World Sites & Apps
Oceania · #40 · 2025–2026

Australia: internet and everyday apps

Australia has about 24 million people online — a penetration rate of 88.9% and rank #40 worldwide. This page walks through the local digital scene, the app categories people lean on, and 144 apps worth knowing.

Internet users 24 million Penetration 88.9% World rank #40 Updated 2026-11-12
TL;DR
  • Australia has roughly 24 million internet users (24,000,000 people) — about 88.9% of the population and rank #40 globally.
  • The apps people open most: WhatsApp, Session, Instagram, Facebook. They cover Messaging, Social, Video, Shopping, Payments, Mobility, News, Travel, Tools, Food, Music, Classifieds, Cloud storage, Security, AI assistants, Learning, Health, Parcels, Maps, Gaming, Reading, Public services and more.
  • The one to know first: WhatsApp — The most widely used messenger on earth.

Australia in numbers

2025–2026
Internet users
24 million24,000,000 · #40
Penetration
88.9%#66
Population
27 million27,000,000 · #54
GDP
$1.76T#14
GDP growth
+1.4%#169
GDP per person
$65,074#21
Land area
7.69M km²#6
Capital
Canberra
Region
Oceania
Official languages
English

How Australia goes online

Australian phones carry a lot of admin. Facebook and Instagram are the social baseline, WhatsApp covers the family and work chats, and ABC News and news.com.au are where most people check the day's headlines. SEEK is the default for job hunting, CommBank and the other bank apps handle money, and myGov is the portal for tax, Medicare and Centrelink. The whole system assumes a decent connection, which is why a rural black spot still generates real anger.

Around 88.9%. With a population of about 27 million and 24 million online, roughly 3 million people are still offline — mostly because of rural coverage, device cost and age.

All 144 apps below are grouped by category.

What people actually use

144 Most-used apps

Messaging

2 Most-used apps →
WhatsApp Messaging · Meta · 2009 Session Messaging · Session Technology Foundation · 2020

Social

11 Most-used apps →
Instagram Social · Meta · 2010 Facebook Social · Meta · 2004 Bumble Social · Bumble · 2014 Hinge Social · Hinge (Match Group) · 2012 Letterboxd Social · Letterboxd · 2011 Quora Social · Quora · 2009 Tumblr Social · Automattic · 2007 Bluesky Social · Bluesky · 2023 Goodreads Social · Amazon · 2007 Patreon Social · Patreon · 2013 Imgur Social · Imgur · 2009

Video

5 Most-used apps →
YouTube Video · Google · 2005 Netflix Video · Netflix, Inc. · 1997 Paramount+ Video · Paramount Global · 2021 CapCut Video · ByteDance · 2020 IMDb Video · Amazon · 1990

Shopping

9 Most-used apps →
Amazon Shopping · Amazon.com, Inc. · 1994 eBay Shopping · eBay · 1995 IKEA Shopping · IKEA · 1943 SHEIN Shopping · SHEIN · 2008 StockX Shopping · StockX · 2015 UNIQLO Shopping · Fast Retailing · 1984 Temu Shopping · PDD Holdings · 2022 Woolworths Shopping · Woolworths Group · 2010 Coles Shopping · Coles Group · 2010

Payments

5 Most-used apps →
PayPal Payments · PayPal · 1998 Afterpay Payments · Block · 2014 CommBank Payments · Commonwealth Bank · 2011 Klarna Payments · Klarna · 2005 Remitly Payments · Remitly · 2011

Mobility

2 Most-used apps →
Uber Mobility · Uber Technologies · 2009 Lime Mobility · Lime · 2017

News

5 Most-used apps →
ABC News News · Australian Broadcasting Corporation · 1995 Medium News · Medium · 2012 Substack News · Substack · 2017 The Age News · Nine Entertainment · 2011 Sydney Morning Herald News · Nine Entertainment · 2011

Travel

6 Most-used apps →
Booking.com Travel · Booking Holdings · 1996 GetYourGuide Travel · GetYourGuide · 2009 Kayak Travel · Kayak (Booking Holdings) · 2004 Tripadvisor Travel · Tripadvisor · 2000 Qantas Travel · Qantas · 2010 Rome2Rio Travel · Rome2Rio · 2011

