How much MB of data volume does WhatsApp need?

Many users of the messenger wonder how much data volume WhatsApp consumes. If you send a lot of messages on the go, you fear a loss of your mobile data volume. In this practical tip, we show whether WhatsApp really matters so much.

That's how much data volume Whatsapp uses

If you fear that your data volume will shrink enormously through Whatsapp, we can calm you down straight away. In fact, the MB consumption by Messenger is not as high as expected - with the exception of WhatsApp calls.

• A message of around 200 characters is just around one kilobyte in size if you send it via Whatsapp. When receiving such a message, you have to expect around two kilobytes.
• If you send or receive photos with Whatsapp, then depending on the size, they are somewhere between around 75 and 95 KB, provided the photo is around 65 to 85 KB in size. The consumption is correspondingly higher for larger photos.
• Note that even sending and receiving positions consumes data. Sending costs just under 0.5 MB, while receiving only around 20 KB.
• If you would only use WhatsApp theoretically for sending text messages, you would get very far with a small Internet flat rate with a data volume of 100 MB. However, keep in mind that in practice you will probably not only use WhatsApp and the data consumption will therefore be higher.
• If you also use WhatsApp to make calls, you have to expect a higher data consumption. This costs you between 0.9 and 1.5 megabytes per minute. During a conversation via WhatsApp calls, you consume about 90 megabytes of your data volume. Depending on how often you use this function, your data volume can shrink quickly.
• Tip: There are mobile phone tariffs where you can use WhatsApp for free. If you are a messenger frequent writer, it could be worth it for you.

We will show you in another practical tip how you can display the data volume used on Android and iOS.