Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Reddit vs Telegram Messenger

Reddit 4.8★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner Reddit
Telegram Messenger 4.0★ · Free + IAP 40

Reddit offers a vast community experience despite app usability issues, while Telegram Messenger struggles with core functionality and login problems.

Full reviews: Reddit · Telegram Messenger

Reddit provides a rich, diverse community experience, but its app is plagued by design flaws, performance issues, and aggressive prompts to download. Telegram Messenger, while praised for its core messaging, is currently experiencing significant problems with login, notifications, and app stability, with some users reporting unexpected fees.

Head to head

Features & Content edge: RedditR3R5R6R7
Reddit Reddit is praised for its diverse communities, ability to find new interests, and a wealth of information and stories R26. Users appreciate the sense of belonging and the variety of content available R5. However, recent updates have removed popular features like r/all, which many users relied on for discovering content and staying updated R3R7R12. There are also complaints about censorship and the push for sponsored content R6R7.
Telegram Messenger Telegram is generally seen as a good messenger app . Some users appreciate its ability to handle photos . However, recent updates have introduced issues, such as problems with quoting entire essays and a disliked camera swipe feature . There are also requests for features like adult content restrictions and better handling of premium reactions .
Ease of Use & Design tieR1R2R9R12
Reddit Many Reddit users find the app poorly designed and annoying to use, citing issues like automatic feed refreshing, difficulty messaging, and inconvenient navigation R1R2R9. Recent UI changes are criticized for being ugly, taking up space, and making typing harder R12. The app also forces users to download it by making the mobile web version unusable R13R16R22R25.
Telegram Messenger Telegram users report significant usability issues, particularly with logging in and accessing core features. Many cannot log in, receiving errors about codes, blocked numbers, or being forced to pay . Some updates have caused lag, freezing, and issues with notifications . The search bar is also reported as not working .
Reliability & Performance tieR1R4R9R12
Reddit Reddit's app is frequently criticized for poor performance, including constant refreshing of feeds, glitches like black boxes blocking the screen, and comments taking a long time to load R1R9R12. Users report the app not working at all after updates R4.
Telegram Messenger Telegram is experiencing severe reliability issues, with many users reporting the app crashing or not opening at all R66R72R73R75. Performance problems include the phone heating up significantly and calls showing endless connections . Some users also report issues with basic functions like giving the app access to audio or video .
Price & Value edge: RedditR7R13R16R22
Reddit Reddit is a free app with in-app purchases, but users are frustrated by aggressive prompts to download the app, making the mobile web version unusable R13R16R22R25. There are also complaints about ads R7.
Telegram Messenger Telegram is a free app with in-app purchases, but many users are reporting being forced to pay for basic functions like logging in, receiving SMS codes, or adding stories R67R70R82. These unexpected fees are a major point of contention and are driving users away R70R82.
Support & Moderation edge: RedditR6R19R26R30
Reddit Reddit users report issues with moderation, including bans for unclear reasons or for expressing non-left-wing biases R6R19R26R30. There are also complaints about the inability to delete accounts and a lack of recourse for abusive moderators .
Telegram Messenger Telegram users frequently complain about a complete lack of support . Users who have been hacked or are unable to log in report not receiving responses from support . There are also concerns about too many scams on the platform and difficulty reporting them .
Pick Reddit if

you value a vast and diverse community experience with endless content, and are willing to tolerate app design flaws and aggressive prompts to download .

Pick Telegram Messenger if

you need a messenger app and are confident you won't encounter the widespread login, stability, or unexpected payment issues that many current users are facing .

Evidence note: Recent reviews for both apps show a significant negative skew, particularly for Telegram Messenger, where many core functionalities like login and app stability are failing for a substantial number of users. Reddit's negative reviews often focus on design changes and forced app usage, rather than complete app failure.

