The best time to post on Threads in 2026, according to the studies

The two studies that cover Threads agree more than most posting-time studies do. Buffer's analysis of 2.5 million Threads posts puts the best slot on Thursday at 9 a.m. Hootsuite's 2025 study puts it on Tuesday at 8 a.m. Both point to weekday mornings, and both list Wednesday at noon and Thursday at 9 a.m. among their daily picks.

Threads is young, and the data is thinner than for Instagram or Facebook: Sprout Social's 2026 study does not include Threads at all. This article puts the two studies side by side as they read on October 24, 2026, explains where they part ways, and ends with a way to test your own hours.

The short answer

• Start with a weekday morning between 8 and 11 a.m. Both studies put their best slots there.
• Thursday at 9 a.m. and Wednesday at 12 p.m. appear in both studies' daily lists, so they make good first slots.
• Keep important posts out of the evening. Buffer found posts between 6 and 11 p.m. underperformed on every day of the week.
• Test the weekend before you drop it. Buffer ranks Saturday last, while Hootsuite still names a weekend time around midday.
• Reply to the replies. Buffer's 2026 engagement report found the strongest reply effect of any network on Threads.

What each study found

	Buffer	Hootsuite
Sample	2.5 million Threads posts sent through Buffer	More than 1 million social posts across networks, Threads share not stated
Data period	Not stated	Not stated, labeled 2025 data
What it ranks	Median engagement (likes, replies, reposts) by hour and day	Not stated
Best single time	Thursday, 9 a.m.	Tuesday, 8 a.m.
Best window	Weekdays, 6 to 11 a.m.	Not stated
Best days	Wednesday, then Thursday and Tuesday	Tuesday
Weakest	Evenings from 6 to 11 p.m., and Saturday	Not stated

Both name a best time for each day. Buffer gives three per day, and the table shows its top one. Bold marks each study's best time of the week.

Day	Buffer	Hootsuite
Monday	12 p.m.	9 a.m.
Tuesday	10 a.m.	8 a.m.
Wednesday	12 p.m.	12 p.m.
Thursday	9 a.m.	9 a.m.
Friday	10 a.m.	2 p.m.
Saturday	10 a.m.	12 p.m.
Sunday	11 a.m.	1 p.m.

Buffer also lists Monday at 9 a.m. as its second-best Monday time and Tuesday at 9 a.m. as its second-best Tuesday time, so on four weekdays the two studies sit within an hour of each other.

Where the studies agree

• Mornings come first. Buffer's best window is 6 to 11 a.m. on weekdays, and Hootsuite explains its times as the moments before work and over midday breaks.
• Two exact matches. Wednesday at 12 p.m. and Thursday at 9 a.m. are in both studies' daily lists.
• Nothing late in the day. Every daily top time in both studies falls between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• The times are local. Buffer says its times apply in your own time zone, and Hootsuite says its times are normalized across 118 countries.

Where they disagree

The best day

Buffer ranks Wednesday first, with Thursday and Tuesday close behind. Hootsuite's single best time falls on Tuesday. Both are midweek, so the gap is small.

Friday and the weekend

Buffer's Friday time is 10 a.m. and Hootsuite's is 2 p.m. Buffer calls Saturday the weakest day of the week. Hootsuite names no weakest day, gives Saturday a noon slot, and reads weekends as people's downtime.

Buffer's own page is not consistent about the second-worst day

Its Sunday section calls Sunday the second-worst day after Saturday. Its best and worst days section says Saturday is lowest, with Monday also underperforming. Treat the ranking of the weaker days as loose.

Why the answers differ

Different samples

Buffer's 2.5 million posts were all published through Buffer. Hootsuite worked with the agency Critical Truth on more than a million posts across every network it covers and does not say how many came from Threads. A study can only describe the accounts that use its tool.

Different measures

Buffer ranks hours by median engagement, counting likes, replies, and reposts. Hootsuite's overview does not say how it scored each hour.

A small platform moves fast

Buffer's 2026 State of Social Media Engagement report puts Threads' median engagement rate at about 3.6% in 2025, down from about 4.4% in 2024, and notes that changes in who is posting can move medians as much as the platform itself. A separate Buffer analysis of 1.7 million posts on X, Threads, and Bluesky found that half of all posts received four or fewer engagements. When most posts get a handful of interactions, one busy morning can shift a ranking.

