Messenger vs WhatsApp Messenger
Messenger
Meta Platforms, Inc.
Google Play
$26.42M/mo
~$317.02M/yr · 7.8B installs
VS
WhatsApp Messenger
WhatsApp LLC
Google Play
$56.85M/mo
~$682.24M/yr · 11.9B installs
Revenue winner
WhatsApp Messenger wins
+115% vs other
Installs winner
WhatsApp Messenger wins
+54% vs other
MAU winner
WhatsApp Messenger wins
+54% vs other
Rating winner
Messenger wins
+1% vs other
Why WhatsApp Messenger is winning
Top 3 reasons - backed by the public App Store / Play Store numbers.
- WhatsApp Messenger earns roughly 2× more per month than Messenger - $56.85M vs $26.42M.
- Premium pricing. WhatsApp Messenger charges $8.94/mo vs Messenger's $4.47/mo - higher ARPU per converted user.
- Bigger install base. WhatsApp Messenger has ~11.9B lifetime installs vs Messenger's ~7.8B - 1.5× the funnel top.
→ Find more apps with this revenue gap · Full WhatsApp Messenger report
Side-by-side metrics
Bars scale to whichever app is bigger on that row. Green = winner.
Messenger
vs
WhatsApp Messenger
Monthly revenue (est.)?
$26.42M
▶
$56.85M
Annual revenue (est.)
$317.02M
▶
$682.24M
Lifetime installs (est.)
7.8B
▶
11.9B
Monthly active users (est.)?
255.9M
▶
393.4M
App Store rating
4.72★
◀
4.69★
Total ratings
111.5M
▶
234.2M
US grossing rank
-
=
-
Cheapest monthly sub
$4.47
▶
$8.94
IAP tiers detected
0 tiers
=
0 tiers
- Category
- Communication
- Price
- Free
- Released
- Jan 30, 2014
- Last updated
- May 5, 2026
- File size
- -
- Content rating
- Everyone
- Version
- 559.0.0.49.75
- Languages
- -
- Category
- Communication
- Price
- Free
- Released
- Oct 18, 2010
- Last updated
- May 4, 2026
- File size
- -
- Content rating
- Everyone
- Version
- VARY
- Languages
- -
Messenger trajectory
WhatsApp Messenger trajectory
FAQ
Which makes more money, Messenger or WhatsApp Messenger? v
WhatsApp Messenger earns about $56.85M per month, while Messenger earns about $26.42M. That is a 2.2× revenue gap (~$30.44M more per month for WhatsApp Messenger). Annual revenue: Messenger ≈ $317.02M/year, WhatsApp Messenger ≈ $682.24M/year. Estimates are derived from public Google Play signals - grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings and category benchmarks.
Which has more downloads, Messenger or WhatsApp Messenger? v
WhatsApp Messenger leads with about 11.9B estimated downloads vs 7.8B for Messenger - a 1.5× gap. Messenger reports 5,000,000,000+ installs on Google Play. WhatsApp Messenger reports 10,000,000,000+ installs on Google Play.
Are Messenger and WhatsApp Messenger in the same Google Play category and competing for the same money? v
Yes - both apps sit in the Communication 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 Messenger and WhatsApp Messenger offer? v
Messenger: IAP range $0.05 - $399.99 per item. WhatsApp Messenger: IAP range $0.40 - $199.99 per item. Messenger runs a "Subscription (~$4.47/mo)" monetization model; WhatsApp Messenger runs "Subscription (~$8.94/mo)". Scraped tier prices and detected subscription pricing drive the bulk of the per-app revenue estimate above.
Which has better ratings, Messenger or WhatsApp Messenger? v
Messenger edges ahead with ★ 4.7 vs ★ 4.7 (gap of 0.0 stars). Rating volume: Messenger 2.5M ratings, WhatsApp Messenger 2.0M ratings. Higher rating volume = stronger ASO signal even when star averages are close.
How accurate are these Messenger vs WhatsApp Messenger revenue estimates? v
Directional - typically within 2-3× of actual money earned for popular apps. The $26.42M for Messenger and $56.85M for WhatsApp Messenger are derived from Google Play grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings volume and category benchmarks (Communication) - 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 Messenger or WhatsApp Messenger to a different Google Play app? v
Use the search box at the bottom of this page or paste any two Google Play 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.