Threads Outpaces X in 2026 User Race: Zuckerberg’s Platform Surges Ahead of Musk’s

Mark Zuckerberg's Threads has kicked off 2026 by overtaking Elon Musk's X in monthly active users—a symbolic shift in the social media power struggle.

The Numbers Tell the Story

For the first time since its launch, Threads has reported a higher user count than its rival platform X. The data, pulled from internal metrics and third-party trackers, shows a clear lead as of January 2026. No official figures were disclosed, but the trendline is unmistakable: Threads is growing while X's user base appears to have plateaued.

Why the Shift Happened

Analysts point to a quieter, more algorithmically stable feed on Threads, contrasting with X's frequent feature changes and monetization pushes. Advertisers have also slowly migrated, seeking predictable engagement over viral chaos. It's a classic case of execution over hype—building a product people use, not just debate.

What This Means for the Ecosystem

This isn't just a vanity metric. User attention is the ultimate currency, and Threads is minting more of it. The platform's integration with Instagram's existing network gave it a running start, but retaining those users required a frictionless experience. Meanwhile, X's pivot toward payments and premium features may have diluted its core social utility.

The Finance Angle—Because There Always Is One

Let's be cynical for a second: another 'user growth' narrative to distract from monetization struggles. Remember when crypto projects bragged about wallet addresses instead of revenue? Same energy. Real value is measured in sustainable profit, not monthly active ghosts.

Threads now faces the real test—converting this lead into lasting influence. Can it become the default public square, or will it settle as a polished also-ran? One thing's clear: in the battle for online attention, Zuckerberg just gained significant ground.

Zuckerberg’s Threads is riding the hot hand

On January 3, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Threads now has 320 million active users, surpassing X. He emphasized that the platform’s growth was purely organic with no aggressive marketing campaigns. Also, the integration with Instagram makes it easy to onboard existing Instagram users.

Following the acquisition by Elon Musk, X has been losing daily active users. Estimates suggest that X has seen a decline of about 11.9% year-over-year as daily active users in January, while Threads has increased its active user count by about 38%.

One of the major reasons for the growth of Threads is that it provides a more advertiser-friendly platform compared to X. Meta also continues to refine Threads’ features by addressing user feedback and directly competing with X’s functionality.

Analysts project that Threads could generate about $11.3 billion in revenue.

Brands are moving away from X due to the growing discomfort around Musk’s leadership, along with concerns around content moderation. About 68% of X’s revenue is generated from ads and in 2024, it generated $2.5 billion in revenue from ads, which represents a 13.7% decline year-over-year.

X isn’t the only platform in decline. Bluesky, which came out as a direct competitor to X has been shedding users. Bluesky grew from a user base of about 10 million to about 40 million in late 2025. However, Bluesky’s daily active users are down to about 3.6 million, representing a 44.4% year-over-year decline.

Zuckerberg and Musk’s competition plays out on the social media landscape

Zuckerberg and Musk have a rivalry that has played out publicly at times. It even escalated to the point of a cage match in 2023. However, their real rivalry has been in the tech domain, where they often find themselves sponsoring competing causes.

Threads’ growth challenges X’s historical dominance in real-time conversation and news distribution. Both the US and international user counts have been declining since 2024, even though there are spikes in usage during major news events.

However, for all its problems, X still has more daily active users on mobile in the United States, with 21.2 million compared to Threads’ 19.5 million.

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