Threads is Meta's free, text-first social app for public conversation - now with 500 million monthly users, Communities, live chats, and a feed you can tune yourself. Sign in with Instagram and pick up right where your community already is.
Shipped our new feature today after 6 weeks of work. Hosting a live chat in the Dev community at 6pm if you want to ask us anything 🚀
Replying to @maya.codes - congrats! My insights summary says this is my best-performing quote of the month 😅 See you in the chat.
Reading this from my Mastodon server - love that Threads speaks ActivityPub. One conversation, many platforms.
via the fediverseHalf a billion monthly users, Communities out of beta, AI-written analytics, and ads that no longer need Instagram - here's what changed since June.
Threads hit 500M monthly actives, adding 100M in about ten months. To mark it, Communities left beta with Champions, a Communities Hub, community icons, progress tracking, and local communities.
A private setting that tells your feed to show more or less of a topic for one, three, or seven days. It builds on February's public "Dear Algo" posts - no announcement needed.
Real-time chats now support translations and host tools, up to 150 active participants plus spectators, up to three co-hosts, and posting chat messages straight to your feed.
Parental supervision tools (time limits, sleep mode, privacy controls for teens), Private Likes that only you and the author can see, and two-factor authentication.
Redesigned analytics add Meta AI summaries for each post and your whole account, plus follower vs. non-follower reach. Link-click stats are missing from the new panel for now.
Matching Instagram usernames are no longer required to run Threads ads, brands without Instagram can advertise from a Threads profile, and Threads gets its own business-portfolio permissions.
Podcasters get profile cards and banners, episode links, transcripts, guest tags, new-episode posting reminders, and podcast-specific insights.
Chat privately with Meta AI in your Threads messages - send it text, images, links, or posts. Meta is also testing "Ask Meta AI" for extra context in public conversations.
"Gems" for high-engagement posts, short post URLs, playable music and animated stickers, and a possible no-ads subscription plan. Tests may change or never ship.
Quick, straight answers to the questions people search most about the Threads app .
Threads is a text-based social media app made by Meta, the company behind Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Launched in July 2023, it's built for short public posts and real-time conversation - similar to X (formerly Twitter). You can share text updates up to 500 characters, add photos, videos, GIFs, links, polls, and music, then reply, quote, and repost other people's posts. In June 2026, Meta announced that Threads had reached 500 million monthly active users, making it one of the fastest-growing social apps ever.
Yes. Threads is free to download and use on iOS, Android, and the web at threads.com. There's no subscription required to post, follow, or message. Optional paid extras exist - such as Meta Verified for a blue badge - and businesses can pay for ads, but every core feature is free.
Yes. Signing in with Instagram is the fastest way to start, because you can import your profile and follow the same accounts in one tap. But you can also create a standalone Threads profile without an Instagram account. Since September 2026, businesses can even run Threads ads from a Threads-only profile, and matching Instagram usernames are no longer required.
Both apps are built around short public posts, but they differ in a few important ways:
The For You feed recommends posts from people you follow and people you don't, based on what you engage with. Replies and real conversation count more than likes, so posts that spark discussion travel furthest. You can also steer it yourself: post "Dear Algo" publicly, or use the private Your Algo setting to see more or less of a topic for one, three, or seven days. Prefer a chronological view? Switch to the Following feed.
A Threads post can be up to 500 characters. For longer thoughts, attach a snippet (long-form text), or chain several posts into a multi-part thread. Each post can carry one topic tag - Threads' version of a hashtag. Other formats include photo and video carousels, polls, GIFs, music, spoiler tags, and ghost posts that disappear after 24 hours.
For most accounts, weekday mornings and lunch hours in your audience's time zone perform best, with a cadence of two to four posts a day. Your own data beats any general rule, though: Threads Insights now uses Meta AI to compare each post with your recent baseline, so test different times and keep what works.
