Telegram vs WhatsApp Business

Telegram

Telegram FZ-LLC
Google Play
$13.40M/mo
~$160.85M/yr · 2.9B installs
VS

WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp LLC
Google Play
$7.43M/mo
~$89.13M/yr · 2.2B installs
Revenue winner Telegram wins +80% vs other
Installs winner Telegram wins +32% vs other
MAU winner Telegram wins +24% vs other
Rating winner WhatsApp Business wins +20% vs other

Why Telegram is winning

Top 2 reasons - backed by the public App Store / Play Store numbers.

  1. Telegram earns roughly 2× more per month than WhatsApp Business - $13.40M vs $7.43M.
  2. Subscription model. Telegram runs a $9.48/mo subscription that compounds; WhatsApp Business relies on one-shot IAP or ads.

Find more apps with this revenue gap · Full Telegram report

Side-by-side metrics

Bars scale to whichever app is bigger on that row. Green = winner.

Telegram
vs
WhatsApp Business
Monthly revenue (est.)?
$13.40M
$7.43M
Annual revenue (est.)
$160.85M
$89.13M
Lifetime installs (est.)
2.9B
2.2B
Monthly active users (est.)?
89.9M
72.3M
App Store rating
3.87★
4.65★
Total ratings
17.0M
23.2M
US grossing rank
-
=
-
Cheapest monthly sub
$9.48
No sub
IAP tiers detected
0 tiers
=
0 tiers

Telegram

Telegram FZ-LLC
Google Play
Category
Communication
Price
Free
Released
Sep 6, 2013
Last updated
Jun 18, 2026
File size
-
Content rating
Mature 17+
Version
VARY
Languages
-
View full Telegram report →

WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp LLC
Google Play
Category
Communication
Price
Free
Released
Jan 18, 2018
Last updated
Jun 27, 2026
File size
-
Content rating
Everyone
Version
2.26.25.75
Languages
-
View full WhatsApp Business report →

Telegram trajectory

AugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJul

WhatsApp Business trajectory

AugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJul

FAQ

Which makes more money, Telegram or WhatsApp Business? v
Telegram earns about $13.40M per month, while WhatsApp Business earns about $7.43M. That is a 1.8× revenue gap (~$5.98M more per month for Telegram). Annual revenue: Telegram ≈ $160.85M/year, WhatsApp Business ≈ $89.13M/year. Estimates are derived from public Google Play signals - grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings and category benchmarks.
Which has more downloads, Telegram or WhatsApp Business? v
Telegram leads with about 2.9B estimated downloads vs 2.2B for WhatsApp Business - a 1.3× gap. Telegram reports 1,000,000,000+ installs on Google Play. WhatsApp Business reports 1,000,000,000+ installs on Google Play.
Are Telegram and WhatsApp Business 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 Telegram and WhatsApp Business offer? v
Telegram: IAP range $0.31 - $289.99 per item. WhatsApp Business: IAP range $0.29 - $2,799.99 per item. Telegram runs a "Subscription (~$9.48/mo)" monetization model; WhatsApp Business runs "Free + IAP (tiers not exposed by store)". Scraped tier prices and detected subscription pricing drive the bulk of the per-app revenue estimate above.
Which has better ratings, Telegram or WhatsApp Business? v
WhatsApp Business edges ahead with ★ 4.6 vs ★ 3.9 (gap of 0.8 stars). Rating volume: Telegram 184K ratings, WhatsApp Business 56K ratings. Higher rating volume = stronger ASO signal even when star averages are close.
How accurate are these Telegram vs WhatsApp Business revenue estimates? v
Directional - typically within 2-3× of actual money earned for popular apps. The $13.40M for Telegram and $7.43M for WhatsApp Business 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 Telegram or WhatsApp Business 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.