TikTok could be banned in the US: What are the best alternatives?

By next week, TikTok could very well be banned in the United States.

The US Supreme Court may have taken up the case, but there is no guarantee which way it will rule.

The bottom line is that company’s owner ByteDance has till January 19 to find a new owner or shut the popular app down in America.

It’s increasingly looking like the latter will increasingly be the most likely outcome.

But what are the best TikTok alternatives?

Let’s take a closer look:

RedNote

Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, is already becoming a popular alternative for many Americans.

As per Bloomberg, the app, which was founded in 2013, combines the entertainment of short-form videos with e-commerce.

Xiaohongshu, which has over 300 million users, is one of China’s biggest social media companies.

It is known as the “Instagram of China” and most of its users are young women.

On Tuesday, Xiaohongshu was the most downloaded app in the Apple store.

Instagram reels

As per Live Mint, Instagram Reels allows users to create short-form videos.

This is directly plugged into Instagram.

Reels can be found within the explore tab of Instagram.

The app allows for songs or audio clips, effects, transitions, speed control to be added to the videos.

They can be shared directly to a person’s feed. It also gives users insight to track how many views, likes and shares they have.

YouTube shorts

YouTube shorts, a direct competitor of TikTok, allows videos to be made up to 60 seconds.

Like Instagram reels, YouTube shorts is integrated with YouTube.

This gives users a big advantage when it comes to creating and sharing videos.

YouTube shorts has several advantages including integration with YouTube, a huge music library, a vertical video format and in-app editing tools.

Lemon8

As per Tech Crunch, Lemon8 is a
sister app of TikTok.

Though is also owned by ByteDance, people use it mainly to post pictures.

It has been described as a mixture of Instagram and Pinterest.

Ironically, TikTok has been pushing its users to Lemon8 over the past few months.

Users can now access Lemon8 through their
TikTok account.

However, it must be noted that Lemon8’s ownership also leaves it vulnerable to a TikTok-like ban.

Likee

As per Tech Crunch, Likee has over 100 million users worldwide.

It too allows videos to share videos and put up livestreams.

Like Snapchat, Likee has many AR filters.

Like YouTube, it also has a vast music library.

It also allows users to make money from their followers via ‘SuperLikes.’

Snapchat

Snapchat, launched in 2011 with its infamous disappearing videos, remains popular among teens and younger adults.

The platform gained so much traction that Meta designed a similar feature in Facebook and Instagram called “Stories” that lets users post photos or videos that disappear within 24 hours.

In 2020, Snapchat launched another feature that lets users “shine a light on the most entertaining Snaps, no matter who created them.”

The platform is estimated to have roughly 692 million global monthly active users last year, according to eMarketer.

Triller

According to Tech Crunch, Triller began as a
TikTok competitor.

It is mainly used by people interested in music and dance.

The company is already advertising itself to the TikTok faithful – it has launched a website letting users transfer their videos from TikTok to its platform.

The firm also hired ex-TikTok executive Sean Kim – who served as the company’s head of product from 2019 to 2022 – as its CEO.

Clapper

Clapper is essentially a TikTok clone.

As per Washington Post, Clapper was number four in the Apple store on Monday.

The app was launched in 2020 by Dallas-based entrepreneur Edison Chen.

It focuses on Gen X and millennial users.

However, its content is decidedly more edge than TikTok – far more sexual and clickbait probe.

In September 2020 the company described itself in a Facebook post as a “free speech” platform that did not “censor posts and comments.”

But in blog post on its website from 2021, the company wrote it “stopped being a ‘Free Speech’ platform” in September 2020 and “changed its mission and goals” to focus on “community”.

Twitch

For TikTok users who enjoy the “TikTok Live” feed that features livestreamed videos, Twitch could be a good alternative.

The Amazon-owned platform is a leader in the streaming industry and allows users on the platform to watch some of the internet’s most popular streamers, such as Kai Cenat.

Twitch says it has 105 million monthly visitors.

Fanbase

As per Washington Post, Fanbase is a jack of all trades app.

It has a video feed, audio chatrooms, direct messages and pay-to-play features.

Users can also pay for “loves” to leave hearts on creators’ videos.

It was number 6 on the app store on Monday.

 With inputs from agencies