Rising Creators Forum

I'm thinking about taking streaming more seriously but i want to have realistic expectations about income. i'm currently an affiliate with about 40 average viewers

How much are you actually making from twitch? i see people with thousands of viewers saying they barely make minimum wage and i'm trying to figure out if this is even viable as a side income

I'm a twitch partner with 180 average viewers and i make about $900-1200 per month from twitch

income breakdown:
- subs: $450-600 (i have 45-60 subs, partners get 70/30 split so $3.50 per sub)
- bits: $150-200
- ads: $300-400 (partner ad rates are way better than affiliate)
- donations/tips: this varies wildly, some months $100 some months $500

the jump from affiliate to partner made a huge difference in income because:
1. better revenue split on subs
2. way better ad rates
3. more credibility = more subs

but to get to partner level (75 average viewers consistently) took me 14 months of streaming 5 days per week. it's a grind

If you want to make actual money from streaming treat it like a business. diversify income with youtube, tiktok, sponsorships, merch. relying only on twitch income is risky even as a partner

I'm going to be brutally honest: as an affiliate with 40 average viewers you're probably making $50-150 per month max

my stats for reference:
- 45 average viewers
- 850 followers
- stream 15-20 hours per week
- monthly income: $120-180

that breaks down to:
- $30-50 from subs (i have 8-12 subs usually at $2.50 per sub after twitch takes their cut)
- $50-80 from bits
- $40-50 from ads (i run 3 min of ads per hour)

Twitch affiliate income is basically beer money unless you're pulling 100+ average viewers consistently. and even then you're looking at maybe $300-600 per month

the real money comes from:
- sponsorships (but you need at least 500+ average viewers)
- youtube ad revenue from stream vods
- donations through streamlabs/paypal (better than bits because twitch doesn't take a cut)

don't quit your day job for twitch unless you're a partner with 500+ average viewers making $2k+ per month minimum