Influencers previously partnered with Lemon8 to promote the lesser-known app on TikTok. In recent weeks, many of them have hailed Lemon8 as the place to go if TikTok is banned under federal law. Some have also been recommending it through paid sponsored posts tagged #lemon8partner, showing a recent corporate push to generate more users.

With a potential U.S. ban just days away, content creators are turning their attention to TikTok's sister app.

ByteDance appears to be pushing TikTok users to download Lemon8, an alternative app that more closely mimics Pinterest or Instagram. The TikTok ban law applies to other apps owned by ByteDance (including Lemon8),

Social media influencers are pushing Lemon8 as a potential US TikTok ban looms, despite it being owned by the same China-based parent company. View on euronews

Lemon8 surged to No. 1 on the Apple app store charts as some users consider it to be a possible TikTok alternative, but the ByteDance-developed platform could be banned by the same law that threatens to ban TikTok.

ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, is promoting Lemon8 as a backup option, even as discussions around the TikTok ban intensify. While the legislation specifically targets ByteDance-owned apps,

Lemon8’s user base is still tiny compared to TikTok’s behemoth growth since 2019 —but engagement on the app is growing. Lemon8 appears to average more than 1 million daily active app users since October 2024. That’s nearly double what it was the year prior, when TikTok launched the app as an Instagram competitor.