---
title: "Which came first, Facebook or Instagram?"
description: "Facebook vs Instagram: Facebook came first, by 6 years — 2004 against 2010. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/facebook-vs-instagram/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Facebook or Instagram?

**Which came first, Facebook or Instagram?: Facebook**

2004 — 6 years before Instagram

Facebook came first, by 6 years. TheFacebook launched for Harvard students only.

## Side by side

|  | Facebook | Instagram |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 2004 | 2010 |
| Date | 2004-02-04 | 2010-10-06 |
| Category | technology | technology |
| What happened | TheFacebook launched for Harvard students only. | The app launched on iOS. |

## Facebook

Facebook launched on 4 February 2004 restricted to Harvard email addresses, opened to other universities through 2004 and 2005, and to anyone over 13 with an email address in September 2006. It is six years younger than Google and a year older than YouTube. Its predecessor Facemash, which compared students' photographs, was shut down by the university within days in 2003.

## Instagram

Instagram launched in October 2010 as an iPhone-only app and took 25,000 users on its first day. Facebook bought it in April 2012 for about $1 billion when it had thirteen employees and no revenue. It is four years younger than Twitter and six years older than TikTok.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Facebook or Instagram?

Facebook, by 6 years — 2004 against 2010.

### When did Facebook start?

2004. TheFacebook launched for Harvard students only.

### When did Instagram start?

2010. The app launched on iOS.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]