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The world
of apps

Find out which tools organizations
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Businesses at Work 2025 → The world of apps

Categories at work

App categories rise and fall as business needs evolve, but it’s a nuanced story. Here’s a deeper dive into this year’s top app category data sliced by industry and country to reveal more precisely how companies are prioritizing their investments.

The world of apps → Categories at work

APP CATEGORY GROWTH, BY INDUSTRY

App adoption slows, but not everywhere

Among our top 10 app categories (ranked by number of customers deploying these tools), we see adoption has slowed, even losing ground in some industries. However, nearly two-thirds (65%) of the heatmap still report growth. Companies are leaning into design, developer tools, and security apps, with the government sector investing across categories.

The world of apps → Categories at work

Growth has slowed: The red highlights in this year’s chart make a statement: Industries are dialing back some app adoption. Thirty-seven industry/category nexuses show negative growth this year — last year, there were just four. Growth, where it occurred, often slowed to a single digit.

Design is always in style: Design software, last year’s darling, is still going strong. Adoption of these apps grew 7% YoY across industries to add to last year’s 18% growth spurt. In fact, design software adoption grew by double digits across seven industries, more than any other category, including 35% in government and 24% in energy, mining, oil, and gas, after posting 27% growth in both last year.

Security stays dependable: In an otherwise slow year, the adoption of security tools grew across almost all industry sectors. Government organizations invested the most, boosting adoption of security apps by 12% YoY (just below last year’s 14% YoY growth). Transportation and warehousing increased 8% YoY after last year’s 9% YoY increase.

Where we’re shrinking: Video conferencing and networking and infrastructure both report negative growth across seven industries. Among the top 10 categories, the manufacturing and insurance sectors see the heaviest decreases. However, these two industries are investing heavily in app categories that don’t rank in our top 10, including business supplies and travel.

Beyond the top 10 categories featured here, we track an additional 20 app categories, many of which show substantial growth. The legal category continues to attract new customers, leading growth by number of customers (19% YoY), while business supplies lead growth by unique users (48% YoY). And travel, which has been on a steady rise since early 2022, is close behind.

The world of apps → Categories at work

APP CATEGORY GROWTH, BY COUNTRY

Around the world in favorite app categories

Different country, different needs: Last year, design software was all the rage, leading to YoY growth in four of our focus countries. This year, a broader array of tools is at play.

The world of apps → Categories at work

Let’s get analytical: Last year, France’s top focus was adding security tools. This year, the fastest-growing app category is analytics. Analytics is also on a roll in Japan, seizing the top spot from last year’s No. 1 app category, design software.

Design is a priority: Speaking of design, Germany and Australia still can’t get enough design software apps. After leading in both countries last year (at 28% and 14%, respectively), it’s again the fastest-growing category this year for both countries.

Serious contenders: In the US, home to more than 1.3 million lawyers, the top app category is legal tools for the second year running. To the north, Canada is shopping for business supplies this year after investing in design software last year.

Businesses at Work 2025 → The world of apps

Fastest-growing apps

Location, size, business objectives — myriad factors influence app popularity. We slice and sort our fastest-growing apps and most popular apps data by company size, industry, and country to reveal how those considerations impact app adoption across the business world.

The world of apps → Fastest-growing apps

MOST POPULAR APPS, BY COMPANY SIZE

App appetite varies by company size

Before we get to the fastest-growing individual apps, let’s first take a baseline reading of the 15 apps with the greatest number of customers. The overall list hasn’t changed much since last year. (Welcome, Palo Alto Networks.)

But when we look at small startups and Fortune 500 behemoths, we see some intriguing trends.

The world of apps → Fastest-growing apps

Startups crave collaboration: The most popular tools among startups are AWS, Google Workspace, and Slack (four spots higher than overall and 11 spots higher than among the Fortune 500), with collaborative design tool Figma now joining the startup must-have list.

Fortune 500 borrows startups’ tools: This year, we see the big players leaning into tools classically favored by startups. Google Workspace, for example, has risen four spots on this year’s Fortune 500 list, and Docusign, a long-time favorite among startups, makes its first appearance on the Fortune 500 list.

Overall, it’s about security and harmony: Looking at all companies, the top 15 list features three security-focused apps (KnowBe4, Jamf, and Palo Alto Networks) and six collaboration-focused apps (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Atlassian Product Suite, Slack, Zoom, and Lucid).

Developer tools move up the list: GitHub is on the move. Last year, the dev tool ranked No. 8 for startup and Fortune 500 companies and No. 9 overall. This year, GitHub climbs two spots among startups and three spots among Fortune 500 companies. Two other dev tools (Datadog and PagerDuty) make the top 15 for startups, as well.

