Meta Muse Outpaces ChatGPT in Early U.S. Mobile Downloads and Users

TL;DR

• New Appfigures data estimates Meta's Muse app hit roughly 3.4 million downloads in the U.S. and Canada in its first 12 days on iOS and Android, outpacing ChatGPT's roughly 1.9 million in the same window after its May 2023 mobile debut.
• Muse is also ahead on engagement, with an estimated 1.5 million daily active users in the U.S. and Canada versus about 880,000 for ChatGPT in its comparable early period.
• The fast start is driven by built-in distribution across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, a TikTok-style Vibes video feed, and free image and video generation, positioning Muse as Meta's strongest challenger yet to ChatGPT's mobile dominance.

A Stunning Debut by the Numbers

Meta's new standalone AI agent, Muse, is off to a faster start in North America than ChatGPT was when it first went mobile.

According to new estimates from app intelligence firm Appfigures shared this week, Muse has racked up about 3.4 million downloads across the App Store and Google Play in the U.S. and Canada since launching in mid-September. That compares to an estimated 1.9 million downloads for ChatGPT in the U.S. and Canada during its first 12 days after its iOS-only debut in May 2023.

The gap is even more striking given ChatGPT's head start in brand awareness. ChatGPT launched on iPhone first, with no Android version for its first two months, while Muse launched day-one on both iOS and Android with a heavy push inside Meta's family of apps.

On engagement, Appfigures estimates Muse averaged about 1.5 million daily active users in the U.S. and Canada during its second week live, compared to about 880,000 daily active users for ChatGPT over the same day 7 to day 12 stretch. In other words, Muse isn't just getting installed more — a higher share of users are coming back daily.

Globally, the firm pegs Muse at more than 7 million total downloads to date, with the U.S. accounting for nearly 45% of installs.

Why Muse Is Taking Off So Fast

Three factors explain the surge.

First, distribution. Meta is promoting Muse directly inside Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, which together reach more than 200 million daily users in the U.S. and Canada alone. Users can tap through from Stories, Reels, and in-feed prompts to install the standalone Muse app, or use it without leaving the apps they already open every day. ChatGPT had to grow mobile almost entirely from scratch in 2023.

Second, Vibes. Muse's centerpiece is Vibes, a short-form, TikTok-style feed of AI-generated videos made by users and remixed in-app. That feed is proving to be a viral loop — people come to watch, then download Muse to create and remix their own clips with Meta's Imagine and Movie Gen models. Appfigures notes that referral spikes line up closely with viral Vibes clips reposted to Instagram Reels and TikTok.

Third, price and friction. Muse is free to download and use for chat, image creation, and limited video generation, with no ChatGPT Plus-style paywall blocking its most shareable features at launch. Combined with voice-first interaction and personalization tied to a user's Meta profile, the onboarding takes seconds for anyone already logged into Instagram or Facebook.

How This Compares to ChatGPT's Mobile Debut

Context matters. When OpenAI launched ChatGPT on iOS on May 18, 2023, it was already a web phenomenon with 100 million users, but mobile was uncharted territory. It pulled an estimated 480,000 installs in the U.S. in its first five days on iPhone alone, which was huge at the time.

Muse, by contrast, launched into a far more crowded AI market in September 2026, competing against ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, and Claude mobile apps. That it still beat ChatGPT's early pace suggests Meta's cross-promotion can overcome late-mover disadvantage, at least for initial acquisition.

Retention will be the harder test. ChatGPT went on to build more than 40 million monthly mobile users in the U.S. within its first year and now regularly tops the App Store charts. Appfigures cautions that early DAU strength for Muse will need to hold past the novelty period for Vibes to translate into a durable habit.

What It Means for the AI App Race

Muse's fast start reshuffles the AI app race in three ways.

For Meta, it validates the standalone app strategy. The Meta AI app launched in April struggled to break out, but rebranding and rebuilding around Muse as a personalized agent with social creation at its core appears to be working.

For OpenAI, it signals real competition for new users. ChatGPT still leads by a wide margin globally with hundreds of millions of weekly active users, but Muse is now the first rival to beat it on velocity in its home market. Expect OpenAI to lean harder into Sora video feeds, shopping, and personalization to defend daily attention.

For the broader market, it confirms that AI apps are now won on mobile distribution and social loops, not just model quality. Google has Android and Search, xAI has X, and Meta has Instagram and WhatsApp. The next phase of the race will be less about who has the smartest chatbot and more about who can turn AI into daily, shareable behavior.

If Muse can sustain even half its current momentum through October, Appfigures analysts say, it could enter the top 10 most-downloaded U.S. apps for the quarter — a feat no AI rival besides ChatGPT has managed.

AndroGuider Team

Articles written by the AndroGuider team. We try to make them thorough and informational while being easy to read.