For most brands, yes. Threads combines a huge audience with organic reach that still rewards smaller accounts, early-stage creator partnership rates, and ads that now run worldwide through Meta Ads Manager. Success depends on voice: brands that reply, join Communities, and post like people - not press releases - see the strongest results. The sections below cover marketing, growth strategy, and the Threads API in detail.
Built for sharing what's on your mind - and finding the people who care about the same things.
Lead with words. Share short text updates, then add images, videos, GIFs, music, and links when they help tell the story. Need more room? Attach a long-form snippet. Threads keeps the focus on what you have to say.
Sign in with Instagram to bring your profile and follows along, or create a standalone Threads profile. You can even import followers from X.
Reply to posts, quote them with your own take, or repost them to your followers. Every thread is an open invitation.
Threads speaks the open ActivityPub protocol, so your posts can reach people on Mastodon and other compatible platforms across the open social web.
Discover trending topics, pin custom feeds, and use Dear Algo or the new Your Algo setting to tell the algorithm what you want more - or less - of.
Out of beta since June 2026: topic and local communities with their own icons, Champions, flair, and a hub to find the ones that fit you.
DMs and group chats on mobile and web, real-time live chats with up to 150 active participants inside communities, and Meta AI available as a private chat partner in your inbox.
Seven steps, no experience required. If you have an Instagram account you're already halfway there - and if you don't, that's fine too.
Download the app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android), or just open threads.com in any browser - the full experience, including messages, works on the web too.
The fast path: tap "Continue with Instagram" and pick the account you're signed into (or choose "Use different account" to enter other login details). No Instagram? You can create a Threads profile without one. Turn on two-factor authentication once you're in.
Import your Instagram photo, bio, and link with one tap - or write them fresh. Then choose whether your profile is public (anyone can see and reply) or private (approved followers only), and whether your likes are public or private.
Follow the same accounts you follow on Instagram in one tap, import followers from X, or start fresh - search for people, browse suggestions, and join Communities for the topics (or places) you care about.
Tap the compose button and say something - up to 500 characters, plus photos, videos, GIFs, music, links, or a poll. Add one topic tag to join a bigger conversation. Longer thought? Attach a snippet of long-form text or chain posts into a thread.
This is where Threads comes alive. Reply to posts you have thoughts on, quote them to add your take, repost the ones worth sharing, and hop into live chats - replies do more for your reach than anything else.
Swipe between For You (recommendations) and Following (just your people), pin custom feeds for topics you care about, and use Your Algo to privately ask for more or less of a topic for a few days.
Threads crossed 500 million monthly users in June 2026, leads X in daily mobile users, and shows ads to everyone worldwide - and since September, brands can advertise straight from a Threads profile, no Instagram required.
Ads have reached every Threads user worldwide since the January 2026 rollout. From September 2026, you no longer need matching Instagram and Threads usernames, and businesses without Instagram can launch ads from their native Threads profile. Campaigns still run through Meta Ads Manager with Advantage+ placement, Custom and Lookalike Audiences, and image, video, and carousel formats.
The feed rewards conversational engagement: replies count for more than likes, and personality-driven posts outperform polished promo copy. Communities and live chats add new ways to show up.
Topic tags - Threads' take on hashtags - plus clear, keyword-rich posts help your content surface in search and explore feeds. Treat every post like a mini searchable document.
Brands like Netflix and Wendy's win on Threads with witty, human commentary - teasing releases, joining trends, and replying to fans instead of broadcasting at them.
Built-in insights now include Meta AI summaries and follower vs. non-follower reach, and third-party verification extends to the Threads feed through Meta Business Partners.
Meta pilots Threads ads with select advertisers in the US and Japan.
All eligible advertisers worldwide can buy Threads placements.
Ads expand to every user in every market, phased in over the following months.
No matching Instagram username needed; brands without Instagram can advertise from Threads.
Setup tip: from September 2026, your Threads and Instagram usernames no longer need to match to run Threads ads. Meta is rolling the change out gradually, so it may not show up in every ad account yet.
