--- title: "Signal vs WhatsApp: Which is more popular by branded search in New Zealand?" 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 in New Zealand. 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/nz/compare/signal-vs-whatsapp" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Signal vs WhatsApp: Which is more popular by branded search in New Zealand? Which is more popular in search, Signal or WhatsApp? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Messaging apps set in New Zealand. 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**: New Zealand - **Month measured**: Aug 2026 - **Signal Share of Search**: 0.73% - **WhatsApp Share of Search**: 58% ## Which is more popular in search, Signal or WhatsApp? - In August 2026, WhatsApp had more branded searches than Signal among messaging apps in New Zealand. WhatsApp was estimated to have 194K branded searches compared to Signal’s 2.4K, and held a 58% Share of Search versus Signal’s 0.73%. - WhatsApp was ahead of Signal in every measured month of the 11 months ending August 2026. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Signal’s estimated Share of Search among messaging apps in New Zealand moved from 0.69% to 0.73%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 2.3K to 2.4K. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, WhatsApp’s estimated Share of Search among messaging apps in New Zealand moved from 51.3% to 58%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 174K to 194K. ## How did search popularity change for New Zealand messaging apps in August 2026? - In August 2026, WhatsApp gained estimated Share of Search among messaging apps in New Zealand, from 55.4% to 58%. ## Month by month | Month | Signal estimated searches | Signal Share of Search | Signal rank | WhatsApp estimated searches | WhatsApp Share of Search | WhatsApp rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 2.3K | 0.69% | 6 | 174K | 51.3% | 1 | | Nov 2025 | 1.8K | 0.54% | 6 | 161K | 49.8% | 1 | | Dec 2025 | 2.2K | 0.79% | 6 | 134K | 49% | 1 | | Jan 2026 | 2.7K | 0.88% | 6 | 160K | 53.1% | 1 | | Feb 2026 | 2.3K | 0.78% | 6 | 161K | 53.8% | 1 | | Mar 2026 | 2.4K | 0.67% | 6 | 195K | 53.7% | 1 | | Apr 2026 | 2.4K | 0.7% | 6 | 174K | 51.4% | 1 | | May 2026 | 2.8K | 0.79% | 6 | 194K | 54% | 1 | | Jun 2026 | 2.5K | 0.76% | 6 | 194K | 58% | 1 | | Jul 2026 | 2.6K | 0.81% | 6 | 174K | 55.4% | 1 | | Aug 2026 | 2.4K | 0.73% | 6 | 194K | 58% | 1 | | Sep 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ## 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 terms “signal app”, “signal app download”, “signal app message”, “signal chat”, “signal chat app”, “signal encrypted messaging app”, “signal messages”, “signal private messaging app” and “signal secure messaging app”, summed into one figure. - **WhatsApp**: Measured on the search terms “download whatsapp for windows”, “jibi whatsapp”, “my whatsapp”, “whatsapp”, “whatsapp app”, “whatsapp chat”, “whatsapp com”, “whatsapp com web”, “whatsapp download whatsapp download whatsapp”, “whatsapp messages”, “whatsapp near me”, “whatsapp new zealand”, “whatsapp nz”, “whatsapp online”, “whatsapp web”, “whatsapp web app”, “whatsapp web download”, “whatsapp web online”, “whatsapp windows”, “ww whatsapp web”, “www whatsapp app com” and “www whatsapp com web”, summed into one figure. - [Signal profile](/demand/nz/brands/signal) - [WhatsApp profile](/demand/nz/brands/whatsapp) - [All messaging apps in New Zealand](/demand/nz/categories/nz-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 August 2026, WhatsApp had more branded searches than Signal among messaging apps in New Zealand. WhatsApp was estimated to have 194K branded searches compared to Signal’s 2.4K, and held a 58% Share of Search versus Signal’s 0.73%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Signal vs WhatsApp: Which is more popular by branded search in New Zealand?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/compare/signal-vs-whatsapp This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/compare/signal-vs-whatsapp. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.