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YouTube has recently introduced its own gaming section to capitalize on the live streaming market. However, due to Twitch, it can be hard for you to select between the two platforms.
In this post, we’ll compare various aspects of Twitch with YouTube in terms of streaming.
Moreover, we’ll discuss some FAQs.
Quick Summary
This post will revolve around the following topics:
Without any more delay, let’s jump right into it.
6 Interesting Reasons why Twitch is Better than YouTube
Twitch and YouTube have been around for quite some time, both starting in 2011 and 2008 respectively. However, Twitch has always been a streaming platform.
YouTube, on the other hand, has just recently gotten into the streaming market. With such little time, YouTube has flourished its streaming section but it still isn’t enough to compete.
Let’s look at the unique reasons why Twitch is better than YouTube.
Financial Aspect
Twitch has an elaborate system to compensate and reward people who use it. YouTube has a similar system but in terms of earnings, you can’t compare them.
Twitch roughly pays 50% of every subscription to the owner of the channel. Whereas, YouTube keeps the majority of the revenue generated through subscriptions.
What are other ways to earn from Twitch?
You can link your merchandise store, display various sponsors, and link your donation wallet. Moreover, you can display it all in one place.
When it comes to YouTube, your options are quite limited. You have to separately display all the aforementioned things on your channel.
How does that impact me as a content creator?
Accessible information is always preferred by viewers. If it isn’t accessible, the chances are your viewers will never know about it.
For example, if you have a deal for affiliate sales, Twitch can help you promote it easily on your stream.
Compatible Extensions
Twitch is highly integrated with third-party services to enhance the user experience. On the other hand, YouTube severely lacks integration.
You can find numerous extensions on Twitch that can be used on your stream. They can either be used to improve your stream or increase user engagement.
Here’s an example of a Twitch extension for the Destiny 2 game.
What are some extensions for Twitch?
Two well-known Twitch extensions are BTTV and 7TV. Both extensions are used to enable third-party emotes in your chat.
The best part? All the extensions for Twitch are free of cost. All you have to do is enable them on your channel.
Accessibility
Twitch has an extensive category system that helps the user to find their choice of content. YouTube doesn’t have a categorial system.
Let’s say you want to watch IRL streams. Simply head over to the Just Chatting section and you can thousands of IRL streamers.
The same goes for gaming. You can find streamers for all sorts of games. Even older games like Mario have their own extensive category.
Can I filter streams on Twitch?
Another advantage of Twitch is that you apply various filters on your stream to target the right audience. These filters are present in the form of tags.
Some common examples of these tags are #competitive, #chill, #justchatting, and #educational. Moreover, it helps the viewers to easily access their choice.
Community Development
Live streaming is all about building a strong community. Twitch has all the right tools to do so. Whereas, YouTube doesn’t promote community development.
Even though YouTube has a larger userbase, its streaming section is still lackluster compared to Twitch.
This is mainly because every single streamer on Twitch has a strong community. Most users on Twitch spend hours watching the same streamer every day.
How does Twitch promote community development?
It is simply due to the presence of the right tools. One of these tools is dedicated channel emotes.
You can create and upload emotes to your channel that your viewers can use anywhere on Twitch.
This helps you enhance community engagement and passively grow your channel.
How does it help to grow my channel?
Let’s suppose you have 15 different emotes on your channel. One of your viewers uses them in a different channel’s chat with thousands of viewers.
Every single viewer on that channel will view it. Even if you can land 100 viewers from such an action, it is still a win for you.
Payment Threshold
Every live streamer desires to earn from their streaming as soon as they start out. Twitch doesn’t have any active barriers to it. Whereas, YouTube demands a certain threshold.
You have to cross a certain threshold in collective revenue to get paid. However, if you have a single viewer on Twitch and they subscribe to your channel, you’ll still get paid.
How does that impact me as a content creator?
It creates a drive to provide and improve your content. Without such a drive, you’ll eventually lose interest in streaming.
This is why many new streamers prefer to stream on Twitch over YouTube. Accessibility to your earnings makes it one less thing to worry about.
Are there any other barriers to YouTube streaming?
Monetization rules are quite a headache for streamers on YouTube. You are never sure which rule you’ll break and get stripped from your ad revenue.
On the other hand, Twitch has very clear guidelines regarding what you can and can’t do. This sort of clarity enables you to orient your content in a consumable fashion.
Collaborations
Lastly, it is quite easy to pair up with another streamer on Twitch. You can run squad streams for both communities to watch at the same time.
Whereas, on YouTube, it is quite difficult to collaborate with other streamers. You can’t even show other streamer’s live stream on your channel because it is against copyright rules.
Important Tips to Keep in Mind
Let’s check some tips to keep in check while you are selecting a platform for streaming. Here they are:
- Always keep an eye out for growth potential. As a content creator, your goal should be the consistent growth of your channel.
- Compare the earnings. The financial aspect is quite crucial when you are choosing a platform to stream.
- Learn from others. There is always room for improvement. You can learn a lot just by watching other streamers.
- Don’t be hasty. Start slow and figure out what sort of content you want to make. This will help you build a community faster.
Wrapping Things Up…
With this, we come to the end of our post on why Twitch is better than YouTub for streaming. We hope you can use this information to your advantage.
Twitch is arguably the most efficient platform to live stream. You can use various tools to earn and build a strong community. Moreover, you have all the freedom to create your own choice of content.
Do comment below and tell us about your experience.