Messaging service WhatsApp now has 6 hundred million monthly active users, according to the company's chief executive.
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"Now serving 600,000,000 monthly active users," WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum tweeted yesterday. "Yes, active and registered are very different types of numbers..."
The last bit was an obvious dig at other messaging services like Kik and Line. Those services recently boasted big user numbers, but neither would clarify whether the registered users were actually logging in and using the service or not.
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Facebook bought WhatsApp for an astounding $19 billion back in February--at that point, the startup only had 55 employees (many of whom are now billionaires). That deal is still closing, but with Koum's latest statement, it's clear that growth of the site continues to drive forward.
The SMS-like service crossed the half a billion monthly active user base back in April, so the growth is mirroring earlier success stories like Twitter or the company's new overlords, Facebook. The next messaging service with a similar user pool is Tencent's WeChat app, with 438 million monthly active users. Most of WeChat's users are based in China, while WhatsApp is much more global in scale.
Much to the chagrin of old school wireless carriers, WhatsApp lets you sidestep paying for text messaging by sending quick notes over an internet connection or data plan--it's very popular for international texting, for example, because there aren't any crazy fees attached.
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