Most Popular Messaging Apps (2024)

by Fabio Duarte
April 26, 2024

Messaging apps are a part of many people’s daily lives.

Their popularity has grown significantly in recent years and they show no sign of slowing down.

Read on for the latest data on instant messaging services including specific stats related to the most popular apps.

Contents

Top Messaging App Statistics 2024 (Editor’s Picks)
Most Popular Messaging Apps
How Many People Use Messaging Apps?
Regional Messaging App Stats

Top Messaging App Statistics 2024 (Editor’s Picks)

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app with 2.4 billion monthly users.
There are over 3 billion active users on messaging apps.
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of messaging app users grew by over 1 billion.
WhatsApp is the leading messaging app in over 60 countries.

Most Popular Messaging Apps

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app, boasting approximately 2.4 billion monthly users. That’s 300 million more than the second most popular messenger app, Facebook Messenger (2.1 billion).

undefined

Here’s a breakdown of the most popular messaging services by active monthly users:

Rank	Messaging Service	Number of Active Monthly Users
1	WhatsApp	2.4 billion
2	Facebook Messenger	2.1 billion
3	WeChat	1.2 billion
4	Viber	823 million
5	Telegram	500 million
6	Snapchat	347 million
7	LINE	178 million
8	Discord	170 million
9	QQ	57 million
10	KakaoTalk	49 million
11	Signal	40 million

In terms of monthly downloads, WhatsApp Messenger leads the way with almost 50 million each month.

Telegram (34.29 million) and Snapchat (32.32 million) make up the rest of the top three.

WhatsApp Business (24.12 million) receives almost half as many downloads as WhatsApp Messenger. Combined (69.7 million), both WhatsApp apps are downloaded more than twice as much as any other messaging service.

undefined

Here’s a breakdown of monthly downloads for messaging apps:

Rank	Messaging Service	Monthly Downloads
1	WhatsApp Messenger	45.58 million
2	Telegram	34.29 million
3	Snapchat	32.32 million
4	WhatsApp Business	24.12 million
5	Facebook Messenger	21.87 million
6	WeChat	8 million
7	QQ	3.76 million
8	Viber	3.63 million
9	LINE	2.73 million
10	Signal	2.51 million

No messaging service generates more revenue per month in in-app purchases than LINE ($15.81 million).

Together with second-placed Snapchat ($12.53 million), the two messaging apps generate more in-app revenue ($28.34 million) than the rest of the top 10 messaging apps combined ($22.82 million).

undefined

Here’s a closer look at the top messaging services for in-app purchase revenue:

Rank	Messaging Service	Monthly In-App Purchase Revenue
1	LINE	$15.81 million
2	Snapchat	$12.53 million
3	WeChat	$5.22 million
4	QQ	$4.86 million
5	KakaoTalk	$3.69 million
6	Telegram	$2.52 million
7	Skype	$2.41 million
8	Text Me	$1.51 million
9	Kik Messaging	$1.41 million
10	TextNow	$1.2 million

Source: Business of Apps, Data Reportal, AppMagic, AppMagic (2)

With 2 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is unrivaled as the top messaging service.

In fact, that figure accounts for approximately 24.8% of the global population, meaning around 1 in 4 people use WhatsApp worldwide.

undefined

Looking specifically at over 13s, WhatsApp’s monthly users would account for 31.7% of the global population – closer to 1 in 3 people worldwide.

Here’s how WhatsApp users are split by gender:

Gender	Proportion of WhatsApp Users
Male	52.8%
Female	47.1%

WhatsApp holds an 87.83% market share in the UK – that’s roughly 2x as large as WhatsApp’s US market share (43.37%).

Over half (59%) of US WhatsApp users open the app daily. In the UK, that figure is a staggering 89%.

Here’s a breakdown of WhatsApp user penetration figures for select countries (2022):

Country	US	UK	Canada	Australia
Install Penetration	43.37%	87.83%	60.64%	64.68%
Downloads	41.4 million	8.2 million	3.4 million	2.25 million
Unique Installs	23.09 million	3.25 million	1.83 million	2.4 million
Daily Active Users	15.15 million	14.02 million	5.09 million	3.38 million
Monthly Active Users	25.65 million	15.79 million	6.92 million	4.86 million

The US is the leading country in terms of Whats App iOS downloads (4.88 million) with almost 2x more downloads than any other nation in Q1 2024.

