How WhatsApp makes money despite being a free service

There are almost 3 billion users using WhatsApp one of the most popular apps in the world.

The company owned by Meta – the parent company which also owns social networks like Facebook and Instagram – offers an encrypted messaging service that allows its users to communicate with each other .

Not just through written texts but also via calls, video calls and audio calls.

To this is added that Files such as photos and videos can be sent .

These are just some of the major facilities provided by the company, which It has powerful servers HE in various data centers around the world .

However, even though billions of people use the application on their mobile phones and the operations involve significant costs for the company, Users with a personal and individual account can use WhatsApp for free .

This may raise doubts about how to sign the scope of the technology earn money .

WhatsApp receives profits from business customers who seek to communicate with users who use the application .

According to information retrieved by the BBC one of the services that bring the most to the company in this sense is to offer them the ability to access one-on-one interactions with them, both conversationally and transactionally .

Although this feature is still in its infancy in many places, There are cities like Bangalore, India where users can buy bus tickets and choose their seat through the app .

In other words, HE They can pay for services or products through the same platform .

Meta VP of Business Messaging Nikila Srinivasan explained to the aforementioned media that “Our vision, if we do all of this right, is that a company and a customer can get it right in an email thread” .

Under this line, he went further: “This means that, if you want to book a ticket, if you want to initiate a refund, if you want to make a payment, you should be able to do so without having to leave the thread and then come back to every other conversation in your life.

Businesses They can also pay for links that redirect users to a new WhatsApp chat, from ads on Facebook or Instagram. .

This promises a more direct route .

In conversation with the BBCSrinivasan commented that This function alone represents “several billions of dollars” for the company .

Likewise, the Meta representative emphasized that Its goal is for companies to communicate more and more with their customers through the application. .

But not all messaging platforms have the same system than WhatsApp.

Signal, a messaging application that stands out for its functions focused on user security and privacy, It is a non-profit organization .

In fact, they claim that they never accepted money from investors and that they operate thanks to donations .

One of the co-founders of WhatsApp, Brian Acton, made an estimated contribution of $50 million in 2018 .

Signal Foundation President Meredith Whittaker wrote in an article published in November 2023 which aims to “get as close as possible to gaining full support from small donors, building on a large number of modest contributions from people who care about Signal” .

Another instant messaging and voice chat service is Discord, an application particularly popular with gamers and streamers of video.

Although registration on their platform is free, They have additional paid functions like access to games.

The platform offers a subscription called Nitro, which allows everything from using custom emojis to making high-quality video broadcasts among other advantages.

The price of a monthly subscription for this service is $5,360 Chilean pesos as detailed on their website.