Telegram Messenger vs Messages
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Telegram Messenger
A fast, secure, and powerful instant messaging app synced across all devices. It offers unlimited media and file sharing, robust encryption, and extensive group chat capabilities. Enjoy a simple, private, and customizable communication experience.
- Cross-device synchronization
- Unlimited file and media sharing
- End-to-end encrypted secret chats
- Large group chats (up to 200,000 members)
- Customizable themes and stickers
- Bots for task automation
- Photo and video editing tools
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Pure instant messaging — simple, fast, secure, and synced across all your devices. One of the top 5 most downloaded apps in the world with over 1 billion active users. FAST: Telegram is the fastest messaging app on the market, connecting people via a unique, distributed network of data centers around the globe. SYNCED: You can access your messages from all your phones, tablets and computers at once. Telegram apps are standalone, so you don’t need to keep your phone connected. Start typing on one device and finish the message from another. Never lose your data again. UNLIMITED: You can send media and files, without any limits on their type and size. Your entire chat history will require no disk space on your device, and will be securely stored in the Telegram cloud for as long as you need it. SECURE: We made it our mission to provide the best security combined with ease of use. Everything on Telegram, including chats, groups, media, etc. is encrypted using a combination of 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, and Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange. 100% FREE & OPEN: Telegram has a fully documented and free API for developers, open source apps and verifiable builds to prove the app you download is built from the exact same source code that is published. POWERFUL: You can create group chats with up to 200,000 members, share large videos, documents of any type (.DOCX, .MP3, .ZIP, etc.) up to 2 GB each, and even set up bots for specific tasks. Telegram is the perfect tool for hosting online communities and coordinating teamwork. RELIABLE: Built to deliver your messages using as little data as possible, Telegram is the most reliable messaging system ever made. It works even on the weakest mobile connections. FUN: Telegram has powerful photo and video editing tools, animated stickers and emoji, fully customizable themes to change the appearance of your app, and an open sticker/GIF platform to cater to all your expressive needs. SIMPLE: While providing an unprecedented array of features, we take great care to keep the interface clean. Telegram is so simple you already know how to use it. PRIVATE: We take your privacy seriously and will never give any third parties access to your data. You can delete any message you ever sent or received for both sides, at any time and without a trace. Telegram will never use your data to show you ads. For those interested in maximum privacy, Telegram offers Secret Chats. Secret Chat messages can be programmed to self-destruct automatically from both participating devices. This way you can send all types of disappearing content — messages, photos, videos, and even files. Secret Chats use End-to-End Encryption to ensure that a message can only be read by its intended recipient. We keep expanding the boundaries of what you can do with a messaging app. Don’t wait years for older messengers to catch up with Telegram — join the revolution today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Messages
Communicate with contacts through unlimited texts, photos, videos, and documents. Supports iMessage for Apple devices and RCS, SMS, and MMS for others. Features include message editing, unsending, and scheduling.
- Send unlimited texts, photos, videos, and documents
- iMessage, RCS, SMS, and MMS support
- Edit and unsend messages
- Schedule messages
- Message effects and stickers
- Group chat features
- Messages in iCloud
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Stay connected to the people and conversations that matter most. Send unlimited texts, photos, videos, documents, and more to any iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, or visionOS device with iMessage, or use it to send RCS, SMS, and MMS messages. Features • Send texts, photos, videos, audio messages, documents, stickers, Memoji, polls, and more to contacts using their phone number or Apple Account. • Send Messages via satellite* to stay connected with friends and family even when you are without cellular or Wi-Fi connection. • Automatically translate incoming texts, including group messages.* • On-device spam detection filters out spam from your conversations list. • Opt-in to screen messages from unknown numbers. • Tapback with any emoji or sticker for a quick reply to express what you think about a message. • Add effects to your messages like animated text effects, full-screen effects, and bubble effects to bring your conversations to life. • Schedule a message to send at a specified time with Send Later. • Your name and photo, or even Memoji, can be shared with your friends. • Edit any message for up to 15 minutes after sending it. Recipients will be able to see a record of edits made to the message. • Unsend any message for up to 2 minutes after sending it. • Mark as unread when you don’t have time to respond but want to be sure to reply to the sender later. • Name a group and add a photo to personalize the group conversation. • Mentions let you direct a message to an individual in a group conversation. • Inline replies let you reply to a specific message and see all related messages in their own view. • Pin conversations to keep up to nine of your favorite message threads at the top of the list. • iMessage apps let you quickly share photos, recently played music, stickers, GIFs, Apple