Startups double up on AI tools, Aspire says

Aspire data showed multi-platform usage doubling as spending patterns shift.

Singapore startups are increasing their use of multiple artificial intelligence (AI) tools, with the number of companies running three or more AI platforms more than doubling year on year (YoY), according to Aspire’s Startup Signals report.

The report, which analysed transaction data from more than 10,000 businesses across Asia, found that the average number of AI platforms used by Singapore startups rose to 1.87 in financial year 2025-2026, whilst AI adoption growth reached 42% YoY.

It added that startups are increasingly operating “stacked” AI workflows, with tools used in parallel rather than as standalone solutions.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude accounted for the largest share of AI spending amongst Singapore startups, at 41% and 37% respectively in FY25–26. Cursor accounted for 15%, whilst other platforms made up the remaining 7%.

According to Aspire, Claude recorded faster client and spend growth compared with other platforms, with unique paying clients rising to 1,537 in FY25–26, up 258% from FY23–24 levels. ChatGPT had 2,377 paying clients in FY25–26, up 31% over the same period.

The report said startups using Claude spent an average of $2049.94 (US$1,598) per account annually, compared with $1467.54 (US$1,144) for ChatGPT users.

Outside AI tools, the report found software subscriptions remained the only major startup spending category to grow, rising 18% YoY. It attributed around a quarter of that growth to AI-related tools.

Digital advertising spend declined 14% over the same period, whilst travel and entertainment spending remained broadly flat.

In SaaS spending, cloud and infrastructure accounted for 44.8% of total spend, followed by productivity and project management tools at 26%.

The report said Google Cloud led the category, whilst AWS recorded a decline in client share.

On workforce trends, Aspire found that 21% of Singapore startups now make ad-hoc payments to staff, indicating the use of freelance or contract workers alongside full-time employees.

The median payroll transaction fell to $4256.38 (US$3,318) in FY25–26 from $4534.75 (US$3,535) in the previous year.

The report also found that 81.6% of payroll transactions were conducted in SGD, whilst USD accounted for 9.1%, up from 7.1% two years earlier.

In travel spending, startups increased total expenditure by 11% YoY, with flight-related spending rising 35%.

Flights accounted for 45.8% of total travel spend, up from 37.6% in the previous year.

Coworking and office-related spending data showed a shift toward flexible workspace models. Spend at providers such as IWG rose 90% YoY, whilst WeWork increased 80%.

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