Threads plugs into the Meta business ecosystem - and it's steadily standing on its own, with Threads-specific team permissions and ads that don't depend on Instagram.
From zero to a fully connected business account.
Sign in with your brand's Instagram (fastest - your followers can carry over) or create a standalone Threads profile.
Since September 2026, Threads profiles have their own task-based access in Meta's business portfolio, so you can give teammates Threads-only permissions.
See Threads performance alongside Facebook and Instagram, cross-post from the Instagram composer, and run ads directly from your Threads profile.
Business plans start at $14.99/month for the blue badge, impersonation monitoring, and a boost in search and recommendations - now manageable inside the Threads app.
Meta Business Suite brings Threads insights - views, likes, replies, reposts - into the same view as your Facebook and Instagram metrics.
The blue badge separates your official profile from impersonators and fan pages, with Meta proactively removing fake accounts.
Monitor what customers say about your brand, reply in real time, host live chats in relevant communities, and turn public threads into a social listening channel.
Meta's AI business agents - including Muse for Small Business, announced September 2026 - can help answer customer questions, recommend products, and qualify leads.
2026 API updates bring ghost posts, cross-sharing to Instagram Stories, GIFs, spoiler tags, reply approvals, and real-time webhooks to third-party tools - so scheduling, discovery, and moderation fit into the workflow your team already uses.
Schedule in bulk, publish through the official API, and let webhooks do the follow-up - while you spend your time in the conversations that actually grow accounts.
Threads has native scheduling for posts and replies built in, and tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, Later, Typefully, and Metricool add queues, calendars, and bulk uploads on top of the official API - posts go live automatically, no phone required.
Real-time publish and delete webhooks let your stack respond the moment something happens - feed analytics, trigger follow-up posts, or route replies for approval before they go out.
Connect Threads to platforms like n8n and Make.com to build multi-step flows without writing code - cross-post from Instagram or X, publish from an RSS feed, or sync content across ten platforms at once.
Since September 2026, in-app Insights use Meta AI to explain your numbers in plain language. Roll them up in Meta Business Suite, or pull raw metrics into your own dashboards through the API and tools like Sprout Social and Metricool.
MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS, MILLIONS
AVERAGE POST ENGAGEMENT, 2026
Threads posts earn roughly 74% more engagement than comparable posts on X - replies and conversation carry the most weight.
THREADS +127.8% · X −15.2%
From the free built-in scheduler to full agency suites - pick a management tool that matches how you work, all powered by the official Threads API.
Drafting three posts for launch week - scheduled, cross-posted, and tracked from one place
| Tool | Best for | Standout on Threads | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Threads (built-in) | Solo creators starting out | Native scheduling and AI-summarized insights - no setup at all | FREE |
| Buffer | Small teams & creators | Simple queues with an AI assistant on the free plan (up to 3 channels) | FREE TIER |
| Metricool | Data-driven marketers | Threads analytics and reporting alongside every other channel | FREE TIER |
| RecurPost | Agencies & evergreen content | Content recycling, visual calendar, and client approval workflows | PAID |
| Typefully / Hypefury | Text-first writers | Distraction-free composers built for threads and long-form text | PAID |
| Hootsuite / Sprout Social | Larger organizations | Deep integration with the 2026 API - reply approvals, webhooks, cross-channel reports | PAID |
Whichever tool you choose, look for one built on the official Threads API - no headless browsers or workarounds that put your account at risk.
Threads creator partnerships are priced like Instagram's were in 2017 - conversational, authentic, and dramatically cheaper. The brands moving now lock in relationships before the market matures.
Been testing @yourbrand for three weeks now and my honest take: the setup really is 4 minutes. Ask me anything about it in the replies - genuinely curious what you'd want it to do 👇
Search your category's keywords, topic tags, and Communities to see who already leads the conversation - and check your mentions first: people organically praising you are your cheapest, most credible partners.
