YouTube V/S Twitch: Which is Better?

YouTube V/S Twitch – Two of the biggest platforms when it comes to live streaming. But which one is better?

Before we begin, we just want to clear that no platform is universally better than the other in terms of live streaming and it is just a matter of personal choice.

YouTube V/S Twitch: Differences

Though there are many similarities between the two platforms but there are some undeniable differences as well.

The most notable difference is the purpose of the two platforms. Where Twitch is primarily used for live streaming, YouTube caters to a bigger audience allowing them to only do live streaming but also put long lasting content. That content can also vary from long videos to short format videos.

There are several other differences between the two platforms, as described below.

Browsing

If you wish to edit your thumbnail, then that is only possible o YouTube and not on Twitch.

Twitch seems to be a little bias towards popular streamers and recommends mostly those channels which get more views whereas, YouTube allows even the new channels and creators to grow.

Such differences make YouTube better at browsing than Twitch.

Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions for Twitch and YouTube are somewhat different. Although YouTube has some stringent rules but it still seems to be much lenient compared Twitch, as this platform might just ban streamers with zero explanation.

YouTube, unlike Twitch, has a three-strike system. There are warnings on YouTube before everything goes dark. Again, it would appear as though YouTube is in the lead for being a kinder system to its creators than one might expect from Twitch.

Growth

When there is YouTube V/S Twitch in terms of growth, then without a shadow of doubt YouTube is way ahead of Twitch.

YouTube not only has a better algorithm but not it also allows creators to create shorts enabling better prospects of growth.

On Twitch, the chances are just so slim and are really out of your control. 

Monetization

When it comes to monetization on Twitch all you need to do is subscribe to Twitch Affiliates.

To become an affiliate you need 500 minutes broadcast over 7 days, an average of 3 viewers and at least 50 followers. Honestly, that’s not too crazy.

However, although reaching affiliate may not be too challenging, growing your channel into something where you are making a decent income is difficult as it is extremely difficult to promote your channel here if you are a new streamer.

You may get a few donations and a few subs every month, which is cool for some side money, but growing your channel into something that you can live off of is hard.

On the other hand monetization on YouTube is comparatively more difficult. To begin monetizing on YouTube you need over 4,000 hours of watch time and at least 1,000 subscribers. 

However, unlike Twitch, people can come and watch your channel 24/7, 365. On Twitch, a majority of people are only going to watch you when you are live.

Youtube also pays more for ads (see below for more details). And, the fact that these ads are running all day on Youtube compared to only when you are streaming on Twitch is a big reason why. 

Lastly, it’s easier to create and monetize a niche on Youtube than Twitch. If you create content in a certain niche (painting, dancing, etc.), Youtube does a better job of getting that out there than Twitch does and so it makes it easier for you to monetize this traffic from people interested in your niche. 

-Ads – When your stream reaches affiliate, you can turn on ads. These work similarly to YouTube in that they play right before and during your stream. The amount of money they pay fluctuates, but the basic payout is about $0.25 – $1.50 per 1,000 views.

-Bits – Streamers can receive direct donations from viewers. Viewers use a unique Twitch currency known as Bits for this purpose. Twitch takes 29% off the top, leaving streamers with 71% of the donation made with Bits. But, the viewer buys the Bits at a premium cost from Twitch. So, Twitch makes money when the viewer buys Bits, when they donate Bits to a streamer, and again when the streamer tries to cash out.  

-Donations – Donations via a Paypal donation button, or other monetary exchange platforms, gives zero percent to Twitch. In this way, a viewer can donate $5, for example, and the streamer will see 100% of the money. It is the cheaper way of making sure that the streamer gets all the money a viewer intends to give.

-Subscribers – Here’s where Twitch is exciting compared to YouTube. Twitch takes 50% (they take less if you are a partner) of subscription fees, which are $5 per month per subscription. So, the streamer makes $2.50 per subscription per month. It may not seem like much, but some streamers have tens of thousands of subscribers. And subscriber culture is alive and well on Twitch. People want to support their streamers. 

-Merchandise – Here’s an aspect of Twitch that YouTube doesn’t seem to be able to comprehend. Live sales on a stream, all while the viewer never has to go to another screen. It is accomplished by one of many merchandising extensions that one can add to Twitch. We’ve got a whole article talking about these twitch extensions and their value to the streamer.*

* Keep in mind that YouTube has also included a merchandise bar for qualifying    streamers, but the Twitch extensions offer more variety.