Russian software in 2026: crutches that learned to walk on their own

Four years ago, the Russian IT market looked like a person who had the rug pulled out from under his feet. Foreign vendors slammed the door, the servers were left without support, and IT specialists frantically Googled “an analogue of Jira for free.” It's now 2026 and the dust seems to have settled. But what is underneath — the foundation or the funnel?

On Xrust.ru we decided to figure it out without jingoism and without panic. Just facts and common sense.

Numbers that don’t lie

Let's start with the inconvenient. According to a Naumen survey, 72% of Russian companies still use imported corporate software. CRM, document management, project management — all this still revolves on the usual Western rails. Private businesses are not eager to spend money on migration unless they are forced to do so.

At the same time, the register of Russian software has grown from 11,000 to 25,000 programs. The share of domestic software reached 43%. The engineering software market — CAD, PLM, BIM — grew by 20% and exceeded 50 billion rubles. That is, there is progress, but it resembles an apartment renovation: the kitchen is already shiny, but the bathroom still has pipes sticking out without tiles.

Here's what has really changed by 2026:

• Information security is the main sales hit: budgets for information security have doubled, and the Russian cybersecurity market is growing twice as fast as the world
• The ecosystem approach is winning “zoo”: companies are tired of disparate solutions and want a platform where everything works together
• AI agents are moving to devices: artificial intelligence descends from the clouds to sensors, cameras and even household appliances

class=»notranslate»>__GTAG12__There is a requirement for compatibility with two Russian operating systems — now it is not enough just to get into the registry

• Synthetic data is becoming the norm: 75% of companies will train models on artificial data by the end of the year

Why private business is in no hurry

Everything here is simple, like the formula “time is money”. Migration to Russian software is not just a matter of “uninstalling and installing”. It's retraining employees, adapting processes, testing compatibility, and praying that nothing falls through the cracks on Friday night.

A case in point: there is still no full-fledged Russian analogue of Microsoft DFS file servers. And without it, it is impossible to migrate storage, which means it is impossible to abandon Active Directory. Domino effect: one weak link holds the entire chain in place.

And here lies the main paradox. Russian developers created analogues of what was relevant two or three years ago. Meanwhile, the world has moved forward. It turns out that domestic software is catching up with the train, which is already at the next station.

So absurd or breakthrough?

The honest answer from Xrust.ru is neither one nor the other. It's a painful but necessary growing up. The era of “being cobbled together from what was” is ending. 2026 is the year when the market stops asking “is it working at all?” and starts asking “how much does it cost and will it pay off in three years?”

Those who build ecosystems rather than individual products will benefit. Where data, AI and security are not three different departments, but a single organism. And it seems that some Russian companies have already realized this.

And here’s a question for you, readers: has your company already switched to Russian software?

Xrust Russian software in 2026: crutches that learned to walk on their own