Edition 01 · September 2026
September 2026 Edition
Published September 17, 2026. This page is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition: the standing of every category as measured in it, under vendor table vv2026-09.2. It is also the edition the site carries now.
67 categories · 12 models · 402 prompts · 4,824 answers · 28,065 judge labels, all published
The leaderboard
The first choice in all 67 categories · 35 unsettledShare is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models. Each row opens that category's page for this edition.What the verdicts mean
Security operations
Extended detection and responseMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Network and edge
Next-generation firewallsSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Security operations
Attack surface managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
IT operations and endpoint
IT service managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
IT operations and endpoint
Application performance monitoringSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Cloud and infrastructure
Cloud cost managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Security operations
Third-party risk managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
IT operations and endpoint
Remote monitoring and managementMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Identity and access
Business password managersMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Developer platform
Static application security testingSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Cloud and infrastructure
Object storageSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Cloud and infrastructure
Cloud-native application protectionMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Cloud and infrastructure
Cloud security posture managementMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Security operations
Security awareness trainingMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Identity and access
Multi-factor authenticationSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Developer platform
Software composition analysisSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Cloud and infrastructure
Managed Kubernetes platformsMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Identity and access
Workforce identity and SSOMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Network and edge
Zero trust network accessSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Identity and access
Secrets managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Cloud and infrastructure
Cloud hostingMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
IT operations and endpoint
Observability platformsSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
IT operations and endpoint
Patch managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
IT operations and endpoint
Incident management and on-callSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Data platform
Workflow orchestrationSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
IT operations and endpoint
IT asset managementSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
IT operations and endpoint
Infrastructure monitoringSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Identity and access
Customer identity and access managementMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
IT operations and endpoint
Endpoint protectionSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
Cloud and infrastructure
Container and Kubernetes securityMid-market and enterprise share a leader. Small business differs.
Security operations
Threat intelligence platformsSmall business and mid-market share a leader. Enterprise differs.
The record
Every prompt, every answer with its version string and search flag, every raw judge label, and the vendor table the edition was scored under. Free to download and free to cite.
JSON
Raw judge labels
One row per named product, with the name exactly as written and a verbatim evidence quote.
28.8 MB
JSON
Full responses
Every call with its full answer text, timestamp, version string, search flag, cited URLs, latency and token counts.
87.7 MB
JSON
Vendor table vv2026-09.2
Canonical names, aliases, category-scoped readings, exclusions and the change log.
818 KB
JSON
Prompts
Every prompt verbatim: six variants across 67 categories for each buyer segment, 402 per segment. Each prompt carries its set; the September 2026 mid-market set, asked as a B2B software company, is kept under its own ids beside the current one.
567 KB
JSON
Model set
Pinned models, endpoints, search tools and list prices as of the edition.
12 KB
Markdown
Edition report
The derived report for the edition, including the appendix on loose paraphrase stability.
562 KB
Markdown
Data dictionary
What each column of the record means, how to reproduce any share on the site, the license and the citation. The same file ships in the pack.
4 KB
Cite this edition
IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. it-ai-index.com. Scored under vendor table vv2026-09.2.