Today we will analyze the differences between Telegram and WhatsApp, the two great instant messaging applications. In this Telegram vs WhatsApp comparison, we will analyze the most important points that every user should consider when choosing one application or another.
Telegram vs WhatsApp: which is better?
Telegram and WhatsApp have sparked countless lawsuits since Telegram’s inception. And this is because the free application has many lovers and detractors as if it were a fight between Apple or Samsung fanboys.
Although each one has its advantages, we do not have to uninstall one application and keep the other. Both can live perfectly in our application drawer. And it is that we do not have to make us sign a contract to stop using the one that is “worse,” or anything to the contrary.
Moreover, using both benefits the market since there will be healthy competition where the only beneficiary is the user among the services. And if you don’t think about it, WhatsApp has improved a lot since Telegram has arrived and has become popular. And it is that the fact that WhatsApp arrived with functions that WhatsApp had not even thought about means that it gradually ends up including them and even incorporates others that Telegram does not yet have.
WhatsApp Computer ClientWhatsApp is not a cross-platform application. And it is that at first it was not designed for that. So, very unlikely it will ever be. The bases on which WhatsApp is founded do not allow it. A very large rebuild would have to be done for this to happen. And that to this day, Facebook, the company behind WhatsApp, I think does not even consider it.
That is why the WhatsApp developers have devised a method where “everyone wins.” And it is not a client itself, but rather a web application that depends on our mobile phone to receive/send messages. If our mobile fails, we will not be able to use the computer client.
Telegram
On the other hand, Telegram does have a true multiplatform client. It was designed like this from the beginning and that was one of the great innovations that made it grow. No other messaging app so far has been cross-platform. We may well be in a smart car, on a smartphone, tablet, PC, iPad or Mac that our Telegram will be there with us.
And it is that we not only have native applications in each of the operating systems -both mobile and computer- most famous worldwide, but we also have a very good application. And it is that the web behaves as if it were an application. It works well. Maybe we will see the calls one day on Telegram, but there is no news.
Winner: Telegram, as it has a computer client compatible with all operating systems.
Loser: WhatsApp, since it does not have a computer client, just a web application.
Security
While it is true that Telegram stood out for its security, now it no longer does. And it is that Telegram and WhatsApp uses the same security protocol at the server level. They encrypt messages and can only be read from the recipient’s client and the sender’s. So this aspect is left in tables: win-win. Although, yes, Telegram included it from the beginning.
It is also true that Telegram has other functions such that, for example, someone we do not have added cannot add us to a group. But we will leave these aspects aside.
Winner: both.
Calls and Video Calls
WhatsApp is the only application of both that has both video calls and normal calls. Both works through data -or Wi-Fi- and have decent quality, although this can vary a lot depending on the Wi-Fi connection we use. But, in general, the quality is usually good.
The calls on WhatsApp came a long time ago – a year – but it is true that the video calls have just arrived a month ago and are still being tested.
Telegram, as we already anticipated, does not have calls or video calls. Some say that this is a point in favor because the application is lighter and because WhatsApp calls do not work well. Still, we are going to consider it a negative point for Telegram because objectively, it is.
Winner: WhatsApp does have calls and video calls.
Loser: Telegram does not own either service.
Number of users
WhatsApp has 700 million active users per month, while Telegram has only 100 million. We say only because despite being an exaggeratedly large amount, it is nothing compared to the figures that WhatsApp handles. Although Telegram has improved a lot in terms of user volume, it has not yet reached WhatsApp.
Unfortunately, this is one of Telegram’s big setbacks. And the thing is that everyone wonders why they are going to install it if nobody uses it. And is that if we follow that premise, no one will install it. Luckily the number of users goes up daily.
Winner: WhatsApp, as it has 700 million monthly active users.
Loser: Telegram, as it has only 100 million active users per month.
Group capacity
WhatsApp was updated a while ago to host 256 users per group. But it is that Telegram was doing it around those same dates to create a group of up to 5,000 members. Amazing, right? And it is that until that moment, only 200 could be made, while in WhatsApp, we could make groups of up to 50 people maximum.
Winner: Telegram, with groups of up to 5,000 people.
Loser: WhatsApp, with groups of up to 256 people.
Broadcasting of messages
Telegram owns the channels, something like a group but where only administrators can speak. This serves to spread messages, images or whatever we want. It is something very similar to a newsletter. They can be both private and public.
On the other hand, WhatsApp has always had the same diffusion method: we select the contacts to whom we want to send the message and we send it.
Winner: Telegram, because it has channels.
Loser: WhatsApp, because it only has diffusion.
Medium
WhatsApp has email support. It is very good, as a general rule they solve any doubts we have and are very kind. The bad part is that the support is exclusively in English, so if we know the Saxon language, we will not communicate with them.
Telegram has much more complex support at the logistical level. They have many people behind the support and in many languages. So we can get in touch with them almost at any time, anywhere in the world and in the language that suits us best. We can do it through your application, email or Twitter.
Winner: Telegram, as it has a more complex support.
Loser: WhatsApp, as its support is in English and only by mail.
Secret chats
Telegram allows the option of creating a secret chat as long as we are on a mobile phone. And it is that it cannot be done from the computer. But at least we can. And that is for a very simple reason: if we were on a computer, we could take a screenshot, for example, or copy the text.
So it wouldn’t be secret. On the other hand, the text cannot be copied on the mobile, and if we take a screenshot, the other person will know.
Winner: Telegram, since it allows secret chats.
Loser: WhatsApp, as it does not have secret chats.
Upgrades
Let’s say that Telegram, being open-source, sends almost daily updates of its service. It can be annoying, but we won’t even know about it if we mute the updates. In this way, Telegram solves problems quickly and little time passes from when it is seen until corrected. WhatsApp, on the other hand, does not have such frequent updates.
Winner: Telegram, as it updates almost daily.
Loser: WhatsApp, as it updates less frequently.
As we can see, the winner is clearly, with 7 points in its favor, Telegram on WhatsApp. Meanwhile, WhatsApp on Telegram only presents 3 points in green in its favor. Although, unfortunately, one of the points against Telegram weighs a lot: having 7 times fewer users.
And it is that whenever we compare Telegram with WhatsApp, the same topics always come out: the number of users. So, even though Telegram is better than WhatsApp, WhatsApp is above Telegram at the user level.
