Menu

New data from Techgaged.com shows ChatGPT reached over 900 million downloads in the first 11 months of 2025, 200 million more than TikTok and 380 million ahead of Instagram. This makes ChatGPT the number one app globally in terms of downloads.

For years, social media giants TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook have claimed the top spots in the global ranking of the most-downloaded apps, leaving a major gap between them and the rest of the market. But in just two and a half years, ChatGPT has not only climbed into that elite group but also taken the lead as the world's most downloaded app. 

“As the pioneer in the AI space, ChatGPT has been a driving force behind turning generative AI into a multi-billion-dollar business from day one,” Techgaged.com said in a statement it sent to Financial Nigeria. “Two and a half years later, OpenAI's poster child remains the biggest and most influential player in the market, with competitors still struggling to catch up. However, ChatGPT's global success can now be measured far beyond its primary market. According to AppMagic data, ChatGPT's downloads soared in 2025, making it the most-downloaded app globally, and leaving competitors far behind.” 

Between January and November, ChatGPT was downloaded about 902 million times, nearly three times the number of downloads in the entire last year and almost seven times more than in its launch year, 2023. The 2025 figure was driven by a surge in downloads during Q2 and Q3, especially in April, July, and August, when monthly installs topped 100 million. Since its launch, ChatGPT has reached 1.36 billion cumulative downloads.

TikTok is the second-most-downloaded app in 2025, hitting 703 million downloads between January and November, according to the AppMagic list. Instagram recorded 521.6 million downloads in the 11-month period. Facebook, WhatsApp, and Temu rounded up the top five, each hitting between 404 million and 444 million downloads, while Google Gemini was the only other AI app in the top ten, boasting 392 million installs in this period. 

“ChatGPT has achieved what no other app outside the major social media giants ever has: it didn’t just catch up to TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook – it surpassed them,” says Jastra Kranjec, TechGaged Research Analyst. “Becoming the world’s most-downloaded app in such a short time marks a historic turning point in the tech landscape and shows just how rapidly generative AI has become a mainstream phenomenon.” 

ChatGPT’s share of the global AI chatbot market reached 81.8% in November, according to a previous report by TechGaged. 

“While younger players like DeepSeek and Perplexity have shaken up the AI chatbot market and pushed OpenAI to roll out more frequent updates, ChatGPT remains the top choice for most people using generative AI daily,” TechGaged concludes.