Here are the top 10 nations for WhatsApp iOS downloads:

Rank	Country	WhatsApps iOS Downloads (Q1 2024)	WhatsApps iOS Downloads (Q2 2022)
1	US	4.88 million	6.6 million
2	Mexico	2.51 million	1.46 million
3	Brazil	2.14 million	0.93 million
4	India	2.05 million	1.26 million
5	Turkey	1.67 million	0.88 million
6	Indonesia	1.66 million	0.95 million
7	Russia	1.24 million	-
8	Germany	0.78 million	0.87 million
=9	UK	0.75 million	1.21 million
=9	France	0.75 million	0.93 million

And here’s a breakdown of WhatsApp downloads via the Google Play Store in the same quarters:

Rank	Country	WhatsApp Google Play Store Downloads (Q1 2024)	WhatsApp Google Play Store Downloads (Q2 2022)
1	India	35.17 million	5.81 million
2	Indonesia	8.51 million	4.49 million
3	Pakistan	7.99 million	1.95 million
4	Brazil	7.58 million	4.53 million
5	Mexico	6.18 million	4.99 million
6	United States	5.26 million	3.72 million
7	Colombia	4.11 million	1.66 million
8	Egypt	4 million	-
9	Algeria	3.69 million	-
10	Russia	2.97 million	2.1 million

WhatsApp Business has seen significant growth over the past few years.

In 2018, just under 40 million people downloaded WhatsApp Business.

As of 2022, that figure had increased more than 7x, reaching 283.51 million downloads.

Below, is the number of WhatsApp Business downloads by year:

Year	Number of WhatsApp Business Downloads
2018	37.87 million
2019	98.82 million
2020	170.46 million
2021	210.09 million
2022	283.51 million
2023	316.16 million

Source: Data Reportal, Sinch Engage, SimilarWeb, Airnow, Airnow (2), AppMagic

Facebook Messenger

Despite commanding a significant proportion of the global messaging app market, Facebook Messenger has seen downloads drop from 794.61 million in 2015 to 262.53 million in 2023 – a fall of more than 66%.

These are the figures for Facebook Messenger downloads since 2015:

Year	Facebook Messenger Downloads	Change Over Previous Year
2015	794.61 million	-
2016	743.03 million	↓ 51.58 million
2017	768.37 million	↑ 25.34 million
2018	782.31 million	↑ 13.94 million
2019	702.09 million	↓ 80.22 million
2020	485.63 million	↓ 216.46 million
2021	336.57 million	↓ 149.06 million
2022	329.28 million	↓ 7.29 million
2023	262.53 million	↓ 66.75 million

In terms of nations, India (132 million) blows all the others out of the water for the sheer number of Facebook Messenger users. However, 132 million users only accounts for 9% of the total population.

By comparison, Vietnam has 57.7 million Facebook Messenger users, making up around 59% of its population.

undefined

Here are the top countries by Facebook Messenger users:

Country	Facebook Messenger Users	Proportion of Population
India	132 million	9%
Mexico	62.3 million	49%
Brazil	61.3 million	29%
Philippines	60.4 million	53%
Vietnam	57.7 million	59%
Thailand	38.1 million	53%
Egypt	36.8 million	34%
UK	28.5 million	42%
Indonesia	28.3 million	10%
Bangladesh	25.4 million	15%

And here’s a detailed breakdown of Facebook Messenger user penetration for select countries:

Country	US	UK	Canada	Australia
Install Penetration	62.65%	67.85%	74.67%	77.83%
Downloads	75.62 million	11.41 million	6.9 million	4 million
Unique Installs	25.28 million	1.83 million	1.27 million	1.51 million
Daily Active Users	44.83 million	5.29 million	5.11 million	4.59 million
Monthly Active Users	69.87 million	9.02 million	7.35 million	6.02 million

Source: AppMagic, Data Reportal, Data Reportal (2), SimilarWeb

Snapchat

The number of daily active users on Snapchat has steadily grown over the last decade.

