Khaby Lame has held the number one spot on TikTok since June 2022, but the creators getting the most attention in 2026 are not all the ones at the top. A giveaway-focused creator from Indonesia, a 24-year-old chef, and a traveling streamer are among the names pulling in new audiences this year.
This guide covers the top TikTok influencers in 2026 and the trending creators behind this year’s growth, sorted by niche, with follower counts checked against 2026 ranking data. It also explains what changed for brands on the platform, and how to choose a creator who will move numbers.
TL;DR
- Khaby Lame leads TikTok with roughly 162.8 million followers as of September 2026, and Charli D’Amelio sits second at about 159 million.
- The fastest risers this year include Willie Salim, IShowSpeed, JoJo Siwa and chef Tini Younger.
- TikTok’s US business has run through TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC since 22 January 2026, and the US recommendation algorithm is being retrained on US data.
- Follower count is a weak buying signal: Charli D’Amelio’s engagement rate is reported at 9.22% against 5.78% for Khaby Lame, despite a smaller audience.
- Creators now spread across TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, so a campaign tied to one platform carries more risk than it did in 2024.
- Record baseline performance before any campaign, because US reach is still shifting.
Why TikTok Influencers Matter in 2026
TikTok creators matter in 2026 because they sit where discovery turns into a purchase. A video can introduce a product, answer a question about it, and link to checkout inside a single app session.
TikTok reports availability in more than 150 countries and support for over 75 languages, and the average user spends roughly an hour a day in the app. The feed ranks videos on how people react to them rather than on follower count, which is why a creator with a few hundred followers can land a video in front of millions.
What changed with the US joint venture
On 22 January 2026, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC took over TikTok’s US operations. Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX hold 15% each, and ByteDance keeps 19.9%. The venture’s stated remit covers US data security, content moderation and retraining the recommendation algorithm on US-only data.
Three practical points follow for creators and brands:
- Accounts, followers and content carried over, so nothing had to be rebuilt.
- The US algorithm is being retrained, so reach can swing. Forbes reported creators and brands noticing reach and analytics changes in the weeks after the switch.
- TikTok Shop operations stayed with ByteDance, so affiliate mechanics should not change because of the ownership news alone. Confirm that with your TikTok Shop contact instead of assuming it.
Outside the US, TikTok’s European entity and its obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act were not changed by the deal.
Content trends driving creators in 2026
Three formats are shaping which creators trend this year. Nostalgia content took off in January under the “2026 is the new 2016” trend, with users posting old-style filters, makeup and photos. Generosity content, where creators hand out cash, products or prizes to strangers, powers some of the year’s fastest-growing accounts. And in-real-life travel content, where creators film cultures and cities instead of staying at a desk, is pulling in global audiences.
Why search and AI answers now matter for creators
People search TikTok the way they search Google, and AI assistants increasingly cite creator content when answering product questions. Brands that want to be mentioned in those answers need a presence beyond their own site, which is the idea behind AI search optimisation. A creator who reviews your product clearly and specifically gives AI engines something concrete to quote.
How We Chose This List
This list is not sorted by follower count alone. We looked at five things:
- Influence: does the creator start trends or shift conversations?
- Niche authority: is the person known for one category such as fashion, food or comedy?
- Engagement: do viewers comment, share and save, or just scroll past?
- Brand fit: do major companies hire this creator to build campaigns?
- 2026 momentum: has the creator grown, launched something or gone viral this year?
Follower numbers for the biggest accounts come from September 2026 ranking data. Counts for smaller creators move week to week, so check a live tracker such as Social Blade before you sign a contract.
The Biggest TikTok Accounts in 2026
The biggest TikTok accounts in 2026 are still dominated by creators from the platform’s first wave, with one newer name in the mix. Here is the top of the table, based on 2026 ranking data:
| Rank | Creator | Followers | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khaby Lame | about 162.8M | Silent comedy |
| 2 | Charli D’Amelio | about 159M | Dance |
| 3 | MrBeast | about 129M | Challenges and entertainment |
| 4 | Bella Poarch | about 92.6M | Lip-sync and entertainment |
| 5 | Addison Rae | about 88M | Lifestyle and music |
| 6 | Willie Salim | about 86M | Generosity content |
| 7 | Zach King | about 84M | Visual illusions |
The official TikTok account (about 95M) and a few celebrity accounts also sit in the top ten but are not creators in the usual sense. MrBeast is growing faster than most established accounts near the top.
