Meta’s Muse reaches 10.2 million US downloads in 40 days

A launch powered by Meta’s reach

Meta can put a new app in front of people who already use its other products. The company promotes Muse to an audience across services used daily by 3.6 billion people, and it is also spending heavily on the app’s own advertising.

In October, Meta devoted 39% of its total ad budget to promoting Muse, up from 23% the month before. Its share of US ad impressions rose from 73rd place in September to 21st in October.

Downloads are only part of the story

Muse has also held on to more US users than ChatGPT, Claude and Grok, Sensor Tower says. Seven days after installing Muse, 30% of users were still using it; after 14 days, 23% remained. The competitors averaged 19% and 16%, respectively.

On October 16, Muse’s daily active users reached 2.5 million for the first time, up 15% in a week. The app briefly lost the top spot in the US App Store to livestreaming app Kick on October 19, then returned to number one by Tuesday. It has also held the top position in Google Play for the past 30 days.

The US download comparison favors Muse: it drew 10.2 million downloads in 40 days, against 3.7 million for ChatGPT, 500,000 for Grok and 200,000 for Claude. But worldwide, ChatGPT led with about 15 million downloads over its first 40 days. That comparison spans different markets: Muse is available only in the US and Canada, while ChatGPT also launched in Japan, Brazil and Germany. Japan alone accounted for 25% of ChatGPT’s downloads in that period.

The question behind the retention numbers

I think the more interesting signal is not the download count but the reported retention. Meta’s reach and ad spending can explain a fast start; users returning after two weeks suggest something more than distribution may be working. But the figures don’t tell us how often people use Muse, what tasks bring them back, or whether that early retention lasts.

Muse has the launch position and an unusually large funnel. Whether it can turn both into durable use is still the less visible test.