Love it or hate it (and plenty of us manage both in the same scroll), TikTok has become a genuinely useful travel app. It’s full of recommendations for things to do, places to eat, and ways to make the most of your journey.
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Plus, for some people, TikTok is a source of income. If you’re a travel influencer or content creator, TikTok could be how you fund your travels. That means you need to stay connected wherever your trip takes you.
But because it streams video, TikTok can make a big dent in your data allowance. If you’re travelling on a limited data plan from your home country, you can quickly find yourself in trouble, or facing a big bill.
So, how much data does TikTok actually use? And can you keep scrolling abroad without burning through your plan? Let’s take a look at the numbers and see how you can bring TikTok on the road without having to sell a kidney to pay for your data.
How Much Data Does TikTok Use?
TikTok doesn’t publish its own official megabytes-per-hour figure. In part, that might be because consumption varies. It depends on your connection speed, the quality of videos you watch, and how you use the app.
However, WhistleOut has tested TikTok’s data consumption, and found that on default settings, it uses around 840MB per hour.
That’s a pretty hefty figure. Luckily, TikTok has a Data Saver feature, and that helps significantly, dropping usage to around 360MB per hour.
These are estimates, not fixed amounts, and that test is a few years old now. Videos on TikTok have only gotten longer and sharper since then, so it’s possible you could use a gigabyte per hour or more. In fact, 1GB per hour is probably the figure to keep in mind. It’s easy to remember and gives you a safe buffer when you’re working out how much data you need.
Why Does TikTok Use So Much Data?
Video uses a huge amount of data.
Opening a text-heavy webpage can be as little as a few megabytes. But TikTok continually streams both video and audio while you’re scrolling, so it burns through data far quicker than normal web browsing.
TikTok also makes scrolling feel instant. One of the ways it does that is by loading content before you actually watch it, so swiping quickly through 10 videos doesn’t mean you only downloaded the few seconds you watched before moving on. The next few videos in your feed are often already sitting on your phone, waiting.
The higher the quality a video is filmed in, the more data it uses. TikTok LIVE and other features can also increase your consumption.
That makes TikTok one of the most data-hungry apps on your phone. It uses far more than browsing the web, listening to Spotify, sending WhatsApp messages, or using Google Maps.
How Quickly Can TikTok Burn Through Your Travel Data?
Alarmingly quickly.
Let’s imagine you go abroad for a week, and your mobile plan gives you 5GB of data to use overseas.
If you spend 30 minutes each evening scrolling TikTok on default settings, you’ll use around 420MB per day. Over the course of the week, that’s almost 3GB. You’ll have burned through more than half of your allowance on a single app, and if you use the 1GB-per-hour rule of thumb, it’s closer to 3.5GB.
Switch to Data Saver, and things aren’t quite as grim. The same 30-minute-a-day habit would use around 1.3GB for the week. That’s still a solid chunk of your 5GB, but at least it leaves room for maps, messaging and the rest.
Either way, it’s easy to see how TikTok can become an expensive habit when you’re roaming away from home.
The easiest way to travel without the maths homework is with a travel eSIM from ZenSim. We offer generous data packs, plus unlimited plans that give you 3GB of high-speed data every day before speeds ease off, so a big night of scrolling doesn’t mean rationing tomorrow.
Does TikTok Use Data When You’re Not Watching Videos?
Yes. You don’t need to be actively scrolling for TikTok to use data.
Like other social media apps, TikTok can refresh content, fetch notifications, or perform other background activity while you’re not actively using it.
That said, the data it uses this way is relatively tiny. Video playback is what you really have to watch out for. Still, if you’re trying to make your data allowance go further, you can restrict TikTok’s background data through your phone settings.
How to Use Less Data on TikTok
Given what a data hog it is, it’s tempting to ditch TikTok while you travel. But you don’t necessarily need to give it up. A few changes can make a big difference to what this app does to your data allowance.
Turn on TikTok Data Saver
This is the biggest thing you can do to avoid a massive roaming bill. It lowers video quality, and videos may take slightly longer to load. But it can cut your data usage by more than half. Depending on your allowance, that might be the difference between using the app while you travel, and not.
