Grok Falls to Fifth Place as Claude Surges 1,205% Year-Over-Year

Elon Musk's Grok has fallen from second to fifth place in daily active users among AI chatbots in the span of just four months, according to new data from Similarweb published today. The decline is steep, sustained, and accelerating — and it is happening precisely as Grok's rivals are posting some of the most explosive growth numbers in the history of consumer software.

The Numbers

In January 2026, Grok held the second-highest number of average daily active users on mobile apps worldwide among chatbots measured by Similarweb. By April, it had fallen to fifth place, losing ground to Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek. On mobile apps, Grok's average daily active users dropped from 13.9 million in March to 12.2 million in April — a 12.5% month-over-month decline. In the United States specifically, the drop was even steeper: from 1.4 million to 1.1 million daily app users, a 15.6% decline in a single month.

"Claude's year-over-year daily active user growth stands at 1,205%. Grok's is 83.5%."

— Similarweb, May 2026

The Rivals Are Surging

What makes Grok's decline particularly striking is its context. This is not a market that is shrinking. Between March and April, Claude's average daily active users worldwide jumped from 16 million to 23 million — a 44% spike in a single month. Gemini leapt from 12.4 million to 14.8 million users, about a 19% jump. On the web, Claude's average daily visits jumped from 19.8 million to 27.5 million, a 39% spike, while Gemini rose from 83.7 million to 92.1 million, a 10% increase.

The year-over-year comparisons are even more dramatic. Claude's worldwide daily active users are up 1,205% year-over-year as of April. Gemini's app usership jumped 676% year-over-year. Grok's year-over-year gain of 83.5% would be impressive in almost any other context — but in a market where its nearest competitors are growing ten to fifteen times faster, it represents a structural loss of competitive position that will be difficult to reverse.

Why Is Grok Losing?

The reasons for Grok's decline appear to be multiple and mutually reinforcing. Users on the Grok subreddit have expressed frustration with features — including image and video generation — being moved behind a paywall, with subscription tiers starting at $10 per month. This pricing decision may have been financially rational, but it appears to have accelerated user churn at a moment when Claude and Gemini were expanding their free-tier capabilities.

The more structural problem is talent. Fast Company reported in April that more than 80 xAI staffers left in recent months, including several co-founders. A February Financial Times report said some staffers had departed because Musk made 'unreasonable demands' to improve Grok's technology as it tried to catch up with competitors. The loss of senior researchers and engineers at this scale creates a compounding disadvantage that is difficult to overcome with capital alone.

Grok has also faced significant regulatory and reputational pressure over reports that it generated sexually explicit images of women and children. Three teenage girls in Tennessee are now suing xAI over Grok-generated explicit images, and Apple has reportedly threatened to pull Grok from the App Store over the issue. These controversies have not helped Grok's brand with the mainstream users it needs to compete with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.