Relationship to purchase decisions at work — Work data 2026 | Stack Overflow Developer Survey

Developer Survey 2026

Question

Which of the following describes your role in choosing or using software tools at your organization? Select all that apply.

multi select
Optional
v2026.1

Data

	Respondents	Percent
I influence tool choices by giving feedback or requirements	11,916	59.5%
I evaluate, recommend, or shortlist tools	9,664	48.2%
I use tools selected by others	9,131	45.6%
I make the final decision to purchase tools	3,552	17.7%
I do not have a role in choosing or using software tools at my organization	3,320	16.6%
I approve or manage budget for tools	1,867	9.3%

Use this data

Citation

Response data is released under the ODbL 1.0, which asks that you attribute it.

Stack Exchange Inc. (2026). “Relationship to purchase decisions at work”. Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026. Licensed under ODbL 1.0. https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/purchase-power

JSON

Structured for code, with the question, the year and the source url alongside the numbers.

{
  "question": "Relationship to purchase decisions at work",
  "dataId": "PurchasePower",
  "asked": "Which of the following describes your role in choosing or using software tools at your organization? Select all that apply.",
  "year": "2026",
  "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/purchase-power",
  "demographic": {
    "id": "all-respondents",
    "type": "all",
    "name": "All Respondents",
    "n": 20042,
    "share": null
  },
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  "columns": [
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      "key": "response",
      "header": "Relationship to purchase decisions at work",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": false
    },
    {
      "key": "count",
      "header": "Respondents",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": true
    },
    {
      "key": "pct",
      "header": "Percent",
      "unit": "%",
      "numeric": true
    }
  ],
  "licence": {
    "name": "ODbL 1.0",
    "url": "https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/",
    "holder": "Stack Exchange Inc."
  },
  "source": "Stack Overflow Developer Survey",
  "data": [
    {
      "response": "I influence tool choices by giving feedback or requirements",
      "count": 11916,
      "pct": 0.595
    },
    {
      "response": "I evaluate, recommend, or shortlist tools",
      "count": 9664,
      "pct": 0.482
    },
    {
      "response": "I use tools selected by others",
      "count": 9131,
      "pct": 0.456
    },
    {
      "response": "I make the final decision to purchase tools",
      "count": 3552,
      "pct": 0.177
    },
    {
      "response": "I do not have a role in choosing or using software tools at my organization",
      "count": 3320,
      "pct": 0.166
    },
    {
      "response": "I approve or manage budget for tools",
      "count": 1867,
      "pct": 0.093
    }
  ]
}

Markdown

A formatted table, ready to paste into a document, an issue or a prompt.

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| I influence tool choices by giving feedback or requirements | 11,916 | 59.5% |
| I evaluate, recommend, or shortlist tools | 9,664 | 48.2% |
| I use tools selected by others | 9,131 | 45.6% |
| I make the final decision to purchase tools | 3,552 | 17.7% |
| I do not have a role in choosing or using software tools at my organization | 3,320 | 16.6% |
| I approve or manage budget for tools | 1,867 | 9.3% |

Spreadsheet

.csv is a plain text format which most spreadsheet software can open.