spotify, TradingView)
- AI coding and building: 11% (3 apps: Devin, OpenCode, LM Studio)
- Security and IT: 11% (3 apps: Alice, Bionic, NordVPN)
- Sales, marketing, and CX: 7% (2 apps: RB2B, PandaDoc)
- AI content and media: 4% (1 app: ElevenLabs)
- Work suites and collaboration: 4% (1 app: OneDrive)
- Design and video: 4% (1 app: ScreenPal)
- Ops, HR, and finance: 4% (1 app: Certified Mail)

## Rankings

Ranked by adoption.

| Rank | App | Category | Theme | AI-native | Adoption (%) | Shadow IT index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple Safari | IT & Security | Browsers and search | No | 15 | 68 |
| 2 | ScreenPal | Productivity | Design and video | No | 15 | 87 |
| 3 | Alice | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 13 | 91 |
| 4 | Brave | IT & Security | Browsers and search | No | 12 | 70 |
| 5 | RB2B | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 7 | 86 |
| 6 | Superhuman | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 6 | 67 |
| 7 | Devin | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 5 | 73 |
| 8 | Obsidian | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 5 | 72 |
| 9 | ElevenLabs | Operations | AI content and media | Yes | 5 | 64 |
| 10 | Bruno | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 5 | 73 |
| 11 | OneDrive | Operations | Work suites and collaboration | No | 5 | 52 |
| 12 | PandaDoc | Sales & Marketing | Sales, marketing, and CX | No | 5 | 67 |
| 13 | WorkOS | Operations | Developer and data tools | No | 5 | 70 |
| 14 | Bionic | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 92 |
| 15 | Discord | Operations | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 69 |
| 16 | Microsoft Edge | IT & Security | Browsers and search | No | 4 | 57 |
| 17 | Telegram | Productivity | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 70 |
| 18 | OpenCode | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 4 | 84 |
| 19 | DBeaver | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 68 |
| 20 | FileZilla | Developer Tools | Developer and data tools | No | 4 | 74 |
| 21 | Firefox | IT & Security | Browsers and search | No | 4 | 59 |
| 22 | Spotify | Operations | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 64 |
| 23 | TradingView | Finance | Personal and consumer apps | No | 4 | 76 |
| 24 | Certified Mail | Operations | Ops, HR, and finance | No | 4 | 88 |
| 25 | NordVPN | IT & Security | Security and IT | No | 4 | 63 |
| 26 | LM Studio | Developer Tools | AI coding and building | Yes | 4 | 81 |
| 27 | PDFgear | Productivity | Personal productivity | No | 4 | 75 |
| 28 | WeTransfer | Operations | Personal productivity | No | 4 | 69 |

## 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

- 2026-10-08, Update: Released after its edition date. This edition covers August 2026 data. It went live on 2026-10-08, and its figures were calculated then.

## How to cite

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

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