Is Telegram better than WhatsApp?
What is Telegram?
Telegram is a freeware, cross-platform, cloud-based instant messaging (IM) service. The service also provides end-to-end encrypted video calling, VoIP, file sharing and several other features.
It was launched for iOS on 14 August 2013 and Android in October 2013. The servers of Telegram are distributed worldwide to decrease frequent data load with five data centers in different regions, while the operational center is based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Various client apps are available for desktop and mobile platforms including official apps for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux (although registration requires an iOS or Android device and a working phone number).
There are also two official Telegram web twin apps – WebK and WebZ – and numerous unofficial clients that make use of Telegram’s protocol. All of Telegram’s official components are open source, with the exception of the server which is closed-sourced and proprietary.
Telegram provides end-to-end encrypted voice and video calls and optional end-to-end encrypted “secret” chats. Cloud chats and groups are encrypted between the app and the server, so that ISPs and other third-parties on the network can’t access data, but the Telegram server can. Users can send text and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share an unlimited number of images, documents (2 GB per file), user locations, animated stickers, contacts, and audio files. In January 2021, Telegram surpassed 500 million monthly active users.
It was the most downloaded app worldwide in January 2021 with 1 billion downloads globally as of late August 2021.
How to Use Telegram?
What is WhatsApp?
WhatsApp Messenger, or simply WhatsApp, is an American freeware, cross-platform centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by Meta Platforms.
It allows users to send text messages and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content.
WhatsApp‘s client application runs on mobile devices but is also accessible from desktop computers, as long as the user’s mobile device remains connected to the Internet while they use the desktop app.
The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up.
In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app targeted at small business owners, called WhatsApp Business, to allow companies to communicate with customers who use the standard WhatsApp client.
The client application was created by WhatsApp Inc. of Mountain View, California, which was acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for approximately US$19.3 billion.
It became the world’s most popular messaging application by 2015,[ and had over 2 billion users worldwide by February 2020.
By 2016 it had become the primary means of Internet communication in regions including Latin America, the Indian subcontinent, and large parts of Europe and Africa.
Telegram is an online messaging app that works just like popular messaging apps WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. This means that you can use it to send messages to your friends when connected to Wi-Fi or your mobile data.
Telegram Chats Aren’t End-to-End Encrypted by Default. Telegram does encrypt your messages as they travel between your device and the Telegram server, but these messages sit on the server so you can access them from multiple devices. A breach of Telegram’s servers could thus result in your messages being exposed.
Telegram does offer a level of security and protection to its users. However, while end-to-end encryption is offered by default for every chat on WhatsApp and Signal, it is only provided for secret chats on Telegram. Telegram’s secret chat option can also only be held between two people and group chats are excluded.
What’s the difference between Telegram and WhatsApp?
How is Telegram better than Whatsapp?
Unlimited server storage
Telegram provides unlimited storage. This means all your text messages, images media files & documents will be saved on their cloud. You can log out and log in any number of times from any number of devices simultaneously without losing any data, you don’t need to worry about backup & restore. You can view the active sessions and see on which devices are you logged in now. Thereby you can download any file any time anywhere.
As of today, we can upload a single file of max size up to 2GB. There is no cap on the total number of files that can be uploaded.
Media compression
Users can choose whether to compress the image and video or send the uncompressed version.
For example, you can send a raw jpeg image either it as raw or compressed. If you want to preserve the quality as such then choose the option send it without compression.
Group member number capacity
As of today, a telegram group can afford a maximum of 200,000 members. For WhatsApp 256 is the maximum member capacity in a group.
Username feature
You can communicate with anyone on telegram even if you don’t have the contact number of others. This ensures the privacy of the user’s contact number. You can continue to send messages in a group without revealing your phone number. I read somewhere that WhatsApp is now(2021 Jan) planning to bring that feature soon.
Channels
A channel is somewhat similar to groups, which can accommodate an unlimited number of members. The creator of the channel can decide who can post and other members can view the posts.
Multi-platform support
Telegram is available for Android, ios, windows phone, windows pc, Mac os, Linux OS, and even through any browser.
Secret chat
Secret chat is a kind of end to end encrypted chat in which one can set self-destruct timer. The messages will be automatically deleted when the timer hits. It is possibly not able to hack in any way.
Bots
It is a piece of program which is based on AI and machine learning at a small level. It can perform various tasks. For example, an image bot can fetch images from the name.
There are multiple types of bots. Popular bots are Image bot, sticker bot, gif bot.
Voice calls & Video calls
The latest version of telegram supports both voice & video calls which was missing for a long time compared to WhatsApp. The user experience of this feature in both platforms is almost thesame. There is no significant difference.
Sends any kind of file
Users can send any kind of file through Telegram. WhatsApp limits video, images & document type files which is very difficult for a good number of users.
