What Is Bluesky? How the Network Works in 2026
Short public posts, feeds you pick yourself and a network designed so that no single company controls it: that’s Bluesky, a social app built on the open AT Protocol. Posts hold up to 300 characters, you can stack independent moderation services on top of Bluesky’s own, and your account is designed to move to another server, taking your data with it.
If you’ve used X, the network formerly called Twitter, the Bluesky app will look familiar (what changed when Twitter became X covers that side). So what is Bluesky doing differently? Mostly things you can’t see, explained here from Bluesky’s own sources.
Table of Contents
- What is Bluesky?
- How does Bluesky work?
- What can you post on Bluesky?
- What is Bluesky used for?
- How many people use Bluesky?
- Is Bluesky private?
- How does verification work on Bluesky?
- FAQ
What is Bluesky?
Bluesky is a social app that is “designed to not be controlled by a single company,” as its help centre puts it. It runs on the AT Protocol, which Bluesky calls “an open source toolbox for building social apps that can all talk to each other,” so the Bluesky app (bsky.app, iPhone and Android) is one app on a network others can build on. Checked against Bluesky Help Center (Zendesk): What is Bluesky?
Is it built on a blockchain, and does it use cryptocurrency? “No, and no,” says Bluesky’s user FAQ.
How does Bluesky work?
Bluesky runs on a federated network: your account lives on a Personal Data Server, and shared services collect posts from every server so the app can show feeds, like counts and search. The AT Protocol docs name three core services, Personal Data Servers, relays and App Views, plus feed generators and labelers. Four ideas follow from that design.
Your identity moves with you
Every account has a permanent decentralized identifier (DID) plus a handle that is a domain name. Your posts, likes and follows sit in a signed data repository on your Personal Data Server, “your home in the cloud” in the protocol docs, and the protocol’s goal is that you can move to a new server “without the server’s involvement”. Checked against AT Protocol docs: Protocol Overview Bluesky’s help centre likens it to moving cities while keeping your belongings and your phone number.
Federation went live weeks after the February 2024 public launch, and by that December Bluesky said thousands of people ran their own servers. Checked against Bluesky blog: 2024 In Review
Custom feeds
Your home timeline doesn’t have to run on Bluesky’s algorithm. Custom feeds let you “pick the algorithm that powers your social media experience” from an open marketplace of feeds made by Bluesky and outside developers, such as only posts from your mutuals or only sports. You add them from My Feeds. Building your own takes developer tools or a third-party builder. Checked against Bluesky Help Center (Zendesk): Moderation and Custom Feeds
Stackable moderation
Every account gets Bluesky’s own moderation by default. Since March 2024 you can also subscribe to independent moderation services, called labelers, that label posts on top, and choose whether labelled posts are hidden, shown with a warning or shown as normal. In the Bluesky app, Bluesky’s own layer and community guidelines always apply. Checked against Bluesky blog: Bluesky’s Stackable Approach to Moderation
Domain handles
Handles end in .bsky.social by default, but you can use a domain you own instead, as Bluesky (@bsky.app) and NPR (@npr.org) do. You prove the domain is yours with a DNS record or a small text file, and the handle then works across AT Protocol apps. Checked against Bluesky blog: How to verify your Bluesky account (domain handle tutorial) More than 309,000 accounts had linked their handle to a website by Bluesky’s 2025 transparency report. Checked against Bluesky blog: 2025 Transparency Report
What can you post on Bluesky?
A Bluesky post holds up to 300 characters of text plus either up to four images or one video of up to 10 minutes. Characters are counted as you see them (graphemes), so an emoji counts as one, and the text can be empty when the post has media. Checked against AT Protocol lexicon app.bsky.feed.post (Bluesky GitHub)
Each image can carry its own alt text and be up to 2 MB. Checked against AT Protocol lexicon app.bsky.embed.images (Bluesky GitHub) Videos can now run 10 minutes, a limit Bluesky announced on 25 August 2026, and files can be up to 300 MB. Guides that quote 60 seconds (the 2024 launch limit) or 3 minutes are out of date. Checked against Official @bsky.app account on Bluesky
Bluesky added hashtags in 2024 and trending topics in December 2024. Checked against Bluesky blog: 2024 In Review One-to-one direct messages arrived on 22 May 2024: by default only people you follow can message you, and you can change that to everyone or no one. Checked against Bluesky blog: Just shipped: Bluesky Direct Messages!
