---
title: "Signal vs WhatsApp: Which is searched more?"
description: "Which is more popular in search, Signal or WhatsApp? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Messaging apps set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time."
canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/compare/signal-vs-whatsapp"
publisher: "Brandwave"
---

# Signal vs WhatsApp: Which is searched more?

Which is more popular in search, Signal or WhatsApp? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Messaging apps set worldwide. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time.

## Key facts

- **Compared**: Signal and WhatsApp
- **Competitive set**: Messaging apps
- **Market**: Global
- **Month measured**: Sep 2026
- **Signal Share of Search**: 0.31%
- **WhatsApp Share of Search**: 85.5%

## Which is more popular in search, Signal or WhatsApp?

- In September 2026, WhatsApp had more branded searches than Signal among messaging apps worldwide. WhatsApp was estimated to have 277M branded searches compared to Signal’s 1M, and held an 85.5% Share of Search versus Signal’s 0.31%.
- WhatsApp was ahead of Signal in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026.
- Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Signal’s estimated Share of Search among messaging apps worldwide moved from 0.43% to 0.31%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 1.2M to 1M.
- Across the 12 months ending September 2026, WhatsApp’s estimated Share of Search among messaging apps worldwide moved from 79.7% to 85.5%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 226M to 277M.

## How did search popularity change for messaging apps worldwide in September 2026?

- In September 2026, WhatsApp gained estimated Share of Search among messaging apps worldwide, from 80.8% to 85.5%.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for Signal worldwide fell 18% over 12 measured months, from 1.2M to 1M in September 2026.

## Month by month

| Month | Signal estimated searches | Signal Share of Search | Signal rank | WhatsApp estimated searches | WhatsApp Share of Search | WhatsApp rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oct 2025 | 1.2M | 0.43% | 5 | 226M | 79.7% | 1 |
| Nov 2025 | 1.2M | 0.44% | 4 | 226M | 80.7% | 1 |
| Dec 2025 | 1.2M | 0.51% | 4 | 185M | 77.4% | 1 |
| Jan 2026 | 1.2M | 0.51% | 4 | 185M | 77.4% | 1 |
| Feb 2026 | 1.2M | 0.53% | 4 | 185M | 79.7% | 1 |
| Mar 2026 | 1.2M | 0.44% | 4 | 226M | 80.7% | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | 1M | 0.37% | 5 | 226M | 82.8% | 1 |
| May 2026 | 1M | 0.36% | 5 | 226M | 80.8% | 1 |
| Jun 2026 | 1M | 0.37% | 5 | 226M | 82.8% | 1 |
| Jul 2026 | 823K | 0.3% | 5 | 226M | 82.9% | 1 |
| Aug 2026 | 1M | 0.36% | 4 | 226M | 80.8% | 1 |
| Sep 2026 | 1M | 0.31% | 4 | 277M | 85.5% | 1 |

## How each brand is measured

Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Signal’s and WhatsApp’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading.

- **Signal**: Measured on the search term “signal”.
- **WhatsApp**: Measured on the search term “whatsapp”.

- [Signal profile](/demand/global-en/brands/signal)
- [WhatsApp profile](/demand/global-en/brands/whatsapp)
- [All messaging apps worldwide](/demand/global-en/categories/messaging-apps): The set both shares are measured inside, 6 brands.

## Methodology

- [How is branded search demand measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which is more popular in search, Signal or WhatsApp?

In September 2026, WhatsApp had more branded searches than Signal among messaging apps worldwide. WhatsApp was estimated to have 277M branded searches compared to Signal’s 1M, and held an 85.5% Share of Search versus Signal’s 0.31%.

## Cite this page

Brandwave. "Signal vs WhatsApp: Which is searched more?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/compare/signal-vs-whatsapp

This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/compare/signal-vs-whatsapp. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.