Threads Has Overtaken X in Mobile Daily Active Users — Where That Leaves Creators Deciding Between the Two
Similarweb data has Threads ahead of X in mobile daily active users (about 141.5M to 125M) with growth still climbing, even as X keeps a large lead on the web — a split that changes where creators should publish.
2026-09-14 · by Moe Ameen
Published 2026-09-14 · Updated
Short answer
Yes, on mobile. Similarweb data put Threads at 141.5 million daily active users on iOS and Android on January 7, 2026, against 125 million for X. X still dominates the web, with 145.4 million daily visits to Threads' 8.5 million, so the lead is mobile only. eMarketer forecasts Threads will pass X in U.S. users in 2027, 59.1 million to 51.1 million.
Key takeaways
- Threads had 141.5M daily mobile users to X's 125M on January 7, 2026, per Similarweb.
- X still leads on the web, 145.4M daily visits to 8.5M, so the crossover is mobile only.
- Threads first edged ahead on mobile in the week of September 15–21, 2025.
- eMarketer projects 59.1M U.S. Threads users in 2027 against 51.1M for X.
- For most creators the answer is both networks, with posts shaped for each one.
Has Threads overtaken X in daily active users?
Threads, Meta's text-based network, has pulled ahead of X on the metric that matters most for reach on phones: mobile daily active users. Reporting in January 2026 on Similarweb data put Threads at roughly 141.5 million mobile daily active users against X's 125 million (combined Android and iOS). Threads first edged past X on mobile in the week of September 15–21, 2025, when Similarweb had it at 130.2 million daily mobile users to X's 130.1 million. The gap has widened since.
The lead is real but not total. X still dominates on the web, where the same reporting put daily visitors at about 145.4 million for X versus roughly 8.5 million for Threads, so on combined mobile-plus-web daily users X remains the larger platform. X has also claimed 600 million monthly users across mobile and web. The story is a mobile-usage crossover and a divergence in momentum, not a wholesale changing of the guard.
The momentum is the part creators should read closely. Threads has grown quickly. Meta said it passed 400 million monthly active users in August 2025 and reported 500 million active users in June 2026, while Similarweb's numbers show X's mobile daily users falling from 132 million in July 2025 to 125 million in January 2026. Forecasters have extended that trend: eMarketer projects Threads to pass X on U.S. users by 2027 (roughly 59.1 million to 51.1 million), with Threads growing 18.1% in 2026 and 14.8% in 2027 while X shrinks 1.7% and 1.6%.
Meta has fed the shift with features and distribution. Over the past year Threads added DMs, improved filtering, interest-based communities, long-form text, disappearing posts, and began testing games, while cross-promotion from Instagram and Facebook keeps funneling users in. Treat the exact figures as third-party estimates that vary by source and month, and the "bigger than X" claim as specific to mobile daily usage rather than every metric.
Why does the Threads and X crossover matter for creators?
- The crossover is mobile-specific. Threads leads where most short-form and text scrolling actually happens — on phones — while X keeps the edge on the web, so "which is bigger" depends entirely on the metric. Plan around mobile reach, not a single headline.
- Momentum, not just size, is the signal. Threads is growing double digits while X is flat-to-declining, which is the trend a creator building an audience for the next two years should weight more heavily than today's raw totals.
- It is not an either/or. The audiences overlap only partially, and the smart move for most creators is presence on both — the risk is spreading thin and posting inconsistently across two networks with different norms.
- The two platforms reward different formats. Threads leans conversational and long-form-friendly with Meta-native ad and analytics tooling; X still favors fast takes, threads, and link behavior. The same idea usually needs reshaping per platform, not a copy-paste.
- Betting everything on one text network is the underrated risk. Usage crossovers like this one show how fast platform gravity moves — creators least exposed are the ones whose audience also lives on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, a blog, and an email list.
How can creators cover both Threads and X with Kompozy?
The practical takeaway is not "abandon X for Threads" — it's that a creator now has to maintain a real presence on both text networks without doubling the work, and hedge against the next usage swing by not living on either one alone. That "same idea, reshaped per platform, published everywhere, consistently" problem is exactly what Kompozy is built for, and the angle here is covering a two-horse race rather than picking a winner. Start from one source and a single Persona Brief that fixes your voice, and Kompozy generates the platform-appropriate variants in one pass: a punchy Text Post shaped for X's fast-take norms and a longer, conversational version for Threads, plus the graphics, Clipped Shorts, and brand-exact carousels via HyperFrames that carry the same point to Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and beyond. Both X and Threads are first-class publishing destinations, so the same batch fans out to both from one queue instead of two separate posting habits you have to keep alive by hand. See the playbooks for building a brand on Threads and on X.
