10 Most Popular Messaging Apps In 2025 (Data + Trends)

Want to know what the most popular messaging apps are this year? I’ve got you covered.

In this post, I’ll share a data-driven breakdown of all the most popular messenger apps. 

We’ll start by ranking the top messaging apps in the world by number of users (and various other metrics)

Then, we’ll take a closer look at each app individually and explore some important statistics and trends that are worth knowing about each of them.

Most popular messaging apps (ranked)

Below, we’ve ranked the most popular messaging apps globally by various metrics, according to data from Datareportal, Similarweb, Statista, and other sources.

By monthly active users (MAUs)

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world with a whopping 2 billion monthly users. That’s around a quarter of the global population. 

WeChat ranks second place with around 1.3 billion monthly users, most of whom are from China. And Facebook Messenger comes third with around 979 million users.

Note that this only includes dedicated messenger apps. Social media platforms that messaging isn’t the primary use case of but still include messaging functionality, such as Instagram, haven’t been included in the rankings.

statistics by monthly active users
Messenger appMonthly active users
WhatsApp2 billion
WeChat1.34 billion
Facebook Messenger979 million
Telegram800 million
Snapchat 750 million
QQ558 million
Line178 million
Discord154 million
Zalo77.6 million
Momo66.4 million

Source: Datareportal, Statista1, Statista2, Statista3, Statista4, BBC, Vietnamnet

By popular opinion 

WhatsApp isn’t just the most-used messaging app, it’s also the most liked. 

When asked what their favorite social media platforms are, 16.1% of surveyed consumers pointed to WhatsApp—that’s more than any other social network.

This makes WhatsApp the public’s #1 favorite messenger app and their #2 favorite social media platform overall. 

statistics by popular opinion
Messenger app% of social media users who said it’s their ‘favorite’ social platform
WhatsApp16.1%
WeChat12.8%
Telegram2.4%
Facebook Messenger2.3%
Line1.7%
Snapchat 1.3%
QQ0.9%

Source: Datareportal

By app downloads 

Telegram has the most monthly downloads (48.36 million) of any messaging app, according to the latest data we could find. 

WhatsApp missed out on the top spot in this category but came a close second place (46.38 million). 

And if we were to add the number of downloads of WhatsApp Business to those of regular WhatsApp, it would rank top (70.06 million)

statistics by app downloads
Messenger appMonthly downloads (July 2024)
Telegram48.36 million
WhatsApp 46.38 million
Facebook Messenger25.96 million
Snapchat25.41 million
WhatsApp Business23.68 million
WeChat5.56 million
QQ3.05 million
Signal2.68 million
Line2.64 million
Rakuten2.28 million

Source: Statista5

By time spent on the app

If we look at the average time spent on each messaging app per month, WhatsApp comes out on top again at 17 hours 6 minutes. 

Notably, though, Line had a particularly strong showing in this category. While only the seventh most popular messaging app by monthly users, it’s the second most popular by monthly time spent on the app (8 hours 14 minutes). 

Meanwhile, Facebook Messenger underperforms here. It drops down from third to fifth place, suggesting it may have an issue with user engagement.

statistics by time spent on the app
Messenger appAverage monthly time spent on the app
WhatsApp17 hours, 6 minutes
Line8 hours, 14 minutes
Telegram3 hours, 45 minutes
Snapchat3 hours, 33 minutes
Facebook Messenger3 hours, 21 minutes

Source: Datareportal

By number of sessions

According to data from Similarweb, users open WhatsApp around 23 times a day, making it the #1 most popular messaging app by daily sessions. 

Line performs particularly strongly again, ranking in second place with an average of around 16 daily sessions per user. This, combined with Line’s strong time spent on app figures, suggests it excels at user engagement.

Messenger appSessions per user (daily)
WhatsApp22.97
Line16.48
Facebook Messenger9.94
Telegram8.7
Snapchat6.82
Viber5.71

Source: Similarweb

By in-app purchase revenue

Despite only being the fifth most-used messaging app, Snapchat is the number one messaging app by in-app purchase revenue, earning over $24.7 million in revenue from in-app purchases per month.

