Where is the best place to stream?

Now that Mixer is shutting down, only three platforms remain as viable options. Whether you’re a new streamer or migrating from Mixer, there are a lot of details to consider when choosing a platform. Don’t stress! I’ve assembled this platform summary in the hopes that it provides some clarity regarding what each platform has to offer. In the spirit of full disclosure, I currently stream on Twitch but intend to keep this summary objective.

If you’re looking for a quick answer, I recommend going with Twitch. It is the only platform that I know of with a console app for both PS4 and Xbox, so if you stream directly from your console then its your only choice at the moment. Aside from this, Twitch currently has the best features for engaging with your audience, quickest path to earning money, and is the dominate player in the streaming space. To combat its weak streamer discoverability, leverage your YouTube channel and other social media platforms that are very good at this to drive viewers to your Twitch channel.

Side note: Keep an eye on YouTube. If you already have a large following on YouTube you may want to consider streaming there instead since they have solid growth potential and provide the most ways to make money. I just don’t think the user engagement features are there yet.

However, if you’re looking to dive in and think a little bit more about your choice, then read on. In my opinion there are three main areas to consider when choosing a platform.

• Monetization — you should get paid for the content you provide.
• Features — the platform should enable you to engage with your audience.
• Discoverability — the platform should have mechanisms that allow new viewers to find you.

Monetization

Twitch

Levels: Affiliate and Partner Making Money In order to make money you must be either an Affiliate or Partner.

• Bits — you earn $0.01 for every bit given, i.e., $1 for every 100 bits.
• Paid Subscriptions — you earn 50% of the revenue from subscribers; if a viewer subscribes for a month at $4.99, you make $2.50.
• Ad Revenue — in the US, you earn $3.50 USD for every 1,000 people that see the ad. The rate may be different for Partners but I am not sure.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to become an Affiliate, your channel must have 50 followers. Additionally, within a 30 day period you must:

• Stream on 7 different days (12 for Partner)
• Stream a total of at least 8 hours (25 for Partner)
• Average 3 viewers (75 for Partner)

Facebook

Levels: Level Up and Partner Making Money In order to make money you must be either in the Level Up program or a Partner.

• Stars — you earn $0.01 per star given, so if someone buys 100 stars for $1.40 and uses them on your stream, you make $1.00. The larger the purchased star pack is, the less revenue Facebook will take from you.
• Paid subscriptions — currently, only available to Partners. Partners receive 70% of the revenue from their subscribers. So if a fan subscribes for a month at $4.99, you make $3.50.

Eligibility Requirements

Level Up — you should be getting this automatically if you used monetization features on Mixer. Otherwise, your Facebook Gaming page must have at least 100 followers and meet the following requirements within a 14 day period:

• Stream gaming content to a Facebook Gaming page on 2 different days.
• Stream for a total of at least 4 hours.

Partner — this program is currently by invite only. Facebook actively monitors gaming channels and will reach out if they feel yours is a good fit.

YouTube

Levels: YouTube Partner Program Making Money In order to make money you must be in the YouTube Partner Program. I haven’t been able to find information regarding the revenue share percentage for these items yet but here are the existing mechanisms:

• Super Chats
• Super Stickers
• Ad Revenue
• A cut of YouTube Premium Revenue — given whenever Premium members watch your stream.
• Merchandise Shelf — links to your merchandise right from your stream description. In addition to Partner Program membership, you’ll also need over 10,000 subscribers to use this.
• Channel Memberships — allows viewers to support you with a paid channel subscription. In addition to Partner Program membership, you’ll also need over 30,000 subscribers to user this.

Eligibility Requirements

YouTube Partner Program 4,000 watch hours 1,000 subscribers

Features

All platforms support streaming at up to 1080p60 but only Facebook and Youtube give full access to transcoding options. This feature lets you stream at 1080p60 while still allowing your viewers to view the stream at a lower quality if needed based on their connection speed. Twitch provides this to its Partners and on a priority basis to Affiliates based on available capacity.

Twitch

• Console apps — not all streamers use a PC or capture card so having console apps for both PS4 and Xbox makes getting started on Twitch very easy.
• Dedicated App — the dedicated app for iOS and Android gives viewers an easy way to watch streams from mobile device.
• Emotes — there are currently 217 emotes that viewers get to use in chat the moment you sign up.
• Superior Chat — in my opinion, Twitch currently has the best chat interface of any platform so I feel it deserves to be called out as it’s own feature.

After you reach the Affiliate level you unlock more features for your channel.

• Custom Emotes — make your own emotes! The amount you’ll be able to add will scale with your new subscriber count.
• Subscriber Badges — design your own badges for your subscribers for them to show off next to their name in chat.
• Channel Points — viewers will accumulate these as they watch your channel and can be redeemed for whatever you configure. It’s another way to engage with your audience.

Facebook

• Dedicated App — it’s Android-only at the moment but still provides viewers with those devices an easier way to watch streams.
• Accountability in chat — chatters on Facebook have to use the full name listed on their profile which can contribute to a less toxic chat environment.
• Analytics — the analytics you get from Facebook for your stream and video uploads provide a lot of great information. This data can be extremely useful when thinking through how to improve your content.

After you make it into the Level Up program you get access to a couple of additional features for your Facebook Gaming Page.

• Transcoding options — this is an awesome feature so don’t overlook it.
• Access to a community of other Level Up members.

YouTube

• Transcoding options for all! Even if you’re not yet in the YouTube Partner Program, you still get access to these.
• More ways to make money — YouTube certainly has the most ways to make money on the platform. The caveat is that the growth requirements for getting access to these are pretty high. If you already have a large following on YouTube this may not be an issue for you.
• Analytics — YouTube Analytics appear to provide similar value to what Facebook is offering. There are great insights here and Twitch needs to step it up.

After you make it into theYouTube Partner Program you also get access to all of the monetization features mentioned above.

Discoverability

Twitch

It’s pretty tough to get discovered on Twitch, although they’ve made a few moves like adding a “Recommended smaller communities” section to the home page. Still, the best advice is to build a viewer pipeline on other platforms with high discoverability, like Instagram and Youtube, and funnel them to your Twitch stream.

Facebook

Community building on Facebook is much easier than on Twitch. Even if you don’t choose it as your streaming platform, I recommend creating a Facebook Gaming Page for this purpose. Facebook is extremely good at getting your stream in front of viewers and when shown streams auto-play in the feed. This is an awesome feature — it gives people a chance to watch without needing to go to your gamer page. Also, you can join similar communities and share your stream across any number of them. Connecting people is what Facebook does best and that’s no different with their gaming platform.

YouTube

Playing relevant content for people is what YouTube was made for so they should be really great at this. However, streaming content tends to be buried on the website. People go there to search for and watch video so streaming video should be no different. With some small platform tweaks it could be awesome, but for now, it seems best for VoD content.

I wish you luck in your platform search and I hope this summary was helpful in some way. If there’s anything you think I left out or should be corrected, send me an email and I’ll take a look. Also, if you’d like to support me please consider taking a moment to follow me on Twitch, Instagram, Twitter and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Looking for more? I also recommend checking out this guide and this video by Devin Nash.