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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
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TikTok

65
Value score / 100 Worth paying? No Skip it

TikTok offers significant entertainment and educational value for free, but persistent technical issues, excessive ads, and controversial moderation practices detract from the overall experience.

Free + in-app purchases seen up to $39.99 4.7★ lifetime (18,318,107) since 2014

TikTok is a popular app offering educational and fun content, but it's plagued by frequent crashes, excessive advertising, and inconsistent moderation that impacts user experience and content visibility. While the core app is free, in-app purchases exist, though reviews suggest they primarily relate to monetization for creators rather than unlocking essential features.

Free vs paid

The core TikTok experience, including watching and posting videos, is free R1R16. However, the app has significant monetization features, such as TikTok Shop and gifting on Live, which users feel push a 'pay to go viral' model and have turned the app into a marketing platform R200R72R74. There are in-app purchases available, but reviews do not indicate any essential features are paywalled; rather, they seem to be for virtual items or promoting content.

Value complaints

  • The app has become a 'money-grabbing' platform, forcing users to pay to promote videos and gain visibility.R200R72
  • There are too many ads, appearing every other video or in back-to-back sequences, even when ad settings are turned off.R74R71
  • The app charges users if they try to download it after losing an account.R80

Where it delivers

  • The app is educational and fun, providing enjoyment and relieving fatigue.R1R16
  • TikTok can be a life-changer and has helped many lives with different earning streams on the platform.R34R78
  • Users enjoy the ability to chat with friends, have chat bubbles, and use streak pets.R28
  • The app offers amazing videos and quality content.R245
Worth paying if

It is worth paying if you are a creator looking to monetize your content or promote videos, as the app has become a 'money-grabbing' platform where paying can help content visibility R200R72. However, many users express frustration with this model.

Skip / stay free if

You should skip paying if you are a casual user primarily interested in consuming content without constant advertisements, as the app is saturated with ads even after turning off ad settings R74R71. Also, if you are concerned about account bans, content moderation, or technical bugs, paying for in-app purchases may not resolve these core issues R5R35R4R8.

Evidence note: Reviews frequently mention technical issues, such as crashing, logging out, and features not working, which significantly impact the user experience despite the app's overall positive lifetime rating. Many recent reviews are negative, focusing on these bugs and monetization practices.

Frequently asked

Why does TikTok keep crashing or kicking me out?
Many users report that TikTok frequently crashes, kicks them out, or gets stuck on the loading screen, preventing them from using the app for hours or even days R4R2R8R37.
Are there too many ads on TikTok?
Yes, many users complain about an excessive number of ads, stating they appear every other video or back-to-back, even after turning off ad settings, making the app feel like a marketing platform R74R71R200.
Does TikTok have issues with account bans or age restrictions?
Yes, TikTok frequently bans accounts or applies age restrictions without clear explanations, sometimes for minor reasons or incorrectly, leading to loss of content and access for users R5R35R20R24.
What are common bugs or missing features on TikTok?
Common bugs and missing features include issues with notes, inability to see GIFs, problems with saving private videos, accidental sharing due to pop-up buttons, frozen reposts, and the absence of voice comments or calls R13R21R36R19.
Is TikTok's content moderation effective?
TikTok's content moderation is often criticized for being ineffective against inappropriate content R30R259R261, biased against certain creators or viewpoints R7, and for taking down videos for unclear reasons .