Line comes second with IAP revenues of $12.92 million. 

Interestingly, the number one most popular messaging app by users, WhatsApp, doesn’t even make the top 5 list by IAP revenues.

This makes a lot of sense considering that Meta has reportedly struggled to find a way to effectively monetize WhatsApp’s massive user base.

statistics by in app purchase revenue
Messenger appIn-app purchase revenue (July 2024)
Snapchat$24.77 million
Line$12.92 million
Telegram$8.08 million
WeChat$6.97 million
QQ$4.51 million
KakaoTalk$3.71 million

Source: Statista6

Now we’ve looked at an overview of the most popular messaging apps in each category, let’s drill down a little deeper and take a closer look at each of the top 10 individually.

#1 – WhatsApp

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world with 2 billion monthly active users, and over 3 billion total unique users.

whatsapp homepage

It was founded in 2009 and was acquired by Facebook (now Meta) in February 2014. But it didn’t become the world’s most popular messaging application until 2015.

WhatsApp allows users to send text messages, voice messages, and video messages, as well as make voice and video calls. 

Users can also share content like images, documents, and locations with one another.

Key WhatsApp statistics:

  • WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in 63 out of 100 countries.
  • 24.7% of the global population use WhatsApp
  • Over 1 billion messages are sent on WhatsApp every day
  • WhatsApp is the #1 most-used messaging app globally…
  • …but only the #4 most-used messaging app in the US
  • Only 19% of the US population uses WhatsApp…
  • …compared to 73% of the UK population
  • 83.6% of WhatsApp’s monthly users open the app every single day (the highest daily open rate of any social media app)
  • 52.3% of WhatsApp users are male while 47.6% are female
  • Users open WhatsApp 929.9 times a month on average

Sources: Similarweb, Datareportal, Wikipedia, Statista7, Statista8, Adam Connell

#2 – WeChat

WeChat is the second most popular messaging app in the world with around 1.34 billion users. 

wechat homepage

However, the vast majority (1.1 billion) of those users are located in China, making it the most popular Chinese messenger app.

Outside of China, WeChat is much less popular. For example, it doesn’t even rank in the top 10 most-used messenger apps in the US.

Founded in 2011 by Tencent, WeChat is much more than a messaging app—it’s been described as China’s ‘everything app’ and a ‘super-app’ due to the huge number of features it provides. 

Users can use WeChat to send texts, make phone calls, play games, make payments, share content, and much more.

Key WeChat statistics:

  • WeChat is the #1 messaging app in China
  • 16.5% of the global population uses WeChat
  • WeChat usage is up +9 million (+0.7%) quarter-over-quarter
  • 52% of WeChat users are male and 42% are female

Sources: Wikipedia, Datareportal, Statista3

#3 – Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger is the third most popular messaging app in the world with around 979 million users. 

facebook messenger homepage

However, it dominates in certain regions. It’s the number one most popular messaging app in 16 different countries around the world, including the United States.

Messenger was first launched in 2011 as part of the wider Facebook social media platform (owned by parent company Meta). 

It would later be removed from the main Facebook app and launched as a separate standalone app in 2014.

Key Facebook Messenger statistics:

  • Facebook Messenger is #1 the most popular messaging app in 16 countries
  • 58% of people in the US use Facebook Messenger
  • 55.5% of Facebook Messenger users are male to 44.5% female
  • 32.4% of Facebook Messenger users are 25-34 years old…
  • …making this the top age bracket

Source: Datareportal, Similarweb, Statista9

#4 – Telegram

Telegram is a Russian instant messaging app that was founded in 2013 by Nikolai and Pavel Durov.

telegram homepage

It’s the fourth most popular messenger app in the world with 800 million monthly users. And the  #1 most popular messaging app in 10 countries, most of which are located in the Eurasia region (Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, etc.).

It’s best known for its strong focus on privacy, offering end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls and a ‘secret chats’ feature. 

