Streamers are currently at their peak in popularity. Influencers have found a new way to interact with their community while creating content through streaming platforms. But while Twitch has long reigned supreme in this field, the king feels his crown slowly slipping. Now that the profession of streamer is increasingly legitimate in the eyes of the public, more and more of them are getting started and believing in the prospect of stable remuneration.
This is obviously only the case for a handful of them, some of whom have become millionaires thanks to the platforms. Everyone is now getting into the livestream race, even historic video creation platforms such as YouTube, with more or less advantageous promises for those who want to make a living from their passion. Kick recently finished kicking the anthill by offering a model so different from Twitch's that waves of creators have undertaken a migration.
However, remuneration does not define everything a streamer can expect from a platform. When you want to make a career out of it, it is important to look at the work environment in which you operate, whether there are any opportunities for advancement and under what conditions creators must adhere. But then, between Twitch, YouTube and Kick, which platform is the most interesting and on what levels?
Remuneration
Let's get to the heart of the matter by talking about money. While many people get into livestreaming to make a career out of it, you should know that those who can actually make a living from it are extremely few. There are currently 3 ways to make money on any platform: donations, subscriptions and advertising. But so that the latter can also make a living from your broadcasts, they often collect a share of the revenue you generate.
Twitch is at the bottom of the ranking with a not very generous distribution. Recently, the company standardized the remuneration of all its streamers on a 50/50 basis. This mainly concerns revenues related to subscriptions (called subs). Some members of the Partner Plus program can benefit from a 70/30 split, which is more advantageous, under certain conditions. Recently, the firm relaxed its expectations and even introduced a new 60/40 system. However, these last two percentages are not a global reality on Twitch. We will therefore only remember the first figure announced.
Following certain decisions taken by the Amazon platform, many streamers have said goodbye to the platform to turn to YouTube. Indeed, the Google subsidiary offers a slightly more advantageous remuneration, at a rate of 70/30 for everyone. The methods for generating money are exactly the same as those of its counterpart, it should nevertheless be remembered that the audience is generally lower than on Twitch. It will be a platform favored by those who already have a community in place capable of following them.
But in the financial gains sector, no one does better than Kick. Indeed, the firm offers a record rate of remuneration, up to 95/5 for everyone and almost without conditions, or in any case much easier to achieve than those of Twitch, its most direct competitor. The platform would even offer a program for the smallest creators, paying them with a fixed hourly rate. Will this base remain intact once the user target is reached? No one knows, but many take advantage of it before it's too late.
The 3-figure compensation
- Twitch: between 50% and 70% of the profits
- Youtube: 70% of the profits
- Kick: 95% of the profits
Kick is the most profitable platform for streamers... for now. The system can change at any time, as Twitch did before.
Unauthorized content
In addition to compensation, the work environment is one of the most important components. For this, there are a certain number of rules to respect on each platform, to ensure that users, sometimes minors, are provided with a safe place. It should be remembered that each of the online platforms is accessible from the age of 13. In this area, Twitch has the strictest conditions. The exception remains swimsuits which are only authorized in a specific category of the service.
“We do not allow streamers to be partially or fully nude, including genitals or buttocks. We also do not allow streamers to imply or suggest that they are fully or partially nude, including but not limited to covering breasts or genitals with objects or censor bars. Showing the outline of genitals is not allowed, even if covered. […]For people who identify as women, we ask that you cover your nipples and underbust. […] All streamers must cover the area from the waist to the lower pelvis and buttocks.”
In YouTube’s terms of service, we can read that only “sexually gratifying” and “pornographic” content is strictly prohibited on the platform, but no mention is made of nudity in particular. It should be kept in mind, however, that the platform reserves the right to demonetize, age-restrict, or delete a video based on the level of nudity or sexuality shown. The reality is that many creators encounter the same difficulties as on Twitch.
Kick, for its part, is a platform created by… The owner of the online casino site Stake. The service therefore comes from an already controversial background. That’s why the managers don’t bother with as many rules as Twitch and YouTube. For nudity, we can read in the terms of use:
“Please avoid micro-bikini tops and bottoms. Underboobs are acceptable if the rest of the bra covers 70% of the chest, including the nipple. Genitals must be fully covered. Do not promote your off-platform sites in your stream titles. Avoid lingerie.”
Moreover, the platform allows alcohol consumption, drunkenness, gambling and other moderate and even banned behaviors on Twitch and/or YouTube. When it comes to music, all platforms strictly adhere to the DCMA guidelines, so you should use royalty-free tracks.
Authorized content in brief
- Twitch: No nudity, no copyrighted music, no alcohol
- YouTube: No pornography, nudity “accepted”, but regulated, no copyrighted music, no alcohol
- Kick: No pornography, nudity discouraged, no copyrighted music, alcohol allowed
Kick is the freest platform of the trio, with few constraints in terms of content presented.
