Before you buy
How much data WhatsApp uses: messages, calls and video calls
Messages are practically free, calls cost little and video calls are another story. The figures, and what to switch off before you travel.
Dani Requena 7 min Photo by Gianella Castro on Unsplash WhatsApp is the app you open most on a trip and one of the lightest, as long as you don't count what lands in your group chats. That's where the whole difference sits between negligible usage and a plan that's gone.
The figures
| What you're doing | Rough usage |
|---|---|
| Text message | under 1 KB |
| Photo sent or received | 0.1 to 1 MB |
| One minute voice note | about 0.3 MB |
| Voice call, per minute | 0.3 to 0.5 MB |
| Video call, per minute | 3 to 5 MB |
| Half an hour of video calling | 100 to 150 MB |
An hour of voice calls a day over two weeks comes to around 400 MB. A daily twenty minute video call, on the other hand, is nearly two gigabytes.
Auto-download, which is the real problem
By default, WhatsApp downloads photos and videos the moment they arrive. In a busy family group, or a work one, that's hundreds of megabytes a day nobody asked for and that often never even get opened.
- Go into the app's settings, into the storage and data section.
- Under auto-download on mobile data, leave photos only, or nothing at all if you're on a tight plan.
- Leave videos, voice notes and documents for wifi.
- Switch on the reduced data usage option for calls too, which lowers the quality and the usage.
With those four settings, WhatsApp goes from a drain to a few megabytes a day.
Calling on WhatsApp instead of by phone
This is the part that genuinely saves money outside the European Union. A WhatsApp call goes over data, so your travel plan pays for it and it costs pennies' worth of gigabytes. A call on your usual line from outside the EU is billed by your operator at its roaming rate.
Put another way: half an hour talking on WhatsApp is about 10 MB. Half an hour on the phone from another continent is a number worth looking up in your plan before you dial.
What happens to your number while you use a data eSIM is in your everyday number and WhatsApp while you travel.
The chat backup
A WhatsApp backup can run to several gigabytes if it holds years of photos, and some phones are set to run it on mobile data. Before a trip it's worth checking it's set to wifi only: a backup kicking off in an airport can take your whole plan in one go.
And the other messaging apps
Telegram, Signal and Messenger sit in the same order of magnitude: text is negligible, calls cost little and video is the expensive part. The advice is the same, and they all have an auto-download setting worth reviewing.
Frequently asked questions
How much data does a WhatsApp video call use?
Between 3 and 5 MB per minute, so roughly 100 to 150 MB in half an hour. An ordinary voice call uses ten times less.
How much does WhatsApp use per day while travelling?
With auto-download under control, a few megabytes. Without it, a busy group can mean hundreds of megabytes a day in photos and videos you never even open.
How do I stop WhatsApp downloading photos and videos on data?
In settings, storage and data, set auto-download on mobile data to photos only or to nothing, and keep videos and documents for wifi.
Is it cheaper to call on WhatsApp from abroad?
Outside the European Union, nearly always yes: the call goes over data and your travel plan pays for it, whereas calling on your usual line is billed at your operator's roaming rate.
Does WhatsApp work with a data eSIM?
Yes, exactly the same. It's tied to your number, not to whichever card carries the data, so you keep your groups and history without verifying anything again.
