Nostr User Statistics 2025
Written by Ayanika Das
Ayanika is an experienced content writer with a background in Hotel Management and a master's in hospitality administration from IHM Calcutta. With her expertise in content creation and copywriting, Ayanika has collaborated with numerous companies across various sectors. She's currently focusing on the crypto and investment sectors and crafting in-depth pieces about different aspects of the crypto space.
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Last Updated on March 13, 2025
How Nostr Works?
Nostr operates on a network of ‘Relays’ instead of a blockchain. Relays are servers managed by users worldwide where data is stored or deployed. You can create your relay to post messages or access existing ones.
The platform is censorship-resistant. While relay owners can remove your messages from their relays, others can host your notes, or you can develop your relay to ensure content accessibility.
Accessing Nostr requires a cryptographic public and private key, serving as your username and password. Nostr also supports Bitcoin transactions via the Lightning Network, allowing seamless decentralized transactions.
Nostr’s open-source nature enables users to develop applications using the protocol. Our data shows that Nostr has gained popularity due to its decentralized, user-controlled environment.
Nostr Applications
Nostr hosts various applications in its ecosystem. These apps are called Clients, as they help users interact and engage with the protocol.
These apps are specifically designed to work on the Android and iOS devices. Some of the prominent Nostr apps are –
| Damus | Similar to Twitter but censorship-resistant, this app, developed by William Casarin, is designed specifically for iOS users. It offers a user-friendly interface for posting, liking, and boosting content. |
| NostrChat.io | Nostr is a messaging app similar to Telegram, allowing users to chat without a central authority overseeing their conversations. |
| Amethyst | Amethyst is a Nostr client designed for Android devices. It offers account management, threaded messages, notifications, and image uploading on the ecosystem. |
| Primal | This analytics client provides users with advanced analytics and customizable feeds, allowing them to measure their network reach and activity. |
Nostr Relay Statistics
Nostr runs on servers called “Relays,” which host users’ data. Relays can be either paid or free. To access paid Relays, users must pay a certain amount of Bitcoin set by the Relay owners.
In 2023, nearly 911 Relays came online at least once. Of these, 712 were active with published events, including 625 free and 87 paid Relays.
However, the number of Relays has declined in 2024. As of April 2024, 639 Relays were online globally, which is two-thirds of the total number recorded at the same time in 2023.
The Nostr network operates with a total of 1,005 Relays. Among these, 471 are public, 191 are restricted, and 343 are offline.
These Relays operate as autonomous systems across 50 countries, totaling 151 autonomous systems.
A fact is that among the 50 countries hosting Nostr Relays, no single country or autonomous system accounts for more than 25% of the relays. Currently, North America leads with 470 Relays.
The United States has the highest count at 260 Relays in North America.
| Continent | Relay Count |
| North America | 470 |
| Europe | 295 |
| Asia | 63 |
| South America | 7 |
| Africa | 7 |
| Oceania | 7 |
| Others | 156 |
Nostr User Count
In 2023, Nostr had over 991,000 profiles with bios and contact lists. From 2022 to June 2023, Nostr experienced a user surge of 39,275%.
In December 2022, the user count with bios and contact lists was around 800, which increased to 315,000 by the following year. As of 2024, there are 993,248 users with profiles and contact lists.
Also, the number of pubkeys extracted from note-writing events on Nostr in 2023 is 33,530,158.
Meanwhile, the sum of Pubkeys on Nostr in August 2024 is 33,532,775.
In the last few years, Nostr’s exponential growth in user adoption highlights its rising popularity and engagement within a short period.
Number of Text Events Published On Nostr
Text events on Nostr are similar to tweets on X (formerly Twitter). Any text note users publish on relays is considered a text event on Nostr.
In 2023, there were approximately 17,851,871 note events.
As of August 2024, this number has surged to 304,289,861, marking a 1607.5% increase in just one year. This dramatic rise highlights the growing activity and engagement of users on Nostr.
This significant increase in note events indicates a substantial rise in user engagement and activity on Nostr over the past year.
Zaps Counts on Nostr
The mode of value transfer on Nostr is Zaps, a lightning network payment. Zaps allow users to make payments across Nostr with minimal transaction fees.
After six months in 2024, the total number of Zaps on Nostr is approximately 1,653,251,519, with the highest zap value recorded at 3,016,346.
And the total Zap amount is equivalent to 1,653,627,060 satoshi (1 Bitcoin = 100 million Satoshi) in August 2024.
In contrast, 2023 saw 252,905 Zap transactions with an aggregated value of 305,427,302 Satoshi.
The use of Zaps on Nostr has grown significantly from 2023 to 2024, indicating increased adoption and activity on the platform.
Income Figures From Nostr
On Nostr, users can earn in two ways: by establishing paid relays and through Zaps. Paid relays involve one-time admission fees, and Zaps include fees shared with relay administrators.
Although exact income amounts are unavailable, 2023 reports suggest that 35% of paid relays charge less than 1,000 Satoshi (approximately $0.45), while the maximum relay admission fee can reach 10,000 Satoshi (roughly $45).
Most relays (64%) don’t get any Zaps at all. Of those that do, a few see quite a bit of activity, with the top 10% getting around 471 Zap transactions.
However, the amounts aren’t massive—these top relays only receive about 150,000 Satoshis, roughly $67.
As a result, the primary income for most users on Nostr comes from paid relays, with Zaps being a minor supplementary source.
Nostr Statistics
- The total number of trusted users on Zap in 2024 is 165,725. (Source – stats. nostr.band)
- As of August 2024, Nostr recorded 92,935,684. (Source – stats. nostr.band)
- On Nostr, 93% of posts are found across multiple relays. Of all relays, 25% (178 relays) each host more than 5% of the posts. (Source – research.dorahhacks.io)
- As of April 2024, America and Europe host 80% of the Nostr Relays. (Source – research.dorahacks.io)
- According to the April 2024 reports, 95% of relays can’t cover operational costs, and 20% have faced significant downtime due to insufficient financial support. (Source – research.dorahacks.io)
- According to 2023 records, 52% of countries with Nostr Relays had fewer than two relays each. (Source – arxiv.org)
- In 2023, around 64% of Autonomous System (AS) operators hosted only one relay. (Source – arxiv.org)
- In 2023, around 20% of Nostr relays faced downtime for over 40% of the year. (Source – arxiv.org)
- In 2023, most relay outages (56%) lasted less than 15 minutes. However, 10% of outages extended beyond 100 minutes. (Source – arxiv.org)
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