The world of apps → Fastest-growing apps

FASTEST-GROWING APPS

Data compliance rides again

_Note:_{This chart reflects the number of customers and customer growth in the OIN exclusively.}

This year’s fastest-growing apps list offers an interesting cross-section of technology.

For the second year running, data compliance and other security-related tools dominate the roster, but we also see expense management, transportation, cloud infrastructure, design, and sales and marketing rank high. It’s hard to maintain high rates of growth year over year, so it’s noteworthy that for the first time, we have six apps making a repeat appearance in our top 10 — these tools are clearly in demand.

The world of apps → Fastest-growing apps

Security stays in the spotlight: All three top spots and 40% of the list overall consist of security-focused apps, including password manager Bitwarden, network security tool Tailscale, and data compliance tools — and repeat winners — Drata and Vanta. (Drata is an Okta Ventures portfolio company.)

Recent additions: The newcomer among our top three fastest-growing apps is Bitwarden, debuting at No. 2. Other welcome guests include Uber, whose recent drive toward corporate travel seems to be a five-star strategy, as well as procurement tool Zip and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

Fastest of the fast: Design software is on the rise, and when we look at year-over-year growth by unique users, Canva is by far this year’s fastest-growing app, with 418% YoY growth. It was also the fastest-growing app by unique users last year and ranked No. 4 by number of customers. Sales and marketing tool ZoomInfo finishes second in YoY growth by unique users for the second year running, with 108%.

The world of apps → Fastest-growing apps

Fastest-growing apps for startups and Fortune 500

When we narrow our focus to smaller tech startups and large Fortune 500 companies, we see there isn’t a lot of overlap between the overall fastest-growing apps list and either of these subsets. These companies on the larger and smaller ends of the spectrum have their own specific needs. ZoomInfo, for example, appears on the overall list but is not present on either of the subsets at all.

This year, startups are adding tools they didn’t already have, while Fortune 500 companies are doubling down on their existing app investments. Here’s the breakdown.

The world of apps → Fastest-growing apps

Startups

Different tools reflect different needs: Tech startups often forge the way, choosing new and emerging best-of-breed tools to grow their businesses. So it’s no surprise that 90% of the fastest-growing apps on the startup list are different from those on the overall list.

A familiar duo: Security and collaboration make up a full 70% of startups’ fastest-growing apps. These include security-focused Vanta (No. 1), Jamf (No. 6), and KnowBe4 (No. 7) and collaboration-minded Notion (No. 2), Figma (No. 4), Docusign (No. 8), and Lucid (No. 10).

New tools for growth: Tech startups are also ramping up deployment of data warehouse app Snowflake (No. 3). Developer tool Sentry (No. 5) and sales and marketing platform HubSpot (No. 9) round out the list.

Fortune 500

Investing carefully: Strikingly, none of the 10 fastest-growing apps among the Fortune 500 appear on the overall fastest-growing apps list. Developers are doing some shopping, as GitHub ranks No. 1 for this segment.

A focus on collaboration: So where else are Fortune 500 companies investing their hard-earned money? Working together. There are four collaboration apps on their fastest-growing apps list this year: Google Workspace (No. 2), Lucid (No. 3), Docusign (No. 4), and Slack (No. 10).

Trusted picks: Fortune 500 companies aren’t striking new ground — they’re adding more of the tools they’ve already relied upon. All 10 of their fastest-growing apps this year are also on their 15 most popular (i.e., highly deployed) list, as well. These include Snowflake (No. 5), Atlassian Product Suite (No. 6), Workday (No. 7), and ServiceNow (No. 9).

The world of apps → Fastest-growing apps

FASTEST-GROWING APPS, BY INDUSTRY AND REGION

Industries and countries shift apps but not priorities

Security and collaboration are this year’s dynamic duo, as evidenced by the fastest-growing apps broken out by industry. And while these priorities follow last year’s trend, the apps themselves have changed.

The world of apps → Fastest-growing apps

Finance, tech, and government double up on security: The finance and banking sector continues to add security tools with both a password manager and endpoint management security. Tech puts Tailscale at the top of the fastest-growing by number of customers and Netskope by unique users. And the public sector doesn’t do things halfway. Last year, the government sector’s fastest-growing app was Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect in both columns. This year, the sector is all in on KnowBe4.

Retail makes big changes: Last year, data visualization tool Tableau was retail’s fastest-growing app by number of customers, and conferencing app Zoom was its top app by unique users. This year, the industry prioritizes collaborative design and sales and marketing.

New tools for schools: Last year, the education sector’s A+ choice was security, but this year, they’ve graduated to cloud and developer tools.

Two industries keep their favorites: It’s rare to see repeats, yet two industries kept the same No. 1 apps as last year: The fastest-growing app (by number of customers) for healthcare and pharmaceuticals is again GitHub. For nonprofits, it’s Canva.

