Telegram Messenger vs WhatsApp Messenger
Telegram Messenger
Telegram FZ-LLC
App Store
$3.55M/mo
~$42.62M/yr · 50.0M installs
VS
WhatsApp Messenger
WhatsApp Inc.
App Store
$509.52M/mo
~$6.11B/yr · 1.6B installs
Revenue winner
WhatsApp Messenger wins
+14245% vs other
Installs winner
WhatsApp Messenger wins
+3114% vs other
MAU winner
WhatsApp Messenger wins
+3273% vs other
Rating winner
WhatsApp Messenger wins
+17% vs other
Why WhatsApp Messenger is winning
Top 4 reasons - backed by the public App Store / Play Store numbers.
- WhatsApp Messenger earns roughly 143× more per month than Telegram Messenger - $509.52M vs $3.55M.
- Premium pricing. WhatsApp Messenger charges $21.99/mo vs Telegram Messenger's $3.00/mo - higher ARPU per converted user.
- Bigger install base. WhatsApp Messenger has ~1.6B lifetime installs vs Telegram Messenger's ~50.0M - 32.1× the funnel top.
- Better app store reviews. WhatsApp Messenger sits at 4.69★ vs 4.01★ - store algorithms reward higher-rated apps with more impressions.
→ 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.
Telegram Messenger
vs
WhatsApp Messenger
Monthly revenue (est.)?
$3.55M
▶
$509.52M
Annual revenue (est.)
$42.62M
▶
$6.11B
Lifetime installs (est.)
50.0M
▶
1.6B
Monthly active users (est.)?
21.3M
▶
716.7M
App Store rating
4.01★
▶
4.69★
Total ratings
266K
▶
17.9M
US grossing rank
#46
◀
-
Cheapest monthly sub
$3.00
▶
$21.99
IAP tiers detected
10 tiers
◀
3 tiers
- Category
- Social Networking
- Price
- Free
- Released
- Aug 14, 2013
- Last updated
- May 6, 2026
- File size
- 156.2 MB
- Content rating
- 12+
- Version
- 12.7
- Languages
- Arabic, BE, Catalan, Dutch, English, French +13 more
- Category
- Social Networking
- Price
- Free
- Released
- May 4, 2009
- Last updated
- May 7, 2026
- File size
- 330.4 MB
- Content rating
- 12+
- Version
- 26.17.74
- Languages
- Arabic, BN, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish +33 more
Telegram Messenger trajectory
WhatsApp Messenger trajectory
FAQ
Which makes more money, Telegram Messenger or WhatsApp Messenger? v
WhatsApp Messenger earns about $509.52M per month, while Telegram Messenger earns about $3.55M. That is a 143.5× revenue gap (~$505.96M more per month for WhatsApp Messenger). Annual revenue: Telegram Messenger ≈ $42.62M/year, WhatsApp Messenger ≈ $6.11B/year. Estimates are derived from public App Store signals - grossing rank, scraped IAP tiers, ratings and category benchmarks.
Which has more downloads, Telegram Messenger or WhatsApp Messenger? v
WhatsApp Messenger leads with about 1.6B estimated downloads vs 50.0M for Telegram Messenger - a 32.1× gap. Telegram Messenger's App Store downloads are estimated from 266K ratings × the standard 1:75 ratio. WhatsApp Messenger's App Store downloads are estimated from 17.9M ratings.
Are Telegram Messenger and WhatsApp 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 Telegram Messenger and WhatsApp Messenger offer? v
Telegram Messenger: IAP range 10 tiers detected. WhatsApp Messenger: IAP range 3 tiers detected. Telegram Messenger runs a "Subscription (~$3.00/mo) · calibrated by US grossing rank #46" monetization model; WhatsApp Messenger runs "Subscription (~$21.99/mo)". Scraped tier prices and detected subscription pricing drive the bulk of the per-app revenue estimate above.
Which has better ratings, Telegram Messenger or WhatsApp Messenger? v
WhatsApp Messenger edges ahead with ★ 4.7 vs ★ 4.0 (gap of 0.7 stars). Rating volume: Telegram Messenger 266K ratings, WhatsApp Messenger 17.9M ratings. Higher rating volume = stronger ASO signal even when star averages are close.
How accurate are these Telegram Messenger vs WhatsApp Messenger revenue estimates? v
Directional - typically within 2-3× of actual money earned for popular apps. The $3.55M for Telegram Messenger and $509.52M for WhatsApp 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 Telegram Messenger or WhatsApp 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.