- App Clapper is reaping the benefits of TikTok’s upcoming ban.
- Clapper is a social video app founded in 2020 and based in Texas.
- It offers an ad-free and monetized experience for creators.
Clapper, a new video and live streaming app, has climbed to third place on the free iPhone app download charts. The surge began in the days before the Supreme Court made its decision to uphold a law to ban TikTok in the US.
Clapper was founded in 2020 when the first Trump administration first hinted at the possibility of a TikTok ban. Bita Motiie, Clapper’s head of operations, told BI that since then, Clapper has seen increased user growth whenever the topic has been in the news.
“We have seen an increasing number of users joining us recently due to the fact that people are now actively looking for an alternative,” said Motiie.
A Clapper spokesman said the company had added more than 2 million users last week.
The top trending topic on Clapper Wednesday through Friday when the ban was confirmed was #TikTokRefugees.
A similar dynamic appears to have propelled TikTok-like app Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, to the top spot on the free iPhone app leaderboard.
Clapper has seen an influx of users, likely due to a possible TikTok ban. Clapper
The US Congress passed a sell-or-ban law last year, forcing TikTok to stop operating in the US unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sells the app. TikTok told the Supreme Court that the app will “go dark” in the US on Sunday if the sale deadline is not extended. The Supreme Court confirmed on Friday that it would uphold the law.
“A lot of our focus now is to help all these TikTok users join our platform and learn about the differences,” Motiie said.
Clapper shares much of the same vertical video functionality as TikTok, but differs in a few key ways. It is only available to users 17 years and older and has no ads.
“People are bombarded with ads 24/7 through their phones, and we want to provide a safe haven where creators can focus on that genuine connection with others,” Motiie said.
Creators can earn money on Clapper by receiving gifts from other users in live streams, group chats, and direct messages. Creators can also sell subscriptions to their content or items on the Clapper Shop. Clapper takes a 30% commission from some creator earnings and 5% from the Clapper Shop.
Clapper’s content can seem rougher around the edges than some other social media platforms. When the app was launched in the UK on Wednesday morning, the BI was handed a video of a man who appeared to suffer a horrific eye injury after being punched in the face, a woman who was almost gored by a bull and ” sexually suggestive “thirst traps”.
Users can disable “not safe for work” content. The app also prohibits sexually explicit content or nudity.
Motiie said Clapper was focused on hiring three to four additional community managers and using AI moderation tools. Clapper is a small business currently, with about 20 staff based in Dallas, Texas.
A spokesman for Clapper said the company had not received any outside funding since 2023, when it raised $3 million in seed funding. The spokesperson said the company is profitable and is not currently seeking further investment.
Industry insiders say Clapper needs to move quickly to seize the moment
Asti Wagner, CEO of Invyted, an app that connects brands with influencers, said Clapper needs to move quickly to attract creators and improve its marketing to ensure its overnight popularity translates into lasting business success.
“TikTok was lucky in that it got massively blocked when everyone was on their phones,” Wagner told BI.
“The ‘ad-free’ thing is really cool, but I don’t know how long it’s going to last,” Wagner said. Social platforms, in general, tend to derive most of their revenue from advertising.
Motiie said it was highly unlikely that Clapper would introduce ads within the next two years. However, that doesn’t mean brands can’t collaborate with Clapper creators, she added. Clapper is also encouraging brands to create their own profiles on the app.
Gigi Robinson, a creator with more than 150,000 followers on TikTok, joined Clapper in 2020.
She has only posted four videos and has grown her audience there to nearly 1,000 followers. However, Robinson said that in light of TikTok’s position, she is considering posting more content on Clapper and has been in contact with the company’s partnerships team to verify her profile.
Robinson said the app’s obfuscation potential has highlighted that creators shouldn’t be overly dependent on any single platform for their audience and profits.
“Most creators are scrambling right now,” Robinson told BI. “That will be the lasting impact.”
This story has been updated with new details.
