Mission-critical apps

Learn which tools SMBs are prioritizing

Mission-critical apps

Five years of fastest-growing apps

FIVE YEARS OF FASTEST-GROWING APPS FOR SMBs

Security and collaboration are a yin and yang

Looking back at the fastest-growing apps across five years of SMB data, we can see key categories rise and fall. In fact, there’s been a regular back-and-forth between security and collaboration, with one growing at the expense of the other, then taking a backseat, as companies try to find their balance between easing remote access for business efficiency and keeping their enterprises safe.

Back in 2020, only one of the top 10 apps for SMBs was a collaboration app (Zoom). But as remote work took off during and after the pandemic, collaboration’s share of the fastest-growing apps rose to 40%, including Figma and Notion, largely at the expense of security apps. Then the tide changed, and security apps came roaring back. Just one fastest-growing app was focused on security in 2022 (Kandji); the following year that grew to five, reducing collaboration’s share back down to 10%. (“You lead.” “No, YOU lead.”)

In the 2024 data covered in this year’s report, a new balance is emerging, in which collaboration and security represent 20% and 30% of the top ten, respectively. The other 50% is a mix of business operations (Ramp and Navan), design (Autodesk), cloud (Terraform), and data and analytics (Databricks).

See chart on following page.

FIVE YEARS OF FASTEST-GROWING APPS FOR SMBs

_Note:_{For this chart, we have combined some of our more specific app categories into broader umbrella categories, as follows:}_{Collaboration}_{(includes content collaboration, video conferencing, project management, productivity, and legal tools),}_{Developer Tools, HR}_{(also includes e-learning),}_{Design, Sales and Marketing}_{(also includes web hosting and social media),}_{Data and Analytics, Cloud Platforms, Business Operations}_{(includes ITSM and help desk, integrated workspace management systems, expense management, travel, office supplies, and e-signature),}_Security_{(also includes networking and infrastructure, and data compliance)}

FIVE YEARS OF FASTEST-GROWING APPS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Collaboration and security tighten their grip

As we narrow our lens from SMBs (500 and fewer employees) to small businesses (50 or fewer employees), we see a different pattern. Instead of an ebb and flow in relative importance between security and collaboration apps as we’ve seen with SMBs, collaboration apps have been taking an ever-increasing role in the small business mix. Just five years ago, the 10 fastest-growing apps among small businesses came from seven different categories. Today, behind small-business favorites like Grammarly and Calendly, the collaboration apps category has gradually swelled to 40% of the top ranks.

Security apps are always reliable for one or two fastest-growing apps: this year’s winners are Tailscale, Vanta, and Drata, bringing security and collaboration apps to a whopping 70% of the fastest-growing apps among small businesses. Remember, these are the app categories companies are investing in year after year. This long-term focus on working together and staying secure doesn’t leave much room for other categories, but data and analytics (Snowflake), business operations (Ramp), and developer tools (Sentry) make the cut.

See chart on following page.

FIVE YEARS OF FASTEST-GROWING APPS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Mission-critical apps

Top apps among SMBs

FIVE YEARS OF MOST POPULAR APPS FOR SMBs

Strength and stability keep SMBs humming

Turning now toward the most popular apps — the apps most widely deployed among SMBs — we see a little more stability. Many of the most widely deployed apps five years ago remain the same today, particularly at the top. The three most popular apps for SMBs in 2020 are still the top three in this year’s report: the popular suites Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and AWS. Zoom comes in at No. 4 on both lists as well. (Narrowing our focus to small businesses only, Google Workspace comes out on top.)

Slack has risen in popularity over the last five years to become a top five most popular app among SMBs, underscoring how crucial collaborative communication is to growing companies. Developer solution GitHub and security training tool KnowBe4 have climbed into the top 10. Docusign holds steady at No. 8, while Zendesk floats, zen-like, at No. 11. Visual collaboration platform Lucid has made modest gains in popularity since we began compiling SMB data and is now No. 13. Jamf, the Apple-centric endpoint management
and security tool, joins the rankings for the first time.

Comparing SMBs’ most popular apps to those of Okta customers of all sizes, we see the same three apps in the top spots. But where Zoom and Slack round out the top five among SMBs, Salesforce ranks higher (No. 4) among companies overall.

FIVE YEARS OF MOST POPULAR APPS FOR SMBs

Mission-critical apps

Most popular authentication factors among SMBs

FIVE YEARS OF FACTOR RANKINGS FOR SMBs

SMBs are ditching security questions and SMS for stronger factors

Organizations of all sizes understand the importance of multi-factor authentication (MFA) as an important part of defending their infrastructure and data, but the factors they choose vary widely in levels of assurance. Credential abuse is the initial access vector in 22% of data breaches – the most common initial access vector, according to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report – highlighting the need for enhanced Identity security.

