What is Skylight Social? The New TikTok Alternative Explained

In the midst of difficulty lies opportunity… and Skylight Social has mastered it. As TikTok’s US transition got rocky, people started looking for alternatives and Skylight Social was one of the apps that answered the call. The startup surpassed 380,000 users after TikTok’s ownership change in the US, and it’s been growing ever since. So what exactly is Skylight Social, and is it worth your attention? Let’s find out.

What is Skylight Social?

Skylight Social (known simply as Skylight) is a short-form video platform built by a two-person team: CEO Tori White and CTO Reed Harmeyer. It launched in April 2025, shortly after TikTok briefly went dark in the US ahead of a potential ban.

On the surface, it looks and feels familiar. You get an in-app video editor, likes, comments, shares, user profiles, and the ability to follow others. But what sets Skylight apart from TikTok and almost every other mainstream social app is what’s running behind the scenes.

What Makes It Different?

That difference comes down to the technology it’s built on. Skylight runs on the AT Protocol – the same open network that powers Bluesky – with 40+ million users. As Skylight puts it: “your audience, content, and followers travel with you” across services.

In other words, if Skylight ever shuts down or changes direction, you don’t lose everything you’ve built. Your content and your community go with you; something no mainstream social platform currently offers.

On top of that, instead of a purely algorithmic feed, Skylight is building a community around human curators who post and repost videos to create custom feeds that others can subscribe to. It’s a deliberate pushback against the sort of algorithmic control that’s made many creators uneasy on platforms like TikTok or Instagram.

Who Owns Skylight Social?

Skylight was co-founded by Tori White (CEO) and Reed Harmeyer (CTO). White, a former travel influencer turned self-taught software developer based in Seattle, was inspired to build Skylight when the TikTok ban first loomed – worried not just about losing her videos, but about losing her community.

The app is backed by Mark Cuban and other investors, and positions itself as a creator-first alternative that trades opaque algorithms for openness, portability, and user control. Skylight Social is also structured as a Public Benefit Corporation; a company legally committed to balancing profit with purpose and creating positive social impact. Their stated purpose says:

“To maximize human flourishing through digital social connection by empowering creators and users to maintain ownership of their digital relationships and content.”

Skylight Social Features

Here’s what you get on Skylight Social: 

• Built-in video editor 
• User profiles with likes, comments and shares
• Community curator feeds: people building and sharing custom video feeds for other to follow 
• Livestreaming, via a partnership with Streamplace – another service built on the AT Protocol – added without Skylight having to build the functionality from scratch
• A redesigned video player with full-screen mode and split-screen browsing.
• Bluesky integration: sign in with your Bluesky account and your network is already there.
• A roadmap with sounds, duets, stitching, bookmarks, playlists, and more on the way.

How Big Is Skylight Social?

By August 2025, Skylight had reached around 240,000 downloads and 100,000 videos uploaded. That number surged past 380,000 users in January 2026.

It’s still a fraction of TikTok’s scale – TikTok counts roughly 200 million monthly active users in the US alone – but the growth is impressive, especially for an app built by a team of two.

Is Skylight Social Connected to Bluesky?

Yes; and it’s more than a technical footnote. Skylight is built on the AT Protocol, the same open technology that powers Bluesky. When you sign up for Skylight, you’re immediately connected to Bluesky’s network and you can even log in with your existing Bluesky account and your followers will already be there.

Videos posted on Skylight can be streamed and engaged with by Bluesky users too, thanks to the shared infrastructure. The two apps aren’t the same but they share an open infrastructure. 

Think of it like email; Gmail and Outlook users can message each other without being on the same platform. The founders chose AT Protocol specifically because of its stability, and saw it as the ideal foundation for building something that could survive a ban.

Is It Worth Trying?

If you’re a creator who’s tired of algorithm black boxes and platform lock-in, Skylight Social is worth exploring.

That said, it’s still an early-stage app. Some users have reported stability issues including crashes and feed inconsistencies, so don’t expect a perfectly polished experience just yet. But for a platform built by a team of two in under a year, what’s already there is impressive.

The app is a free download on both iOS and Android. If you’re keeping an eye on where short-form video goes next, Skylight is one to keep on your radar. 

Has Skylight Social convinced you to give it a try? If you’re rather hesitant, find some other viable TikTok alternatives in our article: