Kick vs Twitch: Pay, Requirements and Viewers

Kick pays more per sub, and Twitch has the bigger audience. A Kick sub costs a flat $5, and Kick partners "keep 95% of every subscription," its partner page says. Twitch's standard share is 50%, and its Plus Program raises it to 60% or 70% for streamers who hold enough subs for three months. Twitch is far bigger, though: Streams Charts put it at 14.2% of all livestream hours watched in the third quarter of 2026, while Kick hit a record 773.85 million hours in September.

We read Kick's help center and partner page, Twitch's partner page and its January 2024 payout post through our server on October 23, 2026. Twitch's help center and Streams Charts refuse our reader, so their figures come from Google's view of them.

How do Kick and Twitch compare?

Rule	Kick	Twitch
Sub price	$5 a month, flat	$5.99, $9.99 or $24.99
Streamer's share of a sub	95% for partners	50%, or 60% to 70% on Plus
Affiliate bar	5 hours streamed in total	25 followers, 4 hours, 4 days, 3 viewers
Partner bar	75 viewers, 30 hours, 25 subs and more	About 75 average viewers

Kick help, July 7 and July 15, 2026, and streamer.kick.com/partner; Twitch's partner page and January 24, 2024 blog post; Twitch's help center as Google showed it. Read October 23, 2026.

"Kick vs twitch" gets about 3,600 searches a month, up 24% in recent months.

How much do you earn per sub on Kick vs Twitch?

Platform and share	Per 100 subs
Kick, 95% of $5	$475.00
Twitch standard, 50% of $5.99	$299.50
Twitch Plus Level 1, 60% of $5.99	$359.40
Twitch Plus Level 2, 70% of $5.99	$419.30

Our arithmetic on list prices, before taxes and payment fees. Twitch's shares are of net revenue, so real payouts run lower.

Twitch's Plus levels take work to reach. Its January 2024 post says streamers "who maintain 100 Plus Points for three consecutive months will qualify for 60/40," and that the 70/30 level needs 300 points. A Tier 1 sub counts as 1 point, Tier 2 as 2 and Tier 3 as 6. The same post removed the old cap: Twitch said it was "removing the US$100K cap on net revenue at the 70/30 revenue share level for all streamers."

Kick's price got simpler this year. A July 2026 help article says "KICK Subscriptions are a flat $5 USD per month, in every country we support," though an older one from May still lists $4.99. Subscribing doesn't remove ads on Kick, the help center adds.

Twitch has a second tip system, too. Viewers cheer with Bits, and Twitch pays partners "1 cent per Bit used to Cheer for them," its partner page says.

What are the requirements on each platform?

Kick Affiliate comes fast. Kick's help center says "Stream for at least 5 total hours," and that the hours add up over time.

Twitch Affiliate needs a small audience. Twitch's help center lists "Reach 25 Followers," "Stream for 4 Hours," "Stream on 4 Different Days" and "Reach an Average of 3 Viewers." Many older guides still say 50 followers and 500 minutes, but that's out of date.

Kick Partner has a long checklist. Within 30 days you'll need 75 average viewers, 30 hours streamed, 25 active subs, 250 chatters, 3 VODs and 250 followers, plus a verified channel. Our guide to streaming on Kick covers each step.

Twitch Partner goes through the Path to Partner achievement, or "large, engaged viewership/following on other services," Twitch says. Guides from the past month disagree on the hours and days, but they all put the viewer bar at an average of 75. Twitch also says views from "hosts, raids, Reruns, Premieres, Front Page spotlight, and Subscriber Streams" don't count. Partners keep their VODs for 60 days, against 14 for Affiliates.

Which platform has more viewers?

It's Twitch, by a wide margin. Streams Charts counted 31.7 billion livestream hours watched in Q3 2026: YouTube took 43.0%, TikTok LIVE 33.5% and Twitch 14.2%. Twitch's share works out to about 4.5 billion hours for the quarter.

Kick's growing, though. In September 2026 it set records of 773.85 million hours watched, up 16%, and 1.1 million average viewers, up 21%, Streams Charts posted. That's still a fraction of Twitch's quarterly total.

Which should you stream on?

Pick by what you'll need first. If you've already got an audience, Kick's 95% share and flat $5 sub pay more per fan. If you're starting from zero, Twitch's bigger crowd and easy Affiliate bar give you more people to find. Kick also lets partners multistream, but they "earn 50% of your usual revenue on KICK" when they do, its partner page says.

Hclout sells Twitch followers and Kick followers and live views on its Kick page, so weigh that the way you'd weigh any seller. Kick's partner rules say "Avoid unoriginal content, manipulating views or any metrics," so keep that in mind on a channel you want partnered. Our guide to getting more Twitch viewers covers the free ways to grow.

Frequently asked questions

Does Kick pay more than Twitch?

Per sub, yes. Kick partners keep 95% of a $5 sub, while Twitch's standard share is 50% of $5.99, rising to 70% on its Plus Program.

How much is a Kick sub?

A flat $5 a month, according to Kick's July 2026 help article.

What are the Twitch affiliate requirements in 2026?

25 followers, 4 hours streamed, 4 different days and an average of 3 viewers.

What do you need for Kick affiliate?

5 hours of streaming in total, counted over time.

Which has more viewers, Kick or Twitch?

Twitch. It had 14.2% of livestream hours watched in Q3 2026, while Kick's record month, September, came to 773.85 million hours.

Sources

• Kick Help Center, "How KICK subscriptions work for viewers," July 15, 2026, "How to subscribe to a channel on KICK," May 21, 2026, and "How to join the KICK partner program," July 7, 2026; streamer.kick.com/partner; read through our server on October 23, 2026
• Twitch, partner program page and "An Update to Several Streamer Payout Programs," January 24, 2024, read through our server on October 23, 2026
• Twitch Help Center, affiliate and achievements pages, and Epidemic Sound, August 13, 2026, as Google showed them on October 23, 2026
• Streams Charts, Kick's September 2026 report and its Q3 2026 market share post, as Google showed them on October 23, 2026
• Google Ads Keyword Planner, worldwide, read October 23, 2026