Twitch streamers who fulfill the following minimal requirements (50 followers and in the last 30 days – 500 minutes of stream spread over at least 7 days with 3 or more concurrent viewers) are invited to become members of the Affiliate Program.
The Twitch Affiliate program enables streamers to earn money while steaming. There are several things that bring money to Twitch streamers.
4 Ways to Earn Money on Twitch:
1. Twitch subscriptions
2. Bits
3. Games sales
4. Twitch ads
How to Get Paid on Twitch?
Minimum payout is $100 and you can get it via PayPal, ACH, eChecks, and a local bank account. Payments are done every 15th of the month.
They will be explained in the following sections, as well as other details that are worth knowing regarding the Twitch affiliate payout.
Table of Contents
How Does a Streamer Add to Their Earning?
There are four sources of money for you as a streamer: subscriptions, Bits, game sales, and ads.
Subscriptions
You get a part of the fee of every one of your subscribers. All the subscription options are available for you: $4.99, $9.99, $24.99, and the Prime free subscription.
Prime free subscriptions take up to 45 days for verification, so your share will be at your account later.
You get one-half of the subscription revenue after all the deductions (taxes, fees for payment processing, and currency conversion) are made. Very successful streamers get even better rates.
Bits
You can enable Twitch Bits for your channel. They are used by your viewers to Cheer on your channel. Bits are paid for and act as a donation for your channel. Understandably, you get a share of the income – one cent for every Bit used on your channel.
Another way to use them is through In-Extension Bits. You can install an Extension that has enabled using Bits. In this case, you will get 80% of one US cent per Bit and the extension developer will get the remaining 20%.
Related: Best Ways to Get Bits on Twitch
Game sales
Sales are another way to earn on Twitch. The items that are sold are games and in-game items.
As an affiliate, you earn a 5% revenue from every purchase that comes from your channel.
Ads
Changes have been introduced to let Affiliates earn a part of their revenue through ads as well. The more viewers, the more revenue from ads.
Regular add breaks can be used to disable pre-roll ads. For an ad break that lasts 90 or more seconds, the next 30 minutes will be free of pre-roll ads. For gaming streams, ads are played in the main window while the stream is muted and visible above the chat.
Twitch and Payout
Payout is an important topic to understand when you become a Twitch affiliate. The following sections will hopefully answer the most important questions regarding payouts.
When Are Earnings Paid Out?
Starting in April 2019, the payout is Net 15. That means that payments are made 15 days after a month ends. For example, you will get your May earnings around the 15th of June.
How Much Is a Minimal Twitch Affiliate Payout?
The minimal amount you need to have earned is $100. If you don’t have that much at the end of a month, the amount you have will be added to the next month’s earning and, if the sum equals or exceeds $100, you will be paid out after the second month.
If after the second month, you still don’t have the required $100, all the money will be added to the third month, etc.
Which Payout Methods Can I Use?
There are several methods available for streamers to get their earnings. It is important to choose well. Before making the final choice, you should explore all the possible options, as the time for the money to reach you and the fees vary among the choices.
Which Payout Fees Are Involved?
Twitch doesn’t take any transaction fees, but the third-party processor that they use does. Every payment method, as well as rejected payment, incurs a certain fee. To see the current fee rates, go to this page.
What Happens When a Payout is Rejected?
Rejected payments require you to check the information about the payment method, as that is usually the problem. For PayPal, exceeding the receiving limit may also happen.
Rejected payments are retried at the end of each month. This is not beneficial for you because every time a payment fails, a fee is deducted from your account.
If this happens, you are advised to be quick to deal with the issue.
Taxes
Taxes present a significant issue and if you want to be a Twitch affiliate, you have to comply with all that needs to be done in this field. Basically, you are to provide your tax information, regardless of your residence. Read about this here.
Where Can I See My Payout History?
Payout Dashboard is the place where you can see everything regarding your payment history. The data you can view there include the date, amount, method, and status of payment.
There is also the Channel Analytics page. Have in mind that the amounts on that page are only an estimate and are not definitely what you will get paid.
How Much Do Twitch Streamers Earn?
When we read about Twitch streamers’ income, we can find some really impressive numbers. They can get so high that we may think to ourselves: ‘Why don’t I become a streamer?’
But the reality is not that shiny. Reaching these sky-high numbers. Let me take you through some numbers to show you what I want to say.
There are about 9 million active streamers on Twitch. By a very generous estimate (though it is very hard to find any relevant number), let us say that hypothetically about 10% of those are affiliates – that would be 900 thousand people. Of all those, more than half don’t earn as much as $100 a month, with all their effort.
Small Streamers
Small streamers may earn somewhere between $50 and $1500 a month. Most of the revenue comes from subscribers, whereas a smaller part comes from sales and bit donations.
With 5-10 viewers on average, you can earn from as little as $50 to about $200. With 100 viewers, your earning may reach up to $1500.
Big Streamers
Here come some greater numbers.
A streamer with over 1,000 average viewers may earn about $5,000 a month. If the number goes to 10,000 viewers, the income is raised to an estimated $30,000 monthly.
Top Streamers
Attention! Breathtaking amounts ensue!
Top streamers can make between $100,000 to $200,000 every month, solely on Twitch. They get additional income, for example, one extra dollar per subscriber. They have sponsorships and get generous amounts from Bit donations as well.
Related: How Much Do Twitch Streamers Make
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Twitch Affiliates make per ad?
How much do Twitch affiliates make from ads depends highly on the number of subscribers. The exact number is almost impossible to say. The least amount paid per ad per viewer is 0.002 cents, while the most are 0.01 cents.
How often do Twitch Affiliates het paid?
Twitch Affiliates are paid every month. The payment is done by the Net 15 payout method, which means that the revenues are sent to your account 15 days after a month has ended.
Thus, you will get your earnings for September around the 15th of October. It is worth mentioning that you need to have at least $100 to be eligible for a payout.
If you don’t have that much money on your balance, what you have will be added to the next month’s balance and all will be paid (again if it exceeds $100).
How many viewers do you need to live off Twitch?
Though this is not so easy to estimate, we could say that a steady and decent income from Twitch may be earned if you have at least 500 concurrent viewers watching your every stream. Of course, it goes without saying that you stream regularly and invest your time in it.
Conclusion
There are four ways to earn your revenue as a Twitch Affiliate: subscriptions, Bits, game sales, and ads. The payout is monthly, with the condition that you have a minimum of $100 on your balance.
Though a small percentage of streamers become affiliates (and an even smaller number become partners), if you really enjoy playing video games and have the knack for entertainment, go for it! You may end up making some money after all.
Related: Twitch Affiliate Benefits