Multiple sessions
Users on telegram can log in on multiple devices at the same time and able to receive messages on all devices.
They can remember their sessions on even browsers too. This is a cool feature.
You can keep messages in the draft as well. Suppose you are trying to send a message to another user. You typed a long paragraph and you decided to send it later. The draft message will be synced to all your devices and you can send it from another device.
Pros of Whatsapp
End to end encryption everywhere
WhatsApp uses end to end encryption everywhere. Telegram uses it only for secret chat.
More number of users are there in WhatsApp
WhatsApp has more users than telegram.
As per my experience, Telegram is far better than WhatsApp, many features and great updates regularly. so I prefer it more than WhatsApp.
WhatsApp vs Telegram feature by feature comparison
Popular chat apps, WhatsApp vs Telegram have had a bromance that goes back to Telegram’s founding in 2013. Starting out as a harmless WhatsApp clone, Telegram soon established itself as a contender for the top spot. Unfortunately, it was too little too late.
Telegram, a gatecrasher, too late to the mass adoption party has since then lagged much further behind. By then, WhatsApp had already entrenched itself in our everyday lives, that we would be hardpressed to remember a time without it.
WhatsApp vs Telegram: Users + Monetization
Back in 2014, WhatsApp was yet to crack the monetization formula when Facebook swooped in and bought it for a staggering $19 Billion. Three years down the road and the winning formula is yet to be cracked. Same goes for Telegram which remains a force to be reckoned with. WhatsApp’s 1 billion users make up 1 in every 7 people on the globe. Buoyed by Facebook limitless resources, WhatsApp can choose to play the long game as they figure out a way to milk their users.
As for Telegram, the 100+ million users are merely a drop in the ocean. However, Telegram has shown, time and again, that it can come up with novel ways to please their cult following. Many features that WhatsApp users enjoy have been commonplace on Telegram for a while now. With the maturation of Telegram Bots, it’s only a matter of time before Telegram figures out how to monetize.
WhatsApp vs Telegram features
At the baseline, most chat apps serve the same purpose. They should be able to send and receive messages, and media so as to foster communication. Add the internet to the mix and this communication transcends geographical borders.
It’s considered fair game and actual standard practice in the industry to copy features from other apps. When you look at WhatsApp vs Telegram, both have unabashedly done their fair share of this. However, at some point, certain features come to embody the personality of an app. Have a look at Telegram’s underlying blue theme, and contrast it with WhatsApp’s deep green. The aim of our post isn’t to talk about such cosmetics. Let’s have a look at the inherent features that make up these apps.
| WhatsApp vs Telegram: Features Comparison | Telegram | |
| Bots | NO | YES |
| Cloud sync | YES~ Requires active internet on phone | YES |
| Edit Sent Messages | NO | YES~ Up to 48 hours |
| End-to-End Encryption | YES~ by Default | YES~ via Secret Chats |
| File Sending (any format) | Up to 100 MB | Up to 1.5 GB |
| GIFs | YES | YES |
| Image Compression | YES | YES |
| Image Editor | YES | YES |
| In-App Browser | NO | YES |
| Internal Media Player | YES | YES |
| Live Location/Location sending | YES | YES |
| Memory Usage Manager | YES | YES |
| Open API | NO | YES |
| Passcode Lock | NO | YES |
| Public Channels | NO | YES |
| Public Groups | Up to 256 friends | Up to 75,000 friends |
| Secret Chats | YES~Encrypted by Default | YES~Optional |
| Sent Message Delete | YES~Up to 7 minutes | YES~Up to 48 hours |
| Simultaneous Multi-device access | NO | YES |
| Status Message | YES | YES (Known as Bio) |
| Stickers | NO | YES |
| Themes/Customization | NO | YES~Downloadable & Customizable themes |
| Two-step Verification | YES | YES |
| Usernames | NO | YES |
| Video Calls | YES | NO |
| Video Messages | YES | YES |
| Voice/Audio Calls | YES | YES |
| Web/Desktop version | YES~Requires active internet on phone | YES |
| In-built Proxy support | NO | YES |
Okay from the above WhatsApp vs Telegram showdown, it’s obvious that Telegram beats Whatsapp hands down.
I know Whatsapp diehards will protest at this outrageous claim, but let’s take a closer look. Almost everything Whatsapp has, Telegram already has. In fact, there were first released on Telegram before they hit the Whatsapp camp.
Let’s start where both camps are at par. Telegram and Whatsapp started off as text messaging mobile apps and so both fulfil that goal to the brim. Both offer end-to-end encryption, so we are sure no one is reading our texts including Whatsapp and Telegram except the indented recipient. More on that, both support file sharing although Telegram allows bigger files of up to 1.5GB compared to Whatsapp’s 100MB. Both support Gifs, location sending and lately live sharing, media playback, groups, secret chats, Two-step Verification and finally voice calls. Generally speaking, if you all you need is a modern mobile communication that will save you on your phone bill, then either app can work perfectly well. But if you want something more than the basics, then Telegram might trump Whatsapp in some aspects.
