Best time to go live on TikTok
If you want to build up your followers on TikTok, going live can help you connect with your community. But it’s important to go live consistently, and at times when your followers are online.
What is the best time to go live on TikTok?
TikTok doesn’t publish an official “best time to go LIVE.” The most reliable answer comes from your own analytics: go live when your followers are most active. If you need a starting point, Sprout Social’s 2026 analysis of about 2 billion engagements from 307,000 social profiles found that TikTok engagement peaks from Tuesday to Thursday, 2–6 p.m. in the audience’s local time. Weekends showed the lowest engagement.
Keep in mind that this data measures engagement with posted videos, not LIVE viewers. A LIVE stream needs people to be online the moment you start, so test a few time slots and compare your results.
Best time to go live on TikTok by day
| Day | Best window | Engagement level |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 3–5 p.m. | High |
| Tuesday | 2–6 p.m. | Peak |
| Wednesday | 1–8 p.m. | Peak |
| Thursday | 1–5 p.m. | Peak |
| Friday | 3–5 p.m. | High |
| Saturday | No strong window | Low |
| Sunday | No strong window | Low |
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
Data as of the Sprout Social study updated in March 2026. Times are in your audience’s local time zone, so check where most of your followers are before you schedule a stream.
How to find your own best time to go live
- Open Analytics in TikTok’s creator tools.
- Go to the Followers tab to see the times of day and days of the week when your followers are most active.
- If you have LIVE access, open the LIVE tab to see your last 7 or 28 days: total views, new followers, total time and Diamonds collected.
- Go live at the same time for a few weeks, then compare your LIVE results across time slots.
See TikTok’s guide to analytics for details. Not sure you can go LIVE yet? Check how many followers you need to go live on TikTok.
Going live vs posting a video
Most “best time to post on TikTok” studies measure when posted videos get engagement. A video can keep collecting views for days, while a LIVE stream only reaches people who are online while you’re live. That’s why your followers’ activity matters more for LIVE than general posting-time averages.
Schedule TikTok streams in advance
Once you’ve pinpointed the best times to go live on TikTok, it can be a bit inconvenient sticking to that schedule all the time. If you want to keep your audience engaged but can’t live stream at your usual time for some reason, you can always record your video in advance, upload it and then schedule it to go live at your regular time with Restream’s Upload and Stream tool.
Restream is a live streaming software that lets you broadcast to multiple platforms simultaneously. It also lets you schedule pre-recorded videos to go live at the time that works best for your audience.
Your TikTok fans expect to see you at your usual times and you don’t want to let them down. You can upload a pre-recorded video in the following situations:
- You want to re-broadcast your live stream at a later time so people in a different time zone can watch it “live” and use the live chat function.
- You prefer to have a pre-recorded video play so that you can focus solely on interacting with viewers in the live chat.
- You’re nervous about going live and want to share a polished video with no mistakes or hiccups. For more details on how to upload and stream a pre-recorded video with Restream, visit our help center.
FAQ
What is the best time to go live on TikTok on Saturday?
In Sprout Social’s 2026 data, Saturday and Sunday had the lowest TikTok engagement for posted videos, with no strong time window. If your Followers tab shows your audience is active on Saturdays, test a Saturday stream and compare it with a weekday one.
What is the best time to go live on TikTok on Wednesday?
Wednesday had the widest peak in Sprout Social’s 2026 data: 1–8 p.m. in the audience’s local time.
What is the best time to go live on TikTok on Tuesday?
Sprout Social’s 2026 data shows peak engagement on Tuesday from 2–6 p.m. in the audience’s local time.
How do I know when my TikTok followers are online?
Open Analytics in TikTok’s creator tools and go to the Followers tab. It shows the times of day and days of the week when your followers are most active.