Telegram vs WhatsApp
Two very large messengers, both free, both able to call only other installs of themselves. The differences worth knowing are about defaults and about who is already using which.
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Neither dials a telephone number. Both are app-to-app only, so neither is an option for calling a landline, a business, or a relative who has not installed the same app.
WhatsApp encrypts every conversation by default and is owned by Meta. Telegram runs enormous groups and channels that WhatsApp does not attempt, is registered in Dubai, and does not encrypt ordinary chats end to end by default — its one-to-one voice calls are encrypted. Both claim over a billion users, and in practice the deciding factor is which one the people you talk to are already on, which differs sharply by country.
Side by side
Pick what you care about and the differences reorder.
2 of 8 fields differ; 5 are the same.
How to read this comparison
Work down in this order and most comparisons resolve in under a minute. First, can it reach the number you actually need — a service that only calls its own users is not a cheaper version of one that dials a landline, it is a different thing. Second, what are the billing terms: the unit a call is measured in, and whether a fixed fee is added to each one. Third, what happens to money you do not spend.
The per-minute rate is deliberately not the first question here, and it is the only question most comparisons ask. At the same advertised rate, a service that rounds every call up to a whole minute and adds a per-call fee can cost close to double another on the short calls that make up most people's actual usage. The rate is the number that gets compared because it is the number that gets published.
Where they actually differ
Subscription
Telegram: Offers a subscription. WhatsApp: No subscription. A subscription is cheaper per minute once you pass its break-even point and more expensive in every month you do not, which makes choosing one a bet on your own future behaviour. Prepaid credit is the opposite trade: a worse unit price in exchange for no commitment.
Platforms
Telegram runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS, Linux. WhatsApp runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS. This decides more comparisons than it ought to: a service that is excellent and unavailable on the device in your hand is not a candidate at all, and a desktop client matters more than it sounds when the alternative is holding a phone against your ear for an hour.
Where they are the same
- Calls a phone number: both only reaches its own users.
- Billing unit: both app to app only.
- Connection fee: both none.
- Credit expiry: both never.
- Account required: both account required.
What each one is
Telegram
Telegram is a cloud‑based messaging and social platform offering text, media sharing, group chats, and voice and video calls between Telegram users across multiple platforms; it does not provide PSTN calling to telephone numbers.
WhatsApp is a cross‑platform messaging and VoIP app that provides end‑to‑end‑encrypted text messaging, voice and video calls, and media sharing between users over the internet, but does not offer PSTN calling to regular phone numbers.
How each one bills you
As published by Telegram
- none
- No calling credit is used; calls are peer‑to‑peer over data, and any payments relate only to premium features.
- $0 (free core service); optional premium subscription varies by region.
As published by WhatsApp
- none
- No calling credit is used for consumer WhatsApp; usage depends on internet connectivity provided by the user’s operator or Wi‑Fi.
What each one asks of you
As published by Telegram
Users register with a phone number and receive a verification code; as of 2024 some users can log in using Telegram‑issued NFTs without a phone number.
As published by WhatsApp
Registration requires a mobile phone number for SMS or call verification; the number serves as the primary account identifier.
Plans, where each one sells them
As published by Telegram
Core messaging and calling are free; Telegram Premium offers extra features (larger limits, faster downloads, etc.) via a paid subscription; no per‑minute calling fees apply for app‑to‑app calls.
As published by WhatsApp
Consumer app has no in‑app subscription for calling; WhatsApp Business is also free to download, with business API usage billed separately by Meta partners.
Published rates
The corridor prices each provider published at the time of the research. An empty list means the provider does not publish its rates outside its own app, which is itself worth knowing before you top up.
Telegram
Telegram publishes no per-country rates outside its own app.
Source, as recorded: Telegram documentation and app descriptions; no PSTN calling feature is described.
WhatsApp publishes no per-country rates outside its own app.
Source, as recorded: WhatsApp consumer apps do not provide paid PSTN calling; calls are app‑to‑app over data.
What each one does
Telegram
- Cloud‑based chats with sync across phones, desktops, and web clients.
- Supports voice and video calls and group voice chats (voice chats/Voice Chats 2.0/Live Streams).
- Offers end‑to‑end encryption for voice and video calls and for Secret Chats.
- Provides large group chats and channels with potentially millions of members or subscribers.
- Available on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and web.
- Allows large file sharing and unlimited cloud storage for chats and media.
- Supports bots, custom themes, and advanced features like folders and multi‑account support.
- Headquartered in Dubai with distributed data centers worldwide.