The hedge is the second half. Autopilot schedules and publishes across the eight social platforms plus a blog and an email newsletter behind a per-post review gate, so your reach is spread across surfaces you don't control and a list you do. If Threads' momentum keeps compounding, you're already there at full cadence; if X reverses the trend, you never left. And because Kompozy also generates net-new formats — avatar-narrated Persona Shorts, infographics, quote graphics, a blog article, and a newsletter — one week's source material becomes a steady, on-brand presence on both text networks and everywhere else, without you choosing which platform to neglect. Cover the race, don't call it.
What are the quick takeaways on Threads versus X?
- Threads has overtaken X in mobile daily active users — roughly 141.5M to 125M per Similarweb data reported in January 2026 — after first pulling ahead on mobile in mid-September 2025.
- X still leads on the web (about 145.4M vs 8.5M daily visitors), so on combined mobile-plus-web daily users X remains larger. The crossover is mobile-specific.
- Momentum diverges: Threads is growing double digits (Meta reported 400M monthly users in August 2025 and 500M active users in June 2026) while X is flat-to-declining. eMarketer projects Threads to pass X on U.S. users by 2027.
- For creators the answer is usually both, not either — but the two platforms reward different formats, and the risk is posting inconsistently across networks with different norms.
- Use Kompozy to reshape one idea into X-native and Threads-native posts from a single Persona Brief, then publish that batch across the eight social platforms plus blog and email so no single usage swing takes your reach with it.
What does this look like in Kompozy?
A persona tweet graphic from the Kompozy workspace. Short text posts like this usually need a different shape for Threads than for X.
Who is this for, and who should skip it?
Best for:
- Creators who post text-first content and are deciding where to spend posting time
- Brands already on X that want to add Threads without doubling their workload
- Marketers planning 2027 budgets around where U.S. users are heading
Not ideal for:
- Anyone whose audience reaches them mostly on desktop, where X still dwarfs Threads
- Creators who treat these figures as exact counts. They are third-party estimates that change month to month
- People who want one network only. This data argues for covering both rather than switching
Frequently asked questions
Is Threads actually bigger than X now?
On mobile daily active users, yes — Similarweb data reported in January 2026 put Threads at about 141.5 million to X's 125 million, and Threads has held the lead since first pulling ahead on mobile in mid-September 2025. But X still leads on web visitors (roughly 145.4 million to 8.5 million daily), so on combined mobile-plus-web daily users X remains larger. The "bigger" claim is specific to mobile daily usage.
Should creators move from X to Threads?
For most creators it's not either/or. The audiences overlap only partially and the two platforms reward different formats — Threads leans conversational and long-form-friendly, X favors fast takes and threads. The better play is a consistent presence on both plus your other channels, weighting Threads for its growth momentum. The practical constraint is doing that without doubling your workload, which is where a generation-and-publishing engine helps.
How can I post to both Threads and X without doubling my work?
Start from one source and one Persona Brief in a tool like Kompozy, which generates a Threads-shaped version and an X-shaped version of the same idea in a single pass, then schedules and publishes both from one queue alongside Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, a blog, and email. You reshape once and fan out, instead of maintaining two separate posting habits by hand.
Why is Threads growing while X shrinks?
Reporting attributes Threads' growth to a steady stream of features (DMs, better filters, interest-based communities, long-form text, disappearing posts, games testing) and heavy cross-promotion from Instagram and Facebook. TechCrunch's January 2026 report said the shift looked like a longer-term trend, not a reaction to X's recent Grok deepfake controversy. Treat these as reported factors, and the specific figures as third-party estimates that vary by source.
How do we know this?
We checked every figure, date and quote on this page against the sources listed below on 2026-10-23, and removed or rewrote anything we could not confirm. Similarweb figures come from TechCrunch, Mi3 and MediaPost, and the 2027 forecast from eMarketer. We removed claims about the two apps trading the lead, an October 2025 average and X's total account base, because we could not find a source for them. Kompozy product details come from kompozy.io.
Sources
- TechCrunch — Threads edges out X in daily mobile users, new data shows (read 2026-10-23)
- eMarketer — Threads surpasses X in daily mobile users, reshaping where marketers should invest (read 2026-10-23)
- Mi3 — Similarweb stats show Threads surpasses X daily mobile users (read 2026-10-23)
- MediaPost — Threads surpasses X in mobile users: report (read 2026-10-23)
- TechCrunch — Threads' new features let podcasters promote shows (500 million active users in June) (read 2026-10-23)
- Kompozy — Pricing and plans (read 2026-10-23)