Hearing a lot about Lemon8 lately? You’re not the only one. Amid a looming U.S. ban on TikTok, content creators have been pushing the platform's sister app. Lemon8 resembles an amalgamation of the types of short-form videos found on TikTok and the picture-perfect aesthetic of Instagram and Pinterest.

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.

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,