Not only are winners of these annual awards determined by real customers’ authentic feedback, but only the most recent reviews – from the 2023 calendar year – impact scoring. So you know this is the latest and greatest software to keep track of.

I personally look forward to all the celebration of the awards — the social media posts, Times Square billboards, and other creative campaigns we see from winners across the globe. Despite all this (well-deserved) hoopla, it’s important to recognize that less than 1% (just .6% to be exact!) of the 130,000+ vendors listed on G2 secured a coveted placement across this year’s lists!

So without further ado, let’s dive into this year’s Best Software Awards.

Diving into this year’s lists while honoring the best of the best 

Let’s take a look at a few of the broader lists to take note of key trends observed and who came out on top. Of the 100 winners ranked on these lists, here are the top three this year:

• Best Software Products: 1) Sprout Social; 2) Smartsheet; 3) Microsoft Defender XDR
  • The 100 products on this list  are truly the best of the best, representing .07% of all the products listed on G2! Among this exclusive contingent of winners, there’s been quite a shake-up over the past year. In fact, this list saw a 49% year-over-year change as 51 vendors repeated their inclusion, while 49 newbies entered the fold. Notably, Sprout Social made the leap from 31st to first, Smartsheet jumped from 27th to second, and Microsoft Defender XDR is one of those new products added to the list this year.
• Best Global Software: 1) Salesforce; 2) HubSpot; 3) Smartsheet
  • We see some larger enterprises and well-known software brands on this list, as well as a 39% year-over-year change in terms of the vendors featured. Impressively, Salesforce snagged 30 inclusions across all of G2’s Best Software lists this year!
• Fastest-Growing Products:1) Synthesia; 2) Vista Social; 3) AdCreative.ai
  • Is it any surprise that the fastest-growing product is AI-powered? Zooming out, two of the top three and eight of the top 15 are! These results underscore findings from G2’s Software Buyer Behavior Report and State of Software report, which pointed to demand in AI functionality from software buyers and product growth across AI categories on G2.
• Highest Satisfaction Products: 1) Fathom; 2) Gusto; 3) HROne
  • The products on this list come from a wide range of software categories, telling us that any product in any category can deliver an exceptional user experience for high satisfaction ratings. These top three are a prime example, representing Conversational Intelligence, Payroll, and HR software.

A moment of celebration for those securing the most wins

Securing a Best Software win is an achievement in itself, but some vendors are over-achievers, racking up multiple awards – some even in the double-digits. Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce are the only three vendors with 30 or more occurrences across this year’s lists, a large increase from what was in their 2023 award trophy cases:

• Microsoft: 41 occurrences (+23 from 2023)
• Google: 37 occurrences (+20 from 2023)
• Salesforce: 30 occurrences (+16 from 2023)

At the product level, ClickUp and monday.com tie for the most Best Software Award inclusions, each being named to the lists eight times in 2024. However it’s SOCi and Birdeye who tie for the largest increase in Awards – both nabbing five additional spots in 2024 compared to last year.

Learn more about the awards, check out all the winners, & celebrate them loudly!

Be sure to check out the winners from all 34 lists, which showcase the best companies and products across company size, region, and personas. This year, “Best APAC Companies,” “Rookies of the Year,” and “Best Education Products” were added as new lists and “Best Analytics & AI Products” were separated into their own distinct lists. The Rookies of the Year features the top 25 newly listed products across all of G2. You can think of these products as newcomers to keep an eye on!

To be eligible for any of G2’s Best Software Companies or Best Software Products lists, a company must have received at least 50 approved reviews in aggregate across all of its G2-listed products during the 2023 calendar year. Scores reflect only data from reviews submitted during this evaluation period. Here’s more information about our methodology.

Software buyers, I hope these lists guide you in your software purchasing decisions in the year ahead. Always feel free to check out G2.com and our AI assistant Monty to help you tailor any of your research along the way.

Software vendors, if you’re a 2024 winner, congratulations! We look forward to seeing you promote your ranking proudly. And whether you’ve made a list or not, it’s time to ensure you secure at least 50 reviews in 2024 to be considered for next year’s Best Software Awards. The value of timely customer feedback never ends!

Palmer Houchins

Palmer Houchins is the VP, Head of Marketing at G2. He previously served as a senior marketing leader and G2 customer at Mailchimp (acquired by Intuit) and CallRail ($125M+ in funding).