Productivity software was some of the first software developed for PCs, with the earliest word processors, spreadsheet editors and database management software predating the introduction of the graphical user interface.
Forty-five years on, productivity apps have broadened their market. From being purely business tools in the early 1980s, productivity apps are now used by millions in a personal capacity, for note taking, safe search, and as an interface to chat to AI.
Productivity on mobile is a broad category, filled with applications primarily imported from the PC and web. For that reason, most office suites and other productivity tools moved to cloud-based saving systems, to allow users to shift from mobile to PC with the same document, without having to save and send to another device.
This has been hugely beneficial to companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple, which have opened up a new revenue stream from users willing to pay for cloud storage to store their photos, videos, documents and back-up their device. It is expected that this market generated over $12 billion revenue in 2024.
The newest productivity market to open up is generative AI, which gained a huge amount of users in 2023 with the growth of ChatGPT. Over 800 million people access generative AI chatbots every week, with many using them to assist on work projects, learning and as a replacement to search.
We have collected data and statistics on productivity apps. Read on below to find out more.
Key Productivity App Statistics
- Office suite apps generated $19 billion revenue in 2024, primarily from cloud storage solutions offered
- VPN apps made $5.9 billion revenue in 2024, with NordVPN the market leader in revenue
- Google One is the market leader in cloud storage on mobile, with 35% market share
- Close to 150 million people use VPN apps worldwide
- Gmail is the most popular email app with 1.8 billion users, Apple Mail is second with 650 million users
Top Productivity Apps
| App Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| https://workspace.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/drive/ | Google Drive | Google's office suite includes the traditional productivity tools such as a word processor, presentation and spreadsheet tools, alongside cloud storage, calendar and communication services |
| https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365 | Microsoft 365 | The dominate office suite for decades, 365 includes Word, PowerPoint and Excel, alongside Outlook and other productivity software |
| https://www.apple.com/uk/iwork/ | iWork | Less popular among both enterprise and consumers, Apple's office suite includes Pages, Keynote and Numbers |
| https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dropbox-cloud-storage-backup/id327630330 | Dropbox | One of the first cloud providers to break into the consumer market. Still a popular tool for individuals and small businesses |
| https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nordvpn-vpn-fast-secure/id905953485 | NordVPN | One of the most popular VPNs on the market with lots of server locations available |
| https://apps.apple.com/us/app/surfshark-vpn-fast-vpn-app/id1391782046 | Surfshark | Gained popularity with the introduction of the no device limit, a boon for power users |
| https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gmail-email-by-google/id422689480 | Gmail | The most popular email service worldwide, Gmail is the default email app for around two billion users |
| https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-outlook/id951937596 | Outlook | Microsoft Outlook is still broadly popular and is still preferred by many businesses |
| https://apps.apple.com/us/app/todoist-to-do-list-calendar/id572688855 | Todolist | One of the original task management apps, offering a simple UI to manage tasks |
| https://apps.apple.com/us/app/structured-daily-planner/id1499198946 | Structured | A newer app on the block that combines tasks and to-dos on one platform |
Office Suite App Revenue
Office suites, which include word processors, presentation, spreadsheet tools and cloud storage apps, generated $19 billion in 2024. We are only looking at personal office suite usage in this chart, which accounts for about 10% of total office suite revenue.
Office suite app revenue 2018 to 2024 ($bn)
VPN App Revenue
VPN apps generated $5.9 billion revenue in 2024, a 15.6% increase on the year prior.
VPN app revenue 2018 to 2024 ($bn)
Cloud Storage App Market Share
Google One is the market leader for mobile cloud storage, with Dropbox, OneDrive and iCloud in a battle for second place.
Cloud storage app market share 2024 (%)
VPN App Users
There were 147 million VPN users worldwide in 2025, a 17% increase on the previous year. Countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Turkey have seen spikes in VPN adoption.
VPN app users 2018 to 2025 (mm)
Email Users by App
Gmail is far ahead of other email apps in terms of users, with 1.8 billion to the nearest, Apple Mail, with 650 million users. Gmail is also the most popular email domain in the world.
Email users by app 2024 (mm)
VPN Downloads by App
Super Inc VPN and Turbo VPN were the two most popular VPNs in 2024, with 73 million downloads each.
VPN downloads by app 2024 (mm)
Antivirus Downloads by App
Antivirus software is not as popular on mobile as it was on PC, and several of the major suppliers have rebranded as VPN and safe search tools. Of those, Avast had the most downloads in 2024.
Antivirus downloads by app 2024 (mm)
To-do List Downloads by App
Notion was the most popular to-do list app, although its primary use may be more for note-taking. Google Keep and Google Tasks were both popular choices in 2024.
