ChatGPT is (obviously) the most popular AI app – but the runners up may surprise you

Which generative AI apps are people using? Which ones are people trying a few times and ditching, and which ones are they sticking with? Andreessen Horowitz, a California-based venture capital firm, sheds some light on those questions with the third installment of its Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps list. 

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Every six months, the firm says, it analyzes available data to see what AI apps people are using. Andreessen Horowtiz then creates two lists of the top 50 apps: one by unique visits, and the other by total monthly active users. There’s no surprise which app takes the top spot on both: ChatGPT. 

There is a little overlap between the two lists, but few apps make both. Here’s a deeper look at the data. 

In terms of unique monthly visits over the last six months, ChatGPT tops the list by a wide margin. Familiar names like Character.ai, Perplexity, Claude, and Suno sit in the top five spots, with JanitorAI, Quillbot, Poe, LinerAI, and CivitAI in the top 10.

Also: Want a free year of Perplexity Pro? Here’s how to claim it (and why you should)

By total active monthly users, ChatGPT is number one again, but the top five is totally different. Here, Microsoft Edge, Photomath, Nova, and Bing make up the top five, with Remini, Chat & Ask AI, Brainly, Meitu, and Character.AI rounding out the top 10. 

What can we take from this? 

First off, the data suggests people are using AI mostly for creative endeavors. Andreessen Horowitz notes that 52% of the apps on both lists focus on content creation or editing. Most of them are image and video-creating apps, but voice and music generators are popular as well. 

Video-generating apps Luna and Viggle appeared on the top monthly visits list for the very first time, taking the 14th and 21st spots, respectively — indicating a clear interest in AI-generated video. Music generator Suno made the list last time but surged from the 36th spot to the fifth spot this time around.

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It’s understandable why people are interested in checking out generative AI apps that let you create photos, voices, or music — but the apps they choose to subscribe to tell a different story. Most of the apps on the top of the active monthly user list are either multi-purpose AI apps like ChatGPT, Bing, or Microsoft Edge, or niche ones like PhotoMath. 

Since Photomath likely saw a surge in people seeking end-of-the-year math help for school, it’ll be interesting to see the next list to see if those subscribers stayed over summer break. 

Andreessen Horowitz also noted that apps for generating things other than images are on the rise. The generative apps on the last list, just six months ago, were almost all image-based. On this list, image generators make up just 41% of generative apps.