TikTok exploded onto the social media scene in 2018 and quickly became one of the most downloaded and used apps worldwide. By 2021, TikTok had over 1 billion monthly active users globally, with over 100 million monthly active users in the US alone (Source). TikTok’s growth has been astronomical – in October 2018 it had ~130 million global downloads, but just one year later in 2019 it reached 1.5 billion downloads (Source).
However, TikTok’s rapid growth has not been without controversy. It has faced accusations of censoring content, including videos critical of the Chinese government. This has led to bans in countries like India and threatened bans in the US under the Trump administration. While TikTok is still massively popular, its future remains uncertain due to ongoing data privacy and censorship concerns.
BeReal
BeReal is a photo sharing app that was launched in 2020 and promotes authenticity by allowing users to share unedited photos taken simultaneously using their phone’s front and back cameras. The app only allows users to post once per day when they receive a notification, capturing life in the moment.
Some key features that differentiate BeReal include:
- Simultaneous front and back camera photos – provides an authentic and unposed look into the user’s day
- One post per day limit – reduces the pressure of presenting a carefully curated social media presence
- Time limited posting – users must post within 2 minutes of receiving the daily notification, keeping content spontaneous
BeReal saw phenomenal growth in 2022, going from around 920,000 monthly active users in January to over 25 million by August 2022 (Source). However, monthly active users declined after hitting a peak in the summer, dropping back down to around 25 million monthly active users at the end of 2022.
Instagram Reels
Instagram has closely copied TikTok with the launch of its Reels feature in 2020. Reels allow users to create and share short videos set to music or other audio, much like TikTok. Instagram implemented many of the same features found on TikTok, such as video editing tools, AR effects, and duet and stitch options.
While Reels engagement is lower than TikTok, it has proven popular among Instagram’s user base. According to one analysis, the average engagement rate for Reels is 4.78%, compared to 5.37% for TikTok and just 1.37% for Instagram feed posts [1]. The report also found users spend about 29% more time watching Reels than feed videos on Instagram. So while Reels may lag behind TikTok for now, it does appear to be succeeding in increasing video engagement and time spent on Instagram.
YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts is YouTube’s short-form video app and TikTok competitor that launched in 2020. Shorts allows users to create and share short 15-60 second vertical videos using YouTube’s massive catalog of licensed music. Some key features of YouTube Shorts include:
- Video editing tools like speed control, timers, countdowns, etc.
- Access to YouTube’s licensed audio library to add background music
- Stitching multiple clips together
- Adding captions
- Cropping videos in a variety of ratios
YouTube Shorts has seen tremendous growth and popularity since its launch. According to The Small Business Blog, YouTube Shorts received over 50 billion daily views as of July 2022. The number of Shorts users is estimated to be over 1.5 billion. In a 2021 earnings call, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki stated that videos in Shorts player amassed over 15 billion global daily views.
YouTube Shorts presents a major competitive threat to TikTok, given YouTube’s massive user base and infrastructure advantages. The rapid growth of Shorts speaks to viewers’ appetite for short-form vertical video and YouTube’s ability to tap into that market segment. While TikTok still leads in short-form video, YouTube Shorts has quickly become a formidable challenger.
Snapchat Spotlight
Overview of Spotlight and how it competes with TikTok
Snapchat launched Spotlight in November 2020 as a way for Snapchatters to share short-form videos publicly to compete with other popular short video apps like TikTok. Spotlight lives within the Snapchat app and allows users to create and share 60-second videos that are discoverable by the Snapchat community (Source). Some key aspects of Spotlight:
- Spotlight surfaces the most entertaining Snaps from the Snapchat community and uses algorithms to determine which Snaps to promote.
- Users do not need a large following to go viral on Spotlight. Any Snapchat user can share to Spotlight and have their content highlighted.
- Snapchat incentivizes Spotlight engagement through monetary rewards for top performing content. As of January 2022, Snapchat has paid out over $250 million to Spotlight creators.
While Spotlight offers stiff competition to TikTok in the short video space, TikTok still maintains a much larger user base with over 1 billion monthly active users globally compared to Snapchat’s approximately 600 million.
User engagement and payment incentives
Snapchat reported that by June 2021, Spotlight was seeing over 125 million monthly active users (Source). Over 300 million Snapchatters interact with Spotlight content each month. Spotlight helps drive engagement by surfacing novel, interesting content from regular users rather than just celebrities or influencers.
To encourage content creation, Snapchat implemented a creator fund that pays users who create top Spotlight videos. As of January 2022, Snapchat had paid out over $250 million to more than 12,000 creators (Source). The payments incentivize users to create fun, engaging content that keeps the Spotlight audience coming back.
