<b>Threads' native insights vs third-party analytics: what you actually lose</b>

<b>Threads' native insights vs third-party analytics: what you actually lose</b>

Tested the gap for two weeks, logging both.

Native Threads insights (free, in-app):
— Views, likes, replies, reposts, quotes, and follower-source — genuinely decent
— But: only 14 days of history, no export, no per-post comparison view

Third-party (Metricool/Sprout):
— Persist history past 14 days, export, compare posts side by side
— But they pull from the same API, so they can't show you <i>more</i> than Meta exposes — just keep it longer

The trap most reviewers miss: no third-party tool can show "profile visits from a specific post" because the API doesn't return it per-post. If a tool claims to, it's estimating.

The annoying limitation: native insights reset the 14-day window with no warning, so screenshot or lose it.

Verdict: Native is <b>Worth it</b> for daily checks. Pay for third-party only to retain history — that's the real value, not extra metrics.