Meta's Threads app now has half a billion monthly users

The company says its in-app "communities" are fueling recent growth.

Meta's Threads app has amassed more than half a billion users. The text-based social network reached 500 million monthly users this month, adding roughly 100 million new users since last August . In a blog post, the company credited its " communities " feature with fueling recent growth.

The milestone comes just before Threads hits its three-year anniversary next month. Threads' initial launch benefited greatly from Meta's finely tuned growth-hacking playbook. The app leaned heavily on users' following graphs from Instagram, and pushed viral Threads posts to the top of Instagram and Facebook feeds. But Meta claims that recent growth is happening a bit more organically, and that "more people are opening Threads directly over time" instead of clicking through from one of its other apps. Meta also shared that it's seen increasing traction in Asia, particularly South Korea and Japan, where time spent is up 80 percent and 130 percent, respectively, compared with last year.

Monthly usage numbers will always look more favorable than daily users, though, and Meta hasn't shared daily active users (DAUs) for Threads since October when it reached 150 million . When asked about current DAUs, the company said the metric is "growing strongly year-over-year globally," but didn't share specifics.

Still, half a billion users is a notable milestone for the service, which Mark Zuckerberg has speculated could one day reach a billion users. That growth so far hasn't translated to revenue for the company, even as Meta has rolled out Threads ads in 200 countries earlier this year. Meta CFO Susan Li said in April that the company doesn't expect the service to be a "meaningful driver" of revenue growth in 2026.

Besides the new metrics, Meta is updating Threads with a handful of new features, most of which are focused on its in-app communities. The service is adding a "discovery hub" to make it easier for people to find relevant groups, and adding badges for "top" contributors. And the recently-announced " live chats " feature is expected to expand to all users by July.

Finally, Threads is adding "your algo" controls similar to those recently added to Instagram . Meta had previously allowed Threads users to request temporary algorithm tweaks by writing posts that start with " dear algo ," but the new feature, thankfully, keeps those preferences private. Interestingly, those requests will still be temporary — Meta doesn't want to lose its grip on Threads' sometimes bizarre recommendations entirely — but it could help the app feel more timely, provided you remember to continually update your choices.