- Provides end‑to‑end‑encrypted messaging and voice/video calls between WhatsApp users.
- Supports group chats and group voice/video calls (up to 32 participants on mobile as per recent app descriptions).
- Available on mobile apps, WhatsApp Web, and desktop clients, with chats synced across devices.
- Uses phone numbers as identifiers, eliminating separate usernames.
- Offers free international messaging and calls over data without per‑minute charges from WhatsApp itself.
- Owned and operated by Meta Platforms, Inc.
- WhatsApp Business app adds business‑oriented messaging tools while using the same underlying calling and messaging infrastructure.
- As of 2020 it had more than 2 billion active users worldwide, and remains one of the most widely used messaging apps globally.
What users complain about
Telegram
- Some security researchers note that Telegram’s default chats use server‑side encryption rather than end‑to‑end encryption by default.
- There have been concerns and regulatory scrutiny in some countries about its use for disinformation or illegal content due to large public channels.
- Users on some platforms report occasional delays in notification delivery or connectivity issues in regions where Telegram is throttled or blocked.
- Some reviewers express concerns about metadata and data sharing with parent company Meta, despite message content being end‑to‑end encrypted.
- Enterprise and privacy‑focused reviewers sometimes criticise limited multi‑device independence, as a phone number and device are still central to account setup for most users.
- Crowded chats and high message volume can make long‑term conversation management difficult according to user reviews on app‑analysis sites.
About each company
| Founded | 2013. | 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Dubai, United Arab Emirates. | Menlo Park, California, United States (under Meta Platforms). |
| Users | Over 1 billion downloads and more than 1 billion active users claimed as of 2021–2024. | Over 2 billion active users worldwide as of 2020; remains one of the most‑used messaging services globally. |
| Store rating | Telegram is listed among top‑downloaded apps with over 1 billion downloads and high‑4‑star rating in Google Play descriptions. | 4.7 (Google Play developer page aggregate rating, hundreds of millions of reviews). |
| Minimum purchase | $0 (free core service); optional premium subscription varies by region. | — |
If neither of them fits
Both of the services above bill per minute or cannot dial a phone at all. If what you need is to call an ordinary number and pay only for the seconds you talk, that is what we publish — and the same nine fields are in the table above, in the first row, marked as ours.
Rates from $0.03 a minute across 41 destinations, billed per second with no connection fee and credit that does not expire.
What Telvio does and does not doSources and dates
Every value on this page is quoted from the provider's own published material, gathered in a structured research pass on 2026-03-18. Where a provider published no answer, the page says so rather than estimating. Nothing here is a review: call quality, reliability and support are not assessed, because they cannot be established from published material.
Bottom line
Both are free and both reach only other installs of the same app. Neither can call a landline or a mobile number directly.
WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted by default across all chats; Telegram is not for ordinary chats, though its voice calls are. Telegram's group and channel features are far larger in scale.
Which one to use is usually decided by your contacts rather than by features, and it varies enormously by country. For reaching somebody who has neither, a service that dials telephone numbers is the only option.
Frequently asked questions
Can Telegram call a landline or mobile number?
No. Telegram reaches only other installs of itself, so it cannot call a landline or a mobile belonging to somebody who has not installed it.
Can WhatsApp call a landline or mobile number?
No. WhatsApp reaches only other installs of itself, so it cannot call a landline or a mobile belonging to somebody who has not installed it.
Does Telegram charge a connection fee?
No separate connection fee is published for Telegram, so the cost of a call is the per-minute rate applied to the billed time.
Does WhatsApp charge a connection fee?
No separate connection fee is published for WhatsApp, so the cost of a call is the per-minute rate applied to the billed time.
Does unused credit expire on Telegram or WhatsApp?
Credit on Telegram does not expire according to its published terms. Credit on WhatsApp does not expire according to its published terms. Expiry costs most when you top up in large amounts and call infrequently.
Which is cheaper for short calls, Telegram or WhatsApp?
Neither publishes per-country rates in a form that allows a like-for-like table, so the comparison rests on billing terms. Telegram bills app to app only, WhatsApp bills app to app only. On calls of under a minute the billing unit and any per-call fee change the total more than the headline rate does.
Do Telegram and WhatsApp require an account?
Telegram: Account required. WhatsApp: Account required. Every service in this comparison set except one requires you to identify yourself before you can call.
Which devices do Telegram and WhatsApp run on?
Telegram runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS, Linux. WhatsApp runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS. These are the platforms each provider publishes.
