Since reaching its peak in late 2024, Bluesky’s monthly mobile active user count has plummeted by more than 50%, signaling major difficulties for the decentralized social media app that once appeared positioned to challenge X (formerly Twitter).
The November 2024 U.S. elections sparked a wave of new registrations from disillusioned X users, but recent findings by digital analytics firm Similarweb reveal that Bluesky has struggled to maintain that early momentum and is now seeing sharp declines in engagement.
Declining Engagement Follows Temporary Election-Fueled Growth
Statistics indicate Bluesky’s initial boom is waning. In June 2026, the app reported 10.4 million monthly active users worldwide, representing a 27.2% year-over-year decrease. Mobile daily active users in July 2026 were down to about 3 million, a 25.6% decline year-over-year.
During the final quarter of 2024, Bluesky reached its zenith with around 22.1 million monthly active users. However, this number tumbled to 10.7 million by the second quarter of 2026—an approximate 52% reduction—even though registration of new users has not stopped.
The contrast between post-election surges and current activity levels illustrates that while many new accounts appeared after November 2024, most did not become regular contributors.
Core Community, Protocol Expansion, and Leadership Shifts
Although the broad metrics are down, Bluesky retains a highly engaged user base. In June 2026, the stickiness rate—daily active users as a proportion of monthly—stood at around 29%, similar to Meta’s Threads.
Toni Schneider, who recently took the helm as Bluesky’s CEO, is guiding the company toward a vision that extends well beyond a single app. Investment is now being funneled into the underlying AT Protocol (AT Proto), supporting an expansive ecosystem of apps, communities, and services. Projects like BlackSky, Eurosky, and Skylight—focused on video and seeing rapid early adoption—are emerging within this framework.
The platform’s offerings have become increasingly varied. New additions include Attie, an AI-driven social research tool, alongside new features being developed for private data and smaller, private social communities, aimed at reaching users seeking intimacy over wide public networks.
Contrasts with X and Emerging Competitors
There is no significant evidence of users returning to X after leaving Bluesky. As of June 2026, X recorded a 3% drop in global monthly mobile users year-over-year, with a 7% decrease in daily mobile users in July, totaling 123.7 million. Despite these losses, X remains influential with 302 million monthly mobile users and 4.7 billion visits to its website in July 2026, reflecting a 5.3% web traffic increase from the previous year.
Meanwhile, Threads—Meta’s alternative—has benefited from evolving social habits, gaining traction whether or not Bluesky’s attrition contributed. In July 2026, Threads achieved a 21.3% year-over-year increase in daily active users, totaling 147 million, while its website visits soared 112% to 471.6 million for the same month.
Current User Numbers and Strategic Priorities
Public metrics from Bluesky now show almost 46 million registered users on the platform. However, the company has not released updated daily or monthly active user numbers. Under Schneider’s leadership, Bluesky is prioritizing the long-term development of its decentralized protocol rather than focusing on short-term user metrics.
As the company intensifies its efforts around technology and ecosystem advancement, the main challenge remains: reviving user engagement on a large scale while nurturing the developer and user core within the greater AT Protocol environment.