Okta categorizes factors as providing low, medium, or high assurance of a user’s identity. Passwords and security questions, which can be easily copied or guessed, are relatively weak by today’s standards and provide low assurance. Mobile app push notifications, physical tokens like YubiKey, and OTP provide medium assurance, while options like Okta FastPass and WebAuthn (FIDO2) provide high assurance.

High-assurance Okta FastPass, which wasn’t available until the end of 2020, has entered the fray and now sits at No. 4.

SMBs have gotten the message. Over the past five years, three medium-assurance factors – Okta Verify, Okta Verify with Push, and Google Authenticator – have remained the top three most popular factors, and high-assurance Okta FastPass, which wasn’t available until the end of 2020, has entered the fray and now sits at No. 4. Over the same five-year stretch, weaker factors like SMS and voice call have fallen in popularity. Low-assurance security questions have dropped the furthest, from No 5. in 2020 to just No. 8 in this year’s data.

FIVE YEARS OF FACTOR RANKINGS FOR SMBs

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Fastest-growing apps by company size

FASTEST-GROWING APPS AMONG SMBs AND SMALL BUSINESSES

Smaller businesses are investing in data compliance and network security tools

SMBs are always on the move. And their fastest-growing apps this year are…drumroll, please…the data compliance platform Vanta, followed by network security tool Tailscale and prospecting and expense management solution Ramp. For small businesses, the top three are Tailscale, data warehouse solution Snowflake, and Ramp.

Stepping down off the medals podium, however, the SMB and small business lists don’t overlap much at all. Just two of the remaining fastest-growing apps appear on both lists: data compliance tool Drata, and productivity and note-taking app Notion. Terraform, Autodesk, Navan, Databricks, and Canva all posted top-10 level growth among SMBs, while Snowflake, Grammarly, Calendly, Figma, and Sentry only made the small businesses list.

FASTEST-GROWING APPS AMONG SMBs AND SMALL BUSINESSES

Last year, a rate of 60% YoY growth by number of customers wouldn’t have cracked the top 10 fastest-growing apps for SMBs; this year, just 27% growth was enough to punch your ticket. The same is true for small businesses – last year, all ten of the fastest-growing apps grew by at least 50%, while this year, only the top four apps grew that quickly.

FASTEST-GROWING APPS AMONG SMBs AND SMALL BUSINESSES

The insight: Smaller companies can be outsize drivers of change. This year, for example, adoption of Tailscale was huge among small businesses (+71% YoY growth by number of customers), making it a growth driver for SMBs (+61%) and for companies overall (+59%). Snowflake is another intriguing case: The No. 2 fastest-growing app among small businesses is a data warehousing solution – a need we used to associate with bigger businesses. (Not to be outdone, data warehousing competitor Databricks is in the No. 8 spot for SMBs.)

Mission-critical apps

Fastest-growing apps in popular app categories

FASTEST-GROWING APPS IN POPULAR APP CATEGORIES

The apps SMBs are leaning into this year

While Okta tracks more than 30 app categories, the most interesting news isn’t always confined to the top categories or the fastest-growing apps. After all, emerging trends emerge from somewhere, and sometimes that “somewhere” is a smaller subset of the broader data. So we’ve hand-selected some categories with noteworthy growth to dig into a little deeper.

FASTEST-GROWING APPS IN POPULAR APP CATEGORIES

Just look at the expense management category, where Zip boasts 80% YoY growth among SMBs, driving Zip’s growth among all companies, where it’s up 54%. Or check out the video conferencing category, where familiar Zoom is still the fastest-growing app in the category for small businesses, but Dialpad is gaining more traction overall (up 29%), driven by outsize success among SMBs (where it’s up 47% YoY).

Security tools are always in high demand, so it’s no surprise that top security tools are growing at relatively high rates across all three cohorts. What’s interesting is that each posts a different fastest-growing product: For small businesses, it’s Tailscale (up 71% YoY), for SMBs, it’s the secure web gateway Twingate (up 70%), and across all Okta customers, the fastest-growing security tool is Vanta
(up 72% YoY).

Mission-critical apps

Fastest-growing apps by industry

FASTEST-GROWING APPS BY INDUSTRY

Where SMBs and small businesses are making app investments

When we look at the fastest-growing apps for SMBs in specific industries, some interesting stories emerge. Technology sector SMBs rank Tailscale as their fastest-growing app (+66% YoY) by number of customers, and Netskope by number of unique users (up 239% YoY). By both measures, retail SMBs anoint GitHub their fastest-growing app, and nonprofit SMBs choose Canva at an incredible unique user growth rate of 472% YoY.

Small businesses have an altogether different roster when viewed through the lens of industry. As in the broader SMB category, small businesses in technology also choose Tailscale as their fastest-growing app by number of customers (up 117% YoY), but GitHub takes the prize when measured by unique users (up 35% YoY). Salesforce ranks as the fastest-growing app by number of unique users, both for nonprofits and finance and banking small businesses, up in triple digits for both industries, while retail small businesses report modest gains in the adoption of Google Workspace.