In fact, since Q1 2014 (46 million) the number of Snapchat users has increased by more than 8x (397 million in Q2 2023).

undefined

Here’s a breakdown of active Snapchat users over time:

Quarter, Year	Number of Daily Active Snapchat Users	North America	Europe	Rest of World
Q1 2014	46 million	26 million	14 million	6 million
Q2 2014	57 million	30 million	18 million	9 million
Q3 2014	62 million	32 million	20 million	11 million
Q4 2014	71 million	35 million	23 million	13 million
Q1 2015	80 million	38 million	27 million	16 million
Q2 2015	86 million	40 million	29 million	18 million
Q3 2015	94 million	44 million	30 million	20 million
Q4 2015	107 million	48 million	34 million	24 million
Q1 2016	122 million	54 million	39 million	29 million
Q2 2016	143 million	61 million	46 million	36 million
Q3 2016	153 million	65 million	49 million	39 million
Q4 2016	158 million	68 million	52 million	39 million
Q1 2017	166 million	71 million	55 million	40 million
Q2 2017	173 million	75 million	57 million	42 million
Q3 2017	178 million	77 million	57 million	44 million
Q4 2017	187 million	80 million	60 million	47 million
Q1 2018	191 million	81 million	62 million	48 million
Q2 2018	188 million	80 million	61 million	47 million
Q3 2018	186 million	79 million	59 million	47 million
Q4 2018	186 million	79 million	60 million	47 million
Q1 2019	190 million	80 million	61 million	49 million
Q2 2019	203 million	83 million	64 million	56 million
Q3 2019	210 million	84 million	65 million	61 million
Q4 2019	218 million	86 million	67 million	64 million
Q1 2020	229 million	88 million	70 million	71 million
Q2 2020	238 million	90 million	71 million	77 million
Q3 2020	249 million	90 million	72 million	87 million
Q4 2020	265 million	92 million	74 million	99 million
Q1 2021	280 million	93 million	77 million	111 million
Q2 2021	293 million	95 million	78 million	120 million
Q3 2021	306 million	96 million	80 million	130 million
Q4 2021	319 million	97 million	82 million	140 million
Q1 2022	332 million	98 million	84 million	150 million
Q2 2022	347 million	99 million	86 million	162 million
Q3 2022	363 million	100 million	88 million	175 million
Q4 2022	375 million	100 million	92 million	183 million
Q1 2023	383 million	100 million	93 million	190 million
Q2 2023	397 million	101 million	94 million	202 million
Q3 2023	406 million	101 million	95 million	211 million
Q4 2023	414 million	100 million	96 million	218 million

India has the most Snapchat users with over 180 million.

undefined

Combined (291.15 million), India (182.35 million) and the US (108.8 million), have more than the rest of the top 20 countries put together (approximately 256.3 million).

Rank	Country	Snapchat Audience
1	India	182.35 million
2	US	108.8 million
3	Pakistan	26.35 million
4	France	25.9 million
5	UK	23.15 million
6	Saudi Arabia	21.75 million
7	Germany	18.65 million
8	Mexico	17.15 million
9	Iraq	16.75 million
10	Egypt	15.65 million
11	Turkey	15 million
12	Nigeria	13.05 million
13	Canada	11.45 million
14	Russia	8.05 million
15	Australia	7.95 million
16	Philippines	7.75 million
17	Brazil	7.35 million
=18	Algeria	7.15 million
=18	Netherlands	7.15 million
20	Colombia	6.05 million

And here’s a Snapchat user penetration for select countries (2022):

Country	US	UK	Canada	Australia
Install Penetration	31.14%	25.45%	30.36%	30.06%
Downloads	154.8 million	28.62 million	12.83 million	7.29 million
Unique Installs	25.22 million	1.87 million	1.36 million	1.61 million
Daily Active Users	17.64 million	3.36 million	1.47 million	1.66 million
Monthly Active Users	26.94 million	4.79 million	2.09 million	2.328 million

Sources: Snap Inc., Snap Inc. (2), Data Reportal, SimilarWeb

As of October 2023, there are approximately 800 million Telegram users - that figure accounts for around 9.9% of the world’s population. Only taking into account those aged 16+, that’s 13.5% of the global population.

undefined

Males make up 58% of all Telegram users.

Instant messaging app Telegram has seen a general increase in quarterly downloads over time.