Bots
Perhaps the selling point of Telegram vs Whatsapp is the Bot ecosystem. Whatsapp users are clearly missing out on the immense cool features and convenience that Bots bring to mobile messaging and communication. A Chatbot or Internet bot is an interactive piece of software that runs simple and repetitive automated tasks over the Internet. Bots can allow you to read news highlights, translate text, shop, check the weather, play Youtube videos, search products etc. You can take a look at this guide we did on using Telegram bots if you are unfamiliar with the subject.
WhatsApp vs Telegram: Which messaging app should I use?
Is WhatsApp as secure as Facebook says it is?
Is Telegram any better?
We explain what you need to know about these apps before switching.
Popular instant messaging platform, WhatsApp, lost the trust of many dedicated users when it made what appeared to be sweeping changes to its privacy policy earlier in the year.
It seemed as though agreeing to the updates would mean WhatsApp could share users’ private messages with Facebook, its parent company.
However this was a misunderstanding and the changes actually referred to chats with businesses, which don’t get the same level of privacy as chats with friends and family. Nevertheless, you may still want to know whether WhatsApp is safe to use or not.
If you’re wondering if other apps such as Telegram are a better option, we’ll explain what you need to know about both Telegram and WhatsApp’s encryption and data collection processes.
Is Telegram more secure than WhatsApp?
Telegram, owned by Russian-born Pavel Durov, is just as popular as WhatsApp with around 500 million users.
Durov hasn’t been shy about down-playing the security of WhatsApp and other rivals, even claiming WhatsApp is dangerous to use and that Telegram offers better privacy for its users.
However, what most people don’t realise is that, unlike WhatsApp, Telgram only provides end-to-end encryption for two-person ‘Secret Chats.’ By default, messages don’t benefit from that level of security, which means you could assume they’re private when in reality, there’s a possibility someone could see them.
That’s because they’re only encrypted (meaning your messages are turned into gibberish to anyone trying to read them) between the user’s device and Telegram’s servers. But they’re not encrypted on those servers. The risk of someone hacking those servers and reading your messages is low, but it’s there.
WhatsApp, on the other hand, offers end-to-end encryption for chats between two people as well as group chats and, now, chat backups as well.
Encryption isn’t the only thing you should think about, though.
There’s also the data that each app collects and stores about you, personally.
Telegram has made it clear in its privacy policy that collects less than WhatsApp, and stores details like your IP address, devices and the history of your username changes, for up to 12 months.
WhatsApp, by comparison, which collects a lot more metadata which includes personal information such as your location, phone number and device ID. Unless you opt out, this type of information is automatically shared with Facebook.
However, the contents of messages and voice or video calls are fully encrypted. In one of WhatsApp’s FAQs it states that “…we will always protect personal conversations with end-to-end encryption, so that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can see these private messages.”
Should I switch from WhatsApp to Telegram?
So, you now know that WhatsApp is – overall – a more secure option for sending messages, photos and videos than Telegram, especially if you chat in groups a lot. It also gives you the same end-to-end encryption for voice and video calls.
The only reasons you might still be considering leaving WhatsApp behind is because you still don’t trust it, or you dislike the amount of data collection outside of those encrypted messages. That, plus the fact that Telegram doesn’t limit you to using it on a single phone like WhatsApp does (though you can now use WhatsApp on up to four companion devices.)
Of course, it’s worth bearing in mind that although Telegram is just as popular in terms of users, those might not be the same people you see on WhatsApp, and so if you do switch, you may need to persuade your friends and family to install Telegram as well.
There are a few reasons to ditch WhatsApp for Telegram, but for us, WhatsApp remains the messaging app to use because of that system-wide end-to-end encryption. If the data collection and sharing with Facebook bothers you, don’t forget Telegram isn’t the only alternative. Signal is another option that offers end-to-end encryption by default and it’s open source, too.
Is WhatsApp safer than Telegram?
All chats are end-to-end encrypted in WhatsApp which ensures that only the sender and recipient can read the message. But there’s a catch! Messages backed up on a cloud are not encrypted and neither the time and location of the messages are encrypted.
The Telegram uses Client-Server encryption which means the company has access to your messages sent via its platform. The -To-End Encryption is available in Telegram only for ‘Secret Chats’. To use the Secret Chat feature, the user must enable end-to-end encryption. In this, a self-destruct timer can also be installed in the message sent by the user. Secret chats in Telegram cannot be forwarded to anyone else and user get a notification whenever someone tries to take a screenshot of the chat.
WhatsApp vs Telegram Multi-Platform Support
Users can log in to Telegram with their name and password from any device. Whereas in WhatsApp, users can log in only on two devices at a time i.e., phone and web.