The popularity of TikTok just continues to grow, for influencers, brands, and other creators alike. The biggest TikTok stars recognize what their followers want early, and have built tremendous followings based on creating content that resonates.
The most followed TikTok accounts have also likely built a strong personal brand and maintained their standing by working with numerous brands and collaborating with other influencers.
See below for the biggest TikTok stars, by number of followers. Or skip to your favorite creator from this list:
1. @khaby.lame
2. @charlidamelio
3. @bellapoarch
4. @addisonre
5. @mrbeast
6. @zachking
7. @kimberly.loaiza
8. @cznburak
9. @domelipa
10. @dixiedamelio
Tip: If you're looking for local TikTokers to partner with, take a look at the top TikTok influencers in Malaysia and the top South African TikTokers.
Who Has the Most Followers on TikTok?
According to Statista, the person with the most followers on TikTok is Senegalese-born Khaby Lame (154.8M). Living in Italy, he has been making people laugh with his hilarious reaction videos since the beginning of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
To put his follower number on TikTok into perspective, he has 88 million more followers than Kevin Hart, Justin Bieber, and Drew Barrymore combined!
Who is the Highest Paid TikTok Star?
Sisters Charli and Dixie D'Amelio are the top-earning TikTokers, according to several sources.
Estimated annual earnings: 17 million
Top 10 Most Followed TikTok Accounts
These are the 10 accounts with the most followers on TikTok. Clearly, they’re doing something right!
We also used the Meltwater Influencer Marketing suite, to dig a little deeper into these social media personalities' engagement metrics.
1. @khaby.lame
Khaby Lame: 154.8M TikTok followers
- 78 Following
- 3.8M Likes per video
- 64.6K Shares per video
- 27.5K Comments per video
If you’re asking yourself who has the most TikTok followers, you might think first of celebrity names. But actually the creator with the biggest following on TikTok is Khaby Lame with 154.8 million.
He is known for his comedic timing and wordless videos which poke fun at various life hacks, many of which overcomplicate simple solutions. His trademark exasperated expression at the end of his videos has become its own phenomenon.
2. @charlidamelio
Charli D’Amelio: 149.9M TikTok followers
- 1286 Following
- 1.9M Likes per video
- 285.8K Shares per video
- 23.9K Comments per video
Former competitive dancer Charli D’Amelio comes in second with 149.9 million followers on TikTok. She posts a variety of types of video, from travel vlogs to the quintessential TikTok dance videos.
She frequently partners with brands such as Amazon and, most recently, airBnB and has been called “The Face of TikTok” by the New Yorker. She has received similar accolades throughout her career as a social media personality. She and her sister, Dixie (#10), are the highest paid TikTokers in the world.
3. @bellapoarch
Bella Poarch: 92.9M TikTok followers
- 603 Following
- 1.4M Likes per video
- 18.7K Shares per video
- 10.8K Comments per video
Bella Poarch comes in at number 3 with 92.9 million TikTok followers. One of her biggest claims to fame is having created the most liked video on TikTok (61 million likes), lip synching to British rapper Millie B.’s song “M to the B”. She regularly posts cosplay and gaming content, and sports a trademark ponytail or pigtails.
4. @addisonre
Addison Rae: 88.9M TikTok followers
- 2509 Following
- 1.2M Likes per video
- 47.6K Shares per video
- 9.9K Comments per video
Addison Rae is the creator behind the fourth most followed TikTok account. She has amassed 88.9 million followers with her makeup videos, dance videos, and brand partnership videos.
5. @mrbeast
Jimmy Donaldson: 77M TikTok followers
- 299 Following
- 4M Likes per video
- 152.9K Shares per video
- 89.7K Comments
Known mainly for his massively popular YouTube channel, Jimmy Donaldson aka Mr. Beast is the only creator on this list to have seen a significant jump from November 2022, increasing his TikTok followers from 58 to 77 million.
Interestingly, his TikTok videos don’t seem to be simply re-hashing YouTube content, but are standalone clips that enhance rather than strictly repurpose. Many serve to promote his YouTube videos, but there is certainly differentiation in how his TikTok serves his brand.
6. @zachking
Zach King: 73.4M TikTok followers
- 75 Following
- 1.8M Likes per video
- 60.1K Shares per video
- 3.8K Comments per video
If you thought you were good at trick transitions on Instagram and TikTok, take another look. Zack King’s incredibly creative and mind bending illusions, utilizing forced perspective, extremely clean cuts, foley work, and other tricks have earned him the number 6 spot on this list with 73.4 million TikTok followers.
7. @kimberly.loaiza
Kimberly Loaiza: 72.7M TikTok followers
- 322 Following
- 1.2M Likes per video
- 4.9K Shares per video
- 16.3K Comments per video
Mexican born singer and social media personality, Kimberly Loaiza, swings in at number 7 with 72.7 million followers on TikTok. Her videos utilize trending sounds and dances, occasionally featuring her partner and children.
