Our Source of Truth on Prosumer Software
Around the early 2010s, software moved well beyond the workplace and into our personal lives, accelerated by a range of consumerized business applications and new platforms that popped up designed specifically to blend personal and professional use cases. ChatGPT, Notion, Slack and Canva are now mainstays on many consumers' phones, alongside DoorDash, Waymo, and WhatsApp.
Given this mindshare (and market share), we put the Prosumer category to the test by analyzing a wide range of public and private companies, which now make up the $90-120B Prosumer market.
We traced prosumer's evolution through four distinct waves:
- Wave I: Bundled licenses, local storage (Microsoft Office era)
- Wave II: Subscription models, cloud adoption (Dropbox, Asana)
- Wave III: "Best of" point solutions, product-led growth (Slack, Zoom, Notion)
- Wave IV: AI-powered platforms, usage-based pricing (ChatGPT, Cursor)
The research tells a compelling story:
- Prosumer companies match Consumer Tech performance at IPO
- Wave IV companies already show 3x higher willingness to pay ($78 vs $25 median price point)
- Over half of consumers use prosumer software in their personal lives
See our full report for the analysis on business performance, new up-and-comers, common prosumer business plateaus, and our new Prosumer Scorecard for evaluating these companies across eight of the most critical factors.
One key takeaway: In an AI-native world, prosumer companies that solve for previously impossible workflows while building true platforms — not just features — will capture the next wave of value.
