Twitch alternatives: The 4 best streaming platforms to use instead

Twitch is the most popular live streaming platform for gaming, with 140 million active monthly users. But with that many users, Twitch streamers have to compete more for viewers than on any other platform. Twitch’s recent controversial restrictions also have people questioning if it’s still the best platform for them.

Let’s look at the best alternatives to Twitch for creators who want to stream on another platform. 

Why are streamers leaving Twitch?

Twitch is popular, but it has  high competition for viewing time and some problematic policies. Here are some recent restrictions that caused streamers to leave Twitch:

• Banning all Twitch streamers from multistreaming, rather than just affiliates and partners. For many years, Twitch prohibited multistreaming (or simulcasting) on its platform. Fortunately, Twitch removed this rule in October 2023, so streamers can simulcast to Twitch, Kick, YouTube and other platforms simultaneously.
• Limiting the size of ads and logos, which could decrease creators’ revenue earned from sponsorships with brands. This new rule received immense backlash —  the day after publishing it, Twitch backtracked and revised the rule.

The new ad rules introduced in June 2023 were the last straw for many Twitch streamers that decided to stream elsewhere. In addition to these restrictions, generating substantial revenue or viewership on Twitch is difficult. Twitch only gives streamers 50% of the revenue they make from subscriptions, and the Twitch algorithm makes it hard to discover smaller streamers.

What are the best alternatives to Twitch?

While Twitch is the most popular live streaming platform, it is by no means the only one.  Here are four streaming sites to choose from if you want the opportunity to gain a decent-sized audience as a live creator.

Kick.com

Kick.com is the newest live streaming platform to rival Twitch. It was founded in December 2022 and quickly gained popularity after signing deals with big-name streamers like Adin Ross, Paul “Ice Poseidon” Denino, Felix “xQc” Lengyel, Aaron “Ac7ionMan” Travis, Tyler “Trainwreckstv” Faraz Niknam, Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa, and several others. In just four months, Kick viewership grew by 404%, and the platform gained seven million active streamers in only 30 days. 

Kick also promises content creators on its platform 95% of their subscription earnings, while Twitch offers streamers 50% and YouTube offers 70%. Kick streams include popular video games, but also feature adult-themed content like gambling and hot tub streams.

Pros

• 95% revenue split from subscriptions
• Less competition
• More transparent rules than Twitch

Cons

• Much smaller audience than Twitch, for now
• Harder to stream on Kick with a console

Want to start streaming on Kick? Read our ultimate guide to Kick streaming for all the info you need.

YouTube Gaming

Video hosting website YouTube rolled out its live streaming feature in 2011, butlaunched YouTube Gaming to compete with Twitch four years later. YouTube Gaming eventually became YouTube Live, but gaming streams are still the site’s most popular category. Live streamers from all genres can find a solid audience on YouTube Live. The site has about 122 million U.S. users per day — 62% of U.S. YouTube users access the site daily.

While YouTube Live has many categories, there are still features geared toward gamers as part of the streaming site. YouTube also boasts better discoverability than Twitch, as YouTube videos are indexed in Google search results, while Twitch videos aren’t. 

Youtube also offers creators the ability to host and monetize on-demand videos. If you’re primarily interested in live streaming video games, however, you might be better off starting with Twitch.

Pros

• Streamers keep 70% of subscription revenue
• Live streams are hosted as videos on-demand (VODs) on your channel indefinitely
• Allows streaming in 4K
• Potential to earn more money with YouTube because you can monetize VODs
• Create thumbnails for live streams easily

Cons

• Live chat is less dynamic that Twitch live chat
• Browsing live content is harder on YouTube than on Twitch

Get started with streaming on YouTube with our guide to YouTube Live.

Facebook Gaming

Unlike other streaming platforms on this list, Facebook Gaming is hosted on the largest social networking site in the world. It has 2.9 billion monthly active users — meaning that around 37% of people on Earth use Facebook. If you already have a following on your Facebook page, you can promote your live streams to that audience.

Compared to Twitch, Facebook Gaming offers a better revenue share for streamers, has a more user-friendly mobile app, and makes it easier for new streamers to grow a community. Facebook also has much better streaming analytics than Twitch 

While Facebook has a huge user base, many of those users aren’t watching live streams. When it comes to the sheer number of live stream viewers, Twitch has Facebook beat.

Pros

• Better mobile app than Twitch
• Higher content creator payouts
• Superior analytics

Cons

• The Facebook Gaming algorithm prioritizes streamers who pay for ad space
• Privacy issues: viewers are logged in with their Facebook accounts, which often use their real names

Looking to build a community around your live content on Facebook? Read our guide to streaming on Facebook Gaming.

Trovo

Trovo is the smallest streaming platform on this list, with less than 1% of the viewers Twitch has. It’s hard to build a large audience on Trovo — especially if you’re an English speaker, as about 90% of Trovo users don’t speak English. 

However, the ratio of streamers to viewers on Trovo is quite small. If you only want 10-20 viewers while still being the top channel in your stream category, it’s much more doable on Trovo.

Trovo hasthe same revenue split as Twitch, where you get 50% as a streamer. But the requirements for monetization on Trovo are much lower: you only need five hours streamed and 20 followers to get started. On Twitch, you need 500 minutes of broadcast time and 50 followers. If you stream on a mobile device, Trovo is also a better fit for you than Twitch.

Pros

• Lower monetization requirements than Twitch
• The “New Streamers” filter makes it easier to get discovered

Cons

• You only keep 50% of donations (you get 100% of donations on Twitch)
• Smaller viewer base than Twitch

If you want to start streaming on Trovo, try using Restream Studio or your preferred connected software such as OBS Studio. Read our guide on how to connect Trovo to Restream.

Stream to multiple platforms with Restream 

If you don’t want to have to choose, just multistream to Twitch, Kick, YouTube Live, Facebook Live and Trovo simultaneously. These four platforms might have smaller audiences than Twitch, but you can double or triple your potential audience size if you stream to multiple sites at once..

Restream is your go-to multistreaming solution. It works with each of the streaming platforms mentioned here, plus more than 30 others. Connecting your live streaming channels to Restream takes less than two minutes. You can either go live using Restream’s browser-based live streaming studio, or you can use Restream’s multistreaming plug-in with other software like OBS Studio.

When you use Restream Studio to multistream, you can:

• Add custom graphics including backgrounds, overlays and logos
• Stream with no additional bandwidth required
• Invite guests to your live stream
• Share your screen or choose different screen layouts
• Display a chat overlay on your stream
• Stream in Full HD
• Upload pre-recorded videos and set them to go live
• Get access to live streaming metrics
• Display the live chat as an overlay