The key facts

  • Muse reached 10.9 million downloads since September, of which 10.2 million were in the US (Sensor Tower)
  • Previously, only 11 apps had achieved this result, the last being Threads in July 2023
  • User retention: 30% on day 7 versus an average of 19% among competitors; 2.5 million DAU on October 16

Record-breaking start

Meta's AI companion called Muse has joined the ranks of just a dozen mobile apps that reached 10 million downloads in the US within their first 40 days on the market. According to Sensor Tower, the app has been downloaded 10.9 million times since its debut in September, of which 10.2 million came from the US. Sensor Tower senior analyst Kara Lee noted that before Muse, only 11 apps had achieved such a result; the last one was Threads, from the same Meta, in July 2023. Most other apps of this scale were mobile games.

The role of Meta's marketing

Muse's success is tied to Meta's ability to promote new apps through its own services with 3.6 billion daily active users. Threads was built on Instagram's social graph, while Muse, in addition to cross-promotion, receives significant advertising investment. According to Sensor Tower, in October Meta directed 39% of its total advertising budget toward promoting Muse, up from 23% in September. This month, Muse ranked 21st among the largest US advertisers by ad impressions, up from 73rd place in September.

Retention and activity

Muse demonstrates higher user retention than competitors: 30% on day seven and 23% on day 14 in the US, whereas ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok average 19% and 16% respectively. On October 16, the app's daily audience reached 2.5 million people for the first time, growing 15% over the week.

Comparison with competitors

In its first 40 days, Muse reached 10.2 million downloads in the US, compared with 3.7 million for ChatGPT, 500 thousand for Grok, and 200 thousand for Claude. Globally, ChatGPT outpaced Muse with approximately 15 million downloads, but Sensor Tower notes that the comparison is not entirely fair: Muse is available only in the US and Canada, while ChatGPT covered other markets as well — for example, Japan accounted for 25% of its global installs in the first 40 days.

Positions in the app stores

Since launch, Muse has held the top spot in the US App Store every day except October 19, when it was briefly overtaken by the streaming app Kick. By Tuesday, Muse had reclaimed the top spot. Over the past 30 days, the app has also held first place on Google Play.