Comparing 3 TikTok Alternatives: Pros and Cons

As the deadline for the federal TikTok ban approached and the platform’s legal options started running out, millions of American TikTok users and creators sought ways to replace the app if it went away for good. Amid the emotional goodbyes and last-minute calls to action, a few other apps emerged as potential alternatives, and U.S. TikTokers flocked to them in droves.

In the end, TikTok was back online after nothing more than a brief outage, though its future is still uncertain. Of course, as was frequently brought up during court proceedings, there is no perfect replacement for TikTok. While it has many imitators like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, the similarities are mostly superficial. Some platforms have emerged as viable replacements, however, and many TikTok users are already flocking to them.

With that in mind, we’re going to look at some of the popular TikTok alternatives so you know your options if the app goes dark again or if you want to check out some new communities.

The most surprising alternative that emerged in the lead-up to the TikTok ban was Xiǎohóngshū, translated as REDNote or “Little Red Book” (not to be confused with the Little Red Book of Mao Zedong’s sayings, Máo Zhǔxí Yǔlù). The platform is similar to TikTok, but it has some Instagram-like features.

In the days leading up to the ban, Xiǎohóngshū became the top downloaded app in both Google Play and the Apple App Store. This critical mass of users has made it one of the most viable alternatives to TikTok.

The biggest challenge for switching to Xiǎohóngshū is that all the content is in Mandarin. The app’s developers have been working non-stop to add English-language features and easy translation tools, so the language barrier is quite manageable if you’re willing to try. I’d argue it’s worth the effort because Xiǎohóngshū is absolutely charming. Existing users have been incredibly welcoming to the sudden influx of Americans, and you can find a lot of heart-warming interactions between average Chinese and American citizens interacting with one another for the first time.

Unlike TikTok, Xiǎohóngshū is a Chinese app that has a direct relationship with the Chinese government. This might have contributed to the panic in Congress when they realized the ban wasn’t going according to plan.

You might assume that if the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act banned TikTok, it would certainly ban an app like Xiǎohóngshū. And if this were a normal law instead of an unconstitutional bill of attainder, you’d be right! Unfortunately, the TikTok ban is, in fact, a TikTok ban, so Xiǎohóngshū remains available in the U.S. Congress could certainly write another law to ban this app, but I don’t think there’s the political will to go through this whole fight again when we haven’t even finished the first fight.

For those of us who grew up in the ‘90s and 2000s, it’s easy to think of all social media as U.S.-centric. Yet, as potentially apocalyptic as the TikTok ban has been for U.S. users, most TikTok users are unaffected by it.

The TikTok ban is directed squarely at TikTok and ByteDance. It does not target individual U.S. citizens (nor would such a ban have any chance of being upheld). As such, even if TikTok is eventually banned for good, it is 100% legal for U.S. citizens to access TikTok through another country.

Many people are already familiar with using VPNs to get around country-based content restrictions, but you need a bit more in the case of TikTok. In addition to your IP address, TikTok considers your phone number when determining your location. That means once you get a VPN running, you also have to purchase an eSIM based in another country and then use that eSIM to get a phone number there.

For the most part, TikTok is the same outside the U.S. The only difference is that you’ll see more local content from your spoofed location instead of content from where you live. As such, most people have been purchasing eSIMs based in the U.K., Canada, or other English-speaking countries.

This is the most complicated solution, but it’s the only one that gives you full access to TikTok. It was a lot for people to manage in the space of the week before the ban, but now that a potential ban is at least a few months off, it’s certainly doable for the average TikTok user.

The TikTok ban has been a complicated, ongoing mess for around five years. The app launched in 2017 and has been threatened by U.S. politicians for most of its existence. The current federal TikTok ban passed on April 20, 2024, along with 19 other bills as part of House Resolution 815. This bill specifically targeted TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, by name, giving it 270 days to completely divest its U.S. operations.

TikTok and some TikTok creators challenged the law, and the case ultimately ended up before the Supreme Court. The Court upheld the ban, which did not require the app to shut down in the United States, but would remove it from app stores and servers, eventually making the app unusable by U.S. citizens. However, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew stated during oral arguments that if the ban went through, TikTok would “go dark” in the U.S. rather than sell.

Throughout this time, U.S. politicians were furiously backpeddling to avoid taking the blame for the impending ban. Bills were proposed, promises made, and deals struck to try and prevent TikTok from going down. In the end, the app shut down briefly on the day the law went into effect, only to return with a message thanking President Trump for coming to an arrangement that would keep the app online.

Following his inauguration, President Trump invoked a 75-day temporary extension written into the ban, giving TikTok until April 5 to find a buyer. Chew has repeatedly stated that TikTok has no intention to sell TikTok, which means that the app could be threatened once again unless the ban is repealed or some other agreement is reached.

Final thoughts

The TikTok ban was a terrible idea from its inception. It was stupid and unprincipled, highlighting the worst flaws in our democratic system and putting them on display for the whole world. I sincerely hope that TikTok users get the closure they need and that their First Amendment rights are upheld, even if only as a side effect of their elected officials’ actual priorities. In the meantime, I need to practice my Mandarin.

Zàijiàn! 再见