It’s been a few years now since artificial intelligence started dominating business headlines. It’s propping up the stock market. New models are released at a steady pace, while industries are still experimenting and figuring out how to really adopt AI across departments. And AI companies, of course, are competing to become part of the modern business software stack.
What hasn’t always been clear, though, is how businesses are actually spending money on these tools. Looking at anonymised transaction data from companies using the Wallester Business card issuing and spend management platform, one trend stood out in the first five months of 2026: spending on Claude grew rapidly.
Between January and May, for example, Claude-related spend increased by more than 650%. Transaction volume also grew by more than 600%. The increase was not a one-month spike either: both spend and transaction volume rose steadily month after month Among the AI-related merchants we analysed, Claude was by far the fastest-growing.
From what we’re seeing in the data, it still hasn’t overtaken ChatGPT, which remains the largest AI-related merchant in our data by both spend and transaction volume, although both fluctuated in 2026. In any case, Claude’s growth tells us something about what is really happening beneath the surface.
Businesses Are Expanding Beyond a Single AI Tool
When ChatGPT first entered the mainstream, many businesses approached AI as a single-product category. Usually, companies would test one tool, evaluate whether it was useful, and decide whether it was worth paying for.
There’s enough evidence now to suggest that this is no longer the case. Companies are increasingly using multiple AI tools simultaneously. Marketing teams may use one tool, developers another, while research, analytics, and operations teams rely on something else entirely. In short, different platforms serve different purposes.
Perplexity, another AI-focused platform included in the analysis, also recorded strong growth during the same period. While significantly smaller than both ChatGPT and Claude, its growth points in the same direction: businesses are becoming more comfortable paying for multiple AI services at the same time.
The Number of Transactions Matters as Much as the Spend
One reason Claude’s growth is interesting is that transaction volume followed spending. If spending alone had risen sharply, the increase could have been explained by a small number of larger purchases or enterprise contracts. Instead, transaction activity grew at a very similar pace, which suggests that growth is not being driven by a handful of large payments. Rather, more businesses appear to be subscribing, or existing businesses are expanding usage across more users and teams.
Put simply, the data points towards broader adoption, not simply bigger invoices. This is exactly how software categories mature. Before becoming major budget items, they first become routine expenses. Companies begin paying for them regularly, renewing subscriptions, and integrating them into everyday workflows.
AI Is Starting to Behave Like Other SaaS Categories
So the broader takeaway here is that AI is increasingly behaving like any other software category.
It may remain a relatively small part of overall business spending. For most companies, categories such as advertising, cloud infrastructure, payroll, travel, and operational costs continue to represent larger budget items. Yet AI is becoming something different from what it was even a year ago.
Instead of being treated primarily as an experiment, it is increasingly appearing as a recurring operational expense. Businesses are budgeting for it, assigning it to teams, and paying for it month after month. That’s what may ultimately be more significant than any individual model launch or product announcement.
Managing a Growing Subscription Stack
Needless to say, the trend also introduces a new challenge for finance teams. AI tools are joining a growing list of recurring software subscriptions that businesses pay for every month.
Alongside collaboration tools, design software, cloud services, and productivity platforms, they become another line item that needs to be tracked and managed. And as software stacks grow, maintaining visibility becomes increasingly important. Finance teams need to know who is paying for what, which subscriptions remain active, and how software costs evolve over time.
Wallester Business is useful in that respect, as it provides:
- 300 free virtual Visa cards – create dedicated cards for AI tools, SaaS subscriptions, departments, vendors, campaigns, or employees
- Custom spending limits – set clear limits by card, team, tool, or use case
- Live transaction tracking – monitor recurring software payments from one central dashboard
- Free expense management tools – organise company spend without extra software
- Free 24/7 currency exchange – exchange funds across 10 currencies with no service fees
- Xero and QuickBooks integrations – sync transactions directly with accounting tools
- Payroll and team payments – process up to 1,500 transactions in one click
- Fast remote KYC – complete onboarding online, typically within hours
For growing businesses, that means keeping software and AI subscription spending visible without adding another layer of admin.
This analysis is based on anonymised transaction data from businesses using the Wallester Business platform between January and May 2026. Google Gemini spending was not included, as Google transactions are not categorised separately in a way that allows Gemini subscriptions to be reliably isolated.
