How Much Do Twitch Streamers Make? [2024]: Is it Worth Trying?

Estimates from 2023 show the top 10 streamers on Twitch may collectively earn more than $35 million by turning the relatively solo art of gaming into social events. Twitch, which was launched in 2011 and acquired by Amazon in 2014 for almost $1 billion, has become a place where people come together to chat, interact, and create entertainment from their living rooms.

However, making money on the platform can be hard, especially if you’re just starting. So, how much do Twitch streamers make, and where do they get the revenue from? Keep reading as we dive deep into the statistics of Twitch.

Top streamers on Twitch earn millions on an annual basis

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the top five streamers on Twitch are estimated to earn over $35 million in 2023 combined.

The top 2023 Twitch Influencer, streamer summit1g, also known as Jaryd Lazar, streams about 13-14 hours a day and broadcasts an average of six days a week. Lazar was a competitive Counter-Strike player, and many of the top Twitch streamers are current or former professional esports players.

Twitch doesn’t release information about how much streamers earn, but a significant data breach in 2021 released the earnings of the then-top 25 streamers from August 2019 through October 2021.

Topping the list was CriticalRole, who earned $9.6 million, followed by xQcOW, earning $8.4 million. Based on data in the breach, the top five streamers on Twitch are reported to have made at least $5 million each during the same timeframe. Each streamer in the top 25 earned $2 million or more during that same period.

Source: Influencer Marketing Hub, DataProt

Top Twitch streamers have 10,000+ subscribers

Successful Twitch streamers make, on average, between $100,000 to $200,000 monthly between subscriptions, ad revenue, sponsorships, and donations, but they only earn about $2.50 from each subscriber.

Mid-tier streamers with 1,000 to 10,000 viewers make $5,000 to $30,000 per month, and small streamers with 5 to 100 subscribers make $50 to $1,500 a month.

Source: StreamYard

About three-quarters of small Twitch streamers make no money

About 72.8% of smaller streamers don’t earn money on Twitch, according to a poll of 276 Twitch streamers conducted by the Discord channel of Stream Scheme. Only 15.2% of respondents make between $1 and $25 monthly.

There are multiple ways to earn money on Twitch, but the smaller streamers earn the most through bits, subscriptions, and direct donations through PayPal.

The same poll showed that 20.7% of steamers who earned money did so through subscriptions. About 8.7% of streamers made money from direct donations. Other earnings methods included Twitch Bits, sponsorships, affiliate programs, merch, and other unspecified means.

Source: Stream Scheme

Ninja is the most subscribed Twitch streamer worldwide

Twitch sees more than 240 million monthly active users and 98,056 live broadcasts at any point in time.

As of September 2024, Ninja, whose real name is Richard Tyler Blevins, had nearly 19.1 million followers on Twitch. Ninja was among the first top-ranked players to stream the newly released Fortnite Battle Royale in 2017 and held a record number of concurrent viewers.

Six hundred sixty-seven thousand people watched him play, though TheGrefg later broke that record in January 2021 when 2,468,668 peak concurrent viewers watched him play Fortnite. Today Ninja is one of the wealthiest Twitch streamers, with a net worth of $50 million.

The second most subscribed Twitch streamer is Ibai, with 17.1 million followers on Twitch.

The U.S. has the highest share of Twitch traffic

As of September 2024, 29% of Twitch users were from the United States. The next largest country is Brazil, with 6.03% of the Twitch market, 4.55% in Germany, 4.43% in Japan, and 3.48% in Russia.

In 2021, Twitch saw a record high when the average number of concurrent viewers reached 3.1 million. In 2022 that number decreased slightly to 2.58 million. So far, in 2023, the number of average concurrent viewers is 98,056.

Twitch affiliates earn 50% of subscriptions

To make money on the platform, gamers start with the Affiliate status, where they must gain 50 followers, stream on seven different days, broadcast for more than eight hours, and have an average of three concurrent viewers, all within 30 days.

Once they achieve that goal, streamers can accept bits from viewers and start receiving subscriptions. Affiliate streamers can also run ads on their streams as another way to earn income.

The streamer and Twitch split the subscription revenue 50/50, though that changes when a streamer reaches the Partner level. The minimum payout on Twitch is $50 for most payout methods but increases to $100 for wire transfers.

Source: Stream Scheme, DataProt, Twitch

The top 1% of Twitch streamers collectively earn more than all other streamers

In 2021, more than half of the money paid went to the top 1% of Twitch streamers. All other streamers shared the remaining amount.

