How Much Do Streamers Lose to Platform Cuts?

Streamers lose a platform-set share on most paid interactions, and the exact rate depends on the mechanic. Twitch keeps 50% of a standard subscription (30% at Partner Plus Level 2) and instead pays a fixed $0.01 per Bit cheered. Kick keeps 5% of subscriptions and KICKs but 0% of eligible direct donations. YouTube keeps 30% of Super Chat and Super Thanks. None of the three publishes a self-serve path for an individual streamer to negotiate a different rate.

Every major streaming platform advertises the ways a viewer can pay a streamer — subs, bits, KICKs, Super Chats — but the percentage the platform keeps for itself is buried in a help article, not the sign-up page. Below is that percentage for each mechanic on Twitch, Kick, and YouTube, sourced directly from each platform's own documentation, so a streamer can see what a $10 payment actually turns into before it lands in their account.

Method and dates. Every figure on this page was read directly from the named platform's own help center, pricing page, or blog on September 3, 2026. Where this page says a platform "does not publish" something, the claim is narrow: the item was absent from those public pages on September 3, 2026, and a privately negotiated arrangement would not appear in public help documentation either way. Platform fees and thresholds change without notice, and every list price quoted here is a US-dollar example that varies by country, currency, and purchase platform.

How much does Twitch keep from a subscription?

Twitch keeps 50% of a standard monthly subscription and pays the streamer the other 50%, the same rate for Affiliates and Partners alike. Twitch's own Affiliate Program FAQ describes the arrangement as a "50/50" split between streamer and platform (Twitch Affiliate Program FAQ, verified September 3, 2026), so half of a subscription's list price reaches the streamer before taxes.

Twitch lists the United States Tier 1 web subscription price as USD 5.99 (Twitch Help — Local Subscription Pricing Countries, verified September 3, 2026), so a US web Tier 1 subscription at the standard 50/50 split leaves the streamer roughly $3.00 before taxes. Twitch prices Tier 1 differently by country and by purchase platform, so USD 5.99 is a US web example rather than a universal subscription price.

Twitch's Plus Program raises that subscription share to 60% at Level 1 or 70% at Level 2, and Twitch requires a minimum of 100 Plus Points for Level 1 or 300 Plus Points for Level 2 held for three consecutive months to qualify (Twitch Help — Plus Program, verified September 3, 2026). Twitch announced on January 24, 2024 that it was removing the US$100,000 cap on net revenue at the 70/30 revenue-share level for all streamers, including those in the Partner Plus Program. Until a streamer clears Twitch's Plus Points bar, the 50/50 rate applies to every subscription.

How much does Twitch keep from Bits?

Twitch pays a streamer $0.01 for every Bit a viewer cheers, so a 100-Bit cheer nets exactly $1.00 for the streamer. Twitch publishes that one-cent-per-Bit payout on its own Partners page (Twitch Partners page, verified September 3, 2026), and the Bit payout is a fixed per-Bit amount rather than a percentage split of what the viewer paid.

"Twitch provides participating Partners a share of the revenue Twitch receives from Bits equal to 1 cent per Bit used to Cheer for them." — Twitch Partners page, verified September 3, 2026

Twitch does not describe the Bit payout as tiered by Partner status: because the Bit payout is fixed at $0.01, a streamer's take per Bit does not change with cheer volume, Partner status, or Plus Points, unlike Twitch's percentage-based subscription split. Twitch does not publish what it charges viewers to buy Bits on that same Partners page, so Twitch's exact margin on the purchase side is not verifiable from a primary source; the confirmed figure is the payout side, $0.01 to the streamer per Bit cheered.

How much does Kick keep from subscriptions and KICKs?

Kick keeps 5% of every subscription, gifted subscription, and KICKs tip, paying the streamer 95%. Kick's help center states that Kick "uses a 95/5 split" across its main revenue streams and calls the retained 5% a processing fee (Kick Help — revenue split, verified September 3, 2026), so a Kick payment returns 95 cents on the dollar.

Kick prices a channel subscription at a flat $5 USD per month in every country Kick supports, so one Kick subscription at the published 95/5 split turns into $4.75 for the streamer.

