The Rapid Evolution of Consumer AI: Insights from the Latest Rankings
In just six short months, the consumer AI landscape has transformed dramatically. Brands and products have risen and fallen, while a surprising contestant named Deepseek has emerged as a formidable rival to ChatGPT. Additionally, advancements in AI video technology have reached a point where they can produce reliable outputs, at least for short clips. The emergence of “vibecoding” is also revolutionizing the way people create with AI, expanding the toolkit not just for tech-savvy users but for everyone. As competition heats up, the stakes are higher than ever, and today’s winners are not just launching their products but successfully maintaining traction.
To get a clearer picture of this fast-paced industry, we delved into the data to uncover the most actively used AI tools, which applications are raking in revenue, and which products are transforming from curiosity into daily essentials.
This article marks the fourth edition of our bi-annual "Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps” report, spotlighting the leading AI-first web products and mobile apps. It’s hard to believe that since our last update in August 2024, we’ve seen 17 new companies join the ranks of top AI web products.
New Rankings and Emerging Players
Peak into our latest findings, and you’re in for a surprise. The sheer velocity of innovation means many new companies are weaving their way into consumers’ lives. For instance, Deepseek launched its public chatbot on January 20, and within just ten days, it became the #2 AI product globally for that month! Developed by the Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer, Deepseek is particularly popular in China, where ChatGPT is restricted. In terms of traffic sources, 21% of its users hail from China, followed by the U.S. (9%) and India (8%).
Deepseek’s rise is remarkable; it reached 1 million users in just 14 days and then smashed through the 10 million-user mark within 20 days, outpacing even ChatGPT’s initial growth.
The Gigantic Comeback: ChatGPT
After hitting a plateau earlier, ChatGPT has recently experienced a remarkable revival. It took the popular application a mere nine months to scale from 100 million weekly active users in November 2023 to 200 million by August 2024. Rather astonishingly, it again doubled its user base, reaching 400 million by mid-February 2025.
What’s fueling this resurgence? Early on, many users had yet to discover practical daily uses for ChatGPT, but the introduction of advanced capabilities has reignited interest. Moments aligned with product launches, such as the unveiling of the multimodal GPT-4o model, have catalyzed usage spikes. New features allowing real-time conversation and image recognition rapidly expanded the tool’s application.
Video AI on the Rise
AI video has also leaped from a experimental stage into a realm of usability. New players such as Hailuo (#12), Kling AI (#17), and Sora (#23) have secured their spots on the web rankings, signaling that we’re entering an era of specialized video models. Each company brings a unique twist—whether it’s strong adherence to prompts or enhanced camera control.
Apps focused on AI-powered video editing are also thriving. Companies like Veed (#36) and Clipchamp (#45) are streamlining complex tasks into one-click solutions, while the mobile sector showcases hybrid video and photo editing apps like B612 (#12) and VivaCut (#15).
The Builder Era: Empowering All Creators
We’re witnessing a new dawn where AI tools cater to creators previously kept at bay by the complexity of technology. Two categories are particularly noteworthy: agentic IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) for developers and text-to-web app platforms—or "vibecoders"—for everyone else.
Agentic IDEs, exemplified by tools like Cursor, are helping developers code smarter, while text-to-web apps are making it possible for non-coders to build sophisticated websites from simple text prompts. Bolt is leading the charge, boasting 2 million registered users and $20 million in annual revenue shortly after launch.
The Monetization Landscape
When it comes to monetization, popularity and revenue generation do not always align. ChatGPT clearly leads in both user numbers and revenue, but our reviews revealed that only 40% of the apps appearing on both the MAU and revenue lists overlapped.
Many specialized applications, like those for language learning or nutrition, are drawing in a considerable user base willing to pay for high-quality tools even if they don’t achieve mass appeal.
Conclusion
As the AI-native landscape expands, we’re entering a thrill ride of innovation and vitality, where consumer AI products are engaging users like never before. The future is bright, with targets like commercial viability on the horizon. We’re excited to witness how this journey unfolds—who will emerge as the next leader and how these technological advancements will redefine our daily lives.
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