Singapore startups double down on AI usage, running multiple platforms: Aspire report

[SINGAPORE] Startups in Singapore have doubled down on artificial intelligence usage, with the number subscribing to an AI platform growing 42 per cent year on year in 2026, a report by fintech firm Aspire showed on Tuesday (Jun 16).

The number of startups running three or more AI platforms simultaneously more than doubled to 704 between 2025 and 2026, compared with 339 the year before.

On average, each startup used 1.87 AI platforms.

The report analysed more than 10,000 businesses on the Aspire platform over FY2025 and FY2026, ended Mar 31.

ChatGPT was the top AI platform among startups, with 2,377 unique paying clients in FY2026 – a 31 per cent increase from the number in FY2024. Claude came in second, with 1,537 unique paying clients – a 258 per cent increase over the same period.

While Claude had fewer users, each user spent about 1.4 times more per account than ChatGPT users – US$1,598 versus US$1,144 annually.

The total spend on Claude grew 17 times in a single year, while spending on ChatGPT rose 79 per cent.

Claude took up 37 per cent of Singapore startup AI spend, compared with ChatGPT’s 41 per cent.

Despite the cost increases, Claude is closing the gap with ChatGPT.

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Between 2024 and 2025, ChatGPT had 4.2 times more Singapore clients than Claude. This, however, fell to 1.5 times between 2025 and 2026.

At this rate, Claude could match ChatGPT’s client count within the next year, the report indicated.

Distributed workforce

Singapore startups are increasingly hiring from outside of the Republic, with South-east Asia as the top region for a distributed workforce.

The Philippines is the top payroll destination for Singapore startups by transaction count, followed by Indonesia and India.

The type of workforce is also evolving, with 51 per cent of Singapore startups paying staff monthly and 21 per cent paying on an ad hoc basis, signalling a contractor and freelancer workforce.

The median payroll transaction was also lower in FY2026 at US$3,318, compared with US$3,535 in FY2025.

The Singapore dollar remains the dominant currency for payroll transactions. But the US dollar’s share is growing, and is now at 9.1 per cent, from 7.1 per cent two years ago.

Physical offices remain key for Singapore startups, with office-related spending accounting for 44.3 per cent of infrastructure spending. In second place was cloud infrastructure, at 32 per cent.

Fixed leases and utilities have contracted, while co-working spending surged.

Singapore startups almost doubled their spending at co-working space providers – IWG and WeWork – in FY2026 from the year before. This reflects a shift towards flexible workspace models over long-term commitments, Aspire said.

IWG was the top co-working space by transaction volume among Singapore startups. WeWork came in second, and Regus, third.

Andrea Baronchelli, co-founder and CEO at Aspire, said: “Startups often act as an early indicator of where broader business adoption is heading.

“They move faster, experiment more freely and respond to economic pressure sooner than larger organisations.”