However, it’s also faced criticism for its lack of effective regulations and minimal content restrictions, which has led to widespread usage by criminal or violent organizations including ISIS and the Myanmar junta, as well as a high prevalence of illegal content.

Key Telegram statistics:

  • Telegram is the most popular messaging app in 10 countries
  • 57.5% of Telegram users are male while 42.5% are female
  • Telegram reaches 9.9% of the global population
  • Telegram has an install penetration rate of 18.87% in the US
  • Telegram has 46.7 million daily active users in Russia
  • The most popular Telegram channel category is ‘News’—85% of users follow at least one News channel.

Sources: Datareportal, Similarweb, Statista10, Statista14

#5 – Snapchat

Snapchat is the fifth most popular messaging app in the world with around 750 million users.

SnapChat Homepage

It was founded in 2011 by three former Stanford University students: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown.

At that time, its core feature and USP was that pictures and messages shared between users would only be available for a short time before disappearing. Originally, this was something unique that users could only get on Snapchat.

It’s evolved since then and has shifted away from person-to-person sharing, replacing that core feature with 24-hour Stories—something that is now common on many other social networks.

Key Snapchat statistics:

  • Snapchat reaches 8.4% of the global population
  • 38.1% of Snapchat users are 18-24 years old
  • 42.9% of people use Snapchat to share photos or videos…
  • …making this the top use case
  • 406 million people use Snapchat daily
  • 49.2% of Snapchat users are male while 49% are female

Sources: Datareportal

#6 – QQ

Tencent QQ is another Chinese messaging app that’s relatively unheard of in the Western world.

QQ9 Homepage

It’s the second most popular messenger app in China after WeChat, with 558 million monthly users according to Datareportal or 832 million monthly users according to data on Statista.

However, few users in countries outside of China use it, and the vast majority of people in the US haven’t even heard of it.

Like WeChat, QQ aims to be an all-in-one ‘super app’ and offers much more than instant messaging. Users can access social games, shopping, movies, music, and more all in one place.

Key QQ statistics:

  • China is the #2 most popular messaging app in China after Wechat
  • QQ reaches 6.9% of the global population
  • 51.2% of QQ users are male while 48.8% are female

Sources: Datareportal, Statista3

#7 – Line

Line is the seventh most popular messaging app in the world with 178 million monthly active users.

Line Homepage

However, it’s the #1 most popular messaging app in two countries: Japan and Thailand. It’s also popular in other countries in Asia including Taiwan and Indonesia.

Line was first launched in 2011 by NHN Japan. Originally, it was a straightforward text and VoIP app, but it’s gradually expanded its feature set since then. 

Now, Line users have access to a digital wallet, news stream, video-on-demand content, manga and webtoon portal, and other useful features. All of those fun features make it particularly well-liked and it has some of the strongest engagement of any messaging app.

It became Japan’s largest social media network in 2013 and as of 2024, it’s used by over 70% of the Japanese population.

Key Line statistics:

  • Line has 86 million users in Japan, its home market 
  • It’s the #1 most-used messenger app in Japan and Thailand
  • Over 5.6 million people use LINE Pay monthly
  • 57.8% of smartphone users in Japan send 1-10 messages on LINE daily
  • LINE earned 227.5 billion JPY in revenue in 2019

Source: Statista11

#8 – Discord

Discord is the eighth most popular messaging app globally with 154 million monthly active users and 350 million total registered users.

Discord Homepage

It was originally created by Jason Citron and didn’t launch until 2015—a long time after most of the other messaging apps on this list were already well-established.

Discord has a more well-defined target audience than most other messaging apps too and was originally meant to provide a way for people who play video games to communicate. Other people now use Discord too, but online gamers still make up the bulk of its user base.

Discord is built around servers. Users can join any server they’re invited to, and each server is made up of multiple voice and text chat channels.

