ChatGPT beats Instagram, TikTok becoming most downloaded app globally in March, all thanks to Ghibli trend

OpenAI's ChatGPT has surged past Instagram and TikTok to become the world’s most downloaded app in March, according to analytics firm AppFigures. The spike in downloads follows the rollout of ChatGPT’s new image generation feature, which sparked a viral wave of Ghibli-style art creations and drew millions of users to the platform.

The AppFigures report estimates that ChatGPT recorded 46 million downloads globally in March — edging out Instagram by a narrow margin. The platform gained 13 million downloads on iOS and 33 million on Android. Instagram followed closely with the same total downloads but had a different split: 5 million on iOS and 41 million on Android. TikTok came in third with 45 million downloads — 8 million on iOS and 37 million on Android.

“According to our estimates, ChatGPT saw 46 million downloads – just a shade higher than Instagram before rounding – in March,” the report noted.

The momentum was driven largely by ChatGPT’s image generation feature, which launched in early March and quickly went viral. Users created Ghibli-style images and shared them widely, leading to a 28% jump in downloads from February to March. When comparing the first quarter of 2025 to the same period in 2024, downloads for ChatGPT have soared 148%, the report added.

OpenAI’s Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap shared that over 130 million users have used the new feature, collectively generating more than 700 million images since launch. “The viral traction shows the power of giving creative tools to the masses,” Lightcap said.