Threads Surpasses 500 Million Monthly Active Users: Meta's 'Twitter Killer' Finally Succeeds

Threads has surpassed 500 million monthly active users, officially overtaking Musk's X.

Growth Trajectory

• Launched in July 2023, hit 100 million in 5 days (powered by Instagram integration)
• Stabilized at 200 million monthly active users in 2024
• Accelerated growth in 2025 after opening up the EU market
• Surpassed 500 million in January 2026

Key Differences from X

• Threads follows a "positive social" approach, avoiding politically polarizing content recommendations
• X has increasingly become a "free speech experiment" under Musk's leadership
• Threads' monetization is more restrained, with minimal advertising
• X has introduced paid subscriptions, creator revenue sharing, and other monetization tools

Appeal to Users

Many people left X not because of technical issues, but because of the atmosphere. Threads' product is simpler (perhaps even too simple—it doesn't even have hashtags), but it's "less noisy."

Meta's Social Empire

Facebook (3 billion) + Instagram (2 billion) + WhatsApp (2 billion) + Threads (500 million) + Messenger—Meta's dominance in the social space remains undiminished.

Zuckerberg played this one beautifully.

Sources:

• Meta Newsroom