Threads’ daily active user base has climbed to more than 150 million, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced during the company’s Q3 2025 earnings call. That’s a 50% jump from the 100 million daily users Meta reported in December 2024.

Zuckerberg says Threads “on track to become the leader in its category,” highlighting the app’s growth across both engagement and product development.

The growth extends beyond the daily user base. In August, Threads surpassed 400 million monthly active users, up from 350 million in April. This milestone shows how quickly Meta’s text-based app is growing in a market long dominated by Elon Musk’s X. 

In September, Similarweb data showed Threads averaging 130.2 million daily users worldwide on mobile, slightly ahead of X’s 130.1 million. That was the first time Threads overtook X in daily usage.

Meta credits AI for user growth

Meta says the surge in user activity is largely driven by AI-powered recommendation systems across its platforms. Zuckerberg explained that improved content suggestions have made feeds more relevant, leading users to spend more time on the apps.

“Across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, our AI recommendation systems are delivering higher-quality and more relevant content, which led to 5% more time spent on Facebook in Q3 and 10% on Threads,” Zuckerberg said during the call.

CFO Susan Li added that the company’s ranking optimizations played a key role. “On Threads, we’re seeing strong growth in both daily actives and the depth of engagement as we continue to improve recommendations. The ranking optimizations we made in Q3 alone drove a 10% increase in time spent on Threads,” she said.

Direct messaging and ad placements expand Threads’ ecosystem

Meta is gradually expanding Threads’ product capabilities. During the quarter, the company launched direct messaging, allowing users to send messages to one another directly within the app.

Meta continues to make Threads a key platform for advertisers across its social apps. The company has rolled out global ad placements in the Threads feed. Li said Meta is following its “typical monetization playbook” of testing ad formats and optimizing performance before ramping up supply. 

Plans are underway to introduce video ads, a move that aligns Threads with the broader shift toward short-form video engagement across social platforms.

Threads’ growing relevance for advertisers

The expansion of Threads’ ad inventory shows Meta’s intent to turn the app into a viable advertising channel. With a user base that has grown 50% in under a year and stronger engagement rates, Threads is gradually becoming another avenue for Meta to generate ad dollars. 

Zuckerberg has previously said the long-term goal is for Threads to reach one billion users before becoming a major revenue driver. The app’s current momentum suggests the foundation for monetization is already being laid.

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