Comparison

WeChat vs LINE

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

WeChat

Connect with friends and family through messaging, voice, and video calls. Discover news, local services, and games within the app. Features mobile payment and health tracking capabilities.

Highlights
  • Text, photo, voice, and video messaging
  • Group chats up to 500 members
  • High-quality voice and video calls
  • Real-time location sharing
  • Moments for sharing photos and videos
  • Official Accounts for news and content
  • Mini Programs for third-party services
  • Mobile payment with Weixin Pay
Features
Read full description

WeChat is more than a messaging and social media app – it is a lifestyle for one billion users across the world. Chat and make calls with friends, read news and use local services in Official Accounts and Mini Programs, play games with friends, enjoy mobile payment features with Weixin Pay, and much more. Why do one billion people use WeChat? • MORE WAYS TO CHAT: Message friends using text, photo, voice, video, location sharing, and more. Create group chats with up to 500 members. • VOICE & VIDEO CALLS: High-quality voice and video calls to anywhere in the world. Make group video calls with up to 15 people. • REAL-TIME LOCATION: Not good at explaining directions? Share your real-time location with the tap of a button. • MOMENTS: Never forget your favorite moments. Post photos, videos, and more to share with friends on your personal Moments stream. • STICKER GALLERY: Browse thousands of fun, animated stickers to help express yourself in chats, including stickers with your favorite cartoon and movie characters. • CUSTOM STICKERS: Make chatting more unique with custom stickers and selfie stickers. • OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS: Tons of accounts to follow with original content and news for your reading pleasure. • MINI PROGRAMS: Countless third-party services all within the WeChat app that don't require additional installation, saving you precious phone storage and time. • TOP STORIES: See the latest articles your friends are reading and discover all kinds of interesting content. • GAMES: Have fun and compete with friends in a huge selection of WeChat Mini Games and Tencent Games (available in select regions). • WEIXIN PAY: Enjoy the convenience of world-leading mobile payment features with Weixin Pay and Wallet (available in select regions). • WECHAT OUT: Make calls to mobile phones and landlines around the globe at super low rates (only available in select regions). • WERUN: Use Healthkit and Health app data to sync your step count on WeRun, where you can compete against friends with daily step rankings. Enable WeRun in “Settings” > “General” > “Plug-ins”. • LANGUAGE SUPPORT: Localized in 20+ different languages and can translate friends' messages and Moments posts. • BETTER PRIVACY: Giving you the highest level of control over your privacy, WeChat is certified by TRUSTe - view our privacy policy for more information. • EASY MODE: Clearer and larger text and buttons for better readability.

About

LINE

Connect with friends and family through free voice and video calls, messages, and a wide array of stickers and themes. This communication platform offers a seamless experience across mobile, desktop, and smartwatches, with enhanced privacy features and content discovery options.

Highlights
  • Free voice and video calls
  • Messaging
  • Stickers and emojis
  • Customizable themes
  • Cross-platform compatibility
  • Encrypted messages
  • Keep Memo for storage
Features
Read full description

LINE is transforming the way people communicate, closing the distance between family, friends, and loved ones—for free. With voice and video calls, messages, and a limitless variety of exciting stickers, you’ll be able to express yourself in ways that you never thought possible. Available all around the world on mobile, desktop, and Apple Watch, the LINE platform continues to grow, always offering new services and features that make your life more fun and convenient. ◆ Messages, Voice calls, Video calls. Enjoy voice and video calls and exchanging messages with your LINE friends. ◆ LINE stickers, emojis, and themes Express yourself just the way you want with stickers and emojis. Also, find your favorite themes to customize your LINE app. ◆ Home Gives you easy access to your friends list, birthdays, the sticker shop and various services and contents offered by LINE. ◆ LINE VOOM Available in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand, you can explore even more content that you may like in the "For you" tab. ◆ Seamless connection on mobile, Apple Watch, and desktop Chat anytime and anywhere. Whether you’re on the go or working at the office or remotely, use LINE via your iPhone, Apple Watch, or desktop. ◆ Store your personal information with Keep Memo My own chatroom to temporarily store messages, photos, and videos. ◆ Messages protected with Letter Sealing Letter Sealing encrypts your messages, call history and location information. Always be assured of your privacy when using LINE. *We recommend using a data plan or connecting to Wi-Fi as you may incur data usage fees otherwise. *Please check the recommended specifications from LINE settings > “Help center” > “LINE usage environment/Settings” > "System requirements for LINE” when installing/updating the LINE app. In addition, if you're using an old version of iOS, we recommend updating it to the latest version. ▼Click here to see how to update your iOS version. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204204 ********** If your network speed is too slow or you don't have enough device storage, LINE may not install properly. If this happens, please check your connection and try again. **********

