In 2025, Rednote (also known as Xiaohongshu) remains China’s most popular lifestyle app and is showing no signs of slowing down. As more international brands have begun turning to this platform for consumer insights and to promote themselves, the question of who is using Rednote has increased in importance for any marketer, researcher, or company interested in the Chinese market.
In 2024, we published arguably the most-read article on the app’s demographics globally. Today, we’re checking back in to see whether Rednote’s monthly active users (MAU) demographics have changed.
Key Takeaways
- Rednote has seen decent growth over the past year. It’s now closing in on 350 million monthly active users.
- Rednote remains a primarily female app, but men are increasingly using it, with their slice of the user base rising from 20.9% to 28%.
- Rednote continues being a Gen-Z app, with 18-24 year-olds increasing from 39.2% to 43.8% of the user base.
- The percentage of users based in first-tier cities has increased from 32.8% to 35.2%.
- Despite traditionally catering to upper-middle-class women, Rednote is seeing more growth among blue-collar workers.
Rednote’s Monthly Active Users 2025
It’s difficult to get a clear picture of Rednote’s growth in monthly active users (MAU) in 2025. Our 2024 report on Rednote’s demographics used 2023 and early 2024 data from Qianghua, which placed the app’s total MAU at a clean “300 million.” Over a year later, Qiangua also gave the same “300 million” in their 2025 report.
However, other sites, even ones citing Qiangua’s report, give higher numbers. Sohu, for example, placed the figure at 339 million. Yet, a more recent article from July 2025 states 320 million and another article even divulged that Rednote reached 312 million MAU as early as 2023. With this, we can make an educated guess that Qiangua rounded to the nearest 100 million.
While exact numbers are unclear, based on the trend of the past two years, we can assume Rednote has already surpassed 350 million or will do so in 2026.
What Does This Mean for Your Marketing?
While Rednote has fewer users than WeChat, its continual growth means that your company should certainly keep an eye on the app if you aren’t already. With talk about Rednote going public in the United States, we can assume the app’s future will only be brighter.
Rednote’s Gender Demographics 2025
For years, Rednote has been known as the app for female users. Actually, the app is even more niche than that. It’s been seen as the app for middle-class to upper-class women in their 20s and 30s.
Last year, more men began using the app, and the trend has continued this year. In 2024, men made up 20.87% of Rednote’s MAU, while women made up 79.13%. In 2025, this difference has become 28% and 72%.
Therefore, we can still say that Rednote is the best app for marketing towards females, but we should keep in mind that men are an emerging demographic.
What Does This Mean for Your Marketing?
Because of its female user base, Rednote, over the years, has been primarily a “lifestyle” app where women share tips on fashion, beauty, tourism, and independence.
However, as more men are using the app now, the user experience on Rednote may change. For example, due to its “safe space” nature, Rednote allowed women to feel safer sharing pictures and videos of themselves. Now, some may be more hesitant due to concerns about male commentary. For brands in the beauty or fashion industries, this may mean fewer videos containing your product.
Changing gender dynamics could also alter search engine optimization. One way women attempted to hide their content from men was by adding tags like “baby food.”
Alternatively, this growth in male usership is not entirely organic. In 2021, for instance, Rednote launched a “Male Content Incentive Plan” which focused on attracting more influencers related to tech, fitness, and streetwear to post on the app. Within six months, content in these sectors increased elevenfold. If your company resides in these industries, Rednote may be the best app in China to focus on.
Rednote continued this marketing strategy in 2024 by focusing on cars and gaming, two industries where its rival, BiliBili, was seeing huge growth. In Q1 of this year, searches and uploads related to competitive gaming increased by 40x and 128x, respectively, year-over-year. This was the year Rednote appeared at Chinajoy, China’s number one gaming convention, for the first time.
Other industries that have seen growth on Rednote in recent years because of this influx of men include figurines, camping, male skincare, and alcohol.
A Camping Event Sponsored by Rednote & Partners
Rednote’s Age Demographics 2025
While Rednote may be the best app for advertising to women, presently, it’s used by mostly Millennial and Generation Z women.
In fact, comparing 2025 to the previous year, we can see that this has held steady even though we could have presumed the app’s users would get older as time went on. The only demographic that grew this year was 18 to 24-year-olds, which saw a boost from 39.2% to 43.8%, whereas the other groups declined.
| Age Group | 2024 | 2025 |
| 25-34 | 38.65 | 36.89 |
| 35-44 | 13.92 | 11.53 |
| 44+ | 8.2 | 7.78 |
What Does This Mean for Your Marketing?
