ChatGPT became the most downloaded app worldwide in March.

In March, ChatGPT became the most downloaded app in the world, excluding games, surpassing industry leaders like Instagram and TikTok. This event marks the first time ChatGPT has reached the top of the monthly download charts, achieving its highest download volume to date. According to the latest data, ChatGPT installations increased by 28% from February to March, reaching 46 million new downloads in the month.

This surge in downloads followed significant updates in March, highlighted by the first major improvement in its image generation capabilities in over a year. This led to a viral moment for the app in late March and early April, when users began creating Studio Ghibli-style images and memes, from the famous Japanese animation studio. Additionally, OpenAI lifted some restrictions in its content moderation policies for images and updated the voice feature of the chatbot.

Comparing the first quarter of 2021 to that of 2025, ChatGPT installations have grown by 148% year over year. However, some analysts suggest that the new features are not the primary drivers of this monthly growth. Ariel Michaeli, founder and CEO of the firm behind the data, commented that ChatGPT is starting to become a household term, similar to what happened with Google in the 2000s. This could be motivating users to choose ChatGPT over other AI chatbots.

Regarding competition, the recognition of the ChatGPT brand could make it difficult for other AI chatbots to gain traction. In this sense, Claude from Anthropic has underperformed, while Grok has the potential to stand out not necessarily by being better, but because it has the promotion of a famous figure like Elon Musk, as well as the extensive distribution platform of X.

Meanwhile, Instagram had maintained second place on the app lists in the Apple App Store and Google Play in January and February, while TikTok held the top position. The growth in TikTok downloads in the early months of the year was partly due to concerns over a potential ban in the U.S., which led many users to download the app in case it disappeared. However, the ban situation is currently on hold as the Trump administration seeks to reach an agreement with China, where ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is based.

In a recent study, it was shown that Instagram remains the most used social app among American teenagers, with 87% monthly usage, compared to 79% for TikTok and 72% for Snapchat. In March, other Meta social apps, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, also ranked among the top five, alongside CapCut, Telegram, Snapchat, and Meta's Threads in the top 10. In total, the ten most downloaded apps accounted for 339 million downloads in March, surpassing the 299 million in February.