Frequently asked

Why is Reddit forcing me to use the app?
Reddit is aggressively forcing users to download and use its app by making the mobile web version unusable, frequently displaying pop-ups that prevent browsing unless the app is installed R13R16R22R25.
Is Telegram Messenger free to use?
While Telegram Messenger is advertised as free, many recent reviews indicate users are being forced to pay for basic functions like logging in, receiving SMS verification codes, or adding stories, with some reporting weekly fees of around $1.19 R67R70R82R103.
Why is my Telegram app crashing or not opening?
Many Telegram users are reporting that the app is crashing, not opening, or getting stuck on a black screen after recent updates, making it unusable for some R66R72R73R75.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R3] Reddit 3/5 · US Bring back r/all to the app: Removing r/all has completely hamstringed my ability to stay on top of current events in an aggregate and balanced way. I am actively seeking other outlets to replace Reddit because of this. The decision to remove access to it lowers the quality of the app immensely,
  2. [R5] Reddit 5/5 · US Here’s the deal…: I find comfort in knowing that others ‘get it’ (anti trump).
  3. [R6] Reddit 3/5 · US Has potential: There is too much censorship… if you are a freedom of speech supporter, you know our first amendment right, most important law of our land, you will not like this platform. If you are a soft leftist who wants to shut people up who disagree with you or hurt your feelings with the truth and maybe a little vulgar language, you will love this ap because there’s a lot of unnecessary cens
  4. [R7] Reddit 1/5 · US Ruining the best part of the internet: Please stop making this worse. The algorithm to keep one engaged just makes the experience bland and monotonous. The need to push poor or sponsored content is making the same posts appear and drive you away. Bring back r/all. Stop tracking everything a user does if you’re gonna stick ads everywhere. I use the app less and less each day and am patiently awaiti
  5. [R1] Reddit 1/5 · US Bad Design and Annoying to Use: The app is poorly designed. The changes made to align with the ios theme are poor. Automatically opening up my own custom feed rather than the popular tab is annoying and I can’t change it. The app refreshes constantly even if I’m in the middle of reading or doing something which is VERY annoying. The only reason I still use it is because they’ve blocked every oth
  6. [R2] Reddit 5/5 · US Can you make a new update? Soon: Can you do a new update for me. It’s not letting me message other people in private messages.I deleted the app to see if it would fix it and it’s not
  7. [R9] Reddit 3/5 · US App sucks, idea in general is great: I love Reddit in general, but the app suckssss. You can’t swipe up to read comments on a post, you have to tap the tiny comment button. You can’t swipe right to exit a post, you have to tap the tiny X. It glitches and a big black box will block half the screen and doesn’t go away unless I force restart the app. It’s just an inconvenient app which sucks for Redd
  8. [R12] Reddit 3/5 · US Recent Updates are Abysmal for performance and usage: Recent updates are clearly vibe coded. UI changes and the elimination of all are one thing, but now comments take a comically long time to load unless manually reloaded. Feels more and more like TikTok every day. Look at how they massacred my narwhal at midnight.
  9. [R4] Reddit 1/5 · US Dud: 3 updates in the last 2 weeks and the app still will not work.
  10. [R13] Reddit 1/5 · US This Site was Built on the browser: And now you can’t even look at Reddit posts without their ridiculous pop up forcing you to get the app. Definitely will do everything in my power to never get this app now.
  11. [R16] Reddit 1/5 · US Only way to view Reddit on mobile?: Hey there, long time Reddit user here. I’ve noticed that the prompts to download the app happen almost instantly every time I try to access the Reddit website on mobile. It was mildly annoying when it’d happen every few clicks, but now it’s rendered the mobile site completely unusable. Are y’all about done with this experimental feature or is this mess the new s
  12. [R22] Reddit 1/5 · US Have to use the app???: This trash company won’t let me read articles on the internet without downloading the app
  13. [R19] Reddit 2/5 · US Left wing mods ban: Sub reddits are filled with left wing moderators who will ban anyone that has a non left wing bias.
  14. [R26] Reddit 4/5 · US I enjoy this app: Lots of info but it’s hard to figure out and I’ve gotten banned for a reason I don’t even understand
  15. [R30] Reddit 3/5 · GB Decent app but: I got my accounts permanently banned for saying we should kill Elon musk one time.
  16. [R25] Reddit 1/5 · US Forcing the app: I hate that they’re forcing me to download the app to read stuff. I try to keep my storage amount low and this isn’t something I use all the time but forcing stuff for capitalistic reasons makes me not want to even use it ever
  17. [R67] Telegram Messenger 1/5 · US Premium: I have to pay to do anything pay to log in pay to add stories pay to chang profile pay pay pay pay telegram is a consumer
  18. [R70] Telegram Messenger 1/5 · US Garbage: You shouldn’t be forcing people to pay an sms fee in order to use an app that never needed it until now
  19. [R82] Telegram Messenger 1/5 · US Fees: Telegram just started charging SMS fees for no particular reason not letting the customers know. I have decided to go to another platform for my messaging. These fees consist of going to telegram premium but they say it’s just for one week but then they continue to charge you all the time and if you do not pay for the telegram premium, you will not be able to get back onto the app. I wish I
  20. [R103] Telegram Messenger 1/5 · US Enforcing me to buy SMS Free: Why on earth the app doesn’t let me in and forces me to buy “SMS Free”?? Since when it ENFORCES to get Telegram Premium for one week?? Really annoying and bad user experience
  21. [R66] Telegram Messenger 3/5 · US iOS 15 system crashing: The latest version 12.9 crashes when opened on iOS 15; hope it can be fixed.
  22. [R72] Telegram Messenger 3/5 · US Broken being belief: App force quite itself before it opened every time. I have a 1/20 success rate
  23. [R73] Telegram Messenger 1/5 · US The app doesn’t open.: The app doesn’t open and after a while it goes back to main screen. This happens always. It should deserve even less than 1 star if it exists.
  24. [R75] Telegram Messenger 3/5 · US Crashing app: App isn’t opening up might need an update

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store