With a ban looming, here are four TikTok alternatives, from RedNote to Clapper

The video sharing app awaits Supreme Court decision on whether it will continue to operate in the US

More than 170 million users in the US are waiting to see what the Supreme Court decides in the case of TikTok’s ban in the country. China-owned ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has said it will not abide by congressional legislation that obligates it to sell the platform to a US owner by Sunday, or face a ban in one of its largest markets.

If TikTok is banned by the US government, users will not be able to find and download it from the app stores of Google and Apple, and its services would gradually cease to work. Some, who expect the ban to go through, have already found alternatives to migrate to, while more hopeful users expect the app to remain functioning.

Here are four alternatives that provide similar video sharing services to TikTok that could become more popular should the ban go through.

RedNote

RedNote is a video and image sharing site, as well as a marketplace for product sales and promotion. AFP

Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, has shot up to the top of free app download charts in the US in the past week, following news of an imminent TikTok ban. Described as the Chinese Instagram, the app is a video and image sharing site, as well as a marketplace for product sales and promotion.

The app is currently valued at $17 billion, according to the Financial Times, and is in line to become the next big app to come out of China. RedNote is owned by Shanghai-headquartered Xingyin Information Technology and has been active since 2013.

Many TikTok users have already decided to get familiar with RedNote, despite it being mostly in Mandarin, with American users who have flocked to the app calling themselves “refugees” denoting forced relocation. Chinese users on RedNote are welcoming their American counterparts, saying it will make the app a much more interesting place for dialogue and cultural exchange.

Lemon8

While political scrutiny continues to intensify on the widely popular short video app TikTok in the US and across the world, Lemon8 owned by ByteDance is going viral. Bloomberg

Launched in 2020, Lemon8 is currently second on the free app charts in the US. Headquartered in Singapore, the company is owned and developed by a subsidiary of TikTok’s owner, ByteDance. It was first launched in Japan under the name Sharee, hitting 1 million users by March 2022.

Lemon8 then launched in the US and UK in February 2023, becoming more popular through influencer marketing. The app modelled itself on RedNote following its success in China, with it offering services in six different languages, as opposed to RedNote’s one language.

In November of 2024, integration between Lemon8 and TikTok allowed users to link their accounts and find their followers. Since it is also owned by ByteDance, it remains to be seen if Lemon8 will be affected by the ban on TikTok.

Clapper

Clapper, which claims to be a 'free-speech' TikTok clone, is gaining popularity. Bloomberg

Sitting in third spot on free app charts is Clapper. The video sharing app was founded by Edison Chen and is headquartered in Texas.

Clapper prides itself on being a space for free speech. "We are passionate about people being able to express themselves in open ways without having to deal with biased censors," reads a company statement from 2021.

Monetisation of content is also possible on Clapper through a feature called Clapper Fam, which allows creators to lock selected content behind a paywall. The app distinguishes itself by appealing to an older audience, as it requires users to be at least 17 years old to sign up.

Instagram Reels

Instagram has 2 billion monthly users, with its biggest market in India. EPA

Likely the biggest beneficiary of a US TikTok ban is Meta’s Instagram. Through its Reels feature, the app offers a similar experience to TikTok, with its endless video scrolling possibility. Instagram is an established and well-known name in the US, although the rise of TikTok has impacted its popularity in the country.

Instagram was launched in October 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. It was sold to Facebook (now Meta) in April 2012 for $1 billion, with a plan to keep the company independently managed. According to data by Demandsage, Instagram has 2 billion monthly active users around the world, with India its most popular market with 385.4 million users.