Trending TikTok Influencers in 2026
These creators are gaining attention this year through new formats, fast follower growth or a breakout moment. They are better picks for a 2026 campaign than a name that has simply been big for years.
Willie Salim
Willie Salim (about 86M followers) is an Indonesian creator who built one of TikTok’s fastest climbs on acts of generosity: buying from street vendors and handing out cash and electronics to strangers. According to Billo’s 2026 roundup, he ran a nationwide giveaway tour in Indonesia that distributed over $2 million in prizes, with one video passing 100 million views in under five days. He is the clearest example of why Southeast Asia matters to any brand with a regional plan.
IShowSpeed
IShowSpeed (Darren Watkins Jr., about 47.8M followers) grew from gaming streams into in-real-life travel content that shows cultures and cities to a global audience. His videos are unscripted and chaotic, which makes tightly controlled brand scripts a poor fit. Brands that give him a loose brief and a real-world setting tend to get better results.
JoJo Siwa
JoJo Siwa has grown from roughly 35.4 million to over 46 million TikTok followers over the past year, according to Billo’s 2026 list. She mixes short TikTok trends with longer YouTube vlogs, so a single deal can cover more than one format.
Tini Younger
Tini Younger (@tinekeyounger, about 17M followers) began posting in 2020 to show techniques she learned at culinary school. Rolling Stone named her one of its 25 most influential creators of 2026, noting that people go viral simply for messing up her signature mac and cheese. For food and kitchenware brands, she is a clear example of a creator whose audience copies what she cooks.
Tefi Pessoa
Tefi Pessoa (@hellotefi, about 3M followers) broke out with pop-culture explainers on topics such as the royal family and celebrity feuds, then became a trusted voice for real-life advice. A mid-size audience with high trust makes her a strong pick for lifestyle, books and subscription products.
Jordan Howlett
Jordan Howlett, known as Jordan the Stallion (about 19.7M TikTok followers, plus 19.4M on Instagram), posts comedy sketches, fast-food commentary and relatable monologues. He was named to the TIME100 Creators list in 2025. Food and beverage brands look to him because his audience listens to his opinions on what is worth eating.
Dave Jorgenson
Dave Jorgenson (@davejorgenson, about 1M followers) launched the Washington Post’s TikTok account in 2019 and turned it into a model for how a newsroom can speak to younger viewers. His size is modest, but his credibility is not, which suits publishers and media brands.
Entertainment and Comedy Creators to Watch
Khaby Lame
Khaby (@khaby.lame, about 162.8M followers) built his name on silent reactions to overcomplicated life hacks, and he still owns that format. The business around him has scaled too: in January 2026, Rich Sparkle Holdings agreed to acquire his holding company, Step Distinctive Limited, for a reported $975 million. For brands, he is the clearest example of a creator operating as a company.
Zach King
Zach King (@zachking, about 84M followers) makes visual illusion clips that look like magic and reward repeat viewing. His videos travel across languages because they need no dialogue, which helps global campaigns.
Kaitlin Reagan
Kaitlin Reagan (@kaitlin.reagan, about 8M followers) mixes dark humor with personal stories about grief and relationships. Her audience engages because the comedy has weight behind it, and wellness and relationship brands have been natural partners.
Spencewuah
Spencewuah (@spencewuah, about 13M followers) is known for expressive rants and recurring characters. He has expanded into live comedy and podcast formats, which gives brands more ways to work with him than a single sponsored clip.
Zerobrainer0
Zerobrainer0 (Fanuel John Masamaki, about 12M followers) is a Tanzanian creator who blends football analysis with comedy. TikTok named him in its Discover List 2025 under the Innovators category. Some of the strongest comedy audiences sit outside the US and Europe, and he is a good example.
Dance and Choreography Creators
Charli D’Amelio
Charli (@charlidamelio, about 159M followers) is the most-followed woman on TikTok and reportedly posts a 9.22% engagement rate, which is high for an account of that size. Her audience skews loyal, so she suits long-term partnerships better than one-off posts.
Zack Lugo
Zack Lugo (@zacklugo, about 12M followers) combines street style with expressive choreography and collaborates with dancers across Europe, Asia and South America. That fits brands launching in several regions at once.
