New data from market intelligence firm Similarweb indicates that Meta's Threads has officially surpassed Elon Musk's X in daily active users on mobile devices. While X still maintains a lead on the web, Threads has seen consistent growth in its iOS and Android app usage over recent months, signaling a significant shift in the competitive social media landscape.
As of January 7, 2026, Threads recorded 141.5 million daily active users across iOS and Android, outperforming X's 125 million mobile daily active users. This milestone follows a period of sustained growth for Meta's text-based platform.
Threads' Strategic Growth Outpaces X's Controversies
This surge in Threads' mobile engagement appears to stem from long-term strategic efforts by Meta, rather than being a direct reaction to recent controversies surrounding X. Meta has actively promoted Threads across its larger social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, leveraged creator tools, and rapidly rolled out new features to enhance user experience.
Over the past year, Threads has introduced a host of new functionalities, including interest-based communities, improved content filters, direct messaging (DMs), long-form text capabilities, and disappearing posts. The platform has also been testing in-message games, indicating a continuous push for innovation.
Meanwhile, X has faced fresh controversies, particularly regarding its integrated AI, Grok. Users were found utilizing Grok to generate non-consensual nude images, some depicting minors. This alarming issue has prompted California's attorney general to launch an investigation into Grok, following similar probes in regions like the UK, EU, India, and Brazil.
While these events have not been identified as the primary catalyst for Threads' recent mobile user growth, the 'drama' on X did lead to an increase in app installs for social networking startup Bluesky in recent days, suggesting user migration away from X.
Broader Trends and Web Dominance
Meta's official figures support Threads' upward trajectory. In August 2025, the tech giant reported that Threads had exceeded 400 million monthly active users. By October of the same year, Threads was reportedly seeing 150 million daily active users.
Similarweb's analysis also highlights that Threads' growth has been a consistent trend for many months. Last summer, the firm reported Threads was rapidly closing the gap with X on mobile, showing 127.8% year-over-year growth by late June 2025.
Despite Threads' global mobile success, X still holds a lead in the U.S. market, though the gap is narrowing significantly. A year prior, X boasted twice as many daily active users in the U.S. compared to its current numbers.
On the web, X continues to dominate, maintaining a steady audience with approximately 150 million daily web visits. As of January 13, X recorded 145.4 million daily web visits, whereas Threads' web presence (across Threads.com and Threads.net) saw only 8.5 million daily visits, indicating a strong mobile-first strategy for Meta's platform.
