Kick vs. Twitch: Which Is Better For Streamers?

Kick is a rising live streaming platform, while Twitch is almost a monopoly. One is less than a year old, while the other has been around for over a decade, but the recent move of some prominent names to Kick and its exceptional revenue split for streamers has ignited the Kick vs Twitch debate among folks.

Twitch has been the industry leader in live streaming; ever since it was acquired by Amazon in 2014, it has grown exponentially. Many tried to take it down, including Microsoft-backed Mixer, which also roped in Shroud for an exclusive deal but failed and closed out in just four years.

Meanwhile, Kick is a new streaming platform that caters to a more dedicated and edgy audience instead of the casual one and lets streamers take charge of their earnings. It’s directly linked to Stake.com, an online cryptocurrency casino based in Australia, and has the support of some significant streamers.

What is Kick (Kick.com)?

Kick, also known as Kick.com, is a live video streaming platform with features similar to Twitch. However, it’s rising as one of the top Twitch competitors and an alternative for viewers and streamers. It was founded in 2022 by a streamer popularly known as Trainwreck after a backlash due to Twitch’s controversial monetization policies and guidelines.

Kick gained instant recognition due to offering a 95/5 split for content creators, while Twitch takes over half of creator earnings. The new platform also allows edgy content like gambling, hot tub streams, pools and bikinis, and more. However, it doesn’t support nudity and NSFW content like Twitch.

Meanwhile, Twitch has strict limitations for content and pushes down on such live streams to maintain a family-friendly reputation. This has led many new and seasoned streamers to consider Kick a more preferred platform to stream and connect with their audience.

Who owns Kick?

Kick came into existence after a backlash against Twitch emerged due to the platform’s recently imposed advertising rules that directly threatened streamers’ earnings. Twitch had planned to limit the scale and category of ads utilized by its content creators, which didn’t sit well with anyone.

To rectify this, Kick was founded by Tyler “Trainwreckstv” Niknam and the owners of Stake.com as a competitor to Amazon-owned Twitch, focusing on lenient moderation and higher revenue shares for streamers. Technically, Kick isn’t owned by Stake.com, but the Australian site directly backs it.

In March 2023, Kick revealed that it’s operating as a company registered in Australia owned by Bijan Tehrani (one of the founders of Stake) and a holding company (owned by Ed Craven, the other founder of Stake). Trainwreckstv is a non-owner advisor for Stake and one of the top streamers on the platform.

A Quick Introduction to Twitch:

As you already know, Twitch is the dominant live-streaming platform that needs no formal introduction. However, we’ll bring your focus to some stats to help you realize why Twitch is almost a monopoly in the live streaming industry.

Founded in 2007 as Justin. Tv, the platform was revamped as Twitch in 2011. Initially, it was a single channel featuring a 24/7 live stream of Justin Kan’s life, but later, more streamers hopped in. In 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch for nearly $1 billion, and the platform never looked back.

As of September 2023, Twitch was amassing 140 million monthly active users (MAUs) and has over 31 million daily active users. The average number of simultaneous views on Twitch is 2.4 million this year. The platform is popular among gamers and viewers who prefer watching live streamers.

Kick vs Twitch: Affiliate Programs & Monetization

Streamers can earn great bucks on both Twitch and Kick. However, the difference lies in their affiliate requirements and monetization programs. Twitch is a traditional platform that takes a big cut from streamers’ earnings, while Kick lets streamers keep the most part and only charges a nominal commission.

To become a Twitch Affiliate, you must meet the following conditions:

• Minimum 50 followers
• Minimum 8 hours of live streams
• Streams that took place on at least 7 different days
• An average viewer count of 3

Meanwhile, Kick Affiliate requires the following criteria to be met:

• To stream for more than 5 hours
• 75 or more followers

As your status grows on either of the platforms, you can take the game up and become a Twitch Partner or Kick Partner. Here are the requirements to unlock the programs:

Requirements for Twitch Partner status:

• To stream for 25 hours
• To stream on 12 different days
• An average viewer count of 75

Requirements for Kick Affiliate status:

• To complete streaming for 30 hours in the past 30 days
• To complete streaming on 12 unique days in the past 30 days
• A minimum average count of 75 live concurrent viewers in the past 30 days
• At least 300 unique chatters in the past 30 days
• At least 20 active subscribers in the past 30 days

Twitch has also introduced a new Partner Plus program for a limited group of streamers after the recent backlash and emergence of Kick.

Here are the requirements to qualify for the new Twitch Partner Plus program:

• Maintain 350 recurring paid subscribers for three consecutive months
• Accumulate 350 Partner Plus points for three consecutive months

Twitch gives a 70/30 revenue split on net subscription revenue for qualifying Partner Plus streamers. However, this only applies to a streamer’s first $100,000 revenue in a year.

Monetization Tools on Kick and Twitch:

Both Kick and Twitch offer several ways for creators to make money with live streaming. First of all, there are ‘Subscriptions.’ Kick gives a lucrative 95/5 split for live streamers, while Twitch provides a 50/50 split. Although Twitch gives a 70/30 split for Partner Plus streamers for the first $100,000 of revenue in a year, it’s still lower than Kick’s split of 95/5.