Fashion and Beauty Creators
Avani Gregg
Avani (@avani, about 40M followers) moved from grunge glam to high fashion without losing her original audience. She remains one of the most recognised beauty creators on the platform.
Nava Rose
Nava Rose (@thenavarose, about 9M followers) is a stylist known for upcycled outfits and DIY fashion tutorials. If your brand sells on sustainability, she is a more credible voice than a creator who has never touched the topic.
Wisdom Kaye
Wisdom Kaye (@wisdm8, about 9M followers) is often called TikTok’s best-dressed man. He mixes streetwear and high fashion with editorial-style transitions, and his audience trusts his taste, which is what premium fashion brands pay for.
Food and Lifestyle Creators
Tabitha Brown
Tabitha Brown (@iamtabithabrown, about 6M followers) built her following on plant-based comfort food and a warm, reassuring delivery. Her partnerships lean toward food and wellness brands where trust matters more than reach.
Addison Rae
Addison Rae (@addisonrae, about 88M followers) blends routines, behind-the-scenes content and updates from her music, acting and beauty work. She suits brands that want mainstream recognition over a niche audience.
Bella Poarch
Bella Poarch (@bellapoarch, about 92.6M followers) grew from a lip-sync clip into a music career and remains in the top five accounts on the platform. Her audience overlaps heavily with gaming and music fans.
Education and Expertise Creators
Roy Kanyi
Roy Kanyi is a Kenyan tech creator named in TikTok’s Discover List 2025 in the Educators category. He explains how to choose electronics and gadgets. Educational creators like him tend to drive purchase decisions more directly than entertainers do.
Charity Ekezie
Charity Ekezie is a Nigerian creator recognised in the Icons category of the Discover List 2025 for videos that challenge misconceptions about Africa. Cultural commentary creators can carry a message for a brand, but only when the brand’s values match what they already say.
How to Find Rising TikTok Creators in 2026
You will not find the next breakout creator on a top-25 list, because by the time someone is on a list, their rates have already gone up. Use these steps instead:
- Open TikTok Creator Marketplace and filter by niche, country and follower band. Sort by recent engagement, not total followers.
- Check the last 30 videos. A healthy account has several videos near its average views. One viral hit surrounded by ordinary videos is luck, not a pattern.
- Read the comments. Look for questions like “where can I buy this” or “what’s the name of that tool.” Those signal purchase intent.
- Compare against the same tier. An engagement rate means little without a benchmark. A 6% rate is strong for a 5M account and weak for a 20K one.
- Ask for audience data. Request country, age and gender splits before agreeing a fee.
The most common mistake is hiring on follower count and finding out afterward that most of the audience sits in a country the product does not ship to.
How Creators Are Changing Marketing in 2026
Creators have moved from the edge of the marketing plan to the middle of it. Three shifts stand out:
- User-generated content is a core format. Brands increasingly brief creators to produce videos that run as paid ads and organic posts at the same time. This is where content marketing and creator work now overlap.
- Commerce sits inside the video. TikTok Shop, affiliate links and shoppable videos shorten the path from view to purchase. The page the viewer lands on still needs to convert, which is why teams pair creator spend with conversion rate optimisation.
- Creators have become companies. Khaby Lame’s reported $975 million holding company deal is the extreme case, but many mid-size creators now sell merchandise, courses and software.
Creator mentions also spread beyond TikTok. Articles, newsletters and forum threads pick up a good video, and each reference adds to the brand mentions that search engines and AI assistants read as signals of authority.
Tips for Partnering with TikTok Influencers in 2026
Start with fit, then reach. A creator whose audience already cares about your category will outperform a bigger name who does not.
Pick engagement over follower count, but compare like with like
Engagement benchmarks change with account size. Large accounts see lower rates than small ones, so judge a creator against others at the same tier. Charli D’Amelio’s 9.22% against Khaby Lame’s 5.78% shows that even the biggest accounts differ widely.
Give creators room to write in their own voice
Audiences notice scripted reads fast. Set the key message, the required claims and the legal disclosure, then let the creator decide how to deliver them.
