There are very few in the tech-world like the sensation created by the fight between WhatsApp and Telegram. Both apps are frequently updated with new features, so it’s hard to keep up with what each has to offer. To make it easy for you, here’s a deep and up-to-date rivalry between WhatsApp and Telegram: number of users, privacy, available features, and personalization, among others.

Number of users: We are basically comparing two messaging apps, so their main goal is to send and receive messages. The more people connected, the better. WhatsApp crossed the 2 billion monthly active user barrier a few months ago. Telegram, meanwhile, reached 200 million users in 2018 and we haven’t received any updated data since. We don’t know exactly how many users Telegram has today, but it’s clear that WhatsApp easily surpasses it.
 The victory is overwhelming for WhatsApp, as the user base is ten times larger than Telegram. Actually, Telegram hasn’t updated its figure over the years, but the difference is huge. It is true that it is not a 100% decisive factor when choosing a messaging app. However, high WhatsApp users mean you will be less likely to miss someone.

Privacy and security: Just as the purpose of a messaging app is to talk to other people, it is important that the message reaches only those people, privately and without interception. Both WhatsApp and Telegram have end-to-end encryption, although there is a big difference: WhatsApp is activated by default in all chats, and Telegram is secretly enabled. Ordinary Telegram chats are still encrypted, but not extreme. WhatsApp has been using popular signal encryption for years, so Telegram decided to invent the wheel with its own MTProto encryption. Although no vulnerabilities have been found so far in MTProton, the expert community continues to support the known protocol rather than the unknown protocol. In any case, even if we equate the two ciphers, the key difference is there: Telegram does not apply by default.

Text chat

Both WhatsApp and Telegram allow you to do a lot of things in addition to sending text messages, but that’s still their main function. Both apps have been copied for years, and the chat experience is almost the same. Traditionally, WhatsApp messaging was a “tender” app where the most exciting thing that can be done in addition to forwarding pictures was to send a huge heartbeat, but it’s changed a lot lately. First came the animated GIFs, then came the stickers to give the chats more life and color, and then the inevitable evolution: the animated stickers. Today, the experience is very similar on WhatsApp and Telegram. So much so that what one application does ends up copying the others sooner or later. Although Telegram continues to develop faster when it comes to developing new features, there are still very few differences in traditional messaging between the two applications. In addition to sending and receiving text messages with your friends, what else can you share on WhatsApp and Telegram? Of course, photos and videos, as well as other unusual items such as songs, files of any kind or your location, can be updated in real time on both Telegram and WhatsApp.

Although the list is very similar in both cases, the difference is in the nuances. For example, Telegram allows you to send files up to 1.5 GB, which are “permanently” stored in the cloud. While the difference between what you can share between WhatsApp and Telegram is more equal than ever, Telegram takes that point.