If you’re leading IT at a growing company, chances are you already have a Shadow IT problem—you just might not realize how big it’s become.
It’s not just the odd marketing tool someone swiped a credit card for.
It’s the rogue AI plugin that quietly gets full inbox access.
It’s the SaaS tool that quietly renews when no one even remembers who bought it.
It’s the creeping cost, security, and compliance risks growing silently across your environment.
Here’s the reality:
Most organizations today are flying blind when it comes to third‑party apps connected through OAuth (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365). Without a clear Shadow IT discovery tool to show what’s connected, who’s using what, and how much risk they’re exposing, small problems turn into expensive incidents.
Why most Shadow IT tools (free or paid) fall short
The “free” or “basic” Shadow IT scanners today barely scratch the surface. They might show you a partial list of apps authorized by employees, but:
- They rarely show you per‑user insights
- They often skip OAuth scope‑level risk patterns across similar apps
- They don't alert you when high‑risk apps gain users or new risky apps appear
- Zero insights unique to your org’s SaaS data
- Microsoft (Entra) workspace users, in particular, get little‑to‑no depth
On the other end, paid tools often frame Shadow IT as a runaway crisis, then layer on dashboards and alerts that flag every unauthorized $20 tool like it’s a critical incident.
Meanwhile, they overlook what actually matters: the context behind the connection, the depth of access granted, and whether that risk is still active.
Why most Shadow IT tools (free or paid) fall short
The “free” or “basic” Shadow IT scanners today barely scratch the surface. They might show you a partial list of apps authorized by employees, but:
User‑level OAuth scopes matter
Every time an employee uses "Sign in with Google" or "Sign in with Microsoft," they authorize certain OAuth scopes—the specific permissions an app can exercise.
Here’s where things get risky:
- Some apps ask for basic access (like reading profile data).
- Some apps silently ask for full read/write access to emails, calendars, drives, or internal directories.
Unless you inspect scopes at a user‑by‑user level, you’re flying blind:
- You won’t know that John in marketing accidentally gave an AI tool access to the company‑wide Drive.
- You won’t see that a project‑management app has been granted inbox privileges for dozens of employees.
- You won’t catch that an old plugin still has admin access long after its active use ended.
Scope‑level visibility is non‑negotiable. Without it, "Shadow IT" isn’t just an unknown, it’s an unmanaged liability.
Introducing Stitchflow’s Free Shadow IT Discovery Tool
We're super excited to launch Stitchflow's Shadow IT Discovery Tool that helps IT teams discover, monitor & remediate risky SaaS apps in seconds.
Spot unauthorized apps instantly
Within seconds of setup, Stitchflow’s discovery engine automatically detects every AI and SaaS application your employees have connected to your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 environment.
This goes beyond surface‑level discovery: you'll clearly differentiate between applications your IT team officially manages and those quietly introduced by employees without oversight.
No need to sift through logs or audit trails manually as apps are categorized immediately, and you can easily flag specific ones for further review. Shadow IT that once stayed hidden becomes visible, organized, and ready for action.
Smart risk assessment
Detection alone isn’t enough. What matters is understanding how much risk each app introduces. Our discovery tool evaluates OAuth scopes, the exact permissions each app demands from each of your users, and analyzes real user‑activity patterns.
Apps aren’t just listed but are ranked based on potential impact to security and compliance. You’ll instantly see if an app is harmless or high‑risk, and this lets you triage risks intelligently instead of aimless reacting.
Avoid these common pitfalls when reviewing the user access patterns your shadow IT discovery reveals.
Granular insights built for real‑world IT environments (Stitchflow exclusive)
Visibility at the app level is helpful but visibility at the user level is transformative. Stitchflow’s scanner offers detailed insights mapping every user’s relationship with each app: what permissions they’ve granted and whether their access patterns create outlier risks.
You can segment and view insights by app category, risk rating, or OAuth scope groups, all centralized in one actionable dashboard. It’s built for modern IT teams managing dynamic organizations where exceptions and edge cases are the rule.
Continuous monitoring and real‑time alerts you can trust (Stitchflow exclusive)
Shadow IT isn’t static as your environment changes daily. That’s why Stitchflow’s Shadow IT Discovery Tool doesn’t just perform a one‑time check and walk away.
With continuous background monitoring, you’ll get real‑time email alerts the moment a new app is connected by any user or a risky app gains new users. Your control over your SaaS environment becomes proactive, not reactive.
Why in‑depth Shadow IT discovery shouldn’t cost you
For all the attention Shadow IT gets, it’s rarely the root of the chaos.
Most employees using unapproved tools aren’t trying to bypass security, they’re just trying to get their job done. Procurement is slow, approvals take time, and teams find workarounds. IT ends up reacting to a problem it didn’t create.
Meanwhile, the real risks—excessive access, unused licenses, unmonitored permissions—sit inside the apps you already manage.
And yet, companies still spend thousands on software just to detect $20 tools. That data already exists in your SSO logs, admin consoles, and expense reports. What’s been missing is clarity and a tool that doesn’t overcomplicate what should be straightforward.
That’s why we built Stitchflow’s Shadow IT Discovery Tool as a free solution. Because discovering what’s connected to your environment shouldn’t be a premium feature; it should be a baseline.
Focus on better SaaS management by taming Shadow IT today
Effective SaaS management has three critical pillars:
- Visibility: Know who has access to what and how much it costs
- Control: Automate provisioning, deprovisioning, and license optimization
- Process Alignment: Work with finance to streamline software approval workflows
When these pillars are strong, Shadow IT stops being a threat because employees don’t need to find workarounds. Good SaaS management makes secure, efficient access the default.
Try our Free Shadow IT Discovery Tool
Shadow IT visibility shouldn’t take weeks of audits or buried spreadsheets.
With Stitchflow’s free discovery tool, you get instant clarity and finally turn hidden SaaS risks into actionable insights.
Scan your environment in minutes: https://stitchflow.com/tools/shadow-it-scan/
Aishwarya is a product builder who enjoys the intersection of product thinking, design, and creative storytelling. She’s currently building tools for IT teams to simplify SaaS user management, formerly having built and scaled SaaS products from ground-up.
