this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026
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The pay. They make more (especially on a donation model) because they get to keep more of what people donate to them. YouTube takes like 30%, and I think Twitch is lower (5%?).
I hear that the discoverability is terrible on Twitch but I'm not a streamer, so what do I know.
Where are you getting 5% from? For one, Twitch doesn't have donations. They have subs and bits. Subs start at 50/50^1^, and go to 70/30 if are a larger streamer^2^. Bits are harder to find info on, but supposedly 1 bit = 1 cent, but the purchase price is higher so if you look at the raw purchase price of 100 bits = $1.40USD then Twitch is taking a ~30% cut.
I used to see a lot of streamers go through third-party sites which have lower cuts, and presumably that is still a popular route. But these have little to do with Twitch and as far as I know you can do this on YouTube as well.
^1^ Twitch Earnings Article ^2^ Twitch Plus Program
Twitch doesn't have donations built into their platform (but you can absolutely donate bits which can be converted into cash). 5% is a me questioning the amount they take from donations of Bits, that's why there's question mark next to it. I don't remember the exact amount but I do know that it's less than YouTube, and that YouTube takes approximately 30%. I was hoping someone would correct me if I was wrong.
To purchase bits Twitch takes a cut. But when you donate bits to a streamer thats not the same as charging the customer who purchased the bits 30%.
Additionally though, some streamers use Kofi or other platforms like stream elements to get donations from their viewers, so there's that too.