In the future, we’ll need to check in to see whether this trend continues. For now, however, it seems that Rednote is retaining its image as the app for college students and those who have recently entered the workforce.
For companies, this means that your ads and other content should cater to people still discovering themselves. Brands that already focus on unmarried individuals will have the easiest time on Rednote.
This demographic datapoint regarding Rednote may also be related to wider offline trends, as it is a well-known trend among Chinese 20-somethings to put off marriage and children. As such, companies should pay attention to broader phenomena to understand what may or may not work on the app.
For example, pet culture has been growing for many years now, partially due to people seeking an alternative to children.
In some regards, Gen Z in China mirrors their counterparts in the West, most notably their desire for travel and experience over material possessions. Therefore, brands may consider applying the same marketing tactics that have worked in other countries on Rednote.
Still be aware that China’s consumers are spending more in comparison.
Perhaps the most important trait to remember about this age group is that they are coming of age at a time when China is stronger on the world stage. Whereas older Millennials and Generation X remember a time when their country was less developed, and therefore were more inclined to study overseas for inspiration, the same isn’t as true for this younger generation. This is one reason traditional Chinese culture has been making a comeback in recent years, especially among the younger generation.
In sum, companies wanting to advertise on Rednote will need to have better localization than in the past. While success in other markets will give them a boost, it won’t be to the same extent as in the past. This means marketers need more first-hand experience in China as well as better communication between head and local offices, maybe with even more freedom for the latter.
Rednote’s Location Demographics 2025
Turning to the data on where Rednote’s users are based, we can see that nothing has changed much since 2024. Only first-tier cities saw slight growth, moving from 32.8% to 35.2%.
Remember, first-tier cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou have been international and developed for some time now. “New” first-tier cities, such as Changsha and Chengdu, have only recently started to become better known outside of China. However, keep in mind that not everyone defines these terms in the same way.
What Does This Mean for Your Marketing?
The above data shows that Rednote’s users tend to be from the more affluent parts of China. For foreign brands, this is good, as it means you can assume that most people using the app are more likely to be internationally minded. This translates to a higher possibility of them being familiar with your company.
However, while citizens of tier-1 cities are more likely to have higher salaries, this may not always translate to higher spending power. After all, rent is more expensive in these metropolises.
For example, data from July 2025 found that Chongqing spent more over the first six months of the year than Shanghai. This is counterintuitive, as the latter city is known internationally and traditionally more developed.
Looking at spending growth, we can also see that less-developed cities (most notably new tier-1 cities) did better during this same period.
For companies interested in marketing on Rednote, the declining consumption in some first-tier cities (Beijing and Shanghai), mixed with the increasing consumption of new first-tier cities, means that their advertising strategies may need to have a two-pronged approach. In other words, how can my content cater to people more careful with their money while resonating with others who may be spending more than they ever have in the past?
Conversely, some analysts believe one reason these declines occurred is simply due to population outflows from the coasts to inner China. If this is true, this means that Shanghai and Beijing citizens may still be spending the same as before on average.
Regardless, the prevalence of new first-tier city citizens on Rednote means that companies should invest more in understanding emerging cities in central and western China.
Rednote’s Lifestyle & Income Demographics 2025
Similar to last year, Qiangua’s 2025 report divided Rednote’s users by lifestyle and income.
In general, the data didn’t change very much here. We could say that the gap between white and blue-collar workers on the app increased a little, with the latter being the larger group.
However, as with last year, Qiangua didn’t really define these groups, so it’s impossible to know why Gen Z does not count as blue or white collar workers. Also note that “small city” means tier 2, 3, 4, and 5 cities, while “urban” refers to tier 1. That huge “unknown” is still a big data issue, too.
What Does This Mean For Your Marketing?
The growth of blue-collar workers on Rednote actually runs counter to common knowledge. Just because the app’s main users can be found in more affluent cities doesn’t mean the users themselves are earning more. This being said, brands should start investigating whether spending habits differ based on the type of job.
Contact Nanjing Marketing Group
Thanks for giving our Rednote demographics and marketing guide a look over. We hope to make more in the future to keep tabs on trends in China.
If you’re interested in exploring ways to improve your own branding on Rednote, please contact us!