Telegram Usage Statistics (2024)

Telegram, a messaging app born in 2013, has emerged as a dynamic and privacy-focused platform in the realm of instant communication. Founded by Pavel Durov, it gained popularity for its robust encryption, allowing users to exchange messages securely. Telegram stands out with features like self-destructing messages, large group chats, and channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences. With a clean interface and a commitment to resisting external pressures for data disclosure, Telegram continues to attract users seeking a balance between security and seamless communication.

Telegram User and Revenue Stats

• As of July 2024, Telegram boasts 950 million active users and is setting its sights on surpassing the 1 billion user milestone by the end of the year.
• Pavel Durov announced on March 11, 2024, that Telegram is expected to hit profitability in 2025.
• On July 18, 2023, Telegram raised $210 million through bond sales from a variety of investors, including its founder and CEO Pavel Durov, as it navigates the weakening economy and diminished demand for listings on public markets. (Techcrunch)
• According to Apptopia, Telegram was among the most downloaded mobile apps around the world in 2022, with 310 million new installs across Google Play and the App Store. Its rival WhatsApp generated 424 million new downloads for the same year.
• On June 2022, Telegram launched Telegram Premium, a subscription that offers exclusive features for the popular app’s users. As of December 2022, Telegram Premium has surpassed 1 million paying users.
• As of March 2024, Telegram has reached 900 million monthly active users and generated “hundreds of millions of dollars” through advertising and subscription revenue.

• Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that more than 70 million new users joined the instant messaging app during the Facebook outage on October 6. The app also saw time spent climb 18% week-over-week during the Facebook outage.
• In the first four months of 2021, Telegram’s app downloads increased 98% YoY to more than 161 million, mainly due to WhatsApp’s controversial privacy policy. (Sensor Tower)
• Eight out of ten Telegram users chose the app to learn the latest news as of April 2023.

• In 2023, around 50% of small businesses engaged in advertising on Telegram maintained a monthly budget not exceeding 25 thousand Russian rubles.

• As of January 2024, Telegram ranked among the most popular global messenger apps based on the number of monthly active users. (Statista)
• In June 2023, Telegram Messenger ranked among the leading social networking apps in the App Store based on the number of downloads, with 3 million downloads. (Statista)
• 15 billion Telegram messages delivered daily, according to the Telegram’s data. 

FAQ

What is Telegram?

Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging app available in mobile and desktop with a focus on security and speed. The free-to-use messaging app was founded by Nikolai and Pavel Durov in 2013. 

Telegram Messenger enables users to ‘send messages, photos, videos and files of any type (doc, zip, mp3, etc), as well as create groups for up to 200,000 people or channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences.’ 

Telegram offers Secret Chats where messages can be self-destroyed in a set amount of time. Messages cannot be forwarded from Secret Chats and when a member of a secret chat deletes a message, it is ordered to delete the message as well to the other person.

Telegram vs WhatsApp

WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption for all types of chats within the app but Telegram only uses it for Secret Chats and video calls. 

As distinct from WhatsApp, Telegram lets users to access their chats from multiple devices because it is a cloud-based messenger. 

Telegram has an open API and it welcomes developers to develop their own Telegram app. It also has a Bot API that helps users to build specialized tools for Telegram, integrate different services, and accept payments from users around the world.

Number of monthly active WhatsApp users worldwide in March 2020 was 2 billion so it is more popular than Telegram. This makes it more likely to be used by a user’s personal network. 

Telegram users can get a notification alert when someone takes a screenshot of a message. However it is not allowed in all operating systems. Telegram says, most notably, on some Android and Windows Phone devices it is not possible to detect screenshots taken. 

As another competitive advantage over Whatsapp, Telegram stores all files, messages, and documents on the cloud to make it possible to reach them out from different devices. 

Both Whatsapp and Telegram use contact lists in the smartphones to let users reach their contacts, meaning users don’t have to add a friend or family member manually to communicate via WhatsApp or Telegram if the person is added in their contact list. Telegram also sends notification when a contact from the contact list joins Telegram.

Both Whatsapp and Telegram offer voice and video calls. Telegram announced video calls in August 2020. 

Telegram allows media compression to let users save more space on their devices. 

Telegram channels, a tool for broadcasting public messages to large audiences, provide a newsfeed-like experience for every taste. Users are also allowed to create their own channels. 

Whatsapp has a feature called Messenger Rooms, where users are allowed to make video calls with a larger group of people. 

Telegram has photo and video editing tools and an open sticker/GIF platform to make the user experience better.