Side by side
Much of what was written about Threads in its first year no longer holds: it has ads, it can be used without Instagram, and its posts can appear on Instagram itself. This is the current state.
- Core format: Instagram is built around photos, video and Reels. Threads is built around text: posts of up to 500 characters, optional media, and since September 2025 text attachments of up to 10,000 characters.
- Account: Threads can be created with your Instagram account or, now, with an email address or phone number. With Instagram, your username is shared; bio, picture and link stay separate.
- Followers: separate. Following and followers on Threads do not affect Instagram.
- Feed: Threads mixes followed and recommended posts, with a strictly chronological Following feed as an option. If you signed up with Instagram, your Instagram activity helps personalise Threads.
- Ads: both have them. Threads opened ads to advertisers worldwide in April 2025 and to all users globally from January 2026.
- Deleting: you can delete your Threads profile without deleting Instagram.
What changes in your content
On Instagram the image carries the post and the caption supports it. On Threads the text carries the post. That shifts what makes a post good: a clear point of view, a specific detail and an easy way to reply matter more than production quality. Creators who are strong writers but weak photographers often find Threads easier; the reverse is also true.
Media still has a place on Threads. Meta's creator guidance says photo, video and carousel posts that include text performed significantly better than those without any text, and Buffer's 2026 data shows Threads posts with video or images had higher median engagement rates than text-only posts. The lesson is to pair media with words, not to drop media.
Pro tip
Take a caption from one of your best Instagram posts and rewrite it as a Threads post without the image. If it no longer makes sense, the image was doing the work. If it still stands, you have found a Threads post.
Where the two apps connect
The apps are more linked than their separate follower counts suggest. Instagram posts can be shared to Threads with a toggle when you publish, including an option to always share. Threads posts can be shared to your Instagram story or feed. And since July 2025, eligible Threads posts can be recommended to people on Instagram and Facebook, so a Threads post can reach Instagram users who never opened Threads.
That makes Instagram a natural place to tell your existing audience you are on Threads, and Threads a place to test written ideas that may later become Instagram captions or Reels scripts.
Monetisation
Instagram has a range of creator monetisation features. Threads has very little: Meta ran an invite-only bonus programme for Threads creators, which Engadget reported had quietly ended in 2025, and we found no current revenue share, tipping or subscriptions on Threads. What Threads does have is a paid partnership label: Meta's branded content policies require it on sponsored Threads posts.
In practice, Threads earns money indirectly. It is a good place to show expertise and send people to a newsletter, a product or a service.
How to split your time
If your work is visual (food, fashion, design, travel), Instagram stays the main stage and Threads is a place for the thinking behind the work. If your work is ideas (consulting, writing, software, education), Threads can be the main stage and Instagram the visual supplement. Many people need both; very few need to post identical content to both.
Sources
Platform facts in this guide link to Meta's own documentation, its newsroom or established tech press. Advice without a source is our editorial judgement, not a Meta rule.
- Instagram Help Center — Create a profile on Threads (sign-up options, separate bio and followers)
- Instagram Help Center — Delete your Threads profile
- Meta Developers — Threads API overview (500-character post limit)
- Meta Newsroom — Attach text to your Threads posts (Sept 2025)
- Meta Transparency Center — Threads Feed AI system (updated Mar 2025)
- TechCrunch — Meta's Threads opens up ads to global advertisers (23 Apr 2025)
- TechCrunch — Threads rolls out ads to all users worldwide (21 Jan 2026)
- Instagram Help Center — Share your Instagram posts to Threads
- Instagram Help Center — Share posts that you see on Threads (incl. to Instagram)
- Meta Newsroom — Threads posts recommended on Instagram and Facebook (update of 22 July 2025)
- Meta — Threads creator best practices (creators.instagram.com)
- Buffer — The state of social media engagement in 2026
- Engadget — Meta has ended its bonus program on Threads (July 2025)
- Instagram Help Center — Use the paid partnership tool on Threads
- Instagram — Continuing our approach to political content on Instagram and Threads (Feb 2024)
- Meta Newsroom — More speech and fewer mistakes (Jan 2025)
Ready to apply this?
Write Threads-native captions
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an Instagram account to use Threads?+
No longer. Meta's Help Center lists signing up with an email address or phone number as an alternative to using your Instagram account.
Can I delete Threads without losing Instagram?+
Yes. Meta's Help Center says deleting your Threads profile does not delete your Instagram or Facebook profile. Deletion becomes permanent after 30 days.
Is Threads better than Instagram for organic reach?+
We have found no reliable, like-for-like comparison of organic reach between the two, and published engagement benchmarks measure different things on each platform. Test both with your own content rather than relying on general claims.
Is Threads still free of political content?+
No. Meta stopped proactively recommending political content on Instagram and Threads in 2024, but announced in January 2025 that it would phase civic content back in, with controls for how much of it people see.