ChatGPT Dominates, But AI Competition Intensifies in 2026

The investment fund Andreessen Horowitz recently published its semi-annual ranking of the most used generative AI tools worldwide. This sixth edition, based on data from SimilarWeb and Sensor Tower from January 2026, introduces a notable methodological change. The scope of the study now extends to applications that have integrated AI as a central component of their experience, such as CapCut, Canva, Notion, and Grammarly.

ChatGPT Remains the Leader, But Rivals Are Gaining Ground

ChatGPT continues to dominate the consumer AI product market. Online, it boasts traffic 2.7 times higher than Gemini, which holds the second spot in the ranking. On mobile, the gap is similar with a ratio of 2.5. OpenAI now claims 900 million active users each week, accounting for over 10% of the global population.

However, competition is organizing, particularly in the realm of paid subscriptions. According to Yipit data cited in the study, Claude has seen its paid subscribers grow by over 200% year-on-year, while Gemini has increased by 258%. Multi-use is also developing, with about 20% of weekly ChatGPT users on the web also using Gemini within the same week.

The focus is also shifting towards connector ecosystems. ChatGPT now offers over 220 applications across 13 categories, including travel, shopping, health, and entertainment. Claude, on the other hand, focuses on around 160 connectors aimed at professional use, including financial data, developer infrastructure, and scientific tools. The two platforms share only about forty applications, primarily from productivity, such as Slack, Notion, Figma, and Gmail.

The Top 10 Most Used AI Tools on Web and Mobile

The ranking of the most popular AI tools according to data collected by Andreessen Horowitz reveals the following platforms for the web: ChatGPT, Gemini, Canva, DeepSeek, Grok, Claude, Character.ai, Perplexity, Notion, and Google AI Studio. On mobile, the most used tools are ChatGPT, CapCut, Gemini, Canva, AI Gallery, Picsart, Doubao, Microsoft Edge, Meituan, and Yandex.

The expansion of the study's scope explains several notable entries. Canva, for example, rises to 3rd place on the web and 4th on mobile, while CapCut, with its 736 million monthly active users, occupies 2nd place on mobile. Notion also makes its appearance in both rankings, placing 9th on the web and 26th on mobile, driven by an adoption rate of its paid AI features that has increased from 20% to over 50% in one year.

AI Agents Enter the Ranking

Agentic AI, initiated in the previous edition of the study through vibe coding, takes on a new dimension. Several horizontal agents capable of performing complex end-to-end tasks, such as research, data analysis, and presentation generation, are now part of the ranking.

The most emblematic case is OpenClaw, an open-source project developed by an Austrian developer. This agent, which connects to messaging applications to execute multi-step tasks, became the most starred project on GitHub, surpassing React and Linux, before being acquired by OpenAI in February 2026.

Two other agents appear in the web ranking: Manus, acquired by Meta in December 2025 for approximately $2 billion, and Genspark, which claims $100 million in annual recurring revenue. These products are in direct competition with the agentic capabilities that ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are developing within their own platforms.

Creative Tools Reshape Around Video

The landscape of creative tools has evolved significantly since the first edition of the ranking in 2023. At that time, seven of the nine creative tools present on the web were image generators. Three years later, only three image generators remain, replaced by tools for video, music, and voice.

Standalone image generation is declining as the models integrated into ChatGPT and Gemini improve. Midjourney, which was in the Top 10 during the first edition, has fallen to 43rd place. The platforms that endure, such as Leonardo, Ideogram, and CivitAI, target specific creative communities rather than the general public.

Conversely, AI video is experiencing strong momentum, driven by models developed in China, such as Kling AI, Hailuo, and PixVerse. On the American side, Google’s Veo 3 has helped elevate Google Labs from 36th to 25th place in the web ranking. Music and voice remain more protected segments: Suno holds steady at 15th place, and ElevenLabs has been in the ranking since the very first edition.

Where model giants have concentrated their creative efforts, particularly on image and then video, the traffic of standalone tools is compressing. Where they have not, such as in the fields of music and voice, there remains room for innovation.