Threads for your business: 500 million users, ads without Instagram and what’s new in October 2026

Threads, Meta’s social network, is pulling away from Instagram. Since September 2026, Meta has been gradually opening Threads advertising to businesses that don’t have an Instagram account. On October 8, Threads launched Gems, a U.S.-only badge for original posts that get people talking.

At the same time, a question keeps coming up on social media forums: did Threads lose 80% of its users? The number is real, but it dates from the summer of 2023. On June 16, 2026, Meta announced 500 million monthly active users.

If you run social media for your own business, two questions follow: should Threads go on your list, and how do you test it without sinking hours into it? Here are the numbers you can verify, the changes from the past few weeks and a six-step test plan.

Where the 80% figure comes from

Threads launched in July 2023 and passed 100 million sign-ups in five days, a record for an app. The excitement faded fast. Sensor Tower data, cited by Gizmodo on August 4, 2023, showed daily active users falling 82% between the July 5 launch and July 31, 2023, from a peak of about 44 million to about 8 million. Similarweb measured a similar drop, from about 49 million two days after launch to just over 9.6 million on August 1, 2023.

Those measurements are more than three years old. The numbers Meta has published since then show growth: more than 400 million monthly active users in August 2025, 150 million daily active users in October 2025, then 500 million a month, announced on June 16, 2026.

Independent data points the same way. According to Similarweb, cited by TechCrunch, Threads had 141.5 million daily users on iOS and Android on January 7, 2026, versus 125 million for X on mobile. On the web, X keeps a wide lead: 145.4 million daily visits to its site on January 13, 2026, versus 8.5 million for Threads.

On October 11, a Reddit user who posts on every major platform put it this way: Threads gets them likes and followers while Instagram and X feel dead to them, yet it brings no conversions. For a business, that sums it up: the audience is there, but conversions are still unproven.

Threads ads no longer need Instagram

Meta opened Threads ads to users in every market starting in late January 2026, according to its January 21 announcement. The rollout came in stages, with few ads shown at first. On its second-quarter earnings call on July 29, 2026, Meta said it was complete. The formats are the ones you know from Facebook and Instagram: image, video and carousel, in the Threads feed.

One detail matters for small advertisers: Meta automatically adds Threads placements to Advantage+ campaigns and to manual campaigns. If you already advertise on Facebook or Instagram, some of your budget may be going to Threads.

In September, Meta went further. Its business help center puts it this way: “Starting in September 2026, matching usernames between Threads and Instagram profiles will no longer be required to run Threads ads. Businesses operating without an Instagram profile will also be able to launch ads on Threads directly using their native Threads profile.”

Meta adds that the changes are rolling out gradually and may not be available to everyone yet. MediaPost puts the start date at September 26.

New features from June to October

According to Engadget, the insights panel now shows summaries written by Meta AI and compares each post with your recent ones. It also shows which communities drive engagement and which days and times bring you the best reach. Link clicks are gone. Asked about them by Engadget, a Meta spokesperson said only that the company is “exploring” the feature.

Threads announced Gems on its official account, Social Media Today reported on October 8, 2026. Selection is automatic and based on three criteria: a perspective that adds something to the discussion, real back-and-forth in the replies and originality. The post has to be the author’s own work, and a post crossposted from another app doesn’t qualify. Only public posts count.

On June 16, Meta also took communities, its topic-based spaces, out of beta and moved them into the main menu. According to Meta, Threads’ growth comes from communities, meaning groups of people who gather around the topics they care about.

What changes for small businesses

Threads is now a channel in its own right, with its own account name, its own insights and ads that can run without Instagram. A business can reach people there who don’t follow it on Instagram.

The Gems criteria also hint at what Meta wants to see on Threads: posts written for Threads that start a conversation. In our view, pasting your Instagram captions into Threads is the surest way to go unnoticed, just as on LinkedIn, which filters posts it flags as “AI slop”. Posting the same text everywhere also creates a second problem, content cannibalization between your accounts.

Links are still the weak spot. According to Engadget, many creators believe Threads demotes posts that contain a link. Data Engadget itself published in 2025 showed that very few users click on them. With no click data in the app, it’s up to you to measure what Threads sends to your website.

Six steps to test Threads

1. Check where your ad budget goes. In Meta Ads Manager, break your campaign results down by placement. If Threads shows up, compare its cost per result with Facebook’s and Instagram’s. For other settings to review before the holidays, see our article on Meta Ads AI tools.
2. Pick your account name. Use your Instagram name if customers already know you by it, or a new one if you’re targeting another audience.
3. Write for Threads: short posts, a question for your customers, a take on your field. Reply to comments the same day.
4. Join your industry’s community, if there is one. Post there and answer other members’ questions: on a network built around conversation, that’s how people find you.
5. Add UTM parameters to every link (for example, utm_source=threads), then track visits in Google Analytics. It’s the simplest way to find out whether Threads sends you traffic.
6. Set a test period, for example, eight weeks at three posts a week. At the end, judge the results on site visits, messages and quote requests rather than likes.

If your customers already follow you on Instagram and your account has the Threads sticker for Stories, use it to show them your best Threads posts. The principles in our complete guide to organic marketing apply to Threads too.

What to watch

Gems and Your Algo are only available in a handful of English-speaking countries. Meta hasn’t given a timeline for France or Belgium.

Link clicks could come back to insights. Meta says it is “exploring” the feature but has given no date.

The latest official daily-user figure is from October 2025. A new one would show whether the rise in monthly users comes with more regular use.

Meta doesn’t publish prices by placement. The Threads ad costs quoted online are third-party estimates. Only your own ad account will give you real numbers.

The limits of these numbers

The 500 million monthly users figure is Meta’s own measurement, with no breakdown by country. Meta publishes no figures for France or Belgium, and nothing tells you whether your local customers are active on Threads.

The Similarweb and Sensor Tower figures are estimates from independent firms, based on mobile apps and, for site visits, on websites. Treat them as ballpark figures.

Several new features launch in the United States first. A feature Meta announces can take months to reach the European Union, or never get there at all.

If you want Threads to bring in customers, our organic marketing services start with an audit of your current social media accounts.