How to Get Paid on Twitch

If you want to get paid on Twitch, you need to grow your brand. Whether you're a dedicated gamer, cutting-edge creative, or just someone with share-worthy video content, you've likely signed-up on Twitch in hopes of being discovered by an audience that will appreciate what you have to offer.

You also know it's a lot of work to plan, execute and maintain, and most of us don't have time to do work we're not getting paid for.

How, then, can you get paid to stream on Twitch? What options do you have for generating revenue on your Twitch channel? Buying Twitch followers is one way to invest in your streaming career.

But lets ake a look at how Twitch TV works.

What is Twitch?

Twitch is the world’s leading live streaming video platform. With millions of Twitch streamers and thousands of Twitch channels to choose from, Twitch users can connect instantaneously with a massive global community, enjoying both live and on-demand video content.

Twitch TV features live video game streaming, esports competitions, talk shows, music, and all manner of creative content, as well as the opportunity to interact with fellow users on chat rooms. 

Through Twitch, more and more video streamers are turning their passion into a profit by monetizing their channel. Follow this definitive guide to learn about how to earn money on Twitch in 2021.

How Do You get Paid on Twitch: Building Your Twitch Audience

The first step to creating a profitable Twitch channel is to get more viewers on Twitch. For this, you need to know how to grow on Twitch.

Even with the most engaging content, growing a strong audience of subscribers from scratch can take a lot of time and effort.

While it’s possible to get Twitch followers organically through self-promotion on social media, interacting with other channels, or from other Twitch users stumbling across your channel, it’s difficult to generate sufficient growth to turn a profit when relying on these free methods alone.

There is more you can do to get discovered and start engaging your viewers.

To jump-start your Twitch channel, you can sign up with TwitchGainz.com and supplement your audience’s growth by investing a little in gaining and maintaining real followers.

Essentially, our service allows you to create a monetary incentive for new viewers by rewarding them with credits that they can cash in for viewing and following your channel. This is a win/win for you and your viewers since you will be able to grow your channel, and your new followers can make money for supporting you.

Additionally, gaining followers is essential to unlock Twitch Achievements, to become a Twitch Affiliate, and to eventually become a Twitch Partner. With each achievement comes a separate set of criteria, including a minimum followers count. For example, to qualify as a Twitch Affiliate, your channel must have 50 followers.

As a Twitch streamer looking to make money, becoming a Twitch Partner should be your channel’s long-term goal in order to maximize the opportunity for financial returns. Taking time to familiarize yourself with the nature of Twitch Achievements is key to understanding how to earn more money streaming on Twitch.

Check out our guide to LINK-get more Twitch viewers- and learn about how to expand your audience on Twitch.

How Do You Get Paid From Twitch?

Can you make money by streaming on Twitch if you don’t have a large following? Yes. Actually, anyone can.

So, how do you get paid for streaming on Twitch?

While some income opportunities are exclusive to Affiliates and Partners of Twitch, some revenue-generating strategies are open to all Twitch users from the very inception of their channel.

For example, if you are a charismatic (or skilled) gamer, passionate musician, or funny foodie, your captivating content can lead to donations, sales from custom merch, and affiliate links.

Donations

If your channel is just starting out, it may sound far-fetched to entertain the idea of receiving donations.

Still, don’t be quick to sell yourself short. You never know who will view your Twitch channel. It could very well be that someone is just as passionate about your content as you are and will gladly pay to ensure that your channel has what it needs to keep producing the content they love.

You can collect donations for your Twitch account by placing a link to a third-party site or application where your viewers can go to send you funds.

Don’t forget to mention this donation arrangement to your followers at some point on your videos so they know what they can do to support you.

For more information about donations, visit our full LINK-Twitch donations guide-.

Selling Your Own Merch

Do you have a brand, logo, iconic catchphrase, image, or face associated with your channel? If so, put it on a T-shirt and start selling them to your fans.

Whether on a sweatshirt, hat, sticker, tote, or whatever form your merchandise comes in, your fans will appreciate being able to represent the channel they love with some custom swag.

Beyond that, the merch will become free advertising for you as well as a way for your community members to connect with each other in public.

To sell your own channel-specific merch, find a third-party website on which to create your shop and then link to it on your Twitch account.

To avoid large overheads and boxes of unsold merch in the closet, try finding a site that allows you to order in small batches or even processes merchandise order by order.

Again, don’t forget to let your followers know that they can purchase your merchandise.

Affiliate Links

A third hack for how to earn money by streaming Twitch is by taking advantage of affiliate marketing opportunities.

For example, say you have a Twitch channel streaming live videos of you cooking various recipes. Likely, your viewers are interested in buying ingredients, purchasing cooking tools, and eating. In this case, brands such as grocery stores, restaurants, food delivery services, home goods sellers, and more may be interested in partnering with you to advertise their services or products on your stream.

When your channel features a link to one of these partnering companies, you will get paid any time one of your viewers clicks the link and buys something. 

The same principles apply if you are a gamer, musician, or whatever content you may be streaming. Try to seek out affiliate partnerships related to your streaming content so you can feature products your viewers may be most interested in and thus most likely to purchase.

