Top Messaging Apps: The Stats You Need to Know

Messaging apps have changed the way we interact with our friends and loved ones. With billions of monthly users, platforms like WhatsApp or Messenger still lead the list of most downloaded apps both for Android and iOS. But they are not the only ones. Telegram, Signal, SnapChat or WeChat offer endless new possibilities that go beyond the conventional ways of communicating with the rest of the world. For that reason, it’s not surprising that 80% of mobile phone users have installed one or more messaging apps to their smartphone.

In today’s article we’ll delve into the world of instant messaging services and learn more about their past, present and future through their latest stats.

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Top Messaging Apps Stats (2025)

• Messaging apps have over 3 billion active users.
• With over 2 billion monthly users, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world.
• WhatsApp is the leading messaging app in over 60 different countries.
• Telegram is the most downloaded app worldwide.
• SnapChat is the messaging app that generates most revenue ($18.07 million per month) thanks to its in-app purchases.
• 60% of users prefer instant messages to phone calls or emails.
• Messaging apps have overtaken social media platforms in the number of active monthly users by 20%.

Which is the Most Popular Messaging App?

With over 2 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world. Following closely we have WeChat and Facebook Messenger with 1.343 and 1.010 billion monthly active users respectively.

Here’s a breakdown of the results:

1. WhatsApp: +2 billion
2. Weixin / WeChat: 1.34 billion
3. Facebook Messenger: 1.01 billion
4. Telegram: 950 million
5. Snapchat: 800 million
6. QQ: 554 million
7. Discord: 200 million

Most Popular Messaging Apps by Country

WhatsApp is used by over 90% of people in countries where it is the leading app. While WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in European countries, it is not the top choice for the US, where Facebook Messenger leads in usage.

Here’s a detailed list of the results:

• United States: FB Messenger (83%)
• Germany: WhatsApp (95%)
• China: WeChat (81%)
• Spain: WhatsApp (92%)
• Italy: WhatsApp (97%)
• France: FB Messenger (59%)
• Denmark: FB Messenger (72%)
• Finland: WhatsApp (95%)
• Sweden: FB Messenger (64%)
• UK: WhatsApp (71%)
• India: WhatsApp (97%)
• Singapore: WhatsApp (83%)
• Austria: WhatsApp (94%)
• Brazil: WhatsApp (99%)

(Source: NordVPN)

Most Downloaded Messaging Apps

According to Statista, with 48.36 million monthly downloads, Telegram is the most downloaded mobile messenger app worldwide. WhatsApp ranks second in the list, with 46.38 million downloads per month. Last in the tçop three we find Facebook Messenger, with approximately 26 million downloads worldwide.

Here’s the top 10 list of million monthly downloads for messaging apps:

1. Telegram: 48.36 million monthly downloads.
2. WhatsApp Messenger: 46.38 million monthly downloads
3. Facebook Messenger: 25.96 million monthly downloads
4. SnapChat: 25.41 million monthly downloads
5. WhatsApp Business: 23.67 million monthly downloads
6. WeChat: 5.56 million monthly downloads
7. QQ: 3.05 million monthly downloads
8. LINE: 2.64 million monthly downloads
9. Rakuten Viber Messenger: 2.28 million monthly downloads

It’s important to point out how WhatsApp Business’ popularity has been growing at an exponential rate during the past years. In fact, the app has gone from 50 million users in 2020 to over 200 million in 2024.

Messaging Apps Revenue

Messaging apps generate revenue thanks to its in-app purchases. A recent report by Statista shows how Snapchat is the messaging service that makes the most money, generating $24.77 million per month. In second place we find LINE, making a monthly revenue of $12.92 million. It’s important to point out how the revenue generated by Snapchat and LINE combined ($37.69 million) is higher than the rest of the top 10 of the messaging apps combined ($31.65 million).

Here’s top 10 list of messaging apps for in-app purchases revenue:

1. Snapchat: $24.77 million
2. LINE: $12.92 million
3. Telegram: $8.08 million
4. WeChat: $6.97 million
5. QQ: $4.51 million
6. KakaoTalk Messenger: $3.71 million
7. Skype: $2.56 million
8. Text Me- Phone Call + Texting: $2.35 million
9. Text Now -Call + Text Unlimited: $2.16 million
10. Marco Polo – Video Messenger: $1.31 million

WhatsApp Top Stats 2025

According to Statista, WhatsApp reached 3 billion unique active users by July 2024, becoming the most popular messaging app worldwide. In fact, 1 in 4 people are currently using WhatsApp and the app delivers roughly 100 billion messages per day.

If we look at demographics, there’s no big gap between male and female users. In fact, 52.3% of WhatsApp users are men while 47.6% are women.

Regarding its usage, the average WhatsApp user partakes in 930 sessions per month.  Users in Argentina open the app the most, with 1.502 monthly sessions, followed by Indonesia and Colombia with 1.347 and 1.221 monthly sessions respectively. In the US, the average WhatsApp user opens the app 242.4 times per month while in the UK, the number increases to 373.7 sessions per month.

Here’s a list of selected countries and the average number of sessions a WhatsApp user does per month:

• Argentina: 1,502.4 WhatsApp sessions per month
• Indonesia:1,347.8 WhatsApp sessions per month
• Colombia: 1,221.8 WhatsApp sessions per month
• Brazil: 1,203.3 WhatsApp sessions per month
• South Africa: 1,058.9 WhatsApp sessions per month
• Mexico: 1,037.7 WhatsApp sessions per month
• India: 962.4 WhatsApp sessions per month
• Germany: 588.9 WhatsApp sessions per month
• UK: 363.6 WhatsApp sessions per month
• US:233.6 WhatsApp sessions per month

The popularity of WhatsUp in businesses has increased exponentially in the last few years. If we look at the data gathered by Statista,WhatsApp Business has gone from 37.87 million downloads in 2018 to 316.16 million in 2013.

