Meta’s AI companion, Muse, has reached 10 million downloads in the United States within its first 40 days on the market.
New figures from Sensor Tower show the app has accumulated 10.9 million total downloads since its September launch. Of that total, 10.2 million came from users in the US.
Kara Lee, a senior analyst at Sensor Tower, noted that only 11 other apps have achieved this level of post-launch growth. Threads was the most recent to do so, reaching the mark in July 2023. Lee observed that most previous apps to hit this scale were mobile games.
Meta is scaling the app by promoting it across its existing services, a strategy used with both Threads and Muse. Threads was built on Instagram’s social graph and integrated into Facebook and Instagram feeds. Muse benefits from this cross-promotion across Meta’s 3.6 billion daily active users, but the company is also spending heavily on advertising to acquire new users.
Advertising spend on Muse rose sharply in October. Sensor Tower data indicates Meta allocated 39% of its total ad budget to the app this month, compared to 23% in September. Consequently, Muse ranked as the 21st largest brand in the US by advertising impressions this month, up from 73rd in September.
Marketing an app is one thing; keeping users after the initial excitement fades is another. Muse is currently showing better retention than rival AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok.
In the US, the app retained 30% of its users after seven days and 23% after 14 days. Competitors averaged a 19% retention rate after seven days and 16% after 14 days, according to the data.
The app also hit a new benchmark for active engagement. Daily active users reached 2.5 million for the first time on October 16, a 15% increase from the previous week.
Muse has dominated the US App Store since its debut, reaching number one and at times outperforming metrics seen by ChatGPT at launch. In its first 40 days, ChatGPT recorded 3.7 million US downloads. Grok and Claude recorded 500,000 and 200,000 US downloads respectively in the same period.
ChatGPT has more global downloads than Muse, reaching around 15 million worldwide in 40 days. This is not a direct comparison because ChatGPT is available in more markets. Muse is currently limited to the US and Canada. ChatGPT drew significant attention from Japan, Brazil, and Germany. Japan alone accounted for 25% of its global installs during the first 40 days.
Muse has held the number one spot on the US App Store for every day except October 19, when the streaming app Kick briefly overtook it. Muse reclaimed the top position as of Tuesday. It has also held the number one rank on Google Play for the past 30 days.
What it means
For people using these tools, the difference is clear. Muse is keeping users longer than competitors, suggesting the app offers something practical beyond just a chat interface.
