Comparison

Messenger vs Threads

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Threads

Connect and share your thoughts on a platform designed for conversation. Discover trending topics, join communities based on your interests, and engage in discussions through text, images, and polls. You can also control your experience with privacy settings and direct messaging.

Highlights
  • Start conversations with text, images, polls, and more
  • Join discussions through replies
  • Stay updated on trending topics
  • Control content visibility and replies
  • Discover communities and creators
  • Private 1:1 and group direct messaging
Features
Read full description

Discover new perspectives and connect through conversation on Threads. See what people are talking about right now—from niche interests to big moments. With communities, you can find people who also care about your interests on Threads. Reply, listen, share or just follow along. Here’s what you can do on Threads: ■ Start a thread, share your take Have something on your mind? Take it to Threads. Share a thought, ask a question or open up a conversation. There’s more than one way to kick things off with text, images, polls, ghost posts and more. ■ Jump into replies Jump into the discussion, react to new ideas or just see where the conversation goes. Every thread is an invitation to join in. ■ Keep up with what’s trending From live scores to breaking moments, Threads helps you stay close to what’s happening —and join the conversation when you’ve got something to say. ■ Control the content you see Control who can reply to you, mention you or see your posts. Use Hidden Words to filter out posts and replies that include words or phrases you don’t want to see—so your experience stays on your terms. ■ Go deep on your interests Follow friends, creators and communities for every interest. Threads is built to help you discover new voices and join conversations—starting with the communities you care about most. ■ Connect over chat Keep the conversation going privately with 1:1 and group DMs. When a public thread gets more personal, move it to your inbox to go deeper or share it with a smaller group. Meta Terms: https://www.facebook.com/terms.php Meta Privacy Policy: https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy Threads Supplemental Privacy Policy: https://help.instagram.com/515230437301944 Threads Supplemental Terms: https://help.instagram.com/769983657850450 Instagram Community Guidelines: https://help.instagram.com/477434105621119 Consumer Health Privacy Policy: https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policies/health Learn how we're working to help keep our communities safe across Meta technologies at the Meta Safety Center: https://about.meta.com/actions/safety

Screenshots

Messenger4 screens
Threads4 screens

Verdict

The call

Messenger and Threads both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 66% of Messenger's written reviews are positive against 52% of Threads's. Messenger also leads on ratings volume (14M vs 2.2M) and device support (3 vs 1). Threads's advantage is chart position (#1 vs #8). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Messenger sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Threads sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Messenger against 4.6 for Threads. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Messenger has 14M ratings behind it against 2.2M, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of Messenger's written reviews are positive against 52% of Threads's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on September 27, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Messenger versus Threads: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMessengerThreads
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (14M ratings) — better4.6 (2.2M ratings)
Positive reviews66.2% of reviews — better51.7% of reviews
Number of ratings14M — better2.2M
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#8#1 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.3
Further details — not scored
Size255 MB221 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperMeta Platforms, Inc.Instagram, Inc.

Customer experience

Messenger

All ratings13,628,351 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral3.1%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews12,456 reviews
Positive66.2%
Neutral5.6%
Negative28.2%

Threads

All ratings2,247,152 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral3.6%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews7,848 reviews
Positive51.7%
Neutral6.3%
Negative41.9%

User reviews

Messenger

From 14M App Store ratings

What 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

Threads

From 2.2M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Clean and simple interface
  • 🚀 Smooth performance
  • 💡 Integrated with Instagram
  • 🤝 Sense of community
  • 😊 Positive and friendly environment

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🤖 Too many suggested/random posts
  • 🔍 Lacking search and discovery features
  • 🔀 Difficulty switching between accounts
  • 📱 No iPad app

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

Threads

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Inability to post or comment
  • Disappearing posts and replies
  • Inconsistent account linking with Instagram

Requested features

5 requests
  • Chronological feed option
  • Hashtag and keyword search
  • Trending topics section
  • Bookmarking/saving posts
  • Direct messaging functionality

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Messenger

One-time10
  • Avatar Item$0.99
  • Avatar Item$1.99
  • Avatar Item$2.99
Show 7 more
  • 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
12 purchases

Threads

Subscriptions12
  • No Ads Multi Tier3 variants$0.991 Month
  • No Ads Multi Tier2 variants$1.991 Month
  • No Ads Multi Tier3 variants$2.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • No Ads Multi Tier4 variants$3.991 Month
  • No ads (1 account)2 variants$7.991 Month
  • No ads (2 accounts)5 variants$12.991 Month
  • No ads (3 accounts)2 variants$17.991 Month
  • No ads (4 accounts)5 variants$21.991 Month
  • No ads (4 accounts)$22.991 Month
  • No ads (5 accounts)2 variants$26.991 Month
  • No ads (7 accounts)$37.991 Month
  • No ads (8 accounts)$42.991 Month

Questions

Is Messenger free?
Messenger is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Threads free?
Threads is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Messenger or Threads?
Messenger is rated higher. Messenger averages 4.7 out of 5 from 14M ratings, while Threads averages 4.6 from 2.2M ratings.
Do Messenger or Threads have ads?
Both Messenger and Threads show ads.
Which is updated more often, Messenger or Threads?
Messenger ships an update weekly, and Threads weekly. Most recently, Messenger was updated on September 27, 2026 and Threads on September 27, 2026.
Which is more popular, Messenger or Threads?
Messenger currently peaks at #8 in the App Store charts, and Threads at #1. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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