Thinking of becoming a Twitch streamer and earning a full-time or part-time income?
At first look, it might not seem like a lot, but streaming is actually a great way to generate income. Yes, it can be hard to get started since there are a lot of competitors, but you will find yourself enjoying the experience.
The question is, how much do Twitch streamers make? Are they earning a lot of income or not?
How much do Twitch streamers make per month?
Below is an analysis of how much Twitch streamers make per month in USD. This analysis is done by making some assumptions and correlating them with the actual Twitch streamer’s earning data.
| Number of viewers | Number of subscribers | Est. revenue from subscription | Est. revenue from ads | Est. bits revenue | Est. total revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 20 | $50 | $0.7 | $7 | $58 |
| 20 | 40 | $100 | $1.4 | $14 | $115 |
| 50 | 100 | $250 | $3.5 | $35 | $288 |
| 100 | 200 | $499 | $7 | $70 | $576 |
| 1,000 | 2,000 | $4,990 | $70 | $700 | $5,760 |
| 5,000 | 10,000 | $24,950 | $210 | $2,100 | $27,260 |
| 10,000 | 20,000 | $49,900 | $420 | $4,200 | $54,520 |
| 50,000 | 100,000 | $249,500 | $2,100 | $21,000 | $272,600 |
Below are a few assumptions that were taken to arrive at the earnings data above.
| Area | Assumptions taken |
| Number of subscribers/ Number of viewers | The ratio taken is 1/2 (0.5) For every 2 viewers, there is 1 subscriber |
| Subscription revenue | Base subscription opt-in of $4.99 by all subscribers, and Twitch payout of 50% per subscriber |
| Ads revenue | CPM is taken as $3.5 per 1000 viewers |
| Bits revenue | 35% of viewers would cheer per stream |
| Number of times a small-medium streamer (with 10-1,000 viewers per stream) streams | 5 times per week |
| Number of times a large streamer (with 5,000 – 50,000 viewers per stream) streams | 3 times per week |
Below are a few examples of small, medium, and large streamers who have shared data about their Twitch earnings:
- QuirkyPixel, a small beginner Twitch streamer: In a video QuirkyPixel published on YouTube talking about her first paycheck, she reveals she made $64.81 in a month, with 5 average viewers and 46 subscribers.
- AshniChrist, a medium-sized Twitch streamer with 1000 subs: In a video Ashni posted on her YouTube channel, she reveals she actually earns a whooping $10k per month. Out of that amount though, $3800 is what she makes from Twitch in a month from approximately 1000 subscribers.
- Ludwig, a former Partner Twitch streamer, with 25,000 subs: Ludwig revealed his actual earnings from Twitch last year, following the Twitch earnings leak in October 2021. With 25,000 subs and 18,000 average viewers at the time (source: TwitchTracker), he was earning $312,500 per month. This would have been possible by negotiating 70/30 subscription earnings with Twitch and having a higher number of Tier 1 and Tier 2 subs.
How do Twitch streamers make money?
There are diverse income sources, including subscriptions, donations, ads, sponsorships, and affiliate sales, through which Twitch streamers can make money. As you can imagine, the larger the streamer is, the more access he/she has to various income sources.
But below are some general methods on how Twitch streamers make money:
- Subscriptions
- Bits
- Donations
- Ads
- Sponsorships
- Affiliate Sales
1. Subscriptions
Subscriptions are a recurring or one-time revenue method, where viewers pay streamers money to become a subscriber. There are 3 different subscription tiers, with rates that can vary from options: $4.99, $9.99, or $24.99 a month. The important thing to note is that usually Twitch keeps 50% of the subscription value and the streamer gets the rest.
2. Bits
Bits are virtual goods that your viewers can buy and use to cheer for you. A cheer is a message that uses bits. Viewers can use bits to amplify their voices, show support, and celebrate memorable moments. You receive $0.01 for each Bit that gets used in your chat.
3. Donations
Donations are the bread and butter for Twitch streamers because they are one-time payments that people share with the streamer. Donations are important since they are one of the main sources of income for most streamers, no matter their size.
4. Ads
Ads can be placed before the stream or even during the stream, and whenever ads play, the Twitch streamer will get paid. It might not be a whole lot, but it does add up and that’s what makes it a great payment source for most streamers.