Screenshots

WeChat4 screens
LINE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: WeChat at 3.9 against LINE's 3.2. WeChat also leads on review sentiment (24% vs 14%) and ratings volume (81K vs 18K). LINE's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. WeChat sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and LINE sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WeChat holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 81K and 18K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 24% of WeChat's written reviews are positive against 14% of LINE's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

WeChat ships an update every 3 weeks, LINE every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 3, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
WeChat versus LINE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWeChatLINE
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (81K ratings) — better3.2 (18K ratings)
Positive reviews23.7% of reviews — better14.4% of reviews
Number of ratings81K — better18K
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#20 — better#39
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size922 MB397 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperWeChatLINE Corporation

Customer experience

WeChat

All ratings81,197 ratings
Positive72.4%
Neutral4.6%
Negative22.9%
Written reviews2,106 reviews
Positive23.7%
Neutral6.2%
Negative70.0%

LINE

All ratings18,389 ratings
Positive51.1%
Neutral9.5%
Negative39.4%
Written reviews1,634 reviews
Positive14.4%
Neutral6.4%
Negative79.3%

User reviews

WeChat

From 81K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great all-in-one app
  • 👍 Convenient features like payments and mini-programs
  • 💡 Useful translation and sharing functions
  • 🔒 Secure and private

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Accounts getting blocked for no reason
  • 🔒 Strict security measures and verification requirements
  • 👎 Poor customer support and unresponsive to user issues
  • 🔋 High storage and battery consumption
  • 🤔 Censorship and monitoring concerns

LINE

From 18K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💬 Great messaging app
  • 🎨 Customizable with cute stickers
  • 🌐 Useful for international communication
  • 🔒 Secure and private

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent bugs and glitches
  • 🔑 Difficult account recovery and transfer
  • 🚫 Accounts suspended without explanation
  • 🤖 Poor customer support
  • 🔍 Difficulty adding and searching for contacts

Bugs and requests

WeChat

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent app crashes and connectivity issues
  • Syncing problems between devices
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
  • Unreliable voice/video call quality

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add dark mode option
  • Improve chat organization with folders and pinning
  • Allow editing of posted content
  • Provide better translation and language support
  • Simplify account recovery and unblocking process

LINE

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Unable to log in or sign up
  • Messages not sending or receiving
  • Notifications not working properly
  • App crashing after updates
  • Incompatibility with new devices and OS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • See who is online and typing
  • Ability to translate messages
  • Automatic chat history backup and sync
  • Easier sticker management and organization
  • More ways to earn free stickers and points

In-app purchases

10 purchases

WeChat

One-time10
  • WeChat Out Top-Up Card$0.99
  • 42 WeBeans$0.99
  • WeChat Out Top-Up Card$1.99
Show 7 more
  • 126 WeBeans$2.99
  • WeChat Out Top-Up Card$3.99
  • 350 WeBeans$6.99
  • WeChat Out Top-Up Card$9.99
  • WeChat Out Top-Up Card$14.99
  • 896 WeBeans$19.99
  • 9086 WeBeans$199.99
13 purchases

LINE

Subscriptions2
  • スタンダード1 Month trial$3.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan1 Month trial2 variants$4.991 Month
One-time11
  • 50 LINE Coin$0.99
  • 70 LINE Coin$1.39
  • LINE Characters: All the Love$1.99
Show 8 more
  • Brown & Cony's Secret Date!$1.99
  • Brown & Cony's Lovey Dovey Date$1.99
  • 100 LINE Coin$1.99
  • 150 LINE Coin$2.99
  • 200 LINE Coin$3.99
  • 500 LINE Coin$7.99
  • 800 LINE Coin$11.99
  • 1600 LINE Coin$22.99

Questions

Is WeChat free?
WeChat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LINE free?
LINE is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, WeChat or LINE?
WeChat is rated higher. WeChat averages 3.9 out of 5 from 81K ratings, while LINE averages 3.2 from 18K ratings.
Do WeChat or LINE have ads?
Both WeChat and LINE show ads.
Which is updated more often, WeChat or LINE?
WeChat ships an update every 3 weeks, and LINE every 9 days. Most recently, WeChat was updated on October 3, 2026 and LINE on October 3, 2026.
Which is more popular, WeChat or LINE?
WeChat currently peaks at #20 in the App Store charts, and LINE at #39. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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