Revenera’s Monetization Monitor 2026 Outlook reveals 31% of software companies report piracy as a major revenue source loss, with 43% calling it moderate alongside 41% viewing license misuse moderately. Unlicensed usage ranks highest in China and Russia, India third overtaking USA, and Germany rising from 11th to 6th especially in CAD and engineering simulation software.
China and Russia lead unlicensed software activity per aggregated Compliance Intelligence data, with India surpassing USA for third place. Germany shows sharp growth particularly in engineering tools, while 21% of suppliers name overuse and piracy among top annual recurring revenue blockers. Only 8% remain uncertain on revenue loss mechanisms, up from 5% last year.
30% of companies gather usage telemetry but conduct no analysis, missing insights for compliance, product roadmaps, and churn prevention. Revenera identifies this as a critical gap where collected data on IP addresses, device identifiers, and activation patterns goes unexamined despite potential for piracy detection and conversion campaigns.
Markets with strong IP enforcement convert unlicensed users effectively using data-driven outreach, treating infringers as sales leads rather than legal targets. In-app messaging, discounts acknowledging partial payments through resellers, and escalation nurturing increase success, with sales integration outperforming pure enforcement approaches.
43% of companies plan post-paid usage-based pricing by 2027, 38% prepaid models, emphasizing predictability to curb unlicensed adoption. Clear functional pricing reduces piracy incentives compared to complex perpetual licenses, while AI-enhanced reporting from telemetry improves observability across SaaS and on-premise deployments.
India ranks third globally for unlicensed usage, affecting local developers and multinationals serving engineering sectors. USA falls to fourth despite strong enforcement, UAE benefits from business hub status but faces regional piracy through VPNs. Companies in these markets gain most from telemetry activation and sales-led compliance programs.