5. Sponsorships
Sponsorships are paid by some companies to promote their products or services. That’s why sponsorships can be a very good way to monetize a stream. Some streamers receive more sponsorships when compared to others, but these are still a great income source and totally worth a shot.
6. Affiliate Sales
Affiliate sales are also important because the Twitch streamer will receive a commission every time they sell something. This is great because this comes in handy and it’s yet another source of revenue.
How much do Twitch streamers make per sub?
Twitch streamers can earn from three tiers of subscriptions, $4.99, $9.99, or $24.99 a month, that their viewers can sign up for on a one-time or recurring basis. Twitch keeps 50% of the subscription, and the streamer gets 50%.
Until recently, Twitch also had a 70/30 split for the more popular creators. That being said, they have removed it and now everyone will split half their income with twitch.
If you want to become a full-time streamer, you do want to know that half of the money you earn via subscription goes to Twitch. This is really important when it comes to planning, and one of those things that really matter when you want to become a streamer. Some might say that Twitch taking half the money might be too much, but in the end, you are tied to the platform’s terms and conditions. So it’s definitely a topic of debate and one of the issues some streamers have been dealing with for quite some time.
How much do Twitch streamers make per ad?
Twitch pays approximately $3.5 CPM, or $3.5 per 1000 people who see the ad, according to a Twitch content creator, Muir Dragonne. However, it can be difficult to narrow down how much Twitch streamers make per ad because the payment system might differ from one streamer to the next. Ad revenue can depend on a number of factors, such as ad availability, audience size, time of year, language and geography, etc.
While this is not a lot, if people receive the ad multiple times as they watch the content, then it does add up. Which is why it makes sense for Twitch streamers to place ads. Yes, they won’t get paid a fortune, but it’s definitely one of those passive sources of income that can actually become an advantage. And that’s exactly why it makes a lot of sense to test it out for yourself and see how it works. In the end, that can make a huge difference.
In June 2022, Twitch announced bigger ad payouts to more creators with the Ads Incentive Program. An affiliate or partner streamer just has to set Ads Manager for 3 minutes (or more) per hour, and they would be eligible to get a 55% ad revenue split on their payouts. The idea is to ensure everyone earns a higher payout from ads, so if it turns out a streamer can earn more money outside of the Ads Incentive Program, Twitch automatically shifts you to the same. You can opt into the program here.
How much does Twitch pay per view?
Twitch does not pay per view. However, you can earn money per view by translating viewers into other income sources like subscribers, ads and bits.
As shown in the analysis above, if you are a small streamer, with 10 to 50 viewers per stream and you stream often, you can end up earning from $50 to $200 per month. If you are a medium-sized streamer with 1000 views on average, earnings go upwards of $5000 per month. At the partner level, with 10,000 viewers per stream on average, you can easily earn $50,000 or more per month.
How much do small Twitch streamers make?
Small Twitch streamers, with a minimum of 10 viewers can earn up to $50 per month as their first earnings. However, an interesting thing to note is there are over 95% of channels with 0-5 viewers, as per this chart on Sullygnome.
Most of the Twitch streamers tend to have a very low income around $1500 at most, maybe up to $3000 if we go towards those that have a small to medium-sized audience. So it is common for streamers who are just starting to barely earn any money on Twitch. Hence, as a small streamer, it’s recommended you have another source of income in parallel to streaming.
With that being said, as a streamer grows, they can access various other sources of income and their income grows quite a bit. Larger streamers can easily make 6 figures per month. Some even go past that with their earnings including sponsorships.
How much do Twitch Affiliates make?
Twitch affiliates would be able to make approximately $50 per month. You need to be a Twitch affiliate before Twitch starts paying you money to stream.
To become a Twitch affiliate, you should have at least 50 followers and an average of at least 3 or more concurrent viewers per stream.
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Conclusion
As you can see, it’s very important for anyone aspiring to become a streamer to understand how much do Twitch streamers make and the income they generate. Knowing what Twitch streamers make per sub, per viewer, and per ad is crucial since it will show you the way you have to monetize your channel and earn a living.
This might seem like a dream job, but it takes time to build up an audience. Eventually, you can start adding in new monetization methods, but it takes time to build an audience on Twitch so you do need to have the right expectations!