The world of apps → Fastest-growing apps

When we switch our focus to the fastest-growing apps by country, we see a big shuffling of last year’s top apps. This year, security, data warehousing, design, developer tools, and sales and marketing apps sit atop the billboard … and GitHub wins a trifecta.

EMEA: Germany’s No. 1 remains Atlassian Product Suite. France says au revoir to AWS and allô to Salesforce. The UK changes its focus from security in 2023 to cloud data warehouse tool Snowflake this year. Israel leans into GitHub.

North America: Last year, Canada’s fastest-growing app was GitHub, now the fastest-growing app in three of our nine featured countries. This year, however, the fastest-growing app in Canada is Figma. In the US, security app Vanta is still leading the charge.

APAC: GitHub adoption takes off in Japan and Australia (shifting from last year’s leaders, Salesforce and Miro, respectively). In South Korea, AWS is enjoying K-pop-style celebrity status.

Businesses at Work 2025 → The world of apps

Best tools for the job

When organizations need specific functionality for a job at hand, it’s critical to have the right tools. These tools are often what we define as “best of breed” — apps that dominate their categories (by number of customers) for a particular stand-alone functionality.

Join us as we examine the increasing average number of apps deployed by companies around the world and the growing adoption of best-of-breed apps and apps that support charitable giving.

The world of apps → Best tools for the job

AVERAGE NUMBER OF APPS

The apps-per-customer ratio is on the rise

Companies cutting costs is a common theme in today’s news cycle. Based on recent headlines, you may think this means businesses are putting the brakes on adding new tech. Think again. Worldwide IT spending rose 7.5% YoY to $5.26 trillion in 2024, according to a recent Gartner report. And our data shows that the average number of apps per customer is rising. Companies worldwide are investing in apps to ensure their employees have the tools they need to succeed.

The world of apps → Best tools for the job

Turn of the century: For the first time ever, the global average number of apps per customer has topped 100, thanks to 9% YoY growth this year (last year: 4% YoY growth). This is a major restart: From 2019 through 2023, this number was stuck below 90.

APAC on the rise: The APAC region has the fewest apps per customer on average, at just 65, but leads all regions in growth, rising 12% YoY. (No other region achieved double-digit growth.) Two countries are fueling this move: Tech powerhouse South Korea (a top-five country for R&D spending), with an 18% YoY rise in apps per customer, and Japan, rising from last year’s record-low of 35 apps per customer to 46 this year — a chart-topping 31% YoY growth.

Big business = more apps: Companies with 2,000 or more employees deploy an average of 247 apps, while those with fewer than 2,000 deploy just 71. Tech startups deploy just 42 apps each.

IPSIE: A unified identity security standard

The average number of apps deployed per company finally topped 100 this year. For security teams, this means an even larger attack surface to defend. But what if those apps all adhered to a single security standard? The digital world would surely be a safer place, and we might avoid a lot of costly breaches.

Enter IPSIE (Interoperability Profiling for Secure Identity in the Enterprise). This working group, of which Okta is a founding member, is developing the first unified Identity security standard for enterprise apps and resources. This important work is happening as part of the OpenID Foundation, which is committed to helping the industry win the fight against identity-based attacks.

The goal of IPSIE is to be a universal standard for identity security that would apply to every enterprise app. This would allow developers to embed identity security directly into their apps, giving customers more effective cybersecurity outcomes, especially around end-to-end visibility and remediation.

Interoperable Identity Security standards would support an open ecosystem where it’s easier to develop apps that are secure by default. Consistent standards would also simplify compliance, reduce integration challenges, and promote flexible tech stacks.

Bringing together existing and new standards, IPSIE is designed to cover a range of proposed use cases, including single sign-on, lifecycle management, entitlements, risk signal sharing, and session termination and token revocation. To learn more, visit the OpenID Foundation IPSIE working group page.

The world of apps → Best tools for the job

THE RISE OF BEST-OF-BREED APPS

Multi-stop shopping grows in popularity

Productivity suites offer a solid foundation of functionality, but many companies need more than the basics. “Best-of-breed apps” dominate their categories (by number of customers) for a particular stand-alone functionality.

We look at Okta’s Microsoft 365 customers to see how many add best-of-breed apps — and even expand their taste for the suite life by adding additional product bundles — to gain a higher level of functionality.

The world of apps → Best tools for the job

Companies seek functionality fit: Once again, we’re seeing organizations supplement out-of-the-box Microsoft 365 functionality, such as video conferencing, messaging, and file storage, with redundant functionality from Zoom, Slack, and Box.

Two suites at work: It isn’t just about apps with specific functionality: Today, almost half (48%) of Okta’s customers deploying Microsoft 365 also deploy Google Workspace — a 3-point increase over last year.

