🚀 2025 User Survey Analysis: Wavebox App Usage Trends.
Are you trying to stay organized in a world of scattered apps and endless browser tabs?
You're not alone. We asked Wavebox users (aka Waveboxers) how they manage their digital workspaces, and the results revealed something powerful:
The most productive professionals don't just collect apps—they orchestrate them.
With over 2.5k integrated apps in our store, plus an infinite number of custom apps, Waveboxers have built some seriously impressive workflows. When we asked Waveboxers to name the 5 apps they use most, the results revealed fascinating patterns about modern work.
This Wavebox app usage trends article maps which apps Waveboxers use most, the correlations between those tools, and—critically—how to turn those patterns into repeatable Wavebox setups that reduce context switching and prevent account mix-ups.
Read on for the top app clusters (Gmail + Google Workspace, GitHub + Jira + Slack, Outlook + Teams), recommended Spaces and Groups, and practical steps you can apply right away.
📬 The Universal Apps: Everyone Has These.
Gmail: The Foundation (72%)
Nearly three-quarters of Wavebox users have Gmail in their setup. It's not just an email client—it's the universal starting point for productivity. Whether you're in a startup or enterprise, Gmail is almost certainly part of your workflow.
Why it matters: If you're using Wavebox, you're probably managing multiple Gmail accounts. Work email, personal email, side project email—each needs its own Space for proper cookie isolation. That's the multi-account reality of modern work.
📆 The Inseparable Suite (85%+)
If you have Gmail, you almost certainly have:
- Google Calendar (22% mention it explicitly)
- Google Drive (20% mention it explicitly)
- Google Docs, Sheets, and Meet follow closely behind
The insight: Google Workspace travels as a bundle. Users don't pick and choose—they use the entire ecosystem. This makes Google account management the most important workflow Wavebox supports.
💬 Communication Apps: How Teams Actually Talk.
Slack: The Startup Standard (27%)
More than a quarter of Wavebox users rely on Slack daily. But here's what's interesting: Gmail users are far more likely to use Slack than Outlook users.
- Gmail users: 28% use Slack
- Outlook users: 19% use Slack
The correlation: Slack represents startup and tech culture. If you're in a company using Gmail for email, you're probably using Slack for team communication.
Microsoft Teams: The Enterprise Choice (9%)
Teams has much lower adoption overall, but among Outlook users, it's a different story:
- Outlook users: 28% use Teams (3x higher than average!)
- Gmail users: 9% use Teams
The insight: Email choice predicts company culture. Outlook + Teams = enterprise. Gmail + Slack = startup/tech.
The Long Tail of Messaging
- WhatsApp (11%): Personal and client communication
- Discord (8%): Developer communities and gaming teams
- Zoom (mentioned): Video meetings when needed
⚙️ Project Management: A Fragmented Landscape
Unlike email (dominated by Gmail) or team chat (Slack or Teams), project management tools are all over the map:
What this tells us: There's no "standard" project management tool. Teams pick what works for them, which means Wavebox users need to juggle multiple PM platforms simultaneously.
The multi-account challenge: You might have ClickUp for Client A, Asana for Client B, and Jira for your internal team. That's three different tools, all needing separate workflows. (Luckily Wavebox handles this like a dream!)
👨💻 The Developer Stack: Highly Predictable
Developers show the strongest tool correlations. If someone has GitHub, there's a 41% chance they also use:
- Jira (41% correlation)
- Slack (41% correlation)
The pattern: GitHub → Jira → Slack represents the modern development workflow:
- Code in GitHub
- Track work in Jira
- Communicate in Slack
This trio is so consistent it's almost a single "developer stack" rather than three separate tools.
📱 Social Media: The Professional Platforms Win
Social media usage among Wavebox users skews heavily professional:
The insight: Wavebox users aren't using social media for entertainment—they're using it for work. LinkedIn for networking, YouTube for learning, Facebook for business pages.
