WhatsApp has reached a significant milestone, crossing 3 billion monthly active users, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who made the announcement during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.
With this achievement, WhatsApp joins the exclusive ranks of global applications to surpass the 3 billion-user mark, standing alongside its sister platform, Facebook.
Since its inception in 2009 and subsequent acquisition by Meta (formerly Facebook) in 2014 for $19 billion, WhatsApp has experienced continuous growth. Remarkably, this expansion has occurred without the use of advertising or subscription-based models.
The messaging platform first reached 2 billion monthly active users in 2020. In the four years since, it has added another billion, solidifying its position as a dominant force in global communication.
This growing user base plays a crucial role in Meta’s evolving focus on artificial intelligence. Meta’s Chief Financial Officer, Susan Li, stated that WhatsApp currently records the highest usage of Meta’s AI tools among its family of apps. She noted that the majority of engagement with Meta AI is occurring within one-on-one chats.
“We see people engage with Meta AI from several different entry points. WhatsApp continues to see the strongest Meta AI usage across our family of apps,” Li said.
Zuckerberg acknowledged WhatsApp’s strategic significance in advancing Meta’s AI vision globally, while highlighting slower adoption in the United States due to American users’ continued reliance on default SMS applications. To address this, Meta has launched a standalone Meta AI app aimed at U.S. users, presenting it as a central personal AI assistant.
“We’re in a different position in the U.S. than we are in most of the rest of the world on WhatsApp. So I think that the Meta AI app as a standalone is going to be particularly important… as the main personal AI that people use,” Zuckerberg said.
In addition to its consumer-facing success, WhatsApp has become integral to Meta’s business operations. The WhatsApp Business platform contributed significantly to the company’s Q1 earnings, with Meta reporting $510 million in revenue from its family of apps.
AI functionalities are now being woven into WhatsApp Business, including a new dashboard that enables companies to customise Meta AI with their own data—from website content to social media profiles across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. The company is also trialling AI-powered chatbots that can manage customer service interactions directly within the app.
In its Q1 2025 report, Meta revealed that its entire suite of apps—comprising Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads—averaged 3.43 billion daily active users, a 6% increase from the previous year.
Furthermore, the company noted a 5% year-over-year rise in ad impressions across its platforms, accompanied by a 10% increase in the average price per advertisement. Meta concluded the quarter with $42.31 billion in revenue, reflecting a 16% annual growth.