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Threads, Meta’s text-based social media platform that sought to capitalize on user frustration with the Elon Musk-owned X, overtook its competitor in daily active users on mobile devices worldwide for the first time this month, according to data from analytics firm Similarweb, with both platforms locked in a race for readers and advertisers.
Last week (Sept. 15 to Sept. 21), Threads just edged out X in the average number of daily active users, according to Similarweb data, leading with 130.2 million daily users over X’s 130.1 million.
Threads also 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, which launched in 2023 as an Instagram spinoff, surpassed X for the first time on Sept. 5, according to Similarweb, though the two competitors have traded the lead since then.
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.
Threads beats X with worldwide iOS users, with 62.5 million daily active users as of Sept. 20, ahead of X’s 56.6 million daily active users, according to Similarweb.
While the two are text-based conversation platforms, Threads does benefit heavily from a deep integration within another Meta platform, Instagram, which promotes Threads within its feed.
X has more daily active mobile users in the United States, according to Similarweb. As of Sept. 20, Threads had 16.2 million daily active users on U.S. devices, while X led with 21.3 million daily users. X also maintains a huge lead on website visits: On Sept. 20, X had 140.7 million daily active users on x.com, while Threads had a comparatively tiny 7.7 million daily users on its website. Data from Similarweb also indicates users spend more time on X than on Threads. On Android devices worldwide as of August, the average time spent on X is 4:04 minutes, nearly double the average time users spend on Threads (2:14 minutes).
Threads’ rising user base is a positive sign for Meta, which could look to capitalize on advertising revenue from the social platform, analysts say. Ross Sandler, analyst at Barclays Research, said in a note shared with 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. Sandler noted 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 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 for years since Musk’s takeover. In 2023, X’s global advertising revenue plummeted 51.7% to $2 billion, falling an additional 2.3% the following year, according to Emarketer estimates. U.K. financial filings in April showed X’s ad revenue dropped more than 66% in the country in 2023 as profits dropped 74%, Fortune reported, with much of the profit drop coming from advertisers jumping ship after Musk’s takeover. Emarketer estimated in March that X is on track to have its first year of ad revenue growth since Musk’s ownership in 2025, rising 16.5% to $2.26 billion, with U.S. revenue rising 17.5% to $1.3 billion. Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg told Bloomberg some of the advertising resurgence on X is driven by “fear” with the return of some advertisers “in an effort to curry favor with the Trump administration,” though she wouldn’t yet call it a “rebound” because X’s ad revenue is still half of what it was in 2021.
Mark Mahaney, senior managing director and internet research analyst at Evercore ISI, told Forbes that Threads’ close integration with Instagram and other Meta platforms give it advantages over X for revenue and user base growth. Threads’ integration with Instagram, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday has 3 billion monthly active users, is a “big advantage,” Mahaney said, stating Meta can “siphon you off from that massive platform over to Threads.” Users can sign up for Threads using their Instagram or Facebook credentials, and Threads describes itself as “Instagram’s text-based conversation app,” according to the App Store. Threads may also be better at showing targeted ads, Mahaney said, noting Instagram and Threads will “probably know more about their users,” which may make it a more attractive place for advertisers to spend money instead of X. “To the extent Threads gets bigger and bigger, it’s a negative development for the attractiveness of X to advertisers,” Mahaney said.
The two traded barbs as early as 2016, when Zuckerberg said he was “deeply disappointed” a SpaceX rocket carrying a Facebook satellite exploded. SpaceX called the explosion an “anomaly,” while Musk, years later, said the incident was “my fault for being an idiot.” The two sparred over artificial intelligence in 2017, with Zuckerberg dismissing Musk as a “naysayer” over his calls for AI regulation. Musk shot back in a tweet: “I've talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited.” Musk also jabbed Zuckerberg as Facebook faced a data harvesting scandal in March 2018, deleting the Facebook pages for Tesla and SpaceX, and tweeting: “What’s Facebook?” Amid reports of Threads’ impending launch in 2023, Musk floated the idea of physically fighting Zuckerberg, tweeting: “I’m up for a cage match if he is.” Zuckerberg replied in an Instagram story: “Send me location.” UFC President Dana White soon pledged to organize the match, but it later fell apart after Musk said he needed surgery before fighting. Zuckerberg then bowed out, stating, “If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me.”
Threads inflamed tensions between the billionaires as X faced an exodus of users after Musk acquired Twitter and overhauled many of its features, including the name and logo, its moderation standards and its verification process. In announcing Threads’ launch, Zuckerberg seemed to play up the X chaos, promising instead “an open and friendly public space for conversation.” Upon launch, Threads was downloaded 30 million times in less than one day, but lawyers for the Musk-owned Twitter threatened legal action, alleging Threads used trade secrets from former Twitter employees to build the platform. “Competition is fine, cheating is not,” Musk said at the time. Zuckerberg joked about the platforms’ similarities in his first tweet in more than a decade, posting the meme of two Spider-Mans pointing at one another. Musk criticized Threads in July 2023 as “just Instagram minus pics, which makes no sense, given that thirst pics are the main reason people use that app.” Zuckerberg has long eyed Threads reaching one billion users, a goal he repeatedly talked about in July. In January, Zuckerberg again said he expects Threads to “continue on its trajectory to become the leading discussion platform and eventually reach 1 billion people over the next several years,” CNBC reported.
Musk is the wealthiest person in the world as of Thursday, with an estimated net worth of $481.9 billion. Much of his wealth comes from his 12% stake in Tesla and his 42% stake in SpaceX, which he founded in 2002. Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, before rebranding the platform to X. Zuckerberg is the world’s third-richest person with a net worth of $256.8 billion as of Thursday, according to Forbes estimates. Zuckerberg owns about 13% of Meta, which he launched with the social media platform Facebook in 2004.
Meta makes ads on Threads available to all eligible advertisers (CNBC)