Fearing an imminent ban on TikTok in the United States, Americans are turning in droves to an alternative social media app. The irony? It is also Chinese-owned.

The app, RedNote—known as Xiaohongshu in China—has soared to the top of Apple’s App Store, according to CNBC. As of Monday, it ranks as the No. 1 free app, followed by TikTok’s photo-sharing app Lemon8 and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Many TikTok creators are scrambling to find alternative platforms to continue sharing videos as the app faces a potential ban in the U.S. on January 19. U.S. authorities claim TikTok poses a risk to users' personal data and national security due to its ownership by the Chinese company ByteDance.

Lawyers representing TikTok and its creators argue that the ban would violate millions of users' freedom of speech rights. Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, will enforce the ban.

One content creator, known as allieusyaps, posted on Monday that many TikTok creators are migrating to RedNote, emphasizing that they “will not return to Instagram or Facebook.” Another creator, Krystan Walmsley, shared a short video tutorial on setting up RedNote accounts.

Founded in Shanghai in 2013, RedNote is rapidly challenging platforms like Alibaba and ByteDance’s Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) in e-commerce and social media. By July 2024, the app boasted approximately 300 million monthly active users, according to the South China Morning Post.

Valued at $17 billion after a funding round in July, RedNote has secured investments from notable firms such as Boyu Capital and HongShan Capital Group (formerly Sequoia Capital’s China branch). It has raised over $900 million in total funding and employs more than 2,000 staff members.