Plan for platform risk
Because US reach is being retrained and some creators are moving effort to YouTube and Instagram, ask for usage rights that let you run the content on other channels. Record baseline views, watch time and click-through rates before a campaign starts, so you can tell algorithm swings apart from weak creative.
Measure beyond views
Set up tracked links, promo codes and platform analytics before the first post goes live. Teams running paid amplification alongside creator content usually manage this inside a broader performance marketing setup, so the creator’s video and the ad spend are judged on the same sales numbers.
Build longer relationships
A creator who has mentioned your product three times is more believable than one who mentions it once. Where the budget allows, sign a three to six month deal instead of a single post.
Final Thoughts
The top TikTok influencers in 2026 are not defined only by size. Khaby Lame and Charli D’Amelio still lead the follower rankings, but the creators helping brands most this year are the ones with a clear niche, a trusting audience and the ability to bring that trust to more than one platform.
Your next step: pick three creators in your niche, pull their last 30 videos, and compare engagement against others at the same follower tier before you contact anyone. If you are planning creator work as part of a wider digital marketing plan, Rankex Digital can help connect it to your SEO and paid channels. More guides like this are on the Rankex Digital blog.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who is the most followed TikTok influencer in 2026?
Khaby Lame is the most followed person on TikTok, with about 162.8 million followers as of September 2026. He has held the top spot since June 2022, when he passed Charli D’Amelio.
2. Who are the trending TikTok influencers in 2026?
Willie Salim, IShowSpeed, JoJo Siwa, Tini Younger, Tefi Pessoa and Jordan Howlett are among the creators gaining the most attention this year. They grew through generosity content, travel streams, cooking, pop-culture explainers and comedy.
3. Who has the second most followers on TikTok?
Charli D’Amelio is second with roughly 159 million followers. She was the most followed account from March 2020 until Khaby Lame overtook her in June 2022.
4. Is MrBeast big on TikTok?
Yes. MrBeast is third on the 2026 rankings with roughly 125 to 129 million followers, depending on the tracker. He is growing faster than most accounts near the top.
5. How do TikTok influencers make money in 2026?
Creators earn from brand partnerships, affiliate commissions and TikTok Shop sales. They also earn from live gifts, subscriptions, merchandise and their own products or companies. The mix depends on audience size and niche.
6. What changed for TikTok in the US in 2026?
On 22 January 2026, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC took over TikTok’s US operations. It is majority American owned, with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX at 15% each and ByteDance at 19.9%. The venture is retraining the US recommendation algorithm on US user data.
7. Is TikTok still worth it for brands in 2026?
Yes, for most consumer categories. TikTok remains a major discovery channel, and the ownership question that worried advertisers in 2024 and 2025 has been settled for the US. Track performance closely while the US algorithm retrains, and avoid depending on a single platform.
8. What is a good engagement rate on TikTok?
It depends on account size and how the rate is calculated. Reported figures for the biggest accounts range from about 5.8% for Khaby Lame to 9.2% for Charli D’Amelio. Compare a creator with others of a similar size, not against one fixed number.
9. Are micro and nano influencers worth hiring?
Often yes. Creators with 10,000 to 100,000 followers (micro) and under 10,000 (nano) tend to have tighter communities and can cost far less. They suit focused products, local campaigns and product seeding.
10. Can a new account still go viral on TikTok?
Yes. The For You feed ranks each video on how viewers respond to it, so an account with few followers can reach a large audience with one strong post. That is why checking recent videos matters more than checking follower totals.
11. How much does a TikTok influencer collaboration cost?
Rates vary widely and depend on deliverables, usage rights and exclusivity. As a rough guide, mid-tier creators with 100,000 to 500,000 followers often charge a few thousand dollars per post, while mega creators can charge tens of thousands or more. Always get a written quote.
12. How do I find the right TikTok creator for my brand?
Use TikTok Creator Marketplace to filter by niche, country and engagement, then review the creator’s last 30 videos and audience data. Check that the audience location matches where you sell.
13. Should I sponsor a creator or a trend?
Sponsor a creator when you want a believable, story-led endorsement. Sponsor a trend or challenge when you want wide reach and can accept less control over how the message is told.
14. How are creators using AI on TikTok?
Many use AI tools for scripting, captions, subtitles, editing and voiceovers. It speeds up production, but audiences still respond to a clear personal point of view, so heavily automated accounts tend to blend together.
