ChatGPT Becomes Most Downloaded App, Surpassing Instagram And TikTok: Report

Hyderabad: As the year 2025 comes to an end, people have seen significant changes in the global app rankings from the beginning of the year until now. For several years, social media apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook have consistently dominated the top positions. However, this year, the leading app is OpenAI’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot, ChatGPT.
OpenAI’s chatbot has asserted its dominance by outperforming all major social media platforms worldwide. According to TechGaged’s report, ChatGPT has become the most downloaded app in the world with over 900 million downloads in the first 11 months of 2025. It surpassed popular social media apps like Instagram and TikTok to become the number one app of the year.
AppMagic’s report states that ChatGPT has been downloaded over 902 million times this year alone, nearly three times the number of downloads in 2024 and seven times more than in 2023, the year its app version was launched.
TikTok is the second-most downloaded app in 2025, reaching 703 million downloads, followed by Instagram at 521.6 million, and Facebook and WhatsApp at 444 million and 404 million downloads, respectively.
Jastra Kranjec, a TechGaged Research Analyst, said, “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.” He added, “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.”
Why did ChatGPT grow so quickly?
AI technology has been a rapidly growing topic of discussion over the past few years. Initially considered a niche tool for tech experts, people around the world soon realised its potential and began using it daily. Today, AI is an essential part of the internet.
ChatGPT brought generative AI into everyday life, leading to its fast-paced adoption, similar to the early explosive growth of TikTok. Users are not just experimenting with it, but they are integrating it into their daily digital routines.
ChatGPT tops the AI chatbot market
According to TechGaged’s research, ChatGPT is estimated to hold approximately 82 per cent of the global AI chatbot market by November 2025. This is four times the combined share of its top five competitors. New players like DeepSeek and Perplexity have entered the market, but ChatGPT remains strong and is expected to continue growing next year.