Tools

16 Most-used apps →
Google Tools · Google · 1998 Gmail Tools · Google · 2004 SEEK Tools · SEEK · 1998 Grammarly Tools · Grammarly · 2009 Loom Tools · Loom (Atlassian) · 2015 Shopify Tools · Shopify · 2006 Microsoft Teams Tools · Microsoft · 2017 Dropbox Tools · Dropbox · 2007 Waze Tools · Google · 2008 Proton Mail Tools · Proton · 2014 NordVPN Tools · Nord Security · 2012 Perplexity Tools · Perplexity AI · 2022 Telstra Tools · Telstra · 2010 Optus Tools · Singtel · 2010 Vodafone Australia Tools · TPG Telecom · 2010 Atlassian Tools · Atlassian · 2002

Food

4 Most-used apps →
Domino’s Food · Domino’s Pizza · 1960 HelloFresh Food · HelloFresh · 2011 Yelp Food · Yelp · 2004 Menulog Food · Just Eat Takeaway.com · 2006

Music

4 Most-used apps →
Shazam Music · Apple · 2008 TIDAL Music · TIDAL (Block) · 2014 TuneIn Music · TuneIn · 2002 Bandcamp Music · Bandcamp · 2008

Classifieds

2 Most-used apps →
Indeed Classifieds · Indeed · 2004 Upwork Classifieds · Upwork · 2015

Cloud storage

7 Most-used apps →
Google Drive Cloud storage · Google · 2012 iCloud Cloud storage · Apple · 2011 OneDrive Cloud storage · Microsoft · 2007 MEGA Cloud storage · Mega Limited · 2013 MediaFire Cloud storage · MediaFire · 2006 Proton Drive Cloud storage · Proton AG · 2022 Sync Cloud storage · Sync · 2011

Security

9 Most-used apps →
ExpressVPN Security · ExpressVPN（Kape Technologies） · 2009 Surfshark Security · Surfshark（Kape Technologies） · 2018 Malwarebytes Security · Malwarebytes · 2008 Authy Security · Twilio · 2010 NordPass Security · Nord Security · 2019 Dashlane Security · Dashlane · 2009 AVG Antivirus Security · AVG Technologies（Gen Digital） · 1991 ESET Security · ESET · 1992 Proton VPN Security · Proton AG · 2017

AI assistants

10 Most-used apps →
ChatGPT AI assistants · OpenAI · 2022 Gemini AI assistants · Google · 2023 Claude AI assistants · Anthropic · 2023 Microsoft Copilot AI assistants · Microsoft · 2023 Grok AI assistants · xAI · 2023 Midjourney AI assistants · Midjourney · 2022 Suno AI assistants · Suno · 2023 Character.AI AI assistants · Character.AI · 2022 Poe AI assistants · Quora · 2022 Meta AI AI assistants · Meta · 2023

Learning

10 Most-used apps →
Duolingo Learning · Duolingo · 2012 Coursera Learning · Coursera · 2012 Khan Academy Learning · Khan Academy · 2008 Udemy Learning · Udemy · 2010 Brilliant Learning · Brilliant.org · 2012 Quizlet Learning · Quizlet · 2005 Babbel Learning · Babbel · 2007 Photomath Learning · Photomath (Google) · 2014 Anki Learning · Ankitects · 2006 MasterClass Learning · MasterClass · 2015

Health

8 Most-used apps →
MyFitnessPal Health · MyFitnessPal · 2005 Strava Health · Strava · 2009 Headspace Health · Headspace · 2010 Calm Health · Calm.com · 2012 Fitbit Health · Google · 2007 Samsung Health Health · Samsung · 2012 Ada Health Health · Ada Health · 2011 Nike Run Club Health · Nike · 2010

Parcels

3 Most-used apps →
17TRACK Parcels · 17TRACK · 2010 AfterShip Parcels · AfterShip · 2012 DHL Parcels · DHL Group · 1969

Maps

5 Most-used apps →
Google Maps Maps · Google · 2005 Organic Maps Maps · Organic Maps · 2021 Citymapper Maps · Citymapper · 2011 HERE WeGo Maps · HERE Technologies · 2012 TomTom GO Navigation Maps · TomTom · 2015