Key Discord statistics:

  • Discord reaches 1.9% of the total population
  • 66.6% of Discord’s users are male while 32.2% are female (the highest male skew of any app on this list)
  • The largest Discord server is Midjourney with 18.24 million members
  • Around 19 million people use Discord weekly
  • Around 23% of Discord’s traffic comes from the United States
  • Discord’s mobile app was downloaded around 103.4 million times last year

Sources: Wikipedia, Datareportal, Statista12

#9 – Zalo

Zalo is a Vietnamese instant messaging app founded by VNG and released in 2011.

[image 14]

zalo homepage

It’s the ninth most popular messaging service in the world with 77.6 million monthly users, and the #1 messaging app in Vietnam specifically.

Zalo is also used in other countries including the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Myanmar, but the vast majority of its users are Vietnamese, and it’s heavily optimized for the Vietnamese languages.

Its core features include free text messaging, phone calls, and file sharing. It also lets users add friends, make mobile payments, create and reply to status messages, share multimedia content, and more.

Key Zalo statistics:

  • Zalo has 77.6 million monthly active users globally, most of which are in Vietnam
  • Over 87% of people in Vietnam use Zalo, making it the #1 most-used social network. Facebook comes second at 72%.
  • It’s also the #1 most popular messaging service in Vietnam by a large margin. Messenger comes next at 58%.
  • Nearly 1.97 billion messages are sent on Zalo every day.

Sources: Vietnamnet, Vietnam Ministry of Information & Communications, Wikipedia

#10 – Viber

Viber is the 10th most popular messaging app in the world with 66.4 million monthly active users worldwide, and over a billion total registered users.

rokuten viber homepage

It’s particularly popular in eastern and southeastern Europe and is the #1 most-used messaging app in four countries: Belarus, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia.

It was initially developed by Cyprus-based Viber media in 2010 but was later acquired by current owners Rakuten. 

It provides free VoIP and instant messaging services to users on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms. 

Aside from instant messaging and phone calls, users can also exchange media content like images and videos.

Key Viber statistics:

  • Viber is the #1 most popular messaging app in 4 countries
  • Only around 1.04 million of the 66.4 million people that use Viber monthly are from the United States
  • 25.38 million people use Viber daily
  • Viber was downloaded 2.44 million times in the US last year
  • Viber has a 70% penetration rate in the CEE & CIS regions but just a 15% penetration rate in North America
  • There are 70+ million interactions on Viber every hour
  • Users spend 35+ minutes on Viber daily
  • The average Viber user sends 30+ messages per day

Sources: Wikipedia, Similarweb, Viber

How many messaging app users are there?

According to the best industry estimations we could find, around 3.42 billion people use messaging apps globally.

To clarify, that figure includes any person (of any age) who uses an over-the-top messaging app on their mobile phone at least once per month.

It doesn’t include social media platforms that offer private messaging as a secondary feature (e.g. Instagram) or apps that only provide voice/video calling. 

Here’s an overview of how the number of messaging app users has changed over time (and how it’s expected to change next year):

YearNumber of mobile messaging app usersYear-over-year change
20253.51 billion+90 million
20243.42 billion+100 million
20233.32 billion+110 million
20223.21 billion+120 million
20213.09 billion+180 million
20202.91 billion+350 million
20192.56 billion~

Source: Statista13

What percentage of people use messaging apps?

According to figures from Datareportal, an incredible 94.7% of internet users aged 16 to 64 have used a chat and messaging app within the last month.

This makes messaging apps the #1 most-used app/website category in the world. A greater percentage of people use messaging apps than any other type of app or website.

It’s followed by social networks (94.3%), search engines (80.7%), shopping platforms (74.3%), and maps or location-based services (54.4%) in that order.

Source: Datareportal

Final thoughts

That concludes our data-driven guide to the most popular messaging apps in 2025. You’ll find a list of our sources below.

To recap, WhatsApp is the most widely-used messaging app globally, followed by Facebook Messenger. 

However, the popularity of each messenger app varies substantially by region, and some niche apps dominate in specific countries.

Hungry for more data? Check out these interesting statistics about Facebook Video, YouTube Shorts, and influencer marketing.  

Or for tips to help you grow your following on Instagram, check out these awesome Instagram video ideas.