ChatGPT became the world’s most downloaded non-game app globally in March, surpassing usual frontrunners Instagram and TikTok for the first time. According to recent data, ChatGPT saw a substantial 28% increase in downloads month-over-month, resulting in 46 million new installs. Instagram was slightly overtaken and finished March as the second-most downloaded app, while TikTok occupied the third position.
March proved particularly significant for ChatGPT as it marked the app’s highest monthly downloads ever recorded. New features and upgrades may have contributed to this surge, notably a major update to its image-generation tools—the first significant enhancement of these features in over a year. This update sparked a viral phenomenon in late March and early April when users widely shared memes and images generated in the artistic style reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films like “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Spirited Away.”
Additionally, OpenAI relaxed certain image moderation safeguards, broadening the range of allowed content, and further enhanced ChatGPT’s AI-powered voice interaction capabilities.
Data analysis firm Appfigures pointed out that ChatGPT experienced a dramatic 148% growth in installs from the first quarter of 2021 to the corresponding quarter of 2025. Ariel Michaeli, founder and CEO of Appfigures, suggested that the recent popularity spike may be driven less by individual features and more by ChatGPT’s strengthening brand recognition. He noted how, similar to Google’s rise in the early 2000s, the term “ChatGPT” is increasingly becoming synonymous with artificial intelligence itself. Michaeli remarked that when popular awareness and interest surrounding general AI expands—even amid competition from rivals such as Grok, Manus AI, or DeepSeek—users unfamiliar with the broader AI landscape often gravitate directly towards the well-known ChatGPT app.
This robust brand presence might be limiting opportunities for rival AI chatbot applications such as Anthropic’s Claude, which has had comparatively weaker performance. Grok, backed by Elon Musk and benefiting from promotion via social platform X, could potentially fare better than most competitors because of Musk’s personal influence and extensive reach.
Meanwhile, Instagram and TikTok continue their tight competition in global download rankings. Earlier in 2025, TikTok temporarily reclaimed the number one spot, partly fueled by fears of a U.S. ban that prompted users to preemptively download the app. As that ban remains suspended while President Trump negotiates with ByteDance and Chinese officials, Instagram—still highly popular, especially among American teenagers—has alternately dominated global downloads for the past year. A recent Piper Sandler survey reinforced Instagram’s continued appeal among U.S. teenagers, reporting an 87% monthly usage rate for the platform compared to 79% for TikTok, and 72% for Snapchat.
Other familiar social applications from Meta, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, rounded out the top five downloaded non-game apps in March. CapCut, Telegram, Snapchat, Threads, and shopping app Temu joined them in completing the month’s overall top ten list. Altogether, the ten most downloaded apps accumulated approximately 339 million downloads in March, rising notably from February’s combined total of 299 million.
