Is it better to be a Twitch partner or affiliate?

In this article, we’ll examine the key distinctions between being a Twitch partner and an affiliate, particularly in terms of revenue: will you make significantly more money as a partner than as an affiliate? We will address all of your inquiries.

As you are already aware, joining the platform as an affiliate is the first step toward achieving a particular status. Becoming a partner, however, is even more exclusive and will increase your visibility as a streamer.

To become an affiliate, you will have to meet the following requirements:

  • Minimum 50 followers Needed.
  • Streamed a minimum of 500 minutes in total, during 7 individual days in the last 30 days.
  • Have an average of 3 viewers.

As you can see, they are not very demanding requirements either, while to get the Twitch partner, you will have to meet the following for at least 30 days:

  • Have streamed a minimum of 25 hours.
  • Average of 75 viewers.
  • Have streamed for 12 different days.

It is true that fulfilling these requirements does not ensure you will get a Twitch partner, particularly in light of the intense competition and large number of partner requests. The truth is that having a Twitch partner does not grant you the same level of “social status” as it did in the past.

Earn money as an Affiliate or Partner

Whether you are a Twitch affiliate or partner, you can start monetizing your streams in several ways. At the income level, then, you will have the same options as a partner as as an affiliate:

  • Subscription Program: Your followers will be able to subscribe to your channel and pay a monthly fee that is $4.99, $9.99, $24.99 and the free Twitch Prime subscription.
  • Bits: It is like the virtual currency of Twitch, and for each bit you will receive 1 cent. The bits can be obtained for free (by watching advertising videos) or by paying for them.
  • Advertising: You can also generate income thanks to advertisers, and as an affiliate or partner you can configure the number of ads you want to launch. The amount of money depends on the CPM and the campaigns that are active.

Differences Between Being a Twitch Affiliate and Partner

Being a partner has additional benefits that will increase your streaming quality, audience engagement, and visibility. The main advantages of becoming a Twitch partner are as follows:

Channel Customization: You can unlock up to 60 unique emotes as a Twitch member, make custom chat badges for subscriptions, and change the prefix code that appears at the start of your emotes. You can also use it to create cheermotes, bit emblems, and verified user emblems.

Free lifetime channel subscription for your chatbot and up to 3 additional free lifetime channel subscriptions for your friends or family (depending on the total number of subscribers they have).

Be a “Cover”: In order to spend an entire month on the front lines every six months, partners can request to be a Twitch cover once per month for a single day. In this manner, when users access the platform, they will see them as the first streamer. Twitch Partner provides its partners with a number of promotional advantages.

VoD features: Expanded VoD storage allows you to show new videos to your audience and rebroadcast older content for 60 days instead of 14 days like affiliates.

Subscriber Streams: You have the choice to host a stream for your community’s most active members thanks to subscriber streams (VIPs, moderators, etc).

Broadcast Delay: To ensure fairness during competitive play, partners may postpone their broadcast for up to 15 minutes. For games like Fortnite, this functionality can be very helpful.

Twitch Team: By making a request to the Partner Support team, Twitch Partners can establish their own stream team.

Video Transcodes: Partners will always have first dibs on the high-end options available on their channel. To ensure the best viewing experience, viewers can choose the quality at which they watch a broadcast using the quality options. Partners are guaranteed transcoders on all of their broadcasts, while non-partner channels receive transcoders based on available capacity.

Priority support: Although Twitch’s customer service is not its strongest suit, you will get a response from the team within 1-2 business days.

Table Comparison: Twitch Affiliates vs Partners

Twitch AffiliateTwitch PartnersBitsYes, without customizationYes, without customizationSubscriptionsYes, up to 60 custom emoticonsYes, up to 60 custom emoticonsAdvertisementsYesYesTranscodeAvailable, priority accessFull access to transcoding optionsGroup StreamNoYesStreams for subscriptionsYesYesBroadcast DelayNoup to 15 minutesVoD Storage14 days60 daysReruns and PremieresYesYesPayments15 days15 daysPayment feesCovered by the memberCovers by TwitchChannel pointsYesYesSurveysYesYesStream Team BuildingNoYesPromotionNoYesEmoticon Self-Service ToolNoYesCustomer ServiceStandardPriorityVerified Channel BadgeNoYes

As we have seen, being a partner or an affiliate offers exactly the same options for monetization. However, once you become a Twitch partner, you have a number of benefits that significantly increase your chances of becoming visible and well-known on the platform. 

Additionally, we are already aware of how the wheel spins: more viewers, followers, and money. The numbers will always be different and in the partners’ favor even though the source of income is the same.

What do Twitch partners get that affiliates dont?

Successfully building up their affiliate audience and subscribers allows streamers to become a highly desirable 'Twitch Partner'. A Twitch Partner receives many perks, including extra emotes, 60 days of past broadcast storage, dedicated financial support and the ability for fans to subscribe to their channels.

What is the benefit of being a Twitch partner?

Twitch provides participating Partners a share of the revenue Twitch receives from Bits equal to 1 cent per Bit used to Cheer for them. As a Partner, you also get to customize your Cheermote and Bit Badges. Ads: Partners earn a share of the revenue generated from any ads played on their channel.

Is it worth becoming a Twitch partner?

If you plan on streaming solely on Twitch then Twitch Affiliate is worth it because you will get access to things such as emotes, channel points and the ability to have subs on your channel. If you still want to stream on other platforms then you might want to hold off on becoming a Twitch Affiliate.

Do Twitch affiliates get paid?

You receive a payout once a month if your balance from your last payment exceeds the $50 or $100 threshold. If you don't exceed the balance in a given month, we roll your balance over to the next month.