Whatsapp vs Telegram- Which one is better and Why?

Have you switched to Telegram? Or you are considering switching to Telegram? Probably you are just getting to know about Telegram.

Ok so in this post, we compare whatsapp and Telegram side by side and see what makes the difference. Which one is right for you especially your privacy and ease of you.

Whatsapp and Telegram are both great messaging apps that allow for faster communication in a split of seconds as long as there is an internet connection.

Apart from the basic messaging features, both Whatsapp and Telegram have quite a lot of similar features such as support for stickers, picture in picture view, voice call, etc. However, even with the similar features both have quite a number of different features which make them competing messaging Apps.

In 2009, Brian Acton and Jan koum who are former employees of yahoo incorporated whatsapp before being later acquired by facebook in 2014. Since then,whatsapp has experience improvements and several updates making it one of the best messaging App being used worldwide. On the other hand, Telegram has been gaining recognition after being launched in 2013 by brothers Nikolai and and pavel Durov.

So let’s compare these 2 fantastic messaging Apps…

SECRET CHAT/SELF DESTRUCT MESSAGING

This feature is particular to Telegram and makes telegram stand out over WhatsApp. Telegram allows users to set a timer on messages to self-destruct after a specified time. This means that any message or photo you send during a chat session with another person can disappear at a particular time as it allows you to create chats that are destroyed by themselves.

Although whatsapp promises end-to-end encryption that ensures only sender and receiver can read the chat conversation, however this may be useful if you intend to keep your chat messages.

The most fascinating thing about the secret chat is that it sends you a notification or alert when someone takes a screenshot of your chat and the secret chat cannot be forwarded. Heheheh…isn’t that amazing!

USERNAME FEATURE

Unlike WhatsApp that uses phone number for its chat conversation, Telegram makes use of “username” for its users ensuring the privacy of the user’s phone number. This means you can engage in a chat conversation with another person even if you do not have the person’s contact number.

You can basically search by their username and begin the conversation with them. I think this is another feature people will like because you don’t want to be sharing your phone number with any random person.

SUPER GROUPS AND CHANNELS

Whatsapp allows users to create whatsapp group and broadcast to reach multitude of people at a time. But the number of group members that can be accommodated is limited to about 256 participants. Telegram on the other hand has “channels” which allows for unlimited number of subscribers say about 5000 members.

This is a good option if you intend to reach a larger audience. The creator of the channel is often called the admin and may choose which users can post and other members can view the post on channels.

Telegram channel is good for people who will like to organize online training class or online meeting involving larger audience. This is a great advantage over whatsapp.

Have you ever tried sharing a large file like audio or video file with a friend? Both whatsapp and Telegram allows sending of files like images, documents, audio, video etc. Telegram users can send any type of file via Telegram up to 1.5GB file size, whereas Whatsapp restricts large files from sending if the size of the file is more than 16MB. A wide file size difference!!!

Telegram also let users to choose if they want to compress the image and video or simply send the uncompressed version (original file size).

Telegram also has a rich feature in terms of allowing users to store images, text messages, media files and documents on their cloud (cloud storage) which makes backup and restore easy.

NUMBER OF ACTIVE USERS

When it comes to user base or number of active users of whatsapp and telegram, Whatsapp boast of more users using its platform for messaging than Telegram. As of 2018,

Whatsapp reported its monthly active user of about 1.6 billion to compare to the reported 200 million of active telegram users. This means you can have more friends and family to chat with and reach with Whatsapp compare to Telegram.

This is a great advantage of Whatsapp over Telegram. But who knows in the nearest future, anything is possible as more people are getting to be aware of Telegram. It can overtake Whatsapp in terms of the user base.

VOICE/VIDEO CALL FUNCTION

Hands Down! Whatsapp video call functionality especially the group video call functionality is superb. Multimedia messaging is on the increase and every social media platform is trying to incorporate this. However, as at the period of writing this post, Telegram is yet to incorporate the video call function but it has support for voice calls. If you are a user that loves video call, I think Whatsapp has a place in your heart already—Grin!…

STICKERS AND STATUS

The recent updates to WhatsApp brought about the addition of WhatsApp stickers and status update functionality which is now so popular on other social media platforms. Telegram also has Sticker functionality.

MULTIPLE PLATFORM COMPATIBILITY

Telegram supports independent versions of web browsers and mobile. That is, you can use telegram on your computer browser or on another person’s mobile phone if your mobile is not available or within your reach. On the other hand, whatsapp is a mobile App and can only function on the mobile device or web browser only if the mobile is in close range.

I will not be the one to tell you which one is better. But checking through the features of each app, you can decide which one is suitable and cool for you based on your preferences.

WHATSAPP OR TELEGRAM?

In essence, Whatsapp allows users to make group video calls, support for stickers and status updates, a large number of active users and provides end-to-end encryption but it lags behind in terms of limited file sharing, cloud storage, and number of group participant.

Telegram on the other hand has support for large file sharing, multiple platform compatibility, secret chat and destructive message, support for large group participant (channels) but does not have a video call functionality and has a smaller number of active users.

So I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If there is anything you will like to add, kindly drop it in the comment section below. I will love to hear from you.