Cream cheese's tang and firmness can be matched a few different ways depending on whether you're spreading it, baking with it, or making frosting. Enter the amount your recipe calls for.
Cream cheese is a fresh, tangy, high-fat soft cheese, and the closest matches keep both its tang and its firm, spreadable texture. Dairy-free cream cheese products are formulated specifically to mimic this and swap in 1:1. Mascarpone is an Italian fresh cheese that's richer and less tangy than cream cheese, working well in frosting and desserts but needing a squeeze of lemon juice to match cream cheese's tartness. Cashew cream (soaked, blended raw cashews with a little lemon juice and salt) approximates the texture and tang for spreads and no-bake fillings, but is softer and won't set as firmly when baked. Strained (Greek-style) yogurt is tangier and thinner than cream cheese and works best in spreads and dips rather than baking.
Source: Substitution notes follow commonly published dairy-free baking guidance for cream cheese alternatives.
Dairy-free cream cheese or mascarpone hold their structure best when baked. Cashew cream and yogurt are softer and higher in moisture, so they're better suited to no-bake fillings and spreads than to a baked cheesecake.
Mascarpone is much milder and less acidic than cream cheese, so a small amount of lemon juice helps recreate the tang that cream cheese naturally has.
It can work in a pinch, but the frosting will be noticeably softer, tangier, and less stable than one made with cream cheese or mascarpone, so it's better suited to a simple spread than a piped frosting.
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