Here’s a breakdown of the results:

• 2018: 37.87 million
• 2019: 98.82 million
• 2020: 170.46 million
• 2021: 210.09 million
• 2022: 283.51 million
• 2023: 316.16 million

WeChat Messenger Top Stats 2025

Tencent’s WeChat is the second most popular messaging app in the world. With over 1.38 billion monthly active users (MAUs), we can estimate that WeChat is used by 17% of the global population. In fact, WeChat is so popular that it ranked as the world’s strongest brand in 2024 with a score of 94.3 points, surpassing giants such as YouTube or Google.

Regarding its demographics, there’s slightly more males using WeChat on a daily basis (52.3%) than females (47.7%).

The age of WeChat users is spread evenly through the different age groups, with 22.3% being under 24, 13.7% between 25-30, 22% between 31-40, 19.2% between 41-50 and finally, 22.7% being over 51.

(Source: GMA)

Facebook Messenger Top Stats 2025

While still being the third most popular messenger app and the second most downloaded messaging service, Facebook Messenger has rapidly decreased in popularity. A recent report made by Statista shows how Messenger experienced a drop in annual downloads, going from 794.61 million in 2015 to only 262.53 million in 2023. That is a fall of more than 66% in less than a decade.

• 2015- 794.61 million annual downloads.
• 2016- 743.03 million annual downloads.
• 2017- 768.37 million annual downloads.
• 2018- 782.31 million annual downloads.
• 2019- 702.09 million annual downloads.
• 2020- 485.63 million annual downloads.
• 2021- 336.57 million annual downloads.
• 2022- 329.28 million annual downloads.
• 2023- 262.53 million annual downloads.

Regarding usage, India is the country with the largest number of active Facebook Messenger users. According to Datareportal, the Asian country has over 132 million users that use Messenger on a daily basis to communicate with their peers. In second and third position we find Mexico and Brazil, with 62.3 and 61.3 million active Facebook Messenger users respectively. 

Here’s a complete list of results:

1. India- 132 million active Facebook Messenger users.
2. Mexico- 62.3 million active Facebook Messenger users.
3. Brazil- 61.3 million active Facebook Messenger users.
4. Philippines- 60.4 million active Facebook Messenger users.
5. Vietnam- 57.7 million active Facebook Messenger users.
6. Thailand- 38.1 million active Facebook Messenger users.
7. Egypt- 36.8 million active Facebook Messenger users.
8. UK- 28.5 million active Facebook Messenger users.
9. Indonesia- 28.3 million active Facebook Messenger users.
10. Bangladesh- 25.4 million active Facebook Messenger users.

Telegram Top Stats 2025

Telegram currently has over 950 million active users, becoming the fourth most popular messaging service worldwide. In just a decade, the service has grown steadily, increasing by 19x its number of monthly active users.

• 2014- 50 million monthly active users.
• 2015- 60 million monthly active users.
• 2016- 100 million monthly active users.
• 2017- 180 million monthly active users.
• 2018- 200 million monthly active users.
• 2019- 300 million monthly active users.
• 2020- 400 million monthly active users.
• 2021- 550 million monthly active users.
• 2022- 700 million monthly active users.
• 2023- 800 million monthly active users.
• 2024- 950 million monthly active users.

In just 4 years, the app has quintupled its number of downloads, going from 55.81 million in Q1 2020 to 271.8 million by the end of 2024. If we talk about its demographics, more men use Telegram than women, with 56.9% of its user base being male and 43.1% female. 

Regarding its usage, on average, Telegram users spend approximately 4 hours and 25 minutes per month using the app, which would translate to 8.5 minutes of daily use. According to a recent survey, the country that most uses Telegram is India, with 45% of respondents choosing this platform. Following close we have Brazil and Mexico, with 38% and 34% respectively. 

Here’s the Top 5 Countries that use Telegram:

1. India- 45%
2. Brazil- 38%
3. Mexico- 34%
4. South Africa- 32%
5. Spain- 32%

SnapChat Top Stats 2025

The popularity of Snapchat is undeniable, becoming the fourth most downloaded messaging app and the fifth most popular messaging service worldwide. Over the last decade, users have shown commitment to this service, increasing by 6x the number of daily active users from 71 million in 2014 to 432 million in 2024.

• 2014- 71 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2015- 107 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2016- 158 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2017- 187 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2018- 186 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2019- 218 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2020- 265 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2021- 319 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2022- 375 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2023- 414 million daily active Snapchat users.
• 2024- 432 million daily active Snapchat users.

(Source: Statista)

If we look at its usage by country, India has the biggest Snapchat user base in the world, with 202.51 million users. In second place we find the United States, with 106.7 million users. In third and fourth position we find Pakistan and France, with 31.93 and 27.5 million users respectively. Closing the top five we find the United Kingdom, with 23.06 million.

Here’s a complete breakdown of the results:

1. India- 202.51 million Snapchat users.
2. US- 106.7 million Snapchat users.
3. Pakistan- 31.93 million Snapchat users.
4. France- 27.5 million Snapchat users.
5. UK- 23.06 million Snapchat users.
6. Saudi Arabia- 22.74 million Snapchat users.
7. Germany- 16.96 million Snapchat users.
8. Iraq- 17.96 million Snapchat users.
9. Egypt- 16.96 million Snapchat users.
10. Mexico- 15.92 million Snapchat users.

Wrap Up

With WhatsApp firmly leading the list of popularity and usage worldwide, we can conclude that messaging apps are here to stay as they become stronger and more popular year after year.