Messenger vs FaceTime
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Messenger
Connect with friends and family through text, audio, and video calls. Share photos, videos, and large files, and express yourself with custom themes and animated content. Features an AI assistant for help and support.
- Text, audio, and video calls
- High-definition photo sharing
- Shared photo albums
- QR code connections
- Large file sharing (up to 100MB)
- Edit and unsend messages
- Disappearing messages
- AI assistant
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Messenger is a free messaging app that helps you connect with anyone, anywhere. Stay in touch with your friends and family, explore your interests with people like you, build your community, and share your vibe beyond words, all in one app. CHAT AND CALL ANYONE, ANYWHERE Find and connect with your friends and family on Facebook and Messenger, no phone number needed. GET INSTANT ANSWERS FROM YOUR AI ASSISTANT* Meta AI is your assistant that can answer any questions, give you advice, help with homework, and more. SEND YOUR PHOTOS IN HIGH DEFINITION Send and receive clearer, crisper picture of your favorite moments with Messenger. CREATE SHARED ALBUMS From a recent summer vacation to your grandma’s 80th birthday, create albums of photos and videos to share, organize and reminisce over important moments in your group chats. EASILY ADD NEW CONNECTIONS WITH QR CODES Connect with people you meet in real life by scanning their Messenger QR code or sharing yours via a link. SHARE LARGE FILES DIRECTLY IN CHAT Whether it’s a Word, PDF, or Excel doc, you can send large files up to 100MB right inside of Messenger. EDIT AND UNSEND MESSAGES Hit send too soon? You can edit the message up to 15 minutes after sending DISAPPEARING MESSAGES Some things aren’t meant to last forever. Choose how long your end-to-end encrypted chats stick around after they’ve been read. COME TOGETHER WITH YOUR COMMUNITIES Meaningfully connect with people like you from your school, neighborhood, and interest groups. GET IN YOUR FAVORITE CREATORS’ INNER CIRCLE Stay in the know with creators by joining their broadcast channels for authentic and casual content. UNLEASH YOUR IMAGINATION W/ META AI* Tap into your go-to creative partner to create, edit, animate images and more. CAPTURE EVERYDAY MOMENTS ON STORIES Highlight moments of your day using photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours in Stories. DROP A NOTE WITH YOUR THOUGHTS Stay connected with your friends by sharing quick updates that disappear after 24 hours. BRING YOUR VIBE TO YOUR CHATS Sometimes words just don’t cut it. Tap into more ways to express yourself with animated stickers, GIFs, reactions and more. SET THE MOOD OF YOUR CHAT WITH THEMES Customize your chat with a large and constantly evolving list of themes featuring popular artists, holidays, and more. *Meta AI is available in select languages and countries only, with more coming soon.
FaceTime
Connect with loved ones through high-quality audio and video calls. Share experiences like watching videos or listening to music together, collaborate on projects, and enhance your calls with fun effects and improved audio quality. Easily invite anyone to join, regardless of their device.
- Video and audio messaging
- SharePlay for synced media
- Screen sharing with remote control
- Real-time document collaboration
- Web link invitations for non-Apple users
- Advanced mic modes and video effects
- Seamless call handoff between devices
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Connect with family and friends around the world with FaceTime audio and video calls. FaceTime Messages When someone doesn’t pick up your FaceTime call, leave them a video or audio message to capture exactly what you want to say. SharePlay Watch videos and listen to music together with SharePlay. Synced playback and shared controls keep everyone on the same beat, and smart volume makes it easy to keep the conversation going over FaceTime while enjoying a video or song you love. Screen sharing Share your iPhone, iPad or Mac screen to bring your favorite apps into FaceTime. When someone is screen sharing, you can tap and draw on your screen to point out what they should do on theirs. If you need to assist more directly, you can ask for permission to remotely control their device. Collaboration Work on documents, presentations and more with the people on your call. Unknown Callers list Screened calls from unknown numbers are placed in a new area of your call list and out of your way. FaceTime links Invite your friends into a FaceTime call using a web link you can share anywhere. Even friends who don’t have an Apple device can join the call from their browser instantly — no login necessary. Mic Modes Automatic Mic Mode picks the right Mic Mode for you. Voice Isolation blocks out ambient noise and spotlights your voice. Wide Spectrum will leave ambient noises unfiltered, allowing your voice and all the sounds around you to be heard. Portrait mode & Studio Light Portrait mode blurs your background, while Studio Light dims the background and brightens your face. Reactions & gestures Layer screen effects directly into your camera feed, like balloons, confetti, stormy rain, fireworks, or laser beams. Double tap anywhere on the screen to bring up the