⚡ Instant Messaging in Japan

Instant messaging apps allow users to communicate in real time via text, voice, and video, often with group chats, file sharing, and end-to-end encryption. They can be broadly categorized into traditional chat services (WhatsApp), social media messengers (Facebook Messenger, Snapchat), privacy-focused messengers (Signal, Threema), and workplace collaboration tools (Slack, Microsoft Teams).

According to our statistics, messengers are detected on 9.5% of websites from Japan.

⭐ Most Popular in 2025

The following chart shows the top instant messaging apps in Japan in 2025, based on market share.

The most popular is Line, which dominates the market with an overwhelming 97.5% share.
It is followed by Discord with 0.8% and Messenger with 0.7%.

Line 97.5%
Discord 0.8%
Messenger 0.7%
WhatsApp 0.4%
Skype 0.3%
Telegram 0.3%
Slack 0.1%
WeChat 0.1%
KakaoTalk 0.09%
QQ 0.09%
Viber 0.04%
Zalo 0.03%
Microsoft Teams 0.03%
Signal 0.02%
XMPP 0.02%

🚀 Highlights

Here is a list of the top apps that are more popular in Japan than worldwide.
Differences between global and country rankings are shown in parentheses.

1. Line ^(-3)
2. Discord ^(-5)
7. Slack ^(-6)
8. WeChat ^(-2)
9. KakaoTalk ^(-2)
13. Microsoft Teams ^(-1)
14. Signal ^(-4)
15. XMPP ^(-4)

✨ Best Instant Messaging Apps

Below is a more detailed list of all instant messaging apps used on sites from Japan, ranked by their market share.

Rank	Name	Market share
1	LineTokyo, Japan A Japanese instant messaging and social networking app.	97.5%
2	DiscordSan Francisco, California, United States An instant messaging and VoIP social platform that allows users to communicate via text chat, voice, and video.	0.8%
3	MessengerMenlo Park, California, United States An instant messaging service based on Facebook.	0.7%
4	WhatsAppMenlo Park, California, United States An instant messaging service owned by Meta.	0.4%
5	SkypeRedmond, Washington, United States A communications platform for voice and video calls and sending instant messages that was retired on May 5, 2025 in favor of Microsoft Teams.	0.3%
6	TelegramDubai, United Arab Emirates A cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app with a focus on security and speed.	0.3%
7	SlackSan Francisco, California, United States A cloud-based team communication platform for business, which is currently owned by Salesforce.	0.1%
8	WeChatShenzhen, China A Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment application.	0.1%
9	KakaoTalkJeju-si, Jeju-do, Korea A Korean instant messenger for chats and real-time voice and video calls.	0.09%
10	QQShenzhen, China A Chinese instant messaging software platform.	0.09%
11	ViberTokyo, Japan A free, cross-platform instant messaging and calling application.	0.04%
12	ZaloHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam A Vietnamese mobile instant messenger and social media service.	0.03%
13	Microsoft TeamsRedmond, Washington, United States A proprietary business collaboration platform built for hybrid work, offering chat, videoconferencing, file storage and application integration.	0.03%
14	SignalMountain View, California, United States An open source, privacy-focused messaging app for instant messaging, voice calls, and video calls.	0.02%
15	XMPPParker, Colorado, United States A set of open technologies for instant messaging, presence, multi-party chat, voice and video calls, and collaboration.	0.02%
16	GitterLondon, United Kingdom An open source chat and networking platform for software developers based on the Matrix protocol.	0.02%
17	SnapchatSanta Monica, California, United States A messaging and social networking app for smartphones.	0.009%
18	IRC A text-based chat system for instant messaging supported by many clients such as mIRC, XChat, ChatZilla and others.	0.009%
19	MatrixLondon, United Kingdom A set of open APIs for open-federated Instant Messaging, Voice over IP and Internet of Things communication.	0.009%

Data updated October 12, 2025

👉 See Also

🔗 Links
- Instant messaging

When interpreting and using the results, please read our methodology and disclaimer.