Academic Research Program
Free and discounted social data for academic research
Students and researchers at accredited institutions can apply for up to 100% off TikHub for a publication-bound research project. Eligibility is set by your institution's ranking.
Tier 1 institutions
100% free
up to $10,000 in credits
Tier 2 institutions
50% off
Approved projects
10 / month
seats are limited
Review time
3–5 days
business days
How the discount works
Eligibility is judged independently by the ranking system that applies to your institution — a school does not need to qualify under both.
No other ranking tiers qualify for a discount. Tier 1 credits are capped at $10,000 USD per approved project; requests beyond that cap are reviewed case by case.
Terms and requirements
- You are a student or researcher at an accredited educational institution.
- The work is a legitimate academic research project intended for publication — a thesis, conference paper, journal article, or similar peer-reviewed or publicly citable output.
- We manually verify your .edu account and your college ID (faculty ID or student ID).
What researchers use it for
Coursework and lab datasets
A fixed, citable snapshot every student works from, delivered as CSV, JSON, JSONL or Parquet.
Reproducible results
Cite an exact export and request the same slice again later, so reviewers can reproduce what you published.
Longitudinal tracking
Schedule refreshes monthly, quarterly or biannually to follow the same cohort over time.
Cross-platform comparison
One schema across TikTok, Douyin, Instagram, YouTube, X and Rednote, so comparisons need no reconciliation.
How the process works
Six steps, from application to your first request.
Submit the application form
Tell us about your institution, your project, and the platforms and volume you need.
We review in 3–5 business days
We follow up by emailing your .edu account. Seats are limited to 10 approved projects per month.
We meet to go over the details
If your programme matches our requirements, we set up a call to ask about your project and the credits you'll need.
Contract and account setup
Once we confirm the fit, we send the contract, create a TikHub account under your .edu email, and issue your credits.
Start building
With the account set up and credits issued, you can begin making requests straight away.
Credit TikHub in your output
We may ask you to include TikHub in your reference section, as a co-author, or in the acknowledgments — depending on the APIs or tools you used.
Use restrictions
Credits and discounted access issued under this program are granted solely for the research project described and approved in your application. They may not be:
- Used for any commercial purpose, product, or service
- Shared with, transferred to, or used on behalf of any individual or organization outside the approved project
- Repurposed for a different project without our prior written approval
We reserve the right to suspend or revoke access if usage falls outside the approved project's scope.
Apply to the Academic Research Program
Ten projects are approved each month. Submit your application and we will reply to your .edu address within 3–5 business days.
Apply to the programme