Streaming Earnings Calculator
Estimate what you would earn on Twitch, Kick and YouTube Live from subs, bits, ads and donations.
Streaming Earnings
Subs, donations & ad revenue
⚡ Part-time
Partner Status
Partners get 70% sub split
Estimated Earnings
per monthAverage
$653
$392
$979
Breakdown
💡 Twitch Tips
- • Partners get 70% sub split (vs 50% affiliate)
- • Bits = $0.01 per bit to streamer
- • Ad revenue depends on viewer engagement
- • Prime subs count as Tier 1
How Streaming Revenue Works
Streamers earn money through subscriptions, donations, bits/cheers, and sponsorships. Each platform has different revenue splits and features.
Twitch Revenue Breakdown
- Affiliate Split: 50% of subscription revenue
- Partner Split: 50-70% depending on contract
- Bits: Streamers keep $0.01 per bit
- Donations: 100% (minus payment processing)
- Ads: $2-10 CPM based on viewer demographics
Kick Revenue Split
Kick offers an industry-leading 95/5 revenue split, meaning creators keep 95% of subscription revenue. This makes it attractive for established streamers looking to maximize earnings.
YouTube Live
- Super Chats: YouTube keeps 30%, creator gets 70%
- Channel Memberships: Same 70/30 split
- Ad Revenue: Standard 55/45 split
Subscription Tier Pricing
| Platform | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twitch | $4.99 | $9.99 | $24.99 |
| Kick | $4.99 | - | - |
| YouTube | $4.99 | $9.99 | $24.99 |
Tips for Growing Stream Revenue
- Focus on building a loyal community over raw viewer numbers
- Encourage subscription upgrades with tier-exclusive perks
- Set up donation alerts and goals to encourage giving
- Stream consistently to retain subscribers
- Pursue sponsorships once you have stable viewership
How the streaming earnings estimate is calculated
Live streaming income comes from several small streams rather than one large one, and the mix differs sharply between platforms. This calculator models subscriptions, donations and ads separately for Twitch, Kick and YouTube Live, then adds them.
The largest single difference between platforms is the revenue split. Twitch pays 50% of a subscription to standard affiliates and 70% to partners; Kick pays 95%; YouTube pays 70% on memberships and Super Chats. On identical audiences that split alone changes the outcome substantially.
Subscriber counts are estimated from your average concurrent viewers using a conversion rate — 3% on Twitch, 4% on Kick and 1.5% for YouTube memberships. Donations are modelled per viewer-hour, and ads per thousand view-hours.
How to use this tool
- 1
Pick your platform
Twitch, Kick and YouTube Live use genuinely different models, not just different numbers. Switching platform changes which income streams appear in the breakdown.
- 2
Enter average concurrent viewers
Use your average, not your peak. Average viewers drive both the subscription estimate and the donation estimate, so a peak figure will inflate everything downstream.
- 3
Enter hours streamed per month
Hours multiply the donation and ad components. For reference, the model treats 20 hours as casual, 60 as part-time and 120 as full-time.
- 4
Set partner status (Twitch)
Partner status raises your subscription split from 50% to 70%. On a subscription-heavy channel this is the single biggest lever in the model.
Tips & best practices
- ✓Kick's 95% split is the headline difference between the platforms, but it only matters if you can bring an audience that subscribes there. A large split of a small audience is still small.
- ✓Concurrent viewers matter far more than total followers. Ten thousand followers who never show up generate nothing in this model, and nothing in reality.
- ✓Donations are modelled per viewer-hour, so streaming longer raises the estimate roughly linearly. Real audiences do not donate at a constant rate for twelve hours straight — treat very long sessions as optimistic.
- ✓Twitch ads pay per thousand view-hours, not per viewer. Running ads costs you retention, which is why many streamers deliberately run fewer than the model assumes.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Twitch streamers make per subscriber?+
A tier-1 subscription is $4.99. Standard affiliates keep 50% of that, so about $2.50; partners keep 70%, about $3.49.
Does Kick really pay 95%?+
The model uses Kick's published 95% creator split on its $4.99 subscription. Note the calculator includes no ad revenue for Kick, because its advertising programme is not comparable to Twitch's or YouTube's.
How many of my viewers will subscribe?+
The model assumes 3% of average concurrent viewers on Twitch (range 1–6%), 4% on Kick, and 1.5% membership conversion on YouTube. Communities with a strong emote culture or sub-only perks beat these; drop-in audiences fall below them.
Why is the YouTube Live estimate different from Twitch?+
YouTube replaces bits and subscriptions with Super Chats and channel memberships, both at a 70% creator cut, and it pays meaningfully better on ads — $5 per thousand view-hours versus $3.5 on Twitch. The trade-off is that YouTube Live audiences are usually harder to build.
Does this include sponsorships?+
No. Streaming sponsorships are negotiated per campaign and depend far more on your brand than on your viewer count. Use the sponsorship rate calculator for that.
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