A step above the Affiliate program is the Twitch Partner program. Once an affiliate streamer has an average of 75 concurrent views, streams for 25 hours, and on 12 different days across 30 days, they become eligible for the Twitch partnership program, which offers a better cut of the subscription revenue (70%), more ad revenue, and additional promotional opportunities.

According to TwitchTracker, there are currently about 51,500 active Twitch Partners.

Source: PlayToday, DataProt, Twitch, TwitchTracker

KaiCenat and dota2ti have the most viewer hours

Gaming content is the most watched genre on the Twitch platform. As of 2024, KaiCenat and dota2ti have the most viewer hours with 12.5 and 11.3 million, respectively.

In 2020, 30 million visitors were on Twitch daily, and in August 2024, 1.7 billion total hours were watched.

Source: Statista, TwitchTracker, TwitchMetrics

Non-gaming content on Twitch continues to grow

Twitch was initially launched as a spin-off of the general interest platform Justin.tv and primarily focused on gaming content. Despite that, the non-gaming content has grown significantly, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 372,000 average viewers in August 2024, a gain of 10.8% from July.

Music and Performing Arts categories saw a particularly high increase as Twitch became a space for social gatherings and live events that had to move online. In early 2022, viewers watched 270 million hours of live-streaming music content worldwide.

Fun fact, the BobRoss channel has 2.16 million followers and 468,706 hours watched.

Source: Statista, TwitchTracker

Two-thirds of Twitch users are under 35

According to audience research company GWI, in 2019, 41% of Twitch viewers were aged 16 to 24, while 32% were aged 25 to 34. Only 7% of Twitch viewers were between the ages of 45 to 54, and 3% were 55 or older.

Comparatively, in 2023, the demographics changed slightly, with viewers aged 16 to 24 making up 41% of Twitch’s user base and viewers aged 25 to 34 comprising 32%.

Also in 2023, 65% of Twitch’s users were male, compared to 35% of females. In 2022, 78.36% of Twitch users were male, and 19.64% were female.

Source: GWI, StreamScheme

Grand Theft Auto V accounts for 6.4% of total hours watched on Twitch

In the last year, one billion 526 million hours of Grand Theft Auto V were watched. The game is currently the second most watched game on Twitch, after League of Legends.

In the last year, Grand Theft Auto V, or GTA V, viewers watched about 21.1 million weekly hours, followed by World of Warcraft, with 14.6 million hours viewed.

The most popular game on Twitch by the average number of channels was Fortnite, which had 5,800 channels streaming the game, a combined total of 9.67 million hours over seven days.

Source: Statista, PlayToday

League of Legends amassed billions of views

League of Legends has one billion 295 thousand total views over the last year. It is also the third most watched game on Twitch.

However, it came behind Just Chatting, the general conversation category where users can interact with streamers, which had 61.1 million hours of watch time worldwide during the same period.

In September 2024, Just Chatting had 368,000 average viewers over the last seven days. Grand Theft Auto V had 126,000 viewers followed by League of Legends with 115,000 average viewers worldwide in the previous seven days.

Source: Statista, TwitchTracker

How do Twitch streamers make money?

As you think about how to make money online, becoming a Twitch streamer may not be the easiest or fastest way to get there, but it can be a valid side hustle nonetheless. Making money by playing video games can be fun, but making it entertaining to watch requires some showmanship and/or conversational skills.

Here are the revenue streams Twitch streamers use:

• Donations: Viewers on Twitch can donate to streamers using a virtual currency called bits that can be purchased in groups of 100 bits for $1.40 or 500 bits for $7.00. Streamers receive a penny per bit donated through cheering or other chat methods. Some viewers may also donate directly to their favorite streamers using PayPal or other means.
• Subscriptions: For streamers with many viewers, subscriptions can be an excellent way to monetize their Twitch streams. Viewers can choose between three subscription tiers at either $4.99, $9.99, or $24.99 per month on automatic renewal, and the streamer gets either 50% or 70% of that cost, depending on if they are an Affiliate or Partner.
• Advertisements: A classic way for streamers on any platform to make money, ads can help support the streamer's bottom line. Viewers will likely see a 30-second ad whenever they start watching but may also get two or more during a popular stream.
• Sponsorships: Brands may pay streamers to promote or mention a product while they play. For example, game developers pay popular streamers to play their games live, and gaming equipment companies may negotiate to have a streamer use their gear during a specific time.

Bottom line

If you're looking for a fulfilling side hustle, Twitch may not be the easiest option, but it can certainly be a rewarding one with the right dedication to building a viewership. Keep in mind that only a tiny percentage of Twitch streamers make significant money using the platform.

If you need to make some extra cash, check out our list of the best side hustles to explore potential gigs you can choose from.