State of SaaS
2026
Plot twist: the sprawl is back, and this time it's AI-powered
After two years of consolidation, the average SaaS portfolio is expanding and AI is driving it.
New tools are spinning up faster than governance can keep pace, executives want AI speed, and IT is left holding the risk. The 2026 State of SaaS report puts hard numbers to everything you're already feeling, and shows you what 525 of your peers are doing about it.
What you’ll get:
The real numbers behind the shift. See exactly how SaaS portfolios are expanding again after two years of consolidation, and what's fueling the growth.
The SaaS and AI Operational Readiness Index. A benchmark score showing how prepared (or unprepared) most IT orgs really are.
Security concerns, quantified. See how much security worries have grown year over year, and why IT teams are feeling the pressure.
How your peers are responding. Benchmark your own strategy against hundreds of IT leaders navigating the same tradeoffs.
Download the report
Excerpts from the BetterCloud State of SaaS 2026 report
Here’s just some of the statistics and findings from this year’s report.
Nearly 40% of AI apps billed via usage-based models, the newest budget crisis looms
The real budget threat is transitioning from sheer SaaS app volume to how those apps are billed. While 22% of current tech stacks are now AIpowered, more than a third of those AI tools are billed using only usagebased or token-consumption models rather than traditional, predictable per-seat or even hybrid pricing.
Which brings us to a critical truth: modern AI governance cannot be separated from cost control. When a single employee’s unmanaged prompts can cost thousands, financial predictability is a security issue. Without real-time visibility and granular guardrails to monitor and throttle token consumption, organizations are risking more than a budget crisis; they are failing a basic requirement of effective technology governance.
Driven by AI-powered apps, the average number of SaaS apps in the organization is growing
After 2 years of consolidation, the modern tech stack is expanding again.
Driving this growth is the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), as businesses now deploy an average of 27 AI-powered SaaS applications, which includes both AI-native tools and intelligent feature add-ons.
Two-thirds of IT professionals fear AI data loss far more than slow adoption
This lopsided concern highlights a fundamental truth: maximizing AI’s true potential requires a foundation built on absolute trust and transparency. Moving fast is meaningless if an organization moves blindly.
ON-DEMAND WEBINAR
Your top questions answered with data
The data only tells part of the story. Watch David Politis and Raj Kunnath unpack what's behind the numbers and what IT leaders should actually do about it.
Way back when SaaS was simpler
Spoiler: it wasn’t. Explore past reports to see how long IT teams have been navigating the SaaS chaos.
2025 State of SaaS:
In 2025, we delve into the trends shaping the future of SaaS management, including AI.
2024 State of SaaSOps:
Explore the trends from last year, including the first decline the average SaaS apps organization used.
2023 State of SaaSOps:
Take a look at the findings from 2023, including IT’s increasing responsibility for employee experience.