Threads Surpasses 400M Monthly Active Users, Closes Gap on X

Meta's Threads app has surpassed 400 million monthly active users, a 50 million increase since April. This marks a significant milestone for the app, which is gaining ground on its competitor X. Threads has made several updates to improve user experience, including direct messaging, spoiler tagging, and a dedicated fediverse feed. The app's growth rate and direction may be affected by a recent leadership shift.

Meta's Threads app has achieved a significant milestone, surpassing 400 million monthly active users, according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri. This represents a substantial increase of 50 million users since April, reflecting the app's rapid growth [1]. The app's success is attributed to several updates aimed at enhancing user experience, including direct messaging, spoiler tagging, and a dedicated fediverse feed.

Threads has been gaining ground on its competitor X, which has over 368 million monthly active users. The app's user base, primarily aged 18-34, aligns with Instagram's demographic, making it ideal for fashion, beauty, wellness, and lifestyle brands [2]. However, the app's growth rate and direction may be influenced by a recent leadership shift.

Meta's Threads app offers a clean, Instagram-like interface optimized for storytelling across threaded posts. It encourages longer, narrative-driven content with a 500-character limit per post, ideal for in-depth storytelling or "atomic essays" [2]. The app's algorithm prioritizes meaningful interactions, resulting in higher engagement rates than X [2]. However, its lack of hashtags, trending topics, and desktop access limits discoverability and scalability [2].

In contrast, X provides a more versatile platform for content sharing and engagement. With a 280-character limit, X excels in concise, impactful updates and supports a wide range of content types, including text, images, videos, polls, and threads [2]. Hashtags and trending topics amplify reach, while threads allow for detailed discussions [2]. X's algorithm rewards recency, engagement, relevance, and profile authority, making it a powerful tool for brands that optimize their content strategically [2].

The recent leadership shift at Meta may impact the app's growth trajectory and direction. The app's future success will depend on its ability to maintain high engagement rates, attract new users, and introduce advertising options to support brand promotions [1].

References:
[1] https://seekingalpha.com/news/4484075-monthly-active-users-on-metas-threads-app-cross-above-400m
[2] https://leapmarcom.com/threads-vs-x-best-platform-for-brands-2025/