Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg says Threads has overtaken Elon Musk's X in monthly active users, giving the Facebook and Instagram owner a new talking point in its contest with the rival social network.
However, the claim comes with an important qualification: Meta has not disclosed a fresh monthly user figure alongside the announcement, making it difficult to measure the size of Threads' lead or compare it directly with X.
Data published by mobile analytics firm Apptopia in May points to a different picture of Threads' performance earlier in the year, with its estimates showing declines in both daily activity and monthly active users between January and April.
Its figures also suggest that X continues to outperform its rival on several measures of user engagement, despite Threads' growth in overall reach.
The distinction matters because attracting people to an app is not the same as persuading them to return regularly. Meta may have the monthly-user advantage, but Musk's platform still has a case to make when it comes to keeping people active.
Threads Monthly Users Rise as Meta Reports New Growth
Zuckerberg made the announcement during Meta's third-quarter earnings call on 21 October. 'Threads has now overtaken X in monthly actives and continues to grow quickly,' he told investors, according to the earnings call transcript.
The statement did not include an updated total for Threads or a corresponding figure for X. That leaves an important gap in the public data, as the two platforms' reported audience sizes have not always been measured or presented on a consistent basis.
Meta's last publicly announced monthly-user milestone identified in the sources reviewed was in June, when it said Threads had reached 500 million monthly active users. That provides a useful reference point, but it does not establish the current total or independently confirm how far the platform has moved ahead of X.
There are reasons for Meta to be encouraged by the app's performance. During the same earnings call, Zuckerberg said time spent per user on Threads had increased by more than 20 per cent year on year.
The reported increase suggests that users are spending more time on Threads on the measure Meta tracks, although it does not establish how frequently individual users return.
Threads is also connected to Instagram, giving Meta an existing audience through which it can promote the service. This may help attract users, although the article does not quantify how much of Threads' growth comes from that connection.
Data Shows X Still Leads On User Engagement
Apptopia's 14 May 2026 analysis reported that Threads' global daily active users had declined every month for eight consecutive months up to April. Its estimated global monthly active audience also fell from 400 million in January to 388 million in April.
The firm's year-on-year figures for the first quarter showed a further contrast. X's daily active users grew by 22 per cent globally and 28 per cent in the United States, according to Apptopia's estimates. Threads, meanwhile, recorded declines of 21 per cent globally and 27 per cent in the US over the same period.
Apptopia also found that X outperformed Threads on three engagement measures: time spent per daily active user, average sessions per daily active user and churn rate. The company said the pattern continued among its most active users, defined as the top 10 per cent by time spent in the app.
These findings do not prove that Threads is currently losing monthly users overall. The analysis covers an earlier period, and daily activity, monthly reach and engagement measure different aspects of an app's performance. Its estimates are independent measurements rather than official user counts released by either company.
Apptopia also identified a demographic difference between the services. It estimated that men accounted for around 75 per cent of X's active users, compared with approximately 54 per cent of Threads' active users.
The figures suggest the platforms may appeal to different audience mixes, rather than competing for precisely the same group of people.
For now, Zuckerberg's announcement gives Meta a clear milestone to point to, but it does not settle the wider contest. Updated audience figures and comparable engagement data will be needed to establish whether Threads can turn its reported monthly lead into more consistent daily use.