User protection
Banning certain content is one thing, but the protecting its users also involves the moderation stage. On Twitch, it is omnipresent. To prevent the spread of hate on the web, but also the propagation of sensitive subjects, the platform relies on a complete artillery of tools aimed at moderating everyone's behavior. Detection bots, blocking accounts, muting or even the designation of moderators: the arsenal of the Amazon subsidiary theoretically allows you to stream safely. However, not everything is flawless, and creators sometimes complain about an arbitrary side.
Kick, which is at the opposite end of the spectrum, has as its motto total freedom, with almost no limits. There are tools that allow you to filter certain keywords (insulting ones for example), to moderate your chat yourself or to block users. On the other hand, the automatic part is almost non-existent. The CEO of the company had also explained that it promotes dialogue and context. Rather than banning or punishing, it lets the alleged culprits express their intentions, which can often be to the detriment of those affected.
It is also true that Kick recovers those banned from Twitch, those accused of sexual assault, harassment, but also racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia. All these behaviors are authorized on the platform unlike Amazon's, so we cannot guarantee that all communities will be welcomed on Kick. The firm also boasts of attracting problematic elements from its competitor.
YouTube plays in another league. A little apart, the platform has effective content filters, but moderation needs to be reviewed. The biggest waves of hate are not on this network anyway, but it is good to note that it is possible to reserve the chat for its subscribers, to deactivate it completely, or even to report problematic accounts.
Broadcasting
In the field of multi-broadcasting, the big winner of this comparison is Twitch. Indeed, the network allows you to broadcast your live on other platforms in real time, which allows you to reach a much larger audience in one go. It is the only one that offers this kind of service without using complicated software, so it is a major advantage. In terms of stream support, it is also the platform that has the most tools, particularly thanks to its Twitch Studio.
In a more friendly atmosphere, Twitch also benefits from the advantages of belonging to Amazon. It is possible, if you are a Prime subscriber, to launch Watch Parties to watch Prime Video content with viewers who also have a Prime account. This is an undeniable advantage that other platforms will never be able to obtain.
On the other hand, Twitch does not allow you to keep your previous lives, unless you use the very useful trick of highlights. This allows you to record your lives or only part of them manually, then group them into customizable playlists with thumbnails. The platform also has a setting that allows you to limit access to replays and clips. Only people who are subs will be able to access them, unlike others who will only be able to watch your live broadcasts.
On YouTube, this is done absolutely automatically. Indeed, when a live is over, the platform offers you to record its replay, which then becomes a classic video. It is of course possible to create playlists that will be visible in the corresponding tab and by all users of the platform, whether they have an account or not.
Kick works in a similar way to Twitch, with replays temporarily available as well as a fairly intuitive clip system.
Broadcasting in brief
- Twitch: clips, temporary replays, multicasting, Twitch Studio, Watch Party
- YouTube: automatic and permanent replays
- Kick: clips, temporary replays
Broadcasting on Twitch allows you, thanks to multicasting, to know which platform suits you best. It is also the platform with the most comprehensive dashboard.
And TikTok in all this?
Best known for its short and engaging videos, TikTok has become a real Swiss army knife. In just a few months, the Chinese social network has risen to the rank of UFO in the field of live, calling for democratization to all populations, all perspectives and all themes.
To launch a live on TikTok, you will only need 100 subscribers. Then, you collect a percentage on the number of gifts that the spectators send. If it is very practiced, it is because the TikTok live is absolutely simple. Since they are generally watched on smartphones, fans generally do not expect to have a huge quality in terms of image, which is a good point for the speed of broadcasting and the economy on the hardware.
In addition, the scroll-based operation facilitates the visibility of any stream, even if those that obtain the most interactions with the spectators are highlighted by the algorithm. They require almost no adjustment and can be launched very quickly. Lives on TikTok mainly allow you to collect the small amounts sent by users, in the form of paid gifts. Other devices (matches, duo lives, etc.) exist to boost this functionality and thus attract creators.
Today, the remuneration is variable on the platform, as well as the visibility of the influencers. However, we know that certain strategies, when they are in the wind, can bring in big money. This is currently the case for live matches and the NPC trend, these broadcasts where the creator pretends to be a video game character. His actions are dictated by the spectators' gifts, which pushes them to spend.
Dailymotion, the outsider prepares its comeback
The platform that we certainly think about the least has nevertheless been on the market for a very long time. Dailymotion has always positioned itself as a direct competitor to YouTube, at a time when services of this type were extremely few and not really focused on career prospects. Instead of sinking, the platform recently reinvented itself by highlighting its creative possibilities, but also its advantages in terms of remuneration.
To benefit from it, the creator must have a verified account. From then on, he can benefit from 50% of the profits generated by advertising on his videos, and grant himself a bonus between 100 and 10,000 euros depending on the engagement of the spectators on the exclusive content on the platform. It is a bonus that can make you dream. However, the platform is still quite opaque on the percentage of remuneration of its creators. We can imagine that it is between 50 and 70% like its main competitors.
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