Best time to post on Threads: what the data says for creators

If Threads feels random lately - like you post something decent and it lands with a soft thud - don't immediately spiral into "my content is dead."

There's a simpler (and mildly annoying) explanation: you're probably posting when your audience is mentally checked out. And yes, the clock matters more than people want to admit.

What happened

A social scheduling company just crunched performance data from 2.5 million Threads posts and looked for patterns by day and hour. They used median engagement (likes, replies, reposts) so one viral outlier wouldn't skew the whole thing.

The punchline: weekday mornings win. The single strongest slot in the dataset was Thursday at 9 a.m. Other top pockets showed up midweek too - especially Wednesday around late morning / lunchtime. Nights (roughly 6-11 p.m.) sagged across the board. Weekends were worse, with Saturday dragging the most.

One detail creators will appreciate: the recommendations are meant to be read as local time. No timezone gymnastics.

Why creators should care

Attention: Threads is big enough now that "just show up" isn't a strategy. Meta said Threads passed 400M monthly active users in 2025, and the app's been closing the gap with X on daily mobile usage based on third-party estimates. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/12/threads-now-has-more-than-400-million-monthly-active-users/?utm_source=openai))

Distribution: Threads has been steadily adding "real-time-ish" discovery surfaces - trending topics (widely rolled out in the U.S. in 2024), topic prompts, and other discovery helpers. That stuff tends to favor posts that catch early replies while people are actively scrolling, not doom-scrolling at midnight. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/19/threads-trending-topics-all-users-us/?utm_source=openai))

Monetization: Ads are no longer a distant rumor. Meta has been expanding Threads ads, and in January 2026 it announced a broader global rollout to users (gradual, over months). Translation: more competition in-feed. If you rely on organic reach to sell anything, you want every tiny edge you can get. ([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/21/threads-rolls-out-ads-to-all-users-worldwide/?utm_source=openai))

Workflow: Threads isn't just "post and leave" anymore. DMs rolled out in 2025, and custom feeds became a real distribution lever (public feeds you can share and follow). So your best posting window isn't only when to publish - it's when to be around to turn replies into momentum and momentum into relationships. ([theverge.com](https://www.theverge.com/news/695743/threads-dms-direct-messaging-launch?utm_source=openai))

What to do next

1. Run a two-week timing reset. Put your best shots on goal Tuesday-Thursday mornings. If you've got something important (launch, collab, "here's the thing I actually want you to click"), try Thursday around 9 a.m. and treat it like an appointment, not a "whenever."

2. Stop posting into the void. For your morning posts, schedule a 20-30 minute "reply sprint" right after publishing. Ask a question you actually want answered. Nudge conversation. Threads rewards the post that turns into a thread, not the post that sits there looking pretty.

3. Build one repeatable container. Pick a topic lane you can own weekly (same angle, same format, same day). Then use Threads' discovery tools to reinforce it: relevant topic tags, and custom feeds (yours or someone else's) where your niche already hangs out. ([about.fb.com](https://about.fb.com/news/2025/02/share-custom-feeds-on-threads/?utm_source=openai))

4. Assume the feed gets pricier. With ads scaling, treat Threads like a top-of-funnel conversation engine. Pull people somewhere you control (email list, community, product waitlist). Not because Threads is "bad." Because you're a creator, not a tenant.