To use Data Saver:
- Open TikTok
- Tap Profile
- Open the menu (the three lines in the top corner)
- Select Settings and privacy
- Look for Data Saver, which usually sits under a section like Cache & cellular or Mobile data
- Switch Data Saver on
TikTok updates its menus regularly, so if you can’t find exactly these settings, use the search bar in Settings and privacy and type "data saver". Keep in mind it only works on mobile data, so videos go back to full quality on Wi-Fi.
Save Scrolling for Wi-Fi
Probably the easiest way to reduce TikTok’s impact on your travel plan is to be conscious of where and when you use it.
If you’re killing time at your hotel, in an airport, or at a café, TikTok can be a great way to avoid boredom. But make sure you’re connected to a trusted Wi-Fi network before you open the app. Shifting even one half-hour session per day from mobile data to Wi-Fi could save you several gigabytes over a longer trip.
Restrict Background Data
Both iPhone and Android give you control over how apps use mobile data. You can turn off Background App Refresh for TikTok on iPhone, or restrict background data on Android, which will stop it quietly using data when you’re not looking.
But remember, background data is only a fraction of what you’ll use while watching videos.
Avoid Long LIVE Sessions on Mobile Data
It’s so easy to lose track of time when watching a live stream. But from a data usage perspective, it’s very different from checking a few comments or messages.
Like other video streaming, it’s best to save LIVE for when you’re on a trusted Wi-Fi network wherever possible.
Upload Strategically
Uploading videos to TikTok uses lots of mobile data. But filming doesn’t.
That means you can film your travel videos while you’re out exploring, then wait until you’re back on Wi-Fi to post them. You don’t need to post everything in real time, and waiting a little can save you a ton of data. Drafts are your friend.
Monitor TikTok’s Data Usage
For the most accurate figures on how much data you’re using, check your phone settings.
On an iPhone, go to Settings > Mobile Service (called Mobile Data on older versions of iOS), then scroll down until you find TikTok. It will tell you exactly how much data the app has used, and you can switch mobile data access off completely if you want it to work only on Wi-Fi.
Android phones have similar settings, though they vary depending on your phone. Look in your settings for something like Network & internet > Data usage. You’ll be able to see how much data a particular app has used, and you can usually restrict its background data too.
Streaming Around the World
If you’re on a strict data diet, TikTok is one of the worst apps you could use. Streaming video can burn through data faster than you can double-tap, and you may find all your data gone long before you thought it would be a problem.
Even worse, if you’re roaming on your home network without a travel data pack, you could come home to a massive bill. If you’re not sure how bad that could get, here’s our guide to international roaming costs for Australians.
A better way to stay online abroad is with a ZenSim travel eSIM. Wherever you’re headed, there’s a data plan sized for how you actually use your phone. So when those supposedly five-minute TikTok sessions end up being an hour long, you won’t have to worry about whether you’ve got any data left for Google Maps.
FAQs
Testing by WhistleOut found TikTok uses around 840MB per hour on default settings. With Data Saver switched on, that drops to around 360MB per hour. Your real-world usage could be higher, so budgeting about 1GB per hour is a safe rule of thumb.
Roughly 420MB on default settings, or about 180MB with Data Saver on. Watching LIVE streams or uploading videos will push that higher.
No. Data Saver only kicks in when you're on mobile data, so videos go back to full quality when you connect to Wi-Fi.
A little. TikTok can refresh content and check for notifications while you're not using it, but the amount is tiny compared with watching videos. You can turn off Background App Refresh or restrict background data in your phone settings if you want to squeeze every megabyte.
For light use, yes. At around 840MB per hour, 5GB gives you roughly six hours of scrolling on default settings, or around 14 hours with Data Saver on. Remember that you'll need data for maps, messaging and everything else too.
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Written by
Ryan Frawley
Travel writer and serial border crosser.
I've visited more than 30 countries so far, which sounds impressive until you see how long my travel wish list still is. When I'm not chasing cheap flights, figuring out eSIMs, or getting lost in places I can't properly pronounce, I'm usually writing about travel, remote work, and how to make both a little easier.
If you've ever searched "Can I work remotely from there?" at 2 a.m., we're probably on the same wavelength.
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