Messenger and WhatsApp are both Meta messaging apps, but they're built around different identities. Messenger runs on your Facebook account, so it suits chatting with Facebook friends and Pages. WhatsApp runs on your phone number, so it suits anyone in your contacts, and its personal chats and calls are end-to-end encrypted as standard.
Plenty of people use both. Here's how they differ on the points that decide which one you open: the account you need, privacy, groups and messaging businesses.
Messenger vs WhatsApp at a glance
| Messenger | ||
|---|---|---|
| Account | A Facebook account. Messenger-only accounts have been retired | Your phone number |
| Who you can reach | Facebook friends, plus others via message requests | Anyone who has WhatsApp and whose number you have |
| End-to-end encryption | Being rolled out as the default for personal chats; check each chat's settings | Used for personal messages and calls as standard |
| Chats not end-to-end encrypted | Chats with businesses using messaging tools, Marketplace chats and some others | Business chats where the business uses certain optional Meta services, which WhatsApp labels in the chat |
| Group size | Group chats and chat-based communities | Up to 1,024 members per group |
| Owner | Meta | Meta |
The account difference that decides it
You can't sign up for Messenger on its own any more. Meta's Messenger Help Center says you'll need to create a Facebook account to use Messenger. You can then deactivate your Facebook profile and keep using Messenger with what Meta calls a Deactivated Except Messenger Account, or DEMA. Anyone with an old Messenger-only account has to update it to a DEMA to keep chatting.
With a DEMA, people can still find you and message you in Messenger and your picture shows in conversations, but you're not searchable on Facebook. I've explained the full process in whether you can delete Facebook but keep Messenger.
WhatsApp works the other way round: your phone number is your account, and WhatsApp says you need the latest version of the app when you register your number. No Facebook profile is involved at all.
Privacy and encryption
WhatsApp says its end-to-end encryption is used whenever you chat with another person, so no one outside the chat, not even WhatsApp, can read, listen to or share your messages and calls. That covers messages, photos, videos, voice messages, documents, live location, status updates and calls. Chats with businesses using the WhatsApp Business app count as end-to-end encrypted too, but once a business receives your message it falls under that business's own privacy practices.
Messenger
Meta says it's in the process of securing personal Messenger chats with end-to-end encryption by default, and you can check any chat by looking for End-to-end encrypted in its settings. A few details are worth knowing:
- Chats with businesses using business messaging tools, and Marketplace chats, don't currently support end-to-end encryption.
- Chat customisations such as nicknames, chat themes and reactions aren't end-to-end encrypted.
- When you log into Messenger on a new device, you need to restore your encrypted chats to see all your messages.
- Messages you share with Meta AI can be accessed by Meta; the rest of the chat stays encrypted.
If you want an extra layer for sensitive conversations in Messenger, here's what secret conversations do.
Groups, media and messaging businesses
WhatsApp groups can hold up to 1,024 members, and WhatsApp lets you send documents of up to 2 GB. On WhatsApp for computers you can send up to 100 photos or videos at once. Messenger's strength is its link to Facebook: messages you send to Facebook friends arrive in their chat list and their Messenger app, while messages to people you're not friends with may land in their message requests.
For small businesses the choice usually follows the customer. If people find you through your Facebook Page or Marketplace, they'll message you on Messenger. If they have your phone number, from your website, a receipt or a business card, they'll use WhatsApp.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Another way to be reachable is a toll-free number, and our guide to toll-free numbers for business explains how those numbers work for a business.
Which one should you use?
| If you want to | Use |
|---|---|
| Message someone you only know through Facebook | Messenger |
| Message anyone in your phone contacts | |
| Avoid having a Facebook account | |
| Run a big family, club or community group | |
| Reply to customers who find you on Facebook | Messenger |
If you're weighing WhatsApp against other apps entirely, I've also compared Telegram and WhatsApp.
My verdict
For everyday personal chat, WhatsApp is the simpler pick: it only needs your number, encryption is on for personal chats without you doing anything, and groups go far bigger. Keep Messenger for the people and businesses you know through Facebook, and if you've left Facebook, remember you'll need a DEMA rather than a Messenger-only account to stay on it.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Messenger and WhatsApp?
Messenger runs on your Facebook account and suits chatting with Facebook friends and Pages, while WhatsApp runs on your phone number and encrypts personal chats and calls end to end as standard.
Do you need Facebook to use Messenger?
Yes. Meta says you'll need to create a Facebook account to use Messenger, though you can deactivate it and keep using Messenger with a Deactivated Except Messenger Account.
Is WhatsApp more private than Messenger?
WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption for personal chats and calls as standard, while Meta says it's still in the process of making end-to-end encryption the default for personal Messenger chats.
Are Messenger and WhatsApp owned by the same company?
Yes. Both are Meta apps, and WhatsApp's help pages refer to Meta as WhatsApp's parent company.
How many people can be in a WhatsApp group?
A WhatsApp group can have up to 1,024 members.