🤖 AI Tools: The Emerging Category
One of the most interesting findings: 8% of users have ChatGPT in their daily workflow. That might not sound like much, but consider:
- AI tools have only been mainstream for ~2 years
- Early adopters show clear patterns of higher productivity
- ChatGPT users are 29% more likely to be power users (8+ hours daily)
The correlation: AI adoption signals tech-forward users who embrace new tools quickly. Other AI tools mentioned:
- Claude (1%)
- Gemini (mentioned)
- Perplexity (mentioned by power users)
🎨 Creative & Design Tools
The pattern: These cluster with agency and marketing users. If someone mentions Canva, they're likely managing client social media or creating marketing assets.
💼 Business & Finance Apps
- QuickBooks (3%)
- Xero (mentioned)
- Shopify (2%)
- Salesforce (2%)
- HubSpot (2%)
The insight: These appear mostly among freelancers, consultants, and agency owners who manage their own business operations alongside client work.
🔗 The Most Powerful Correlations
If you have Gmail, you probably also have:
- Google Calendar (90% correlation)
- Google Drive (86% correlation)
- Slack (75% correlation if you're in tech)
If you have Outlook, you probably also have:
- Microsoft Teams (64% correlation)
- Other Outlook accounts (70% also have Gmail for personal use)
If you have GitHub, you probably also have:
- Jira (41% correlation)
- Slack (41% correlation)
If you have Notion, you almost certainly have:
- Gmail (92% correlation)
- Startup/modern tool culture
🎯 What This Means for Your Wavebox Setup
👯 Plan for Multiple Gmail Accounts
With 72% using Gmail and many managing 3+ accounts, your Wavebox setup should prioritize Gmail multi-account management. Use Spaces to keep work, personal, and side project emails completely separate.
Typical setup:
- Space 1: Work Gmail + work tools
- Space 2: Personal Gmail + personal tools
- Space 3: Side project Gmail + project tools
📬 Your Email Choice Predicts Your Stack
If you use Gmail:
- Expect to use Slack for team communication
- You'll probably have the full Google Workspace suite
- Modern PM tools like Notion, ClickUp, or Asana are common.
If you use Outlook:
- Teams is your likely team chat platform
- You're in the Microsoft ecosystem (SharePoint, OneDrive)
- More traditional enterprise tools (Jira, Confluence).
🧑💻 Developers Need Special Consideration
The GitHub + Jira + Slack trinity means developers need:
- Separate Spaces for work vs personal GitHub
- Multiple localhost apps running simultaneously
- Integration between code, project tracking, and communication.
📊 Project Management Requires Flexibility
With 8+ different PM tools in common use, don't assume everyone uses the same platform. Your Wavebox setup needs to handle:
- Multiple PM tools at once
- Different tools for different clients
- Switching contexts quickly between platforms.
📢 Social Media Is Work, Not Play
Wavebox users are managing LinkedIn profiles, YouTube channels, and Facebook business pages. These aren't entertainment—they're business tools that need the same multi-account management as email.
📈 The Productivity Patterns
Power Users (8+ hours daily) Favor:
- Slack (29% vs 23% average)
- ClickUp (9% vs 6% average)
- Modern, flexible tools over traditional enterprise software.
Multi-Account Managers Use:
- Multiple instances of the same tool (3 Gmail accounts, 2 Slack workspaces)
- One Space per client/context to prevent wrong-account disasters
- Consistent tool stack across all clients when possible.
Agency Users Typically Have:
- Gmail (not Outlook)
- Multiple PM tools (different clients, different preferences)
- WhatsApp for client communication
- Social media management tools (Canva, Buffer, Hootsuite).
🔮 Emerging Trends
AI Integration is Growing
8% current adoption of ChatGPT, but among power users and tech-forward professionals, AI tools are becoming standard workflow components. Expect this to grow rapidly.
How users integrate AI:
- ChatGPT as a dedicated tab in their 'Communication' or 'Tools' group
- Used alongside traditional tools (Notion + Slack)
- Separate Space for AI experimentation
The Long Tail Matters
Beyond the top apps, users mentioned 100+ different tools. This "long tail" of specialized software is exactly why Wavebox exists—you can't predict what combination of tools someone needs. You just need to support all of them.
