Subscriptions (subs)
Recurring paid memberships that viewers buy to support a streamer, typically priced at $4.99–$24.99/month across tiers, granting perks like ad-free viewing and custom emotes.
Overview
A subscription (colloquially “sub”) is a recurring monthly payment a viewer makes to a specific streamer in exchange for perks — usually custom emotes, a subscriber badge, ad-free viewing, and access to subscriber-only chat or Discord channels.
Platform tiers and splits
| Platform | Baseline split | Tiers |
|---|---|---|
| Twitch Affiliate | 50/50 | T1 $5.99, T2 $9.99, T3 $24.99 |
| Twitch Partner | up to 70/30 | same |
| YouTube Membership | 70/30 | variable |
| Kick | 95/5 | $4.99 baseline |
Gifted subs
Viewers can buy subscriptions to gift to others in chat — a practice that exploded in popularity around 2018–2019 and regularly drives sub spikes during hype moments. A small number of “sub gifters” account for a disproportionate share of overall sub volume.
Prime subs
Amazon Prime members receive one free Tier 1 Twitch subscription per month (“Prime sub”), which pays the streamer at a reduced rate but costs the viewer nothing incremental.