This can be achieved by linking to brands with existing affiliate programs that you can independently sign up for, or by reaching out to brands that you know will want to partner with you. The bigger your channel, the more affiliate opportunities will be available, and the more revenue you can generate.

How Much Does Twitch Pay?

As mentioned, further earning opportunities on Twitch become available when your channel qualifies to join the Twitch Affiliate program and then the Twitch Partner program. Each program requires your channel to meet specific qualifications before being eligible.

Criteria to become an eligible Twitch Affiliate:

• Reach 50 followers
• Stream for 8 hours (in the last 30 days)
• Stream on 7 unique broadcast days (in the last 30 days)
• Average of 3 viewers (in the last 30 days)

Criteria to become an eligible Twitch Partner:

• Stream for 25 hours
• Stream on 12 unique broadcast days (in the last 30 days)
• Average of 75 viewers (in the last 30 days)
• Average of 3 viewers (in the last 30 days)

Note: Partner eligibility does not mean automatically becoming a partner. To become a Twitch Partner, an eligible channel must first apply and be manually approved by the Twitch Partnerships team. 

Below is a list of the income-generating opportunities that open up when you achieve affiliate or partner status with Twitch. To learn how to gain affiliate status on Twitch, visit our full How to Become a Twitch Affiliate guide.

Twitch Bits

Twitch has its own unique system for helping users express their approval and support of your channel by using what are known as Twitch Bits.

Twitch Bits are Twitch’s original catalog of emojis, which can be used as virtual cheers. While your users play videos on your live stream, they can simultaneously connect through a chat +room in which they can use Twitch Bits to react to your stream and communicate with each other.

However, these animated emoticons are different from your basic smiley face. Each Twitch Bit actually has a monetary value attached to it.

Whether having purchased or earned their Twitch Bits through another means, your viewers can use this form of digital currency to send you a ‘thank you’ for your stream.

Each time one of your viewers cheers you on with a Twitch Bit, you receive a donation toward your channel.

Twitch Subscriptions

Approved Twitch Affiliates and Partners can accept subscriptions from viewers. Racking up viewer subscriptions is a basic yet major way to monetize a Twitch channel.

While any viewer can follow any channel for free on Twitch, subscribers actually pay a monthly fee to subscribe to a channel and enjoy various benefits included with the subscription.

Only channels with Affiliate or Partner status feature a ‘subscribe’ button. This is the main way for a dedicated fan to support your stream financially and join your community.

With each monthly subscription to your channel, you will get half of the earnings; the other half goes to Twitch.

There are three Twitch subscription levels to choose from when subscribing to a channel.

Twitch channel monthly subscription tiers:

• $4.99
• $9.99
• $24.99

Depending on the subscription tier, your viewers will enjoy a set amount of channel-specific emotes as well as ad-free viewing. Many Twitch channels offer special bonuses or customized perks to reward their loyal subscribers, such as badges, giveaways, or exclusive streams and chats.

If your subscribers use Twitch Prime, Amazon will pay the monthly subscription cost to your channel. Either way, you will get 50% of the revenue.

Game Sales

For gamers, Twitch Affiliates and Partners can also earn income through selling games or in-game items through their channel.

If you stream a game that is available for sale on Twitch, your channel can feature a link your viewers can click to purchase the game or game items. If a viewer makes a game purchase from following the link below your stream, you earn 5% of the revenue from the sale.

When one of your viewers buys the game you’re playing via Twitch from the link on your page, they will be notified that you are getting a portion of the funds and enjoy the extra reward of being able to support you through their purchase.

Ad Revenue

Finally, both Affiliates and Partners of Twitch can generate extra income by enabling ads on their stream.

Allowing advertising on your stream is a classic and common way to supplement the earnings of your channel.

Once you become an Affiliate or Partner, you can choose how often ads will be played mid-stream and how long they will last. By determining the frequency and length of advertisements through the dashboard, you can customize your viewers’ streaming experience to strike the right balance between ads and viewing time.

With ads enabled, you will get paid your share every time one of your viewers clicks on an ad from your channel and makes a purchase.

The Bottom Line

Since Twitch is such a dynamic video streaming platform, ways to earn money by having a Twitch channel are ever-expanding and advancing. As with most endeavors, the more you put into your Twitch channel, the more you will get out of it in return.

To start making money on Twitch, focus on growing your channel and expanding your audience. From the beginning, take advantage of every opportunity to connect with your target community, introduce them to your top-quality content, and let them know how to support you through making donations and buying your merchandise. As soon as you can, work to establish affiliate partnerships. 

Be patient, and remember that getting your content discovered takes time and diligence. Appreciate your followers and they will appreciate you back. Supplement your efforts by creating viewer incentives and sticking to a plan to unlock achievements such as becoming an Affiliate and eventually a Partner of Twitch.

Once you become an Affiliate and then a Partner, you’ll have much more profit-generating potential, as you benefit from Twitch Bits, start getting subscribers, make game sales, and get your cut of advertising revenue.

To fast track your channel's growtch, check out TwitchGainz.com