a16z releases a report, citing Mercury data, on the top 50 AI companies that startups pay; OpenAI leads, followed by Anthropic, Replit, Freepik, and ElevenLabs
On Thursday, Andreessen Horowitz released its first AI Spending Report in partnership with the fintech firm Mercury.
TechCrunchDominic-Madori Davis
Context & Ripple Effects
This is an early snapshot of startup AI procurement assembled by a16z and Mercury, spanning foundation-model providers alongside application-layer companies in coding, design, and voice.
The report gives startups, investors, and vendors a visible benchmark for which AI products are already appearing in startup budgets, with OpenAI at the head of the cited ranking.
Anthropic, Replit, Freepik, and ElevenLabs gain third-party validation as paid tools in distinct workflow categories; Mercury and a16z gain a data-backed view into startup software purchasing.
Second-order effects
Vendors outside the ranking face more pressure to show that they can convert attention into recurring paid use, rather than compete only on model or feature claims.
The list reinforces competition across the stack: model providers must protect their place in startup budgets while specialized tools seek to become the default interface for coding, creative, and audio work.
Third-order effects
If transaction-data reports continue to shape buying decisions, AI adoption will be increasingly mediated by procurement signals and distribution, favoring products that become embedded in existing startup workflows.
The later shift toward Anthropic in new-buyer spending suggests that early rankings should be read as a moving procurement market, not a permanent vendor hierarchy.
The trend: AI software is moving into a procurement phase in which observed spend, workflow fit, and distribution increasingly determine which providers consolidate demand.
Curious what B2B apps startups are buying? We looked at @mercury data to see the top ones👇Very cool to see the proliferation of vibecoding as well as consumer apps going enterprise sooner, as employees look to build their own personalized stack at work!
@joseflorido
Jose Florido on x
👉 “Creative tools are represented by ten names on the list, ranking as the largest single category. The leader is all-in-one suite Freepik, followed by text to speech generator ElevenLabs” great ranking by @a16z
@mercury
@mercury on x
Forget AI hype. Follow the money. @a16z dug into Mercury spend across 200K startups to reveal the top 50 AI tools startups are paying for ⤵️
@johnsjawn
Hurley on x
Love seeing @NotionHQ in top 10. Love more that almost everyone on the list is a Notion customer.
@yanatweets
Yana Welinder on x
The top use cases startups are betting their AI budgets on are also interesting: 🖌️ Content Creation & Design @Freepik (4) - Design resources + AI image gen @Canva (17) - AI design tools for images, docs, video @photoroom_app (22) - AI photo editing @meetgamma (24) - AI slide
@adambain
Adam Bain on x
Huge congrats to @micro1_ai on cracking the AI Apps Top 10! Classic @aliniikk move: I called him to say congratulations, and he told me all about how he was plotting to climb to #1.
@pirroh
Michele Catasta on x
Slowly, then all at once 🥉 Replit has become the tool of choice for every builder, from startups to large enterprises. Thanks for your trust 🙏
@baris
@baris on x
Congrats to the @EmergentLabsHQ team @mukundjha on making the AI Apps 50! They're just getting started 🚀 Cc @MohapatraHemant
@zachcoelius
Zach Coelius on x
Great to see @MetaviewAI quietly scooping up market share...
@mukund
Mukund Mohan on x
Vibe Coding is at the peak of the hype cycle now. @Replit @lovable_dev @elevenlabsio and many others on this list LFG
@fahdananta
Fahd Ananta on x
Incredible to see Replit right behind the leading AI labs Note: Roach Cap is an investor in Replit (#3) and Ada (#40)
@im_roy_lee
Roy on x
ngl this is insanely tuff [image]
@evansammccann
Evan McCann on x
Canadian co-founders at 1, 2, 10, 25, 27, 32, 40 and I'm probably missing some.
@mikesmith187
Mike Smith on x
We've branded 2 of these bad boys. #3 dropping soon. 👀
@domm
@domm on x
ElevenLabs is great, but crazy it has higher spend than Cursor 🤷♂️
@brownpoints
Chaitanya on x
none of the startups are spending on gemini?
@ryan_c_walsh
@ryan_c_walsh on x
How much of the spend is concentrated in the top 2? If you're literally paying and using a vibe coder for your products... ngmi? Some of these aren't native AI (Canva, Notion, Clay, etc)
@sofialomart
Sofía López on x
I guess old logos never die 🤣 Happy to see Freepik in the top 5!
@vasumanmoza
Vas on x
This list is horrendous galactic giga omega bullshit I had to say something. This is most certainly a psyop, not a chance it's representative.
@amasad
Amjad Masad on x
We're starting to do okay.
@rohitdotmittal
Rohit Mittal on x
The most interesting thing is that company #4 is freepik. Some of it doesn't make sense. And I haven't heard of half the companies on this list.
@forgebitz
Klaas on x
“* some of the companies mentioned are portfolio companies of a16z ” [image]
@drummatick
Saurabh Kumar on x
> AI apps > Notion, Canva and Capcut yeah this list is legit
@matthieurouif
Matt Rouif on x
Super proud that @photoroom_app was named one of the top ai product used by startups in the world with our friends from @lovable_dev @elevenlabsio
@hidecloud
@hidecloud on x
More and more startups are using Manus to enhance their performance. Maybe we should consider some special programs for startups?😏
@theandytee
Andy Thompson on x
“Vibe coding has landed in enterprises” Replit behind only OpenAI and Anthropic 🔥
@tnm
Ted Nyman on x
This list literally says a company called freepik is receiving more money from startups than Cursor.
@nitprashant
Prashant Sharma on x
Emergent is now in the Top 50 AI products of the world. If you haven't yet built your most ambitious ideas on Emergent, it is time.
@sarbjeetjohal
Sarbjeet Johal on x
With what other startups most startups spend money, here's the rank of top startups (non public) vendors/applications by spend. @a16z did this research. It's #S2S (startup to startup) spend. Interesting data. @SavIsSavvy @RemyBlaireNews @LindaGrass0 @Scobleizer
@amya_wilks
@amya_wilks on x
its really, really interesting to see @fyxerai at 6, above Notion, Canva, etc in this list. UK-based, barely present in startup/founder twitter etc. Distribution focus seems to be on Instagram + targeting outside of the SF hype vortex.
@omooretweets
Olivia Moore on x
🚨 Introducing the AI Apps 50: Startup Edition Ever wondered how startups are spending their money when it comes to AI? Our team at @a16z worked with @mercury to crunch the numbers and rank the top applications by spend. The list + what we learned from it👇 [image]
@lennysan
Lenny Rachitsky on x
Replit right behind OpenAI and Anthropic, wow @amasad
@sungkim
Sung Kim on bluesky
Where the startups are spending money on, based on their spent on Mercury (startup bank) — a16z.com/the-ai-appli... [image]