reaction buttons, or trigger reactions using hand gestures. Contact Posters Create a customized poster to represent yourself when you give people a FaceTime Audio call. Choose from various treatments for photos, Memoji and your name. Spatial audio With spatial audio, your friends’ voices are spread out to sound like they’re coming from the direction in which they’re positioned on the call. Grid view Grid view lets you see people in your Group FaceTime calls in the same-size tiles, and highlights the current speaker so it’s easy to know who’s talking. Center Stage Center Stage uses machine learning to adjust the front-facing Ultra Wide camera during FaceTime video calls to help keep you and anyone else with you in the frame. Handoff in FaceTime Move FaceTime calls seamlessly from your iPhone to your Mac or iPad, and vice versa. When you hand off a call, your connected Bluetooth headset transitions to the new device simultaneously. Handoff to FaceTime on Apple TV 4K Connect with family and friends around the world from the comfort of your couch. Launch the FaceTime app on Apple TV to initiate a call or start on iPhone and handoff to Apple TV. Get everyone together Enjoy Group FaceTime calls with up to 32 people at once. Live Captions in FaceTime See automatically transcribed dialogue integrated into your FaceTime video calls. With speaker attribution, it's easy to follow along with group conversations. Flexible calling Reach contacts using their phone number or Apple Account. FaceTime works over Wi-Fi and cellular. Dual Capture on FaceTime Stream your front and rear cameras at the same time during one-on-one FaceTime calls—great for sharing what you’re looking at while staying face to face. (Available on iPhone Air and iPhone 17 models)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Messenger at 4.7 against FaceTime's 4.2. Messenger also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months) and review sentiment (66% vs 40%). FaceTime's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On price and device support 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
Both are free to download. Messenger sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. FaceTime asks for nothing beyond the download.
Messenger holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Messenger has 14M ratings behind it against 27K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Messenger's written reviews are positive against 40% of FaceTime's.
Messenger ships an update weekly, FaceTime every 6 months. Both last shipped on October 13, 2026.
| Parameter | Messenger | FaceTime |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (14M ratings) — better | 4.2 (27K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 65.9% of reviews — better | 40.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14M — better | 27K |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #8 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 261 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Apple Canada, Inc. |
Customer experience
Messenger
FaceTime
User reviews
Messenger
From 14M App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📱 Useful for staying connected with friends and family
- 🗣️ Enables easy communication through text, voice, and video
- 💬 Convenient group chat features
- 🌐 Works across multiple devices and platforms
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔒 Privacy and security concerns
- 🔄 Unnecessary updates that remove useful features
- 📤 Issues with message delivery and notifications
- 🗂️ Cluttered interface and poor organization of chats
FaceTime
From 27K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💕 Seamless and reliable video calling
- 🔍 Excellent audio and video quality
- 🤝 Great for staying connected with friends and family
- 🎨 Fun features like Animoji and Memoji
- 🌐 Compatibility with non-Apple devices
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent call drops and connection issues
- 🔇 Audio cutting out or not working
- 🔍 Blurry or low-quality video
- 🤯 Confusing UI changes and button placements
- 🔋 Phone overheating during calls
Bugs and requests
Messenger
Reported bugs
4 issues- Unable to log in or access account
- Messages failing to send or receive
- Unexpected app crashes and freezes
- Syncing issues between devices
Requested features
4 requests- Add option to delete or unsend messages
- Improve search functionality for chat history
- Introduce customizable notification settings
- Bring back old features like emoji reactions and location sharing
FaceTime
Reported bugs
5 issues- Calls not connecting or dropping unexpectedly
- Inability to mute or unmute during calls
- Duplicate participants in group calls
- Screen sharing not working as expected
- Automatic call receiving with speaker on
Requested features
5 requests- Add filters and fun effects
- Improve screen sharing functionality
- Implement a video voicemail feature
- Allow mirroring of asymmetric faces
- Provide an option to permanently display the camera button
In-app purchases
Messenger
- Avatar Item$0.99
- Avatar Item$1.99
- Avatar Item$2.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Avatar Item$3.99
- Avatar Item$4.99
- Avatar Item$6.99
- Avatar Item$7.99
- Avatar Item$8.99
- Avatar Item$9.99
- Avatar Item$10.99
FaceTime
No in-app purchases







