Meta’s text-based platform Threads has overtaken competitor X in daily active users on mobile devices, according to data from Similarweb.
The data says that Threads edged out Elon Musk’s X over the past week with 130.2 million daily users over X’s 130.1 million. Threads had 128.7 million daily active users on mobile devices worldwide on Sept. 20 (the most recently available daily number), according to Similarweb, slightly more than the 127.1 million daily active users for X.
Threads was launched in 2023 as an Instagram spinoff, aiming to capitalize on users’ frustration with X.
While the number of Threads users has grown steadily over time, the number of daily active users on X has similarly dropped. In September 2024, Threads had an average of 81.1 million daily active users on mobile devices worldwide, while X had an average of 149.9 million daily users. However, X still has an edge over Threads in the U.S.
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Analysts believe that the rise in the Threads user base spells success for Meta, which can capitalize on advertising revenue from the social platform. Ross Sandler, analyst at Barclays Research told Forbes that Meta is “lighting up new pools of ad inventory” with Threads. Sandler wrote Threads alone could account for an estimated $2 billion in ad revenue in 2026 and $9 billion in revenue in 2027, as the app continues to expand its user base. He also noted that Threads may have high “monetization potential” for its ads, noting the app is popular in countries where ad spending per capita is highest, like the United States and Japan.
Meta had announced in April that Threads opened advertising to global advertisers after testing ads with just U.S. and Japanese companies. Meanwhile, X has struggled to attract advertisers since Musk’s takeover.
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Meanwhile Threads recently announced it is developing a tool to “tag” its algorithm to configure users’ feed. This feature is related to the algorithm configuration tools coming to Instagram, however, according to TechCrunch, this feature is currently an internal prototype, and not being tested on users.
Meta also recently made several changes to how Threads worked, making it easier to understand how long a thread is, and if a post was part of a longer discussion. The company has made “several changes that display threaded posts more clearly.” These include a new “view more” label that indicates a post is part of a longer thread, making it easier to know if a person’s thoughts continued past an initial post.
There’s also a new design element that automatically stacks posts back-to-back when clicking into a series. These are just some of the changes Meta has been making to accommodate a growing user base on the social media platform.