FASTEST-GROWING APPS BY INDUSTRY

Mission-critical apps

Most popular apps in top security categories

The security category remains mission-critical for SMBs. But which security categories matter most to SMBs, and within that framework, which tools are most widely deployed?

VPN/firewall ranks as the top security category among SMBs (and for companies overall, as it has for at least five years), as SMBs secure their virtual perimeters for hybrid workforces. This year, Palo Alto Networks (which includes GlobalProtect and Prisma Access) is SMBs’ VPN/firewall tool of choice. (For small businesses, it’s Amazon Client VPN.)

Security app choices reveal SMBs’ biggest security concerns

MOST POPULAR APPS IN TOP SECURITY CATEGORIES

Endpoint management and security is the No. 2 security category for SMBs (and No. 3 for small businesses), and Jamf tops the list. Password manager is No. 3 for SMBs – and No. 2 for small businesses – with 1Password the most widely deployed app for both groups.

SMBs’ most popular apps in other top categories address a wide spread of security concerns. This year SMBs are relying most heavily on KnowBe4 for training, Datadog for infrastructure monitoring, Mimecast for email security, Cisco Umbrella for secure web gateways, Druva for data loss prevention, and Vanta for data compliance. Rounding out the top 10, SMBs consider security analytics a top need (and name Splunk their favorite), while small businesses include identity access management in their top ten, with Cisco Duo their numero uno.

_Note:_{Data reporting the use of Okta products is not included in this chart.}

Mission-critical apps

Rate of detected threats for SMBs, by industry

For 15 out of 17 industries, SMBs face a significantly higher rate of detected threats versus authentications
than do companies
of all sizes.

RATE OF DETECTED THREATS FOR SMBs, BY INDUSTRY

SMBs endure dramatically higher threats per authentication in most industries

In news that will surprise no one, this year has seen steep increases in cyberattacks across many industries. Okta ThreatInsight evaluates legitimate and malicious sign-in activity across our customer base to detect risky IP addresses and thwart credential-based attacks. Aggregated ThreatInsight data provides a good proxy for the current state of cyberthreats, which we dive into by industry and by country.

Looking through Okta ThreatInsight data to understand the percentage of all authentications deemed to be potential threats, we see that SMBs are weathering attacks at a higher rate than businesses overall. In fact, for 15 of 17 industries, this attack rate — the ratio of detected threats versus authentications — is significantly higher for SMBs than it is across all company sizes. For example, SMBs in the construction sector are suffering a 64% threats-to-authentications ratio, while the attack rate is just 10% in the sector when we look across all companies.

RATE OF DETECTED THREATS FOR SMBs, BY INDUSTRY

Why SMBs are being attacked dramatically more across industry sectors is unclear; threat actors may perceive SMBs as softer targets that lack the resources to staff dedicated cybersecurity teams and have to rely instead on general IT staff to manage cybersecurity efforts.

Four other sectors are fielding attack rates above 20%: arts, entertainment, and recreation (34%), wholesale trade (34%), nonprofits (23%), and education (22%).

_Note:_{This data is based on one year of cumulative ThreatInsight data from Okta Workforce Identity customers.}

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Factor grouping growth

FACTOR GROUPING GROWTH

Organizations are aggressively replacing weak factors with strong ones

Organizations continue to strengthen their security postures with ever more powerful security tools. But that’s not the only front in the battle against fraudsters: Businesses are also rapidly shifting away from low-assurance authentication factors like security questions and toward higher-assurance options like biometric authentication. And while companies of all sizes are gradually improving their authentication mix, SMBs – and small businesses in particular – may be pivoting more quickly.

Smaller companies are shedding low-assurance phone factors (including SMS and voice call) faster than the overall population: While the use of these factors is down 14% YoY across the board, it’s down 16% among SMBs and 18% among small businesses. The use of security questions is down 12% overall, and down even more (-14%) for SMBs.

FACTOR GROUPING GROWTH

_Note:_{“Okta Verify (OTP and Push)” includes Okta Verify with One-Time Passcodes and Okta Verify with Push Notifications. WebAuthn is rolled up with YubiKey in the grouping of “security key or biometric factors.” Google Authenticator, Duo Security, RSA SecurID, HMAC-based one-time passwords (HOTP), YubiKey OTP, and Symantec VIP are rolled up as “other OTP authenticators.” We group SMS with voice call authentication for a factor grouping of “phone.”}_Note:_{This data is limited to Okta Workforce Identity customers.}

On the higher-assurance front, the use of security keys or biometrics is up 16% overall, but small businesses have increased their deployment of these factors even faster — up 25%. Okta FastPass, another high-assurance factor, is up 52% overall, and 55% among small businesses.