Jess Ling, a 35-year-old in Malaysia, manages a day job in administration but finds a creative outlet as a content creator on Lemon8. For her, the app offers an easy entry point for new creators, largely thanks to its high engagement rates.
Jess is far from obsessive about her posts, usually sharing just once a month. Despite a modest following of under 1,000, her posts typically get around 100 views. Yet, between September 28 and October 4, after a month-long hiatus, one of her posts rocketed past 1,700 views.
Jess, who also shares content across similar platforms, told 36Kr that achieving such high engagement without regular updates is rare. Lemon8, she said, feels like a promising channel for creators—a sentiment that seems to be catching on as Lemon8 expands from Southeast Asia to the US and Europe.
A ByteDance platform, Lemon8 focuses on sharing lifestyle photos and videos in a dual-column feed. Its bright yellow palette and Xiaohongshu-inspired design have earned it the nickname “Xiaohuangshu,” or “little yellow book.”
In the US, Lemon8 has led the lifestyle category for iPhone apps over the past month and regularly ranks within the top 30 overall, according to Diandian. Though not yet a viral sensation, Lemon8’s steady growth has caught attention.
Bunny (pseudonym), a US-based marketer, believes that Lemon8’s affordable content creation and Xiaohongshu’s proven model in China have given the platform an edge in the US. “We’re already getting on board,” he said.
What is behind Lemon8’s appeal?
Locally tailored content plays a major role.
For instance, Nini (pseudonym), a Malaysian user who speaks with a strong Southeast Asian accent, uses popular Xiaohongshu and Douyin phrases like “sisters” and “scoring deals.” On Lemon8 and TikTok, she often incorporates Malaysian slang, such as “gou li,” which she described as similar to “amazing.” Nini values Lemon8 for its international flavor, with content primarily in English and Malay. “Thais, Indonesians, and Malaysians are all on it,” she said, adding that she frequently browses for posts on budget finds, gossip, food, and travel tips.
Meanwhile, Endia, a US-based Lemon8 creator with over 10,000 followers, shared with a fellow creator that beauty and skincare content performs exceptionally well.
Ling and Nini both appreciate Lemon8’s sleek, user-friendly templates, which they describe as “very Instagram.” Last November, Lemon8 added an artificial intelligence-driven photo studio with features like facial analysis, skin assessment, body evaluation, and an idea notebook, aiming to draw more female users.
Yet, these features alone don’t fully explain why Lemon8 has thrived in a crowded social media landscape.
Ling credits TikTok as a key source of Lemon8’s traffic, noting that creators can post their Lemon8 content directly to TikTok. Both platforms offer one-click sharing, and TikTok even allows users to link their Lemon8 profiles for easy cross-promotion. On TikTok’s “For You” page, content tagged “#Lemon8” has surpassed 4 billion views, with many TikTok influencers receiving invitations to join Lemon8.
In many ways, TikTok is Lemon8’s growth engine.
The app’s recent surge in downloads also ties to its increased advertising. According to App Growing, Lemon8’s daily ad volume in October tripled from the same time last year. Users who spoke to 36Kr reported seeing frequent Lemon8 ads on Instagram and Facebook.
Data.ai indicates that Lemon8 has reached over 56.1 million global downloads. As of September, Thailand was its largest market, with active users comprising 36.18% of the total, followed by the US at 22.13%. Southeast Asian users drive engagement, while US users represent the app’s next growth wave.
An app inspired by Xiaohongshu, but not from Xiaohongshu
So why does a Xiaohongshu-like platform come from ByteDance?
Xiaohongshu has, in fact, launched several international products, including Uniik in Japan (February 2021), Spark in Southeast Asia (April 2022), and Catalog, a lifestyle-sharing app in Europe and the US (November 2022). Each echoes Xiaohongshu’s design and user experience.
Jae (pseudonym), who led Xiaohongshu’s overseas product Spark from 2022–2023, witnessed its launch and eventual decline. She told 36Kr that Xiaohongshu recently outsourced its latest overseas app, S’more, a review platform, to a third-party team in March.
Looking back on Lemon8, Jae, who left Xiaohongshu nearly two years ago, is still frustrated, noting that she and former colleagues refer to it as a “copycat.”
Three years ago, Jae initially felt uneasy about Lemon8, but over time, she and her team focused on replicating Xiaohongshu’s domestic success abroad. In retrospect, Xiaohongshu’s overseas apps and Lemon8 never even had a direct faceoff.
Xiaohongshu, however, did have a model to learn from: TikTok.
Jae recalled that one of her four product managers and many engineers had previously worked at ByteDance. In Xiaohongshu’s overseas strategy, the company sought to incorporate some of TikTok’s features, including live commerce.
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For TikTok, Lemon8 is more of a complement than a competitor, reaching new audiences and engagement that TikTok itself may not fully capture.
In contrast, while Lemon8 capitalizes on TikTok’s reach, aggressive ads, and Xiaohongshu’s model, Xiaohongshu’s subdued approach has led some users to doubt Spark is even its product, mistaking it for a knockoff. Jae cited several reasons for Xiaohongshu’s international struggles, such as limited local expertise and unclear objectives.
In the end, Xiaohongshu’s apps like Uniik and Spark faded, while Lemon8 established itself in Southeast Asia and the US, leveraging Xiaohongshu’s playbook.
Yet, Xiaohongshu still resonates among overseas Chinese users, with over 1.5 million in Malaysia alone in 2022. Jae shared a story of one former student who, after graduating, went full-time on Xiaohongshu and now earns over RMB 1 million (USD 140,000) annually through brand sponsorships.
Whether Lemon8 will reach TikTok-level success remains uncertain, especially with Instagram’s billion-strong user base.
For now, Lemon8 rides a wave of traffic but needs time to show it’s more than a passing trend.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Lan Jie for 36Kr.