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R200] 3/5 · US Social Media Marketplace: TikTok used to be a really cool place that was centered on small creators doing everyday things. It was a place where practically anyone could go viral and gain a substantial following. No celebrities, no corporate media, no ads. Today it is a money grabbing app where you practically have to pay to go viral. Everything is tied into monetization. Every other video is a cor
  2. [R72] 1/5 · US What is 75% of 0: I posted a video, and after 24 hours, it had zero views. The analytics show that 75% of the people who watched the video watched the entire thing. So, my question is, if zero people watched the video, what is 75% of zero? The point is, TikTok is terrible. It’s a money-grabbing platform that forces you to pay to have your videos promoted. If you don’t pay, no one will see them. It
  3. [R74] 3/5 · US Too many ads now: Since ownership swap all there are is ads. Even if you go into settings and turn all the settings for ads off you will still get an ad every other video or 3 back to back. Also if you click on the ad and select “Not interested” and then fill out TikTok’s reasons why you’re not interested there will still be an advertisement of the same thing a few videos after of the same thing.
  4. [R71] 1/5 · US Too many ads in search: Everytime I search a video, or just simple cooking videos, I get one video then the rest are ads. This is the most annoying thing TikTok has done. I don’t watch TikTok anymore because it just become a sellers market. It’s so annoying, and truly sad that such a great app had such a bad downfall. Once this is fixed I’d love to watch it again. But as of now I have Facebook & i
  5. [R80] 5/5 · US Need Help From TikTok: I lost my account and TikTok charges me if I try to download the app
  6. [R1] 5/5 · US Share with you get joy their live stream: Love using the app is educational and fun and battle
  7. [R16] 5/5 · US love it: It relieves my day-long fatigue and gives me full of enjoyment.thank you tiktok community
  8. [R34] 5/5 · US Love: Love this app it is a life changer!!!!
  9. [R78] 5/5 · US Grateful: TikTok has changed many lives including mine with different earnings streams on the platform.
  10. [R28] 4/5 · US I lowk like it: You can chat with friends and have a chat bubble also you have a streak pet and it grows as you chat
  11. [R245] 3/5 · US What’s going on?: Amazing videos and quality but for the past maybe 5 days, TikTok will not open. I’ve been pressing on the app just to watch something it stays stuck on the screen that has the logo for about 30 seconds and closes out of the app. I thought it was a problem with my phone so I cleared up my storage, turned off the phone, even deleted the app, and everything and it still won’t work.
  12. [R4] 3/5 · US Lỗi tiktok: Tiktok thường xuyên bị nỗi cứ vào là bị thoát ra yêu cầu kĩ thuật tiktok xem xét
  13. [R2] 4/5 · US hi: Hello. There's a crash when I open the app, why?
  14. [R8] 4/5 · US FIX THIS PLEASE: i don’t know if it’s my phone or the app, but it kicks me out of tt, and I can’t get on it for hours. Ive tried deleting it and then installing it again, but it will glitch and still say I’m logged into an account, but won’t let me on the app. This could just be my phone, but I’m not sure. Thank you.
  15. [R37] 4/5 · US Keeps kicking me out: Hello so tiktok keeps liking me out and it is very annoying
  16. [R5] 2/5 · US ban: this app is very good but they take their bans way too far i can’t even make a new account this is frustrating
  17. [R35] 2/5 · US SUSPENDING AND BANNING ACCOUNTS: TikTok seriously needs to stop suspending accounts without clear explanations. I HAVE LOST 2 accounts because of them saying I went against “community guidelines” and I didn’t they flagged me for saying sour wower (the icecream bar from the truck) and didn’t let me appeal it and TOOK MY ACCOUNT AND ALL MY HIGHSCHOOL MEMORIES , VIDOES I NEEDED FOR LATER, STUFF I HA
  18. [R20] 1/5 · US I hate this: I really don’t like how yall always age restrict me even when im clearly the right age to have TikTok I personally think it’s just stupid and I don’t even post on TikTok so it’s dumb that you guys age restrict me fix that asap bc that is dumb and I also did buy something on TikTok and that’s how you know that I am old enough fix this damn app
  19. [R24] 4/5 · US age restrictions: I got an age restriction and I cant really do much besides repost videos. TIKTOK. I AM 16 YEARS OF AGE. APPEAL MY SUBMISSION OR TAKE THE AGE RESTRICTION OFF.
  20. [R13] 4/5 · US The problems ive ran into: I enjoy the app, but the bugs ruin the experience. I can’t leave notes on my repost, I can’t see gifs, the amount of unmonitored and unlabeled ai on the app is also insane. No report is ever successful so scams and fraud get overlooked extremely often, and not being able to save your own private videos to your photos was a terrible downgrade.
  21. [R21] 3/5 · US Notes: It’s not letting me see other people notes or do notes
  22. [R36] 1/5 · US Share Pop-Up: I have never once used this function on purpose. I feel like I can’t engage with videos (look at captions) because we get ambushed with the button. I have even heard of ppl deleting their friend list so they don’t send things accidentally. In these reviews, TikTok says they will report issues to the team. Yet, people have complained about this button for months and nothing has change
  23. [R19] 1/5 · US Decent: Decent app, several bugs though. Most notable is randomly sending videos to people you don’t intend to because of where they put a share button. And it randomly pops up. Fix it!
  24. [R30] 5/5 · US TIKTOK IS THE BEST! But they didn’t take down inappropriate Content 😣: why I think it’s awesome: TikTok is absolutely amazing u can watch funny videos and post Dances and sometimes talk to your friends on it I recommend people using it! It’s enjoyable to use❤️✨ But.. here’s my review why I kinda want to vote it 4 stars but I had to do 5 stars because TikTok is awesome: So on TikTok There’s inappro
  25. [R259] 3/5 · GB It’s great but few problems!: It’s pretty good but it’s takes too long to load and the moderation is not great. People post stuff that is not appropriate but the app ignores it like there was literally a video which was 100% not appropriate I reported it and when I got the response from the app it said it doesn’t break any rules like please update the moderation.
  26. [R261] 3/5 · GB phoebe: it is really good the shop the quality of the stuff of the shop but some videos are not acceptable for 13 there are inappropriate things that 13 year olds don’t need to be seeing
  27. [R7] 2/5 · US Hiding Liberal Creators’ Lives: 7/1/2026 It feels like TikTok is purposefully hiding that specific creators are Live from the search bar, from their own page, and from the Notification page. Good Trouble and Super Solid - I was in their Live and then left and couldn’t find them again to get back into the Lives because TikTok removed that they were live from all the pages. The only way I was able t

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store