KakaoTalk : Messenger vs Telegram Messenger
KakaoTalk : Messenger
Kakao Corp.
App Store
$736.0K/mo
~$8.83M/yr · 4.0M installs
VS
Telegram Messenger
Telegram FZ-LLC
App Store
$2.11M/mo
~$25.36M/yr · 41.0M installs
Revenue winner
Telegram Messenger wins
+187% vs other
Installs winner
Telegram Messenger wins
+912% vs other
MAU winner
Telegram Messenger wins
+643% vs other
Rating winner
KakaoTalk : Messenger wins
+6% vs other
Why Telegram Messenger is winning
Top 4 reasons - backed by the public App Store / Play Store numbers.
- Telegram Messenger earns roughly 3× more per month than KakaoTalk : Messenger - $2.11M vs $736.0K.
- Aggressive pricing. Telegram Messenger undercuts at $3.00/mo vs $12.99/mo - converts a higher % of free users.
- Bigger install base. Telegram Messenger has ~41.0M lifetime installs vs KakaoTalk : Messenger's ~4.0M - 10.1× the funnel top.
- Charts placement. Telegram Messenger ranks #53 on the US grossing chart (the other app is unranked) - chart placement is a self-reinforcing flywheel.
→ Find more apps with this revenue gap · Full Telegram Messenger report
Side-by-side metrics
Bars scale to whichever app is bigger on that row. Green = winner.
KakaoTalk : Messenger
vs
Telegram Messenger
Monthly revenue (est.)?
$736.0K
▶
$2.11M
Annual revenue (est.)
$8.83M
▶
$25.36M
Lifetime installs (est.)
4.0M
▶
41.0M
Monthly active users (est.)?
1.8M
▶
13.0M
App Store rating
4.27★
◀
4.01★
Total ratings
37K
▶
273K
US grossing rank
-
▶
#53
Cheapest monthly sub
$12.99
◀
$3.00
IAP tiers detected
10 tiers
=
10 tiers
- Category
- Social Networking
- Price
- Free
- Released
- Mar 18, 2010
- Last updated
- Jun 30, 2026
- File size
- 569.0 MB
- Content rating
- 4+
- Version
- 26.5.5
- Languages
- English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese +9 more
- Category
- Social Networking
- Price
- Free
- Released
- Aug 14, 2013
- Last updated
- Jun 22, 2026
- File size
- 228.9 MB
- Content rating
- 12+
- Version
- 12.8.1
- Languages
- Arabic, BE, Catalan, Dutch, English, French +13 more
KakaoTalk : Messenger trajectory
Telegram Messenger trajectory
FAQ
Which makes more money, KakaoTalk : Messenger or Telegram Messenger? v
Telegram Messenger earns about $2.11M per month, while KakaoTalk : Messenger earns about $736.0K. That is a 2.9× revenue gap (~$1.38M more per month for Telegram Messenger). Annual revenue: KakaoTalk : Messenger ≈ $8.83M/year, Telegram Messenger ≈ $25.36M/year. Estimates are derived from public App Store signals - grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings and category benchmarks.
Which has more downloads, KakaoTalk : Messenger or Telegram Messenger? v
Telegram Messenger leads with about 41.0M estimated downloads vs 4.0M for KakaoTalk : Messenger - a 10.1× gap. KakaoTalk : Messenger's App Store downloads are estimated from 37K ratings × the standard 1:75 ratio. Telegram Messenger's App Store downloads are estimated from 273K ratings.
Are KakaoTalk : Messenger and Telegram Messenger in the same App Store category and competing for the same money? v
Yes - both apps sit in the Social Networking category, which means they compete directly for the same paying users and category-level wallet share. Direct competitors, head-to-head.
What in-app purchases and subscription pricing do KakaoTalk : Messenger and Telegram Messenger offer? v
KakaoTalk : Messenger: IAP range 10 tiers detected. Telegram Messenger: IAP range 10 tiers detected. KakaoTalk : Messenger runs a "Subscription (~$12.99/mo)" monetization model; Telegram Messenger runs "Subscription (~$3.00/mo) · calibrated by US grossing rank #53". Scraped tier prices and detected subscription pricing drive the bulk of the per-app revenue estimate above.
Which has better ratings, KakaoTalk : Messenger or Telegram Messenger? v
KakaoTalk : Messenger edges ahead with ★ 4.3 vs ★ 4.0 (gap of 0.3 stars). Rating volume: KakaoTalk : Messenger 37K ratings, Telegram Messenger 273K ratings. Higher rating volume = stronger ASO signal even when star averages are close.
How accurate are these KakaoTalk : Messenger vs Telegram Messenger revenue estimates? v
Directional - typically within 2-3× of actual money earned for popular apps. The $736.0K for KakaoTalk : Messenger and $2.11M for Telegram Messenger are derived from App Store grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings volume and category benchmarks (Social Networking) - net of the 15-30% Apple/Google store cut. Real revenue depends on country mix, retention, refunds and ad fill rate, none of which Apple or Google publish.
How do I compare KakaoTalk : Messenger or Telegram Messenger to a different App Store app? v
Use the search box at the bottom of this page or paste any two App Store links into the homepage tool. We auto-generate a permanent comparison URL with revenue, downloads, IAP tiers, subscription pricing and grossing rank for both apps.