What else the data says about Threads

Two findings from Buffer's 2026 engagement report matter as much as the clock:

• Replies. Comparing each account with itself over time, posts where the account replied to comments earned about 42% more engagement on Threads, the largest lift of the six networks Buffer measured. Buffer cautions that this is a correlation: strong posts attract more comments to reply to.
• Format. Video posts had the highest median engagement rate on Threads (5.55%), then images (4.55%), text (2.79%), and links (2.34%). Buffer adds that the formats overlap enough for any type to do well.

Find your own best time to post on Threads

Threads gives you fewer clues than Instagram or YouTube. Its insights API, documented by Meta, reports views, likes, replies, reposts, quotes, and shares for each post, plus follower counts and, from 100 followers, follower demographics. It lists no report of when your followers are online. So the test rests on your own posts:

1. Pick three slots: Thursday at 9 a.m., Wednesday at 12 p.m., and one contrasting slot, such as Friday at 2 p.m. or Saturday at 10 a.m.
2. Post in each slot for three to four weeks. Spread text, image, and video posts evenly, since Buffer's data shows format alone moves engagement.
3. Reply to comments on every post in the test, or on none. Mixing the two hides the timing effect behind the reply effect.
4. Compare engagement per post, not totals, and check how many posts each number rests on.
5. Keep the best slot, swap the weakest for a new one, and run it again next quarter.

Measure and schedule Threads in eksis

Update, November 3, 2026: Meta approved eksis for the Threads API, and any eksis account can now connect Threads.

Read your best hours

Click your Threads account in the sidebar and open Insights. The Best hours to post chart groups your posts by the hour they went out, in your workspace time zone, and ranks those hours by average engagement: likes, replies, reposts, quotes, and shares. Views count as reach and are not part of engagement, so the Eng. rate column in the Post performance table is engagement divided by views.

An hour needs at least two posts with numbers before it can rank ahead of the others, and an hour that rests on one post is drawn faded. Posts you made in the Threads app count too, starting with up to 100 posts from the last 180 days. The chart shows hours, not weekdays, so note the day of each test post yourself. eksis stops updating a post's numbers 30 days after it goes out.

Schedule a post for that hour

1. Click Create post and pick your Threads account.
2. Write the post and add photos or a video, or several images for a carousel. Under Who can reply, choose who may answer.
3. Add a First comment if you want a reply queued under the post, for example a link.
4. Click Edit next to Publish time, choose the day and hour, and click Schedule.

Publish times follow Settings, General, Time zone, so set it to where most of your followers live. Replies to your Threads posts arrive in the Inbox, where you can answer or hide them. Threads has no API for deleting someone else's reply or for direct messages, so those stay in the Threads app.

The Free plan connects one account, allows 15 scheduled posts a month, and has no Analytics. Starter connects up to 20 accounts and includes Best hours to post. See the Threads integration or compare plans.

Timing is one part of the post

On Threads the conversation under a post matters as much as the hour it went out. If you post the same update to Bluesky and X as well, our guide to cross-posting to Threads, Bluesky, and X covers what to change for each. For the same exercise on Meta's other apps, see the best time to post on Instagram.

Sources

• Buffer: The best time to post on Threads in 2026, data from 2.5M posts
• Hootsuite: Best time to post on social media in 2025
• Buffer: The State of Social Media Engagement in 2026
• Buffer: What we learned from analyzing 1.7M posts on X, Threads, and Bluesky
• Sprout Social: Best times to post on social media in 2026
• Meta for Developers: Threads Insights API

All were read on October 24, 2026. The companies update these studies, so check the source before you quote a number.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best time to post on Threads?

Buffer's analysis of 2.5 million posts names Thursday at 9 a.m., and Hootsuite's 2025 study names Tuesday at 8 a.m. Both point to weekday mornings, and both list Wednesday at 12 p.m. and Thursday at 9 a.m. among their daily picks, so either is a good first test.

What is the best day to post on Threads?

Midweek. Buffer ranks Wednesday first, then Thursday and Tuesday, while Hootsuite's best time of the week falls on Tuesday. Buffer finds Saturday the weakest day.

Is it bad to post on Threads in the evening?

In Buffer's data, posts published between 6 and 11 p.m. underperformed on every day of the week. Hootsuite's latest daily time is 2 p.m. on Friday. If your followers are active in the evening, test it, but start with mornings.

Can I see when my Threads followers are online?

Not from Threads' insights as Meta documents them for apps. They cover views, likes, replies, reposts, quotes, shares, follower counts, and demographics, but no activity times. Use your own posts' results instead.

Can eksis show my best time to post on Threads?

For a connected Threads account on a plan with Analytics, yes: Best hours to post ranks your hours by average likes, replies, reposts, quotes, and shares. Since November 3, 2026, any eksis account can connect Threads.