Best-of-breed challenges one-stop shopping: Beyond basic bundles, companies aren’t necessarily bowing to the pressure to lock into a single-vendor shop. Instead of choosing tools such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure, and Power BI, we see the increased deployment of Salesforce, AWS, and Tableau. In fact, among Okta customers deploying Microsoft 365, 39% now deploy four or more of our eight featured best-of-breed apps — a number that’s consistently grown each year.

The world of apps → Best tools for the job

Tech startups

Most likely to double-bundle: Small but mighty, tech startups are busy places hungry for high functionality. These companies are the most likely to double-bundle, with 63% deploying both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Meeting platform preferences: While Zoom is popular among organizations of all sizes, only 44% of tech startups are deploying this best-of-breed tool, compared with 48% among all companies. It’s possible these scrappy startups are chatting via Google Meet instead.

Collaboration is king: Startups understand they can’t succeed if their employees aren’t communicating and collaborating, and 54% of tech startups run Slack right alongside Microsoft 365 — the home of Teams. For perspective, only 40% of companies overall deploy that duo.

Fortune 500 companies

Vendor agnostic: Okta’s Fortune 500 companies subscribing to Microsoft 365 don’t always prioritize a single-vendor shop. Sixty-eight percent of these companies deploy AWS, and 73% use Salesforce rather than relying on the Microsoft counterparts of Azure and Dynamics.

Doubling down: If one bundle is good, two are even better … right? Almost half (46%) of Fortune 500 companies running Microsoft 365 are simultaneously deploying the parallel functionality of Google Workspace.

Working together: Communication and collaboration are high priorities for this segment. Forty-five percent of Okta’s Fortune 500 companies running Microsoft 365 are also deploying Zoom, 43% are also using Slack, and 40% are adding Box.

The world of apps → Best tools for the job

APPS FOR GOOD

Building a better world

From corporate philanthropy to mentoring youth to technology product donations, organizations around the world continue to do good. Employees are donating to the causes they care about: The total estimated amount of charitable donations to nonprofits in the US was $557 billion in 2023, up from $547 billion in 2022. Okta’s Apps for Good initiative — which makes it easy for companies and employees to donate time, money, and expertise — is thriving.

The world of apps → Best tools for the job

More giving power: In total, 1.9 million individual users now have access to charitable giving apps through Apps for Good, representing a healthy 6% YoY increase. (Our totals include users assigned at the organizational level and users who choose to add the apps to their Okta dashboards.)

Easier giving = higher engagement: Once again, Benevity tops the chart. Bright Funds, an employee giving and volunteering management app, experienced the highest growth, up 37% in users assigned. CareerVillage.org, a platform offering free career advice, followed with 28% YoY growth in users assigned, and voter registration site Vote.gov leveraged a US election year to climb 17%.

Businesses at Work 2025 → The world of apps

Workflows

Automated workflows, which streamline business processes by automating repetitive tasks, have become key in companies' push to do more with less.

The world of apps → Workflows

GROWTH IN WORKFLOWS, BY COUNTRY

Winning with Workflows

Workflow-powered efficiency gains are expected to increase: AI and automation are estimated to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. Not surprisingly, data from our Okta Workflows products shows that Workflows adoption is growing steadily across countries and industries.

The world of apps → Workflows

Japan and France lead the way: Both countries saw increased adoption, with each boasting a 34% YoY increase in the number of companies using Workflows. Japan’s need for rapid efficiency, however, is especially pressing: It’s estimated Japan's economy will lose billions without mass digital transformation.

Israel ranks third: An impressive 26% YoY growth in the number of companies using Workflows put Israel in the top three. Israel’s digital economy has become a global powerhouse driven by government support, a skilled workforce, and a culture of innovation.

Industrial strength workflows: The tech sector still deploys more Workflows than any other sector, but the government sector is increasing adoption the fastest (growing 66% YoY), followed by education (34%), retail (29%), wholesale trade (28%), and finance and banking (28%).

The world of apps → Workflows

MOST POPULAR WORKFLOWS CONNECTORS

Making the connection

While collaboration has been shown to increase productivity by 25% or more, automating collaboration can take efficiency to the next level. Workflows connectors use public-facing APIs to make direct connections across tools and services. Here’s a look at the most popular Workflows connectors driving collaboration efficiency today.

The world of apps → Workflows

Slack leads: Messaging app Slack is once again the most popular Workflows connector by number of customers. Its lead continues to expand: Adoption of the Slack connector grew 13% YoY.

Dominating the stats: Gmail and Microsoft 365 Mail continue their dead heat for the No. 2 spot. In fact, Google and Microsoft claim all the spots between No. 2 and No. 7. But Jira adoption is growing the fastest, with 19% YoY growth.

You’ve got mail: While Slack is the most popular connector overall and reigns in most countries, Office 365 Mail leads the way in Australia. Slack tops the charts across industries, too, except for manufacturing, where Office 365 Mail is the most popular connector.