Threads-native creators are conversational and unpolished by design. Give them a message and creative freedom, not a script - posts and live chats that invite replies outperform ad-copy every time. Think programs, not one-off posts.
Track with UTM links, promo codes, and follower lift alongside built-in analytics - especially now that link clicks aren't in native insights - and always label paid partnerships clearly.
Threads is where opinions form in public. Track mentions, keywords, and topic tags in real time - and join the conversation before it moves on without you.
@coffee.notes - just switched to @yourbrand and honestly wish I'd done it sooner ☕
POS@dev.diaries - anyone compared @yourbrand vs the competitor? Thinking of migrating our team
NEU@sam.builds - #yourproduct onboarding took me 4 minutes flat. New benchmark 🏆
POS@retail.rachel - hitting a sync error since this morning, is @yourbrand aware? 🥲
NEG@growth.gabi - quoting @yourbrand's launch thread in tomorrow's newsletter, great case study
POS@ops.oliver - does #yourproduct integrate with our CRM? Asking for a team of 40
NEU@coffee.notes - just switched to @yourbrand and honestly wish I'd done it sooner ☕
POS@dev.diaries - anyone compared @yourbrand vs the competitor? Thinking of migrating our team
NEU@sam.builds - #yourproduct onboarding took me 4 minutes flat. New benchmark 🏆
POS@retail.rachel - hitting a sync error since this morning, is @yourbrand aware? 🥲
NEG@growth.gabi - quoting @yourbrand's launch thread in tomorrow's newsletter, great case study
POS@ops.oliver - does #yourproduct integrate with our CRM? Asking for a team of 40
NEUBrand and product mentions, competitor names, your category's keywords, and the topic tags and Communities your customers hang out in. Praise becomes testimonials; complaints become saves; questions become sales.
The Keyword Search API queries public posts by keyword or topic tag (500 searches per rolling week), and the mentions endpoint surfaces every public post that tags your profile - then lets you reply, quote, or repost right from your tools.
Hootsuite's Talkwalker-powered listening spans 30+ networks including Threads, and Sprout Social rolls conversations into cases and CRM records - so a spike in chatter never catches your team off guard.
Listening tells you what's being said; monitoring makes sure nothing slips past. Alert rules, spike detection, competitor share of voice, and response-time targets - running 24/7 so your team doesn't have to.
Mention volume normal - 34/hr, in line with the weekly baseline.
nowKeyword spike: "sync error" mentions up 4× in 30 minutes - support notified.
12mNegative sentiment threshold hit - crisis playbook opened, replies paused for review.
9mSet thresholds, not vibes: mention-volume spikes, negative-sentiment jumps, and named keywords each trigger their own alert - routed to the right channel at the right urgency.
Track rival brand names and product keywords through the same keyword search - share of voice, launch reactions, and unhappy customers openly shopping for an alternative.
When a spike turns sour, monitoring buys you the minutes that matter: pause scheduled posts, route replies through approval, respond from one aligned playbook - then report on how fast you recovered.
Threads has no built-in CRM - and doesn't need one. Unified inboxes, webhooks, and no-code connectors pipe replies and mentions straight into Salesforce, HubSpot, and whatever your sales team already lives in.
Replying to @yourbrand - this looks exactly like what our team needs. Do you have pricing for ~50 seats?
Suites like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Agorapulse pull Threads replies and mentions into one inbox - then link each conversation to a Salesforce or HubSpot contact, or create one on the spot for your sales team.
Zapier, Make.com, and n8n connect the Threads API to thousands of apps: a keyword-search hit or a mention fires a workflow that creates the contact, logs the post, and pings your team's channel.
Real-time publish and reply webhooks mean CRM records update the moment a conversation moves - no nightly imports, no copy-paste, no lead going cold in a forgotten inbox.
Tag your Threads links with UTMs and match ad campaigns to CRM outcomes - so you can finally answer which conversations, posts, and promotions actually became revenue.
