Truecaller faces increasing pressures as its growth matures

Truecaller is one of the most used caller ID platforms in the world, with more than 500 million users. It is now entering a more challenging phase as growth slows in its largest market and competition intensifies on telecom networks and smartphone platforms.

Much of Truecaller’s growth has been driven by India, which represents more than 350 million usersor about 70% of its global base. The volume of spam and unwanted calls has transformed the app from a simple caller ID service to a more integrated layer of daily communication.

That position is now shaping its next phase. The company has introduced features like AI Assistant and Family Protection to boost monetization, along with tools like Community Suggestions remain relevant as competition intensifies. This emerges as telecommunications-driven solutions, such as Calling Name Presentation (CNAP), dedicated number series for verified business calls and AI-based spam protection gaining traction in India. Meanwhile, smartphone makers, including Apple and Google, continue to build caller ID and spam-blocking capabilities into their operating systems.

As competition increases, Truecaller’s growth begins to slow. Data shared with TechCrunch from Sensor Tower shows that downloads from India fell 16% year-over-year in 2025, while global downloads declined 5%, marking a reversal after several years of growth. Separate data from Appfigures shows that downloads peaked at 175 million in 2021, fell sharply in 2022, and have hovered around 120 million a year since.

India remains Truecaller’s largest market, but its share of downloads has declined from over 70% at its peak to the mid-50s in recent years, pointing to a gradual shift in new user growth towards other markets.

Investors are closely monitoring Truecaller’s change in growth dynamics. The company’s shares have fallen about 78% since its 2021 initial public offering and are down about 37% so far this year, underscoring investor concerns about its growth prospects and business model. CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala told TechCrunch that one of the key questions from investors has been the impact of CNAP in India. He also acknowledged recent headwinds in some parts of the business, without elaborating.

CNAP, an initiative Powered by Indian Telecom Regulator and it is being implemented by telecommunications operatorsshows caller names based on network-level KYC records without the need for third-party apps. This overlaps with some of Truecaller’s core offering, but is more limited in scope.

Truecaller’s Jhunjhunwala said the company does not see CNAP as a disruption but as a validation of the problem.

“Truecaller operates as a global platform with a much richer and more dynamic intelligence layer, spanning spam detection, fraud prevention, enterprise identity and user context in calls and messages,” he said. “This allows us to go far beyond basic caller ID.”

Bharath Nagaraj, director of equity research at Cantor Fitzgerald, said CNAP could slow user growth but is unlikely to materially disrupt Truecaller’s core business in the near term. Instead, he pointed to pressure on the company’s advertising segment – ​​driven in part by Google’s changes – as the most immediate challenge.

“If you look at the company’s profits, 65% to 70% now comes from advertising revenue. And that had an impact recently,” Nagaraj told TechCrunch.

in your latest earnings call (PDF), Truecaller said it lost about a third of its largest partner’s ad traffic in August 2025, a partner that analysts on the call identified as Google. Jhunjhunwala attributed the drop to an unresolved “algorithm issue”, while chief financial officer Odd Bolin said partner still accounts for more than a third of total revenue. The company is now adding new partners and creating its own ad exchange to reduce dependence on a single platform.

But even moving to an internal ad exchange may not completely solve the challenge. Advertising remains highly competitive and brands can invest across multiple digital platforms, Nagaraj said. “You can show your ads on Truecaller, but you can also show them on Facebook,” he said.

In-app revenue continues to grow

The pressure on advertising comes even as other parts of Truecaller’s business are on a different trajectory. Data from Appfigures shows that while downloads have stagnated in recent years, in-app gross revenue has increased sharply: from $600,000 in 2017 to $39.3 million in 2025. It has already reached $13.4 million this year as of April 20.

Monthly revenue generated from in-app purchases on Truecaller now consistently exceeds $2 million and continues to rise, according to Appfigures.

Truecaller’s presence on iOS has also grown from less than 5% of its total downloads in 2020-2021 to around 11-12% in recent years, according to Appfigures, highlighting a shift towards higher value markets. The company has ramped up its efforts on Apple’s platform, including launching real-time caller ID for iPhone in early 2025 and rolling out feature updates to improve parity with its Android app.

However, Apple recently expanded its call filtering capabilities, which could reduce the need for third-party apps among iPhone users.

Another key pillar of Truecaller’s monetization strategy is its enterprise offering, Truecaller for Business, which allows businesses to verify their identities and communicate with customers through calls and messages. The segment has been growing steadily, with Revenue increases 39% at constant exchange rates. in 2025. Truecaller’s Jhunjhunwala said the company is expanding the platform globally by opening up its chat services to partners and offering tools like Verified Business Caller ID to help businesses verify identity and reach customers.

In addition to its business push, Truecaller has also been expanding its consumer subscription business, which has more than 4 million paid subscribers worldwide, as more users opt for features like advanced spam protection, AI-based call detection, and an ad-free experience.

In the past, Truecaller has been criticized for how it creates and maintains its extensive database of phone identities. A investigation from The Caravan raised questions about consent and data collection practices, particularly in India, where data protection laws have until now been less strict. Truecaller has denied wrongdoing and maintains that it complies with applicable regulations, but the debate underscores the broader challenge of balancing utility, scale and user privacy.

Despite all these challenges, Truecaller sees significant room for growth. The company is focused on addressing the growing complexity of communication, Jhunjhunwala said, as spam and scam calls become more sophisticated with advances in AI. Similarly, it plans to expand across all three revenue streams (advertising, business services and premium subscriptions) as it looks to sustain growth across all markets. Whether that will be enough, however, may depend on how quickly it can adapt as caller ID moves from standalone apps to the network and to the phone itself.