Triller
Triller is a short-form video app that launched in 2015 as a music video app focused on allowing users to create videos set to music. However, Triller saw significant growth in 2020 during a time when TikTok was facing potential bans in the US and India.[1] According to Triller, it saw its monthly active users grow from 13 million in 2019 to over 250 million in 2020.
However, Triller’s reported user numbers have faced scrutiny. In August 2022, Triller claimed 550 million monthly active users in its S-1 IPO filing.[2] However, third-party data showed only 13 million downloads in July 2022, suggesting Triller was greatly inflating its user numbers. According to App Annie data, TikTok had over 300 million more monthly active users than Triller in July 2022.
While Triller has clearly seen growth during periods when TikTok faced uncertainty, its long-term staying power as a top short-form video app remains uncertain, especially amidst questions around its reported metrics.
[1] https://influencermarketinghub.com/triller-stats/
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/21/trillers-s-1-filing-claims-550m-users-but-its-app-installs-fall-far-short-new-data-shows/
Lomotif
Lomotif is an Indian video-sharing social networking service and TikTok rival that allows users to record and upload short lip-sync, dance, comedy and talent videos. The app was originally launched in 2014 by Singapore-based Paul Yang and co-founder Vincent Yang. After TikTok was banned in India in 2020, Lomotif saw a surge in popularity as a potential replacement.
As of January 2022, Lomotif has been downloaded over 300 million times on Android devices. The app has a 4.1 star rating with over 7 million reviews on the Google Play Store. Lomotif is popular with Indian users but also has a growing global userbase, with a large percentage of users based in the United States.
Demographically, Lomotif skews younger but has a more diverse audience compared to TikTok. Around 40% of Lomotif’s users are under 24, with 25% aged 25-34. The rest are 35 and older. This contrasts with TikTok, where over 60% of users are under 30.
Byte
Byte was created by Dom Hofmann, the co-founder of the popular short-form video app Vine that was acquired by Twitter in 2012. After Vine was shut down in 2017, Hofmann wanted to create a similar app and launched Byte in early 2020 as a competitor to the explosively popular TikTok.
Byte aimed to capture the same creator community and viral video content that Vine was known for. The app featured 6-second videos that looped, simple creation tools, and a “Rebyte” feature to easily share and repost videos. However, Byte struggled to gain traction against TikTok’s network effects and faced multiple challenges.
The Byte community complained about spam accounts and lack of original content, with many reposted videos from Vine and other platforms (according to this Reddit post). The app also had issues with video uploads and bugs. Byte’s partner program was shut down in August 2020, and the company announced they would regroup and relaunch (per Wikipedia).
In January 2021, Byte announced it was acquired by another TikTok competitor called Clash. Clash planned to merge its monetization features into Byte in hopes of better competing with TikTok (reported by The Verge). However, Byte still faces an uphill battle distinguishing itself in the crowded short-form video space dominated by TikTok.
Clash
Clash is a short-form video app created by YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen as a rival to TikTok.[1] The app focuses on creators over algorithms and launched in a limited beta in late 2019. Some of Clash’s key features include:
- Videos up to 30 seconds long
- Ability to “clash” with other creators’ videos in playlists
- Minimal algorithms to amplify creators
- Toolkit for creators to easily edit and upload videos
Unlike TikTok which relies heavily on its “For You” algorithm to recommend videos, Clash aims to give creators more control over how their content is distributed. While still relatively unknown compared to TikTok, Clash offers a creator-first alternative in the short-form video space. However, it faces stiff competition from not only TikTok but other newcomers like Byte and Lomotif.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/19/20972926/youtube-founders-hurley-chen-tiktok-rival-clash-app
Conclusion
Of the top competitors to TikTok that have emerged recently, Instagram Reels likely poses the biggest current threat. As part of the massive Instagram platform owned by Meta, Reels has an instant built-in audience and seamless integration that gives it an advantage over upstart competitors. While Reels is still finding its footing, if Meta pours resources into advancing Reels, it could leverage Instagram’s brand recognition and truly take a bite out of TikTok’s dominance.
That said, TikTok still enjoys a first-mover advantage and has achieved tremendous organic growth by nailing the viral video format. The TikTok algorithm is excellent at serving users content they want to see, while making it easy for videos to go viral. TikTok has also ingrained itself into worldwide pop culture and become “the app” for short-form video. While competitors are nipping at its heels, TikTok remains the leader in the space. However, sustained success is not guaranteed, and TikTok faces challenges retaining younger users and expanding its demographics and features to have more staying power.
In summary, TikTok is the current king of short video apps, but the social media landscape is always evolving. TikTok must continue innovating its viral video model and expanding its audience to hold onto its crown. But with deep-pocketed rivals like Meta trying to take over short-form video, TikTok has no time to rest on its laurels.