Route by intent: complaints escalate to support cases, pricing questions become deals, praise gets flagged for testimonials. AI classifiers in modern inboxes sort Threads conversations automatically - your team just picks up the thread where it matters.
From Meta AI built into Threads itself to full agents running publishing pipelines over the API, Threads has become one of the most automatable platforms - as long as the conversation stays human.
Generate post ideas, hooks, and variations with assistants like Claude or ChatGPT - free tiers included - then edit into your own voice before publishing.
Best-time-to-post recommendations powered by your audience data, so drafts land in the windows your followers actually scroll.
Tools now expose posting, scheduling, and analytics to custom AI agents through the Model Context Protocol - an agent can run your whole content calendar over the official API.
Threads' own Insights now use Meta AI to explain why a post beat (or missed) your recent baseline and which communities engaged - no spreadsheet required.
Automate the mechanical, keep the conversational human. AI-drafted posts with your edits grow accounts; unreviewed bot replies get buried by the algorithm.
Chain it all together in n8n or Make.com: AI drafts from an RSS feed or product update → human approval step → scheduled publish via the API → webhook fires → analytics logged automatically.
Chat with Meta AI privately in your Threads messages, while Meta tests "Ask Meta AI" for context in public threads. For brands, Meta's business AI agents handle customer questions and lead qualification.
Build on the official API with its published rate limits - 250 posts and 1,000 replies per day is plenty for any sane strategy. Unofficial scrapers and headless browsers risk your account.
Polls, spoiler tags, ghost posts, live chats, music, podcast tools, and AI-powered insights - Threads keeps shipping tools for creators. Try a few of them in the live demo below.
Followers on Threads aren't a vanity number - they're the people whose replies power your reach. Start with the network you already have, then earn the rest.
A bio that says what you're about - one clear line on who the account is for, plus a link worth clicking.
A recognizable voice - opinionated, human, consistent. People follow personalities, not press releases.
Proof in the profile - your best conversation pinned to the top so new visitors instantly see what they'd get.
Showing up in replies and communities - thoughtful replies on bigger accounts and active community participation put you in front of audiences you don't have yet.
A reason to stay - a steady cadence, so following you visibly pays off in their feed every day.
Sign in with Instagram to follow the same accounts in one tap, or import followers from X - new Threads accounts can begin with an audience from day one instead of from zero.
Insights show follower growth, demographics like age and location, and - since September 2026 - how much of your reach comes from followers versus people discovering you for the first time.
Purchased or bot followers don't reply - and on a platform where replies drive reach, a dead audience actively buries your posts. Slow and real beats fast and fake.
The algorithm rewards conversation, not broadcasting. Growth here is a loop - every post exists to start replies, and every reply feeds your reach.
Two to four posts a day, spaced through peak windows - weekday mornings and lunch hours perform best. Consistency beats volume; give each post room to breathe.
Industry insights, behind-the-scenes, education, questions that invite opinions, and social proof - a mix that keeps followers engaged and attracts new ones.
Clear, keyword-rich posts plus topic tags surface in search and explore feeds. Treat every post like a mini searchable document.
Replies are the strongest signal in the feed. Jumping into other people's conversations - and your niche's Communities and live chats - grows accounts faster than another broadcast ever will.
Cross-promote from Instagram, share Threads posts to Instagram and Facebook Stories, and import followers from X - your existing followers are the cheapest first thousand you'll ever get.
The Meta Threads API - part of the Graph API family - is free to use, secured with OAuth 2.0, and split into focused capabilities you can mix and match.
The two-step flow: create a media container, then publish it. Supports text, images, video, carousels, GIFs, and ghost posts - with default limits of 250 posts and 1,000 replies per profile in a rolling 24 hours.
POST /v1.0/{user_id}/threads → /threads_publishPer-post metrics - views, likes, replies, reposts, quotes, and shares - plus account-level follower counts and demographics, ready to feed dashboards and reports. (The in-app AI summaries aren't exposed via the API.)