What is Bluesky used for?
Bluesky is used for public conversation: following news, talking with people who share an interest and sharing your own work. When it dropped invites in February 2024, Bluesky asked newcomers to join “more than three million people discussing news, sharing art, and just posting.” Checked against Bluesky blog: Join Bluesky Today (Bye, Invites!) Communities gather through starter packs, launched in June 2024. Any user can bundle up to 150 accounts and up to 3 custom feeds into a link or QR code (as of Bluesky’s June 2024 FAQ; the app now sets the limit remotely), and newcomers can join Bluesky from a friend’s pack with its recommendations already in place. Checked against Bluesky blog: Introducing Bluesky Starter Packs Posting for a brand? Start with the best time to post on Bluesky.
How many people use Bluesky?
Bluesky had 41.41 million users at the end of 2025, by its own count, up nearly 60% from 25.94 million a year earlier. In March 2026 it said it had “over 40 million users”. The report counts accounts, including those hosted on independent servers, so these are account totals, not monthly active users. Checked against Bluesky blog: 2025 Transparency Report
| Date | What Bluesky said |
|---|---|
| 12 September 2023 | Over 1 million users, while still invite-only |
| 6 February 2024 | More than 3 million people, as invites ended |
| 12 March 2024 | Over 5 million users |
| 30 December 2024 | Over 25.9 million people, after more than 13 million joined in six weeks |
| End of 2025 | 41.41 million users (transparency report, 29 January 2026) |
| 9 March 2026 | Over 40 million users |
Checked against Bluesky blog: Reaching 1 Million Users.
Checked against Bluesky blog: 2024 In Review.
Is Bluesky private?
No. Bluesky has no private profiles: your posts, likes and blocks are public, and its help centre says to think of posts as blog posts that anyone on the web can see. Mutes are the exception. Who you mute is private, and while mute lists are public, your subscriptions to them stay private. Checked against Bluesky Help Center (Zendesk): Data Privacy
The reason is the protocol: data lives in repositories anyone can view, so you can see posts across every server and take your data with you. Direct messages are one-to-one rather than public, though at their May 2024 launch they had no encryption.
How does verification work on Bluesky?
Bluesky has two layers of verification: a domain handle you set up yourself, and, since 21 April 2025, a blue badge for notable, authentic accounts. Bluesky grants badges itself, and Trusted Verifiers, organisations marked with scalloped badges, can verify accounts directly. Tap a badge to see who granted it. Checked against Bluesky blog: A New Form of Verification on Bluesky
By the end of 2025 there were 4,327 verified accounts and 21 Trusted Verifiers. Notable accounts can apply through the form in Bluesky’s verification announcement. Badges can be hidden in the app’s moderation settings, and changing your handle removes your verification; the app warns you first. Checked against Bluesky social-app source code (GitHub, main branch): ChangeHandleDialog
Weighing Bluesky against X? See our Bluesky vs Twitter (X) comparison, then the Bluesky search guide to find people and posts once you’ve joined.
Schedule your Bluesky posts with Outfeed AI
FAQ
Is Bluesky like Twitter?
On the surface, yes: you write short public posts, follow people and send direct messages. Underneath, Bluesky is built on the open AT Protocol, so you can choose custom feeds, add independent moderation services, and your account is designed to move to another server. Posts allow 300 characters, against 280 on X for accounts without Premium, and Bluesky has no private profiles.
What is the AT Protocol?
It is the open-source framework Bluesky is built on, for social apps that can talk to each other. It gives every account a permanent decentralized identifier (DID) and a domain-name handle, stores data on Personal Data Servers, and is designed so you can move your account to a new server without the old server’s help. It is federated, not a blockchain, and uses no cryptocurrency.
Is Bluesky safe?
Every account gets Bluesky’s own moderation by default, and content in the Bluesky app must follow its community guidelines. Since March 2024 you can also subscribe to independent moderation services that add their own labels. The main caution is privacy: there are no private profiles, and posts, likes and blocks are public. By default, only people you follow can send you direct messages.
How many people use Bluesky?
By Bluesky’s own count, it had 41.41 million users at the end of 2025, up from 25.94 million a year earlier, and it said it had over 40 million users in March 2026. These are account counts, including accounts on independent servers, not monthly active users. Bluesky passed 1 million users in September 2023, while it was still invite-only.