RedNote wants to be more than just a TikTok alternative. Will Westerners buy in?

Earlier this year, when it looked certain that TikTok would be banned in the United States, many displaced users flocked to RedNote, an app often characterized as the “Chinese Instagram.” Two months later, RedNote’s momentum has stalled, but its leaders are seeing the spike in American interest as an opportunity for westward expansion.

Since the start of 2025, RedNote has ramped up its international services. As reported by Rest of World, the app has opened up shop in Hong Kong and has posted job listings for global business development roles. Its new worldwide ecommerce pilot program is designed to connect Chinese merchants with consumers in the United States, Hong Kong, and Macau, and business development events in New York, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles have connected RedNote to potential business partners in America.

RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu, evolved from a humble lifestyle app to a sprawling social network that stands as one of Asia’s most successful tech companies. Its ecommerce operation has led it to overall profits of more than $1 billion and has opened the door for a potential IPO that would solidify it as a serious TikTok competitor abroad.

That cash injection might be necessary if RedNote is going to confront the regulatory issues that stand in the way of a full-fledged U.S. expansion. Given Congressional animosity toward TikTok, RedNote would surely need to fight through regulations if became a go-to app in the U.S. A deeper war chest would also help build a user base and develop the global ecommerce pilot.

“An IPO could provide the capital required for the company to secure the right personnel in the U.S. and compete internationally,” research and strategy consultant Yaling Jiang told Rest of World. “The profit potential is enormous.”

Amid TikTok turmoil, Americans were initially curious about RedNote, but many of those so-called refugees sang a different tune when they realized they would still encounter government-ordered censorship and other cultural issues on the app. According to Sensor Tower data, RedNote averaged 800,000 daily active users in the U.S. in March. Its U.S. DAUs peaked at 1.3 million in January.

Though that’s a sharp decline — and RedNote was nowhere near TikTok’s U.S. numbers even at its peak — Chinese Instagram still has more U.S. users now than it did last December. It has serious potential as a global social media company, but first it needs to figure out how to get Americans to both sign up and stick around.