Direct donations on Kick sit outside the 95/5 split entirely: Kick states that eligible streamers keep 100% of a direct donation, because Kick is not the payment processor routing that transaction (Kick Help — streamer safety and revenue, verified September 3, 2026). The platform cut on Kick therefore depends on which mechanic a viewer picks: a $20 KICKs tip returns $19.00 to the streamer, while a $20 eligible direct donation returns the full $20.00 before the streamer's own processor fees.

How much does YouTube keep from Super Chat and Super Thanks?

YouTube keeps 30% of every Super Chat, Super Sticker, and Super Thanks payment and pays the creator the remaining 70%, calculated after local sales tax and iOS App Store fees are deducted (YouTube Help — Super Chat & Super Stickers, verified September 3, 2026). A $10 Super Chat bought on desktop therefore returns roughly $7.00 to the creator.

"Creators receive 70% of Supers revenue that is confirmed by Google. The 70% is calculated after local sales tax and App Store fees on iOS are deducted. Transaction costs, including credit card fees, are currently covered by YouTube." — YouTube Help — Super Chat & Super Stickers, verified September 3, 2026

Supers sit behind YouTube Partner Program membership, and YouTube publishes two entry paths rather than one. The lower fan-funding path, available in eligible countries, asks for 500 subscribers, 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months or 3 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days. The higher ad-revenue path asks for 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days. A channel below YouTube's 500-subscriber fan-funding threshold cannot turn on Super Chat at all, regardless of how much a viewer wants to pay.

YouTube also caps how much a single viewer can spend on Supers: in general a viewer can spend up to $500 USD per day, or $2,000 USD per week, across Super Chats, Super Stickers, and Super Thanks. A creator's ceiling on Supers revenue from any one viewer is therefore set by YouTube, not by the viewer's willingness to pay.

Which platform keeps the biggest cut?

Twitch keeps the biggest standard cut of the three platforms at 50% on subscriptions, YouTube is next at 30% on Super Chat and Super Thanks, and Kick keeps the smallest at 5% on subscriptions and KICKs (all verified September 3, 2026 against each platform's own help documentation).

Kick's 0% policy on eligible direct donations makes the effective cut on Kick depend on the mechanic a viewer chooses. The table below sets each mechanic's published split side by side so a streamer can pick the mechanic, not just the platform.

Do these cuts apply no matter how much a streamer earns?

Twitch's 50%, Kick's 5%, and YouTube's 30% cuts are platform-wide standard rates that do not shrink as a streamer's revenue grows. The one documented exception is Twitch's Plus Program, which raises a streamer's subscription share to 60% or 70% after a Plus Points threshold is held for three consecutive months.

Neither Kick's revenue-split article nor YouTube's Supers article described a volume-based path to a better split when both were read on September 3, 2026: a KICKs tip stays at 95/5 and a Super Chat stays at 70/30 regardless of channel size (Kick Help — revenue split and YouTube Help — Supers, both verified September 3, 2026). Neither help center published a self-serve process for an individual streamer to request a different rate on that date, which is a statement about the public documentation rather than proof that no private arrangement exists.

Earnings size changes when a streamer gets paid, not what share the streamer keeps: Twitch requires an accrued balance of at least $50 for most payout methods, or $100 for wire transfer, before it issues a payout. A streamer below Twitch's $50 payout minimum still loses the same 50% subscription share; the remaining 50% simply stays as an unpaid accrual until the balance clears that minimum.

Does the platform's cut include payment processing?

YouTube and Kick both address payment processing inside their published splits, while Twitch publishes no separate processing breakdown. YouTube states it currently covers transaction costs including credit card fees on Supers, and Kick calls the 5% it keeps a processing fee.

A streamer comparing keep rates across the three platforms should therefore read YouTube's 70% as processing-inclusive and read Twitch's published 50% subscription share as a revenue-share figure before any downstream payout or currency-conversion charges. Off-platform collection works the other way around, because a card processor bills its fee separately from whatever cut the collection tool takes: Stripe lists 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge as its standard rate for online domestic card payments (Stripe pricing, verified September 3, 2026). Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 is typical US domestic online-card pricing rather than a universal rate, since international cards, currency conversion, and non-card payment methods are priced differently.

