Andreessen Horowitz's latest Top 100 consumer AI ranking shows ChatGPT passing one billion monthly mobile users, while Claude nears a billion web visits, though a16z says usage stays broad but shallow and few consumers pay.
ChatGPT remains the dominant force in consumer artificial intelligence, with more than one billion monthly active users on mobile, according to the latest Top 100 Consumer AI Apps ranking from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Anthropic's Claude, meanwhile, has moved up to third place on the web, drawing close to one billion visits a month.
a16z said Google's Gemini and Claude are running almost level on paying subscribers. Gemini's count got a lift after Google moved its existing paid users onto its AI plan. Even so, ChatGPT has about three times as many US consumer paid subscribers as either rival, the firm said in a post on X.
Wide use, thin engagement
The report stresses that rapid growth has not translated into deep habits. Almost half of US consumers now say they use AI, yet only a quarter do so every day. As of August, just 4.5 per cent of Americans held an active paid personal subscription to ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude.
Spending is also concentrated. The top 10 per cent of spenders account for roughly half of all observed consumer AI spending, and they lean towards coding, productivity and creative tools. a16z argues this shows consumer AI has found its first real market: people willing to pay, often heavily, for tools that help them build, create and get work done. It added that the category may need a new business model, or perhaps a revival of an old one.
Momentum shifts between rivals
On competition, data from YipitData's global desktop panel pointed to a fall in Claude's average daily sessions in July and August. Its US e-receipt panel showed gross subscriber additions slowing and churn rising.
ChatGPT, by contrast, regained momentum after a run of July launches, including the GPT-5.6 models Sol, Terra and Luna, and the debut of ChatGPT Work. The report also found it has a more balanced user base across gender and income groups, and said it leads in most US states, with California, Montana and Massachusetts the exceptions.
Perhaps the most striking takeaway, a16z said, is the gap between traffic and monetisation. Platforms attract huge audiences, but only a small slice converts into revenue, leaving the economics of consumer AI unsettled even as usage climbs.
For the companies involved, the findings point to a familiar challenge: winning attention is proving easier than turning it into recurring revenue. Heavy users in coding and productivity appear to carry much of the load, while the wider public mostly samples free tiers. Whether the answer lies in subscriptions, different pricing or an older model altogether is left open.