💡 Key Takeaways
- Gmail is universal (72%), making Google account management the #1 use case
- Email choice predicts culture (Gmail + Slack = startup, Outlook + Teams = enterprise)
- Developers are predictable (GitHub → Jira → Slack is consistent)
- PM tools are fragmented (8+ different platforms in regular use)
- AI is emerging (8% adoption, growing quickly among power users)
- Multi-account management is the norm (74% have 3+ Spaces)
- Tool stacks travel together (Google Workspace, Microsoft ecosystem, dev stack)
🎓 How to Apply This to Your Setup
🧑💻 If you're new to Wavebox:
Start with the universal stack:
- Create Space 1: Work Gmail + Calendar + Drive + Slack/Teams
- Create Space 2: Personal Gmail + Calendar + personal tools
- Create a Group for your primary PM tool (ClickUp, Asana, Jira)
- Create a Group for specialized tools for your role.
You'll end up with ~10-15 apps in around 5 groups and 2-3 Spaces—the most common configuration.
👔 If you're scaling up:
Add Spaces as you add accounts:
- New client? → New Space (their Gmail, their Slack, their tools)
- Side project? → New Space (project email, project tools)
- New company? → New Space (or Profile for maximum separation)
Your Groups should reflect categories:
- 📧 Communication (email, chat, calendar)
- 📋 Projects (PM tools)
- 📁 Files (Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
- 🎨 Creative (Figma, Canva)
- 💻 Development (GitHub, localhost, etc.)
🧑🚀 If you're a power user:
Optimize for the tools you actually use:
- Gmail users: Master Google Workspace shortcuts
- Developers: Set up localhost Groups, GitHub + Jira integration
- Agency: One client per Space and consistent Group structure
- AI users: Dedicate a Group to AI tools, experiment with integrations.
🎯 The Bottom Line
Your Wavebox setup should reflect the reality of modern work: multiple accounts of the same services, fragmented tool stacks, and constant context switching between clients, projects, and roles.
The apps that power productivity aren't just Gmail and Slack—they're Gmail (3 accounts), Slack (2 accounts), ClickUp (Client A), Asana (Client B), and 20 other tools that make up your unique workflow.
Wavebox users can use these correlations as a blueprint: start with the universal stacks (Google Workspace or Microsoft ecosystem), add your PM and dev stacks, and create Spaces per client to reduce account errors. Implement the templates above today—reorganize one Space and notice how a few deliberate moves cut context switching and make your Wavebox journey measurably more productive.
That's exactly what Wavebox is built for.
📊 Survey Methodology
These insights are based on survey responses collected in December 2025. Users were asked to name their 5 most-used apps in Wavebox. Apps mentioned by fewer than 5 users were grouped into categories. Cross-correlations were calculated by analyzing which apps appear together in individual responses.
Want to see yourself in these patterns? Look at your own Wavebox setup—chances are you fit one of these profiles perfectly!
FAQs
Q: How many Spaces should I have in Wavebox?
A: Start with 2–3 (Work, Personal, Projects/Clients). Add a new Space for each client or major side project to maintain cookie/account isolation. Note that accounts of the same type must be in separate spaces.
Q: Should I add every Slack workspace to Wavebox?
A: Yes, use separate Spaces for each Slack workspace.
Q: Which apps should I link to first when setting up Wavebox?
A: Prioritize email (Gmail/Outlook), calendar (Google Calendar/Outlook Calendar), your primary PM tool (Notion/ClickUp/Jira), and your team chat (Slack/Teams).
Q: How do I manage multiple Google accounts without cross-account issues?
A: Use separate Spaces for each Google account.
Q: Should I create a dedicated Group for AI tools?
A: Yes — AI tools are emerging as workflow accelerators. A dedicated AI Group helps experimentation without cluttering Communication or Projects Groups. You can add multiple AI accounts of the same type using Spaces.
Q: How often should I update my Wavebox setup?
A: You'll find that you will automatically update it daily with new tools and resources.