GET /{media_id}/insights?metric=views,likes…Query public posts by keyword, topic tag (search_mode=TAG), or media type, then reply, quote, or repost the results. Rate-limited to 500 queries per rolling 7 days.
GET /keyword_search?q=…&search_mode=TAGThe business-facing layer: read and manage replies, approve them before they go live, track public mentions, embed posts with oEmbed, and react to real-time publish/delete webhooks.
threads_manage_replies · threads_manage_mentionsWhere the two platforms meet: the threads_share_to_instagram scope (added March 2026) enables cross-share parameters that push Threads posts straight to Instagram Stories from a single publish call.
crossreshare_to_ig=trueThe umbrella for it all: part of the Meta Graph API, free with published rate limits, secured by OAuth 2.0, and gated by granular scopes - from threads_basic to threads_share_to_instagram.
GET /threads_publishing_limit → live quotaEligible apps can publish content, manage posts, and access account information - so you can automate publishing and plug Threads into your social media workflows.
// Publish a post with the Threads API const res = await fetch( "https://graph.threads.net/v1.0/me/threads", { method: "POST", body: JSON.stringify({ media_type: "TEXT", text: "Hello from my app 👋" }) } ); const { id } = await res.json(); // → post created ✓
The questions people actually search - from API authentication to picking a scheduler. Filter to find yours.
GET /threads_publishing_limit.threads_basic, threads_content_publish, threads_manage_insights, and so on), send the user through the authorization flow, then exchange your short-lived token for a long-lived access token. Store tokens in environment variables - never in code.graph.threads.net. Profiles can be linked to Instagram or standalone, and the threads_share_to_instagram scope (added March 2026) enables cross-sharing posts to Instagram Stories.POST graph.threads.net/v1.0/{user_id}/threads
?media_type=TEXT&text=Hello+Threads&access_token=...
→ returns creation_id
POST graph.threads.net/v1.0/{user_id}/threads_publish
?creation_id={creation_id}&access_token=...import requests
BASE = "https://graph.threads.net/v1.0"
c = requests.post(f"{BASE}/{USER_ID}/threads", params={
"media_type": "TEXT", "text": "Hello from Python 🐍",
"access_token": TOKEN}).json()
requests.post(f"{BASE}/{USER_ID}/threads_publish", params={
"creation_id": c["id"], "access_token": TOKEN})const BASE = "https://graph.threads.net/v1.0";
const c = await fetch(`${BASE}/${USER_ID}/threads?media_type=TEXT` +
`&text=${encodeURIComponent("Hello from Node 👋")}` +
`&access_token=${TOKEN}`, { method: "POST" }).then(r => r.json());
await fetch(`${BASE}/${USER_ID}/threads_publish` +
`?creation_id=${c.id}&access_token=${TOKEN}`, { method: "POST" });The same code runs in browser JavaScript, but keep tokens server-side in production.$base = "https://graph.threads.net/v1.0";
$c = json_decode(file_get_contents("$base/$userId/threads?" .
http_build_query(["media_type"=>"TEXT","text"=>"Hello from PHP 🐘",
"access_token"=>$token], "", "&"), false,
stream_context_create(["http"=>["method"=>"POST"]])));
file_get_contents("$base/$userId/threads_publish?creation_id=$c->id" .
"&access_token=$token", false,
stream_context_create(["http"=>["method"=>"POST"]]));For real projects use cURL or Guzzle with error handling.GET /keyword_search?q=…, with search_mode=TAG for topic tags and a media_type filter for text, image, or video results. It requires the threads_keyword_search permission with advanced access, is limited to 500 queries per rolling 7 days, and you can reply to, quote, or repost the results.threads_manage_insights scope. The Meta AI summaries added to in-app Insights in September 2026 are an app feature, not an API field.No questions match that filter - try a broader term.
Threads is free on iOS, Android, and the web. Get it from the official stores below - sign in with Instagram or start fresh.
500M+ PEOPLE USE THREADS EVERY MONTH