Gaming

11 Most-used apps →
Steam Gaming · Valve · 2003 Epic Games Store Gaming · Epic Games · 2018 Roblox Gaming · Roblox Corporation · 2006 PUBG Mobile Gaming · Krafton · Level Infinite · 2018 Genshin Impact Gaming · HoYoverse · 2020 Clash of Clans Gaming · Supercell · 2012 Pokémon GO Gaming · Niantic · 2016 Xbox Gaming · Microsoft · 2001 PlayStation Gaming · Sony Interactive Entertainment · 1994 Minecraft Gaming · Mojang Studios · 2011 Honkai: Star Rail Gaming · HoYoverse · 2023

Reading

8 Most-used apps →
Kindle Reading · Amazon · 2007 Audible Reading · Amazon · 1995 Scribd Reading · Scribd · 2007 Libby Reading · OverDrive · 2017 Rakuten Kobo Reading · Rakuten · 2010 Perlego Reading · Perlego · 2016 Blinkist Reading · Blinkist · 2012 WEBTOON Reading · Naver · 2004

Public services

2 Most-used apps →
myGov Public services · Services Australia · 2013 Service NSW Public services · NSW Government · 2013

Websites people in Australia actually use

18

The 18 sites locals open most often — news, shopping, search, banking and government services. Every link goes to the official site.

Shopping4Government3News2Classifieds2Jobs1Banking1Property1Telecom1Transport1Education1Food1
WoolworthsShoppingwoolworths.com.auGroceries, and the Everyday Rewards card. ColesShoppingcoles.com.auThe other big grocer, and the Flybuys points. JB Hi-FiShoppingjbhifi.com.auElectronics, and the price beat promise. KoganShoppingkogan.comOnline-only electronics, and the delivery wait. Bureau of MeteorologyGovernmentbom.gov.auEveryone checks the radar before a barbecue or a drive. myGovGovernmentmy.gov.auTax, Medicare and Centrelink, all behind the same login. Services AustraliaGovernmentservicesaustralia.gov.auCentrelink, Medicare and the payments system. ABC NewsNewsabc.net.auNews from the public broadcaster, strong on politics and live updates. news.com.auNewsnews.com.auHeadlines, sport and celebrity stuff, easy to scroll on the train. Gumtree AustraliaClassifiedsgumtree.com.auUsed furniture, bikes and share houses, with plenty of free stuff. Yellow Pages AustraliaClassifiedsyellowpages.com.auTrades and shops, and the quotes they give. SEEKJobsseek.com.auWhere most people look for a job, or at least see what is out there. CommBankBankingcommbank.com.auThe app for paying, transferring and checking what is left. realestate.com.auPropertyrealestate.com.auRentals and houses for sale; looking is almost a national hobby. TelstraTelecomtelstra.com.auThe largest network, and the fibre rollout. QantasTransportqantas.comThe flag carrier, and the frequent-flyer scheme. UNSW SydneyEducationunsw.edu.auOne of the big research universities. MenulogFoodmenulog.com.auThe local delivery network, town by town.

2808 websites →

Frequently asked questions

6 Q&A
How many people in Australia are online?

About 24 million (24,000,000 people). That works out to roughly 88.9% of the population, which puts Australia at #40 in the world for total internet users. Figures come from DataReportal’s Digital 2026, which draws on ITU and national statistics.

Which apps do people in Australia use most?

Mostly WhatsApp, Session, Instagram, Facebook — they cover Messaging, Social, Video, Shopping, Payments, Mobility, News, Travel, Tools, Food, Music, Classifieds, Cloud storage, Security, AI assistants, Learning, Health, Parcels, Maps, Gaming, Reading, Public services. The full list, grouped by category, is further down this page.

What is the leading Messaging app in Australia?

WhatsApp, Session dominate this space. The best-known is WhatsApp — The most widely used messenger on earth.

How high is internet penetration in Australia?

Around 88.9%. With a population of about 27 million and 24 million online, roughly 3 million people are still offline — mostly because of rural coverage, device cost and age.

Where do these app facts come from?

Usage figures come from DataReportal’s Digital 2026 (Kepios, based on ITU and national statistics); app details come from each product’s official site. Updated 2026-11-12.

Which websites are most popular in Australia?

The everyday ones are ABC News, news.com.au, SEEK, plus the other 18 sites listed above. They cover news, shopping, search, banking and official paperwork, and every link points to the official site.

Sources

Updated 2026-11-12
Cite this pageWorld Sites & Apps. “Australia: internet and everyday apps”. 2026. https://abcvv.com/c/au.html