Cash*, and more right from Messages. • Start a Check In with a family member or friend to let them know when you’ve arrived at a destination or set up a Check In for a time duration. • Use Messages in iCloud to keep your entire message history updated and available on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, even when you set up a brand-new device. • SharePlay via Messages lets you share synchronized activities like movies, music, workouts, games and more while chatting with friends in Messages. • Shared with You shows content sent to you by friends in Messages conversations in a section in Photos, Safari, News*, Music*, Podcasts, or the TV app* • Collaboration lets you invite others to collaborate on a file via Messages and shares activity updates in the thread when someone makes an edit to a shared project. Apple Watch Features • Quickly read and respond to incoming messages. • Use smart replies, dictation, audio messages, stickers, #images*, Memoji, polls, or the QWERTY keyboard (Apple Watch Series 7 or later models). • Automatically translate incoming texts, including group messages.* • Start a Check In with a family member or friend to let them know when you’ve arrived at a destination or set up a Check In for a time duration. • Pin conversations to keep your favorite message threads at the top of the list. • Save photos, audio messages and videos from your messages. • Ask Siri to send a message to your contacts. • Respond to a specific message inline to keep conversations organized. • Send, receive, and request money with Apple Pay*. • Mute or delete conversations. * Not available in all regions.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Messages at none against Telegram Messenger's 22. Messages also leads on review sentiment (45% vs 34%) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). Telegram Messenger's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 9 months) and chart position (#4 vs unranked). On price, rating, ads 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. Telegram Messenger sells 19 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Messages asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for Telegram Messenger against 4.1 for Messages. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Telegram Messenger has 282K ratings behind it against 38K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 34% of Telegram Messenger's written reviews are positive against 45% of Messages's.
Telegram Messenger ships an update fortnightly, Messages every 9 months. Both last shipped on October 19, 2026.
| Parameter | Telegram Messenger | Messages |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (282K ratings) | 4.1 (38K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 34.2% of reviews | 45.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 282K — better | 38K |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #4 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 244 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Telegram FZ-LLC | Apple |
Customer experience
Telegram Messenger
Messages
User reviews
Telegram Messenger
From 282K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and efficient
- 🔒 Secure and private
- 👍 Customizable and user-friendly
- 💡 Innovative features like channels and bots
- 🌟 Great overall messaging experience
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and unstable at times
- 🔋 Battery life issues
- 🚫 Lack of video calling feature
- 📂 Issues with media uploads and downloads
- 🔍 Inadequate search functionality
Messages
From 38K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and reliable messaging
- 🔒 End-to-end encryption
- 👍 Seamless integration with Apple devices
- 💡 Fun features like Memoji and stickers
- 🤝 Easy group chat management
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 🔍 Limited search functionality
- 📤 Inability to delete messages for others
- 🔔 Lack of typing indicators in group chats
- 📱 Incompatibility with non-Apple devices
Bugs and requests
Telegram Messenger
Reported bugs
5 issues- Keyboard issues and cursor placement problems
- Frequent app crashes, especially in large group chats
- Inaccurate 'last seen' timestamps
- Notification issues and duplicate messages
- Problems with media auto-save and download
Requested features
5 requests- Add video calling feature
- Improve search capabilities
- Implement a story/status feature
- Allow more customization options
- Segregate channels, bots, and individual chats
Messages
Reported bugs
4 issues- Messages not delivering consistently
- App crashing or freezing on launch
- Issues with iCloud sync and message history
- Problems with location sharing and privacy
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to schedule messages
- Option to lock specific conversations
- More customization options for Memoji
- Improved voice message functionality
- Expanded reaction/emoji options
In-app purchases
Telegram Messenger
- Telegram Premium$4.991 Month
- Telegram Premium Annual$35.991 Year
- 50 Telegram Stars$0.99
- 1x Telegram Premium (One Week)$1.19
- 100 Telegram Stars$1.99
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- 250 Telegram Stars$5.09
- 500 Telegram Stars$9.99
- Telegram Premium (3 Months)$14.99
- 750 Telegram Stars$14.99
- Telegram Premium (6 Months)$19.99
- 1x Premium (6 Months)$19.99
- 1000 Telegram Stars$19.99
- 1500 Telegram Stars$29.99
- Telegram Premium (1 Year)$35.99
- 1x Premium (1 Year)$35.99
- 2500 Telegram Stars$50.90
- 5x Premium (3 Months Each)$74.99
- 10x Premium (3 Months Each)$149.99
- 5x Premium (1 Year Each)$179.99
Messages
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Telegram Messenger free?
Is Messages free?
Which has better reviews, Telegram Messenger or Messages?
Do Telegram Messenger or Messages have ads?
Which is updated more often, Telegram Messenger or Messages?
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