Apart from subscriptions, Twitch streamers can also earn from ad revenue. Twitch gives a 30 to 55% cut of ad revenue to streamers. To get the 55% net ad revenue share, streamers must run at least 3 minutes of ads per hour, and below that, they’ll receive a 30% share of net ad revenue. Kick has no such program for streamers to earn from ad revenue, as it lets sponsors work with streamers.

Another monetization tool on both Kick and Twitch is ‘Donations.’ Both Twitch and Kick allow streamers to keep 100% of the donations they receive. Additionally, Twitch lets streamers earn a small percentage of video game sales if a buyer purchases through their channel. Kick doesn’t have any such facilities yet.

However, Kick plans to roll out a Creator Incentive Program, which focuses on paying streamers for their time rather than their viewers. Once it’s in place, qualifying streamers earn an hourly wage of $16 on Kick.

Will Streamers earn more on Kick than Twitch?

Streamers have to work pretty hard when it comes to earning a regular income from their streams. Both Twitch and Kick offer viable options to make a good living. By looking at the monetization tools and commission policies, one would assume that streamers could make more bucks on Kick.

However, the reality is pretty different. Several factors affect your earnings, excluding the platform’s cut, such as the size of your audience, the earning potential of your content, and more. If you’re a budding Twitch streamer, your chances of gaining initial traction are higher due to the presence of a more casual audience on the platform.

Meanwhile, new streamers will have a tough time getting the audience on Kick initially due to the platform’s more dedicated base of users who know for whom they’re using it. However, if you’re a well-established streamer with a loyal base of fans, Kick can be a great option for you.

Why is Kick getting popular recently?

Kick is making waves in the live-streaming world due to its creator-friendly monetization policy and roping some of the biggest names in the industry. Félix “xQc” Lengyel and Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa are the biggest streamers that jumped ships from Twitch to Kick in June this year.

They both share nearly 20 million followers on Twitch alone. Kick paid $100 million to xQc for a non-exclusive contract of 2 years, while Amouranth reportedly got paid $30 for a contract. Trainwreckstv was the first streamer to leave Twitch for Kick and is also a platform co-founder.

Several other big streamers have joined Kick, following in the footsteps of bigger names. Here is a list of some of the biggest Kick live streamers as of September 2023:

• Felix “xQc” Lengyel
• Adin Ross
• Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa
• Ninja
• Hikaru Nakamura
• Corinna Kopf
• Roshtein
• Trainwreckstv
• Westcol
• Ice Poseidon
• Ac7ionMan

However, streamers are still skeptical of switching to Kick despite a higher earning potential. Inman “Pokimane” Anys is one such streamer. She recently stated she would never compromise her morals to join Kick as the platform promotes gambling, cryptocurrency, hot tub streams, and other shady stuff.

Kick vs Twitch: Growth and Stats

Kick is rapidly growing, but it still has a mammoth path to reach even half of what Twitch has achieved. The viewership of Kick grew by 404% in the first half of 2023. The estimated earnings of streamers with 100 subscribers during this period was $475. The users also spent 51.8 million hours watching live content on Kick.

Meanwhile, the average concurrent viewership on Twitch in 2023 is 2.45 million, a 13% decrease from the previous year. However, the growth of Twitch is still steady. Around 7.3 million channels stream on Twitch monthly, while only 348K channels are streaming on Kick until June 2023.

In April 2023, Twitch received a whopping 1.07 billion visits and had over 140 million monthly active channels. On the contrary, Kick only had 12 million active users. This comparison isn’t fair since Kick only launched last year, while Twitch has been ruling the live-streaming industry for over a decade.

What Kind of Audience use Kick?

Kick has an audience that is more tuned in to online spaces and already knows which streamers or sort of streamers they’d like to watch. However, Twitch has a mixed audience base, including hardcore fans and casual viewers. All kinds of streams can get views on Twitch, but the same can’t be said with Kick.

Twitch focuses on keeping its content friendly for both brands and advertisers to maintain a safe space for people of all age groups. Meanwhile, Kick has loose advertisement moderation filters and allows streams not promoted on other platforms, such as gambling, hot tub streams, and more.

Twitch has even introduced mature-rated tags recently to solidify its family-friendly reputation, while Kick is willing to let adult-themed streams lurk on the platform. Teenagers and adults are the biggest users on both platforms, but Kick has more male viewers than females.

Final Take: Can Kick Take Over Twitch?

It’s hard to find one person from a group of a thousand live-streaming fans who’d think Kick can take over Twitch in terms of audience, revenue, or any other factor. Twitch is still the undisputed king of the industry and the most recognizable live-streaming platform for anyone.

Since Amazon acquired it, Twitch has never looked back and has been steadily growing. Many platforms emerged and shut down during this period. The most significant name in the list is Mixer, which Microsoft backed. Launched in 2016, Mixer also roped in big names like Shroud for groundbreaking deals.

However, it still failed and closed four years later. The secret recipe to Twitch’s success is Amazon ownership, which provides highly discounted access to AWS to serve content. Kick is also using AWS, but it doesn’t have the benefit and would be burning money, eventually reaching Amazon, the owner of Twitch. Thus, it’s hard to believe that Kick can ever take over Twitch in terms of success.

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