Alternative payment comparison: what does an off-platform tip link cost?

Money a fan sends outside a platform's subscription or Super Chat system is not subject to Twitch's, Kick's, or YouTube's revenue share, and carries the collection tool's own fee plus card processing instead. FanBell charges a 12% platform fee only when a payment succeeds (FanBell pricing, verified September 3, 2026), and card processing is billed separately from that 12%.

This section is an alternative-payment comparison rather than a platform benchmark, and every fee below is cited to the same standard as the platform sections above: the operator's own pricing or help page, read on September 3, 2026.

FanBell's 12% is a platform fee, not an all-in cost. Stripe's standard US online-card rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge applies on top of the FanBell fee the same way it applies to any online card payment (Stripe pricing and FanBell pricing, both verified September 3, 2026). On a $20 Tip paid with a US card, the 12% platform fee is $2.40 and Stripe's standard rate works out to $0.88, leaving roughly $16.72 for the creator. FanBell applies no subscriber or follower threshold before a creator can accept a tip (FanBell — how it works, verified September 3, 2026), unlike the 500-subscriber fan-funding gate that stands in front of YouTube Super Chat.

Venmo publishes a 1.9% + $0.10 seller transaction fee on payments received to a business profile, and Venmo's Purchase Protection Program does not cover payments that are not tagged as goods and services. A direct tip link does not replace a Twitch sub, a Kick KICKs tip, or a YouTube Super Chat, because each of those three mechanics carries distinct value tied to being seen live in chat or counted toward a platform's subscriber perks; an off-platform link only changes the cut on money a fan wants to send through a bio link, a video description, or a Discord announcement.

Related reading: Twitch sub payout math, Kick's revenue split in full, and Super Chat vs. a direct tip for VTubers break down each platform's numbers in more depth.

Frequently asked questions

Kick publishes the smallest cut of the three platforms at 5%, YouTube keeps 30% of Supers, and Twitch keeps 50% of a standard subscription while paying a flat $0.01 per Bit cheered (all verified September 3, 2026 against each platform's own help documentation). None published a self-serve path to negotiate a different rate on that date.

Which platform takes the smallest cut?

Kick takes the smallest published cut of the three platforms at 5% on subscriptions and KICKs, and 0% on eligible direct donations. Twitch's standard 50% subscription split is the largest of the three unless a streamer has qualified for Twitch's Plus Program.

Can a streamer negotiate a better split with Twitch, Kick, or YouTube?

None of the three publishes a self-serve negotiation path in its help center. Twitch's only published route to a better subscription split is the Plus Program, which requires holding a minimum of 100 Plus Points (Level 1) or 300 Plus Points (Level 2) for three consecutive months rather than an individual negotiation. Kick's and YouTube's help centers described no comparable upgrade path for subscriptions, KICKs, or Supers when both were read on September 3, 2026.

Does YouTube's 30% cut include payment processing fees?

Yes — YouTube states it currently covers transaction costs, including credit card fees, on Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Super Thanks, so the 70% a creator receives is calculated after local sales tax and iOS App Store fees only.

What subscriber count does a channel need before Super Chat turns on?

YouTube's lower fan-funding path into the Partner Program asks for 500 subscribers, 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months or 3 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days, in eligible countries. The 1,000-subscriber threshold applies to YouTube's ad-revenue path, not to fan funding.

Do these percentages change once a streamer hits Partner status?

Reaching Partner status does not by itself change the standard subscription split on Twitch — Partners default to the same 50/50 rate as Affiliates and must separately qualify for the Plus Program to raise it. Kick's 95/5 split and YouTube's 70/30 Supers split are not tiered by follower or Partner status beyond the initial eligibility requirement to unlock each feature.

FanBell is free to start with no monthly fee and applies a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays, with card processing billed separately.

Create your free FanBell page and set a tip link with a 12% platform fee — no revenue-share tier to qualify for and no subscriber threshold, from the first dollar a fan sends.