In Q3 2023, Telegram received 113.52 million downloads – more than double Q1 2020’s 55.81 million.

Regionally, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa lead the way with 46.17 million combined downloads in Q4 2023. That figure was closely followed by Asia-Pacific’s total of 44.45 million downloads.

Here’s a look at Telegram’s download figures over time:

Quarter, Year	Telegram Downloads	Asia-Pacific	Europe, the Middle East, and Africa	North America and Latin America
Q1 2020	55.81 million	21.99 million	24.5 million	9.32 million
Q2 2020	82.77 million	37.55 million	29.03 million	16.19 million
Q3 2020	88.09 million	42.38 million	26.8 million	18.91 million
Q4 2020	97.83 million	53.82 million	29.92 million	14.09 million
Q1 2021	166.83 million	61.77 million	51.25 million	53.81 million
Q2 2021	79.56 million	35.61 million	26.34 million	17.61 million
Q3 2021	84.77 million	40.16 million	26.7 million	17.91 million
Q4 2021	98.59 million	46.94 million	32.48 million	19.17 million
Q1 2022	98.39 million	42.92 million	35.05 million	20.42 million
Q2 2022	96.82 million	41.45 million	34.79 million	20.58 million
Q3 2022	91.51 million	38.73 million	32.15 million	20.63 million
Q4 2022	94.69 million	40.18 million	34.56 million	19.95 million
Q1 2023	96.88 million	39.39 million	35.25 million	22.24 million
Q2 2023	100.54 million	40.81 million	36.42 million	23.31 million
Q3 2023	113.52 million	46.73 million	42.41 million	24.38 million
Q4 2023	114.55 million	44.45 million	46.17 million	23.93 million

In the US alone, Telegram was downloaded 35.98 million times in 2022. That’s around 4x more than the UK (5.82 million), Canada (2.23 million), and Australia (1.35 million) combined.

Here’s a closer look at Telegram’s user penetration for select countries (2022):

Country	US	UK	Canada	Australia
Install Penetration	18.87%	19.05%	17.44%	14.86%
Downloads	35.98 million	5.82 million	2.23 million	1.35 million
Unique Installs	3.97 million	0.85 million	0.35 million	0.23 million
Daily Active Users	5.14 million	1.95 million	0.99 million	0.37 million
Monthly Active Users	10.89 million	4.41 million	1.97 million	0.84 million

The most popular channel category on Telegram is news with 85% of users agreeing.

At least half of Telegram users also use Entertainment (62%), Educational (58%), and Political (50%) channels.

undefined

Here are the most popular Telegram channel categories:

Rank	Telegram Channel Category	Popularity
1	News	85%
2	Entertainment	62%
3	Educational	58%
4	Political	50%
5	News from own industry	48%
6	Personal channels of friends	45%
7	Special military operation	36%
8	Bloggers and celebrities	31%
9	Internal channels of companies	19%
10	Brands/companies	17%
11	Products and discounts	16%
12	Channels with job offers	14%
13	Channels for adults	13%
14	Darknet-channels	4%

Source: Data Reportal, AppMagic, SimilarWeb, TGStat

WeChat

As of 2023, WeChat has 1.33 billion monthly users.

undefined

That figure makes up 16.5% of the population (21.1% when discounting under 13s).

There are slightly more males than females using WeChat with 52.2% of the user base identifying as such.

Source: Data Reportal

Tencent QQ

The latest data shows that there are approximately 571 million monthly active QQ users.

undefined

That’s 7.1% of the global population or 9.1% if discounting under 13s.

Just under half (48%) of QQ users are female.

Source: Data Reportal

Discord

There are around 150 million monthly active users on Discord.

undefined

Discord users make up 1.9% of the world’s population. If only counting those aged 13+, that’s 2.4% of the global population.

Males outnumber females by over 2:1 on Discord (67.3% vs 31.5%).

Source: Data Reportal

How Many People Use Messaging Apps?

More than 3 billion people actively use messaging apps.

undefined

Here’s a breakdown of how that figure has changed over time:

Year	Messaging App Users	Change Over Previous Year
2016	2.11 billion	-
2017	2.38 billion	+270 million
2018	2.52 billion	+140 million
2019	2.81 billion	+290 million
2020	3.19 billion	+380 million
2021	3.32 billion	+130 million