At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
a16z ranks 2025’s top consumer AI apps and usage trends
- The Consumer AI Top 100 ranks AI-native websites by global monthly visits and mobile apps by monthly active users, using Similarweb and SensorTower, capturing total usage rather than revenue.
- The list is stabilizing compared to early “chaos” periods, with fewer new entrants (11 new on web vs. 17 prior), and a clearer set of recurring “AI All-Stars.”
- Companionship products continue to dominate consumer attention, while “vibecoding” (AI-assisted app/site building) emerges as a major new breakout category with unusually strong early revenue retention.
- Big Tech—especially Google—made a major showing as domains became independently measurable, with Gemini near the top and developer/prosumer tools like AI Studio and NotebookLM ranking surprisingly high.
- Chinese AI companies appear in multiple modes—China-only ecosystems, export-focused global products, and hybrid global users—shaping global usage patterns, especially in image/video and assistants.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasThe list measures mindshare, not monetization.
By ranking total usage (including free users) rather than revenue, the Top 100 highlights what consumers actually try and return to—often earlier than revenue-based leaderboards.
Consumer AI is shifting from volatility to repeat winners.
New entrants are still arriving, but fewer than before, and the introduction of “AI All-Stars” signals durable products that repeatedly retain attention across multiple six-month cycles.
Companionship remains a dominant use case despite new trends.
Multiple new companionship apps entered (e.g., Juicy Chat, Joy, R Dream) alongside established names (e.g., Character.ai), indicating sustained demand rather than a short-lived fad.
Google’s consumer and developer AI footprint expanded sharply.
Once domains became measurable, four Google properties appeared on the web list; Gemini ranked #2 on web (about 10% of ChatGPT web traffic) and was comparatively stronger on mobile (about half of ChatGPT, largely via Android), while AI Studio and NotebookLM demonstrated surprising staying power.
Chinese AI shows up as three distinct adoption patterns.
China-only assistants (Quark, Doubao, Kimi) rank highly due to population scale and Western product bans; export-oriented products (e.g., DeepSeek, Kling/Hailuo, SeaArt) target global users; and hybrids like Manus show mixed geographic demand (e.g., Brazil and the U.S. prominent).
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesthe purpose is just to get a sense of what real consumers are actually using in AI.
— Olivia Moore
you'll notice that this captures usage, not revenue.
— Olivia Moore
in consumer AI, the UI and the product experience matters just as much as the model, especially when so many amazing models are now API available or open source.
— Olivia Moore
for many of the leading vibecoding platforms is they actually see 100% or above revenue retention in the first three months
— Olivia Moore
My biggest takeaway actually from every version of the list is that as with everything else in consumer, there's so much randomness
— Olivia Moore
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