Often overshadowed by Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, Pinterest has been working to grow on its own terms. Those efforts appear to be paying off. The company said it recently reached 150 million monthly active users, up 50% from 100 million a year earlier.
What pleases Pinterest even more than the headline number is who is joining. More than half of members, and about three quarters of new members, are now outside the United States. That is good news for Tim Kendall, hired to lead international growth.
The site has long skewed toward women, but the company says male membership is rising too. Advertisers care because Pinterest users often arrive with purchase intent: they save recipes, renovations, and product ideas, then act on them.
Whether Pinterest can keep this pace while competing for attention with Stories-style formats elsewhere remains an open question. For now, 150 million is a clear sign the visual bookmarking network is no longer a niche U.S. hobby app.