8. @cznburak
Burak Özdemir: 69.5M TikTok followers
- 0 Following
- 377.6K Likes per video
- 3.8K Shares per video
- 4K Comments per video
Number 8 on the list, with 69.5 million TikTok followers is Turkish chef and restaurateur, Burak Özdemir. His content is largely varied, but does feature a good amount of foodie videos, some promoting his restaurants. His most recent content is centered on relief for the 2023 Turkey earthquake victims.
9. @domelipa
Domelipa: 63.9M TikTok followers
- 267 Following
- 1.4M Likes per video
- 4.9K Shares per video
- 12.5K Comments per video
At 63.9M, Mexican born Domelipa has the ninth most TikTok followers. Like Kimberly Loaiza, her videos utilize trending sounds and music, and most feature dancing and lip sync.
Tip: Learn more about the latest TikTok trends, marketing trends, and social media trends, and stay on top of social media news.
10. @dixiedamelio
Dixie D’Amelio: 54.4M TikTok followers
- 1869 Following
- 470.2K Likes per video
- 6.4K Shares per video
- 3.3K Comments per video
The older sister of #2 on this list, Dixie D’Amelio rounds out our top 10 TikTok accounts, at 54.4M followers. She frequently collaborates with her sister, Charlie D’Amelio. Her other videos have a personal vlog style, as well as promoting her own singing, and the various brands she works with.
What Do the Top TikTok Accounts Have in Common?
There is clearly not one-size-fits-all when it comes to maintaining a spot on the list of TikTok accounts with the most followers. But we observed that the majority of the biggest TikTok stars have the following in common:
Verified
Minimalistic bio
Strong personal brand
Partnerships & collaborations
Presence on Instagram and YouTube
Verified
Just like other major platforms, TikTok verification indicates when an account is “official” as opposed to a copycat or bot account. According to TikTok, these are the criteria required to earn a verified checkmark:
- Active: accounts must have logged in within the past 6 months.
- Authentic: account represents a real person, business, or entity.
- Complete: account must be public, and have a completed profile: bio, name, profile photo, and at least one video.
- Notable: only accounts that are featured in multiple news sources, not including press releases or paid media are reviewed for verification.
- Secure: account must have multi-factor authentication with a verified email.
Learn how to get verified on TikTok. Not on TikTok yet? Here's how to get verified on Instagram.
Minimalist bio
While a bio is technically required to be verified on TikTok, most of these top TikTok accounts are playing it pretty fast and loose with this rule. Their bios are either one word, an emoji, or in the case of Addison Rae and Charlie D’Amelio, they simply say “No bio yet.” Bella Poarch simply uses a yellow heart emoji. 💛
Unlike Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and others that provide a bio space of at least 150 characters (160 for Twitter), TikTok only allows 80 characters for a bio. This likely accounts for the abbreviated nature of the bios on this list.
Read more about optimizing your Instagram bio.
Other popular TikTok stars follow a similar format. Bios on TikTok are often just a few words and all lower case, highlight a current partnership, and list a PO box, email, or linktree.
Strong personal brand
Most of the top TikTok accounts have a consistent style and strong personal brand. That brand may be just standing in front of the camera and vaguely moving around, but it’s what their followers enjoy.
Personal brands could also include a specific style of clothing, hair, tagline, or using the same background. These strong visual cues give followers a sense of comfort and familiarity, and they also make searching for creators easier.
For example, compiling this list, I wondered why certain popular creators I was familiar with weren’t listed (come to find out they only had a mere 5M followers between them, on average! 😲). But even not knowing their handles, I could still find out by Googling “cardigan guy” (@ realadamrose), “bright clothes dancer crocs” (@ happykelli), and “things I didn’t know until I was in my 30s” (@ sidneyraz) — because they all have a very strong and recognizable personal brand.
Partnerships & collaborations
Another key factor we noticed was brand partnerships and collaboration (“collabs” as the kids say) with other creators.
While this certainly isn’t a requirement for a large following on TikTok, it absolutely helps. These kinds of influencer partnerships broaden reach, getting your videos in front of new audiences, and it helps monetize your content so you can continue creating at the volume needed to maintain high engagement.
Learn more about the concept of co-branding, brand advocacy, and about brand ambassadors.
Presence on Instagram and YouTube
Lastly, most of these TikTok accounts have a robust following on at least one other major social media platform, typically Instagram or YouTube. This is a great tactic for diversifying their content and reaching a wider audience. In the case of YouTube in particular it allows creators to produce longer videos that breathe more life and context into their short form personality.
Is your brand ready to jump on the TikTok bandwagon? Meltwater can help you start out strong. Get started with a demo today!
