Why Southeast Asia’s super apps won’t look like China’s
Grab and Gojek have adopted different business models as they grapple with the region’s myriad regulations and local preferences
Over the past decade, the term "super app" has evolved from a tech-industry buzzword to a shorthand for any app that attempts to do it all: messaging, payments, shopping, ride-hailing, and more.
The concept took off in China, where pioneers like WeChat and Alipay evolved into essential, all-purpose platforms embedded into the daily routines of nearly every smartphone user. Today, companies worldwide are adopting this playbook, seeking to lock users into their ecosystem, gain access to realms of consumer data, and generate continuous streams of revenue.
In South Korea and Japan, messaging apps like KakaoTalk and LINE have evolved into mini ecosystems, though they haven’t reached the same scale as their Chinese counterparts. LINE, which is owned by Softbank and Korea’s Naver, now offers payments, content sharing, and travel bookings in Japan. KakaoTalk has expanded into finance, entertainment, and business tools like Kakao Channel for brand promotion in Korea.
American tech giants are also experimenting with super app features. Facebook and Instagram have integrated shopping and payments, while X (formerly Twitter) is entering the financial services sector. The company recently struck a deal with Visa to launch the X Money Account, positioning itself for a broader fintech push.
In Southeast Asia, Singapore-based Grab and Indonesia’s Gojek are locked in a battle to become the region’s dominant super app. Though both have built impressive ecosystems, neither has managed to replicate the ubiquitous, all-encompassing presence of the Chinese giants, leaving the digital crown in this part of the world very much up for grabs.
Life with an everything app
In China, it’s common for people to use just one or two apps to manage nearly every part of their day.
Take WeChat, for example. The day often starts with catching up on overnight messages, replying to group chats, and checking updates on Moments, its built-in social feed. When it’s time for breakfast, a few taps inside the app are all it takes to order food through services like Meituan, accessed via a mini program.
On the way to work, many book a Didi ride without leaving the app. Once they arrive, clocking in for work might happen through another mini program tied to their company’s attendance system.
After hours, they might stop by a local shop, scan a QR code to pay, and later in the evening settle bills for utilities — all still within the same app. Before bed, they wind down by browsing livestream shopping or playing casual mini-games inside WeChat.
Users in China rarely juggle between a dozen different apps, as everything they need is often available within one or two platforms.
Last year, Alibaba said it started accepting WeChat Pay as an additional payment method for purchases made on Taobao and Tmall, its two giant online marketplaces, creating a bridge between the two competing platforms.
Key barriers in Southeast Asia
Many companies around the world have tried to replicate the super app model, though it's proven harder than it looks. In Southeast Asia, a region often compared to China for its fast-growing and mobile-first markets, homegrown platforms have attracted major investment from global investors, including Chinese tech giants, hoping to recreate the kind of all-in-one digital ecosystem that transformed daily life.
Grab and Gojek have grown far beyond their ride-hailing roots, now offering food and parcel delivery, e-wallets, buy-now-pay-later options, and even digital banking. On paper, they resemble super apps. But in practice, they still operate more like multi-service utilities than platforms that users rely on throughout their day.
One major difference is messaging. Unlike WeChat, LINE, or KakaoTalk, which all started as messaging apps that gradually added new services onto their platforms, Grab and Gojek don’t offer a central social or communication hub. Their in-app chat features are functional but limited, mostly for coordinating with drivers or merchants. This transactional approach makes the platforms less “sticky” in users’ daily routines.
Their scope is also narrower. One key piece of the super app puzzle, shopping, is notably absent, providing an opening for newcomers keen on building a regional super app to compete against the two incumbents.
Shopee, the region’s e-commerce giant, has tested the waters with super app-style features, including hotel and flight bookings via third-party travel agencies and even taxi-hailing through a local partnership in Indonesia. Still, over time, Shopee has narrowed its focus back to core e-commerce, fintech, and delivery offerings, which align more closely with user habits and operational strengths.
Fragmented logistics and highly varied regulations across Southeast Asian countries make it difficult to scale a unified super app. Grab and Gojek, despite their head start, face significant hurdles in building a platform that works seamlessly across borders.
Unlike China’s relatively unified digital ecosystem, Southeast Asia is a patchwork of languages, payment systems, and regulatory frameworks. The region’s six major markets — Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand — differ significantly in terms of infrastructure and income levels.
And while e-wallet use is growing, many users still rely on cash, and digital adoption varies widely by country. Users remain cautious about putting all their activities and data into a single app, with concerns around data privacy and platform reliability. This fragmentation makes it difficult to scale a seamless, region-wide super app.
This challenge isn't limited to local startups. Even global giants have faced friction trying to navigate Southeast Asia’s digital and regulatory complexity. ByteDance’s TikTok Shop illustrates how quickly regulatory environments can shift. Launched in Indonesia in 2021, it grew rapidly until the government banned social commerce in late 2023, citing unfair competition and risks to local businesses. TikTok later re-entered the market by acquiring Tokopedia and restructuring its operations, a reminder that building “all-in-one” platforms in Southeast Asia often requires adapting to unpredictable policy shifts.
Southeast Asia’s own playbook
The super app model doesn’t easily translate to Southeast Asia. One reason is that Southeast Asian apps lack the kind of open developer ecosystem that WeChat enables through its mini program framework, which supports millions of third-party services.
AI and digital strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson describes Chinese super apps like WeChat as a unique product of China’s large, uniform, and relatively closed digital economy. When smartphones took off, most Chinese users came online through ecosystems dominated by just three giants: Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, which accounted for around half of all internet traffic at the time. This concentration made it easier for platforms like WeChat to bundle services and scale rapidly across users' daily lives.
In Southeast Asia, the digital future is more likely to be shaped by interconnected, specialized apps rather than a single dominant super app. This creates a more dynamic and competitive landscape, where multiple key players lead in their respective verticals: Grab and Gojek in mobility and food delivery. Shopee, TikTok’s ShopTokopedia in e-commerce. And Traveloka, Tiket, and AirAsia MOVE in travel.
The region’s fragmented digital landscape and varying paths of development create a significant barrier for any single company hoping to build an all-in-one super app. However, this challenge is also a benefit: it ensures the marketplace remains dynamic, with lower barriers to entry for newcomers and a greater diversity of choices for consumers.
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