Smartphone messaging app WhatsApp has more users than Twitter, claims its boss.
Jan Koum says the company processes 8bn inbound and 12bn outbound messages every day.
He did not reveal exactly how many active users the service has, but Twitter officially quotes 200 million per month.
Speaking at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference in New York, Mr Koum said he had no plans yet to cash in on its sizable user base through traditional means.
"We do have a manifesto opposing advertising," said the WhatsApp CEO. "We're proud of that. Who likes advertising?
"We're so bombarded with ads so much in our daily lives and we felt that smartphones aren’t the place for that ... You don’t want to be interrupted by ads when you’re chatting with your loved ones."
The app, which allows smartphone users to send free texts, pictures and videos, currently charges 69p per year in the UK and 99 cents in the US.
However, Mr Koum did not rule out extracting more money from the service in the future.
"We’re looking forward to a world with billions of phones and once that happens it’s going to be extremely easy to monetise," he said.
WhatsApp's meteoric success over the last four years has stoked speculation that Google or Facebook could make a big money move to snap up the company.
However, the firm has denied talking to either of the internet giants.
