Cover report · Software & SaaS

The numbers behind the software you choose

Software budgets keep growing: Gartner forecasts worldwide software spending of $1,468 billion in 2026, up 15.5%. AI now shapes how that money is spent, with G2 finding 51% of B2B software buyers start research in an AI chatbot more often than Google and TrustRadius finding 94% of AI users fact-check the answers. Waste is the main risk after purchase: Zylo finds 36% of SaaS licenses go unused, and Flexera finds 59% of organizations saw wasted AI spend rise.

From our Software Buying Statistics · 54 figures · Updated November 4, 2026

By the numbers

The lead verdict

Sales & CRM

Best CRM Software

“Start with HubSpot unless you have a clear reason not to.”

1HubSpot CRM$158.8
2Zoho CRMFree plan8.5
3PipedriveCheck price8.4

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The verdicts

All 12 lists

Statistics reports

980 sourced figures

Head to head

How we judge

One method, every product, shown on every page.

We compare documented features and published prices, quote every price word for word from the vendor with the date we checked it, and score each product out of 10. We never claim hands-on tests we did not run.

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40%Features
30%Ease of use
30%Value