Free Online Calculators
Subs, Bits, Donations & Ads for Affiliate/Partner streamers
This calculator estimates your monthly Twitch income from subscriptions, Bits, ads, donations, and sponsorships. It works in US dollars, because Twitch pays out in USD, using US sub prices (Tier 1: $5.99), the standard 50% split (60% or 70% in the Plus Program), and $0.01 per Bit. Perfect for Affiliate and Partner streamers planning their streaming income.
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Twitch doesn't pay per stream or per view โ payouts come from ad revenue (based on ad impressions during your stream), subscriptions, Bits and Prime subs. That means two channels with the same view count can earn very different amounts depending on how many viewers subscribe and how often ads run.
It depends far more on how many of your viewers pay than on raw viewer count, since subs and Bits make up most income for mid-sized channels. Enter your average concurrent viewers, sub count, tier mix and ad rate in the calculator to see what viewership level gets you to that monthly figure.
Gifted Bits are converted at Twitch's fixed cash rate per Bit, so the streamer's payout is only a fraction of the Bit count, and the viewer pays a separate purchase price with fees on top. If you mean gifted subscriptions, the streamer gets their normal revenue share of each sub, which depends on tier and contract.
There's no fixed viewer number โ the deciding factors are your subscriber count, sub tiers, Bits and donations, and how much ad revenue your stream hours generate. A channel with a small but highly engaged audience can hit that figure with fewer viewers than a large, mostly non-paying one.
For most streamers it takes a consistent schedule over many months plus a loyal core of subscribers and donators โ it's realistic but not quick. Ad revenue alone rarely gets a small channel there, so subs, Bits, tips and sponsorships usually do the heavy lifting.
Yes, but only a small minority of streamers earn enough to cover living costs from Twitch alone. Most full-time creators combine Twitch income with YouTube, sponsorships, merch and affiliate links, because platform income fluctuates month to month.
The average is misleading because earnings are extremely top-heavy: a handful of large channels take most of the money, while the vast majority of streamers make little or nothing. A median channel earns pocket money, not a salary.
Yes โ if you earn money from streaming you're generally treated as self-employed, so the income is taxable and you may need to register a business depending on your country. Keep records of subs, ads, Bits, tips and sponsorship payments as well as deductible costs like hardware and software.
Twitch pays through four separate buckets, and most streamers mentally merge them into one fuzzy number. Sub revenue, bits, ads, and direct donations all hit your account differently โ different timelines, different splits, different minimums before payout. Understanding the mechanics of each one is the only way to estimate what a stream schedule is realistically worth. The calculator works in US dollars throughout, because Twitch pays streamers in USD.
Subscriptions are the backbone. On the US web price list, Tier 1 subs cost viewers $5.99 (since July 2024), Tier 2 costs $9.99, and Tier 3 costs $24.99. Many countries have lower regional prices, so your share per sub can be smaller. The standard split is 50% for Affiliates and Partners alike โ so $3.00, $5.00, and $12.49 respectively at US prices. Through the Plus Program, which Twitch opened to Affiliates in 2024, streamers move to 60% with 100 Plus Points and to 70% with 300 Plus Points, each held for three consecutive months (a paid Tier 1 sub counts 1 point, Tier 2 counts 2, Tier 3 counts 6; Prime and gift subs don't count). Bits are simpler: Twitch sells them to viewers and pays you $0.01 per bit cheered on your channel, regardless of Affiliate or Partner status.
Ad revenue is open to Affiliates and Partners alike: both receive 55% of net ad revenue when they run at least 3 ad minutes per hour. Actual earnings vary significantly by season, viewer geography, and how many viewers block ads or watch ad-free as subscribers. The calculator uses a cautious assumption of $3.50 per 1,000 viewer hours (average viewers ร stream hours): a 500-concurrent stream running 40 hours a month (20,000 viewer hours) comes out at about $70/month from ads.
Take a mid-tier Affiliate streamer on the standard split: 80 average concurrent viewers, streaming 60 hours/month, 45 active Tier 1 subs, 3,000 bits cheered monthly, and $100/month in direct donations. Sub revenue: 45 ร $5.99 ร 50% = $134.78. Bits: 3,000 ร $0.01 = $30. Ads: 4,800 viewer hours ร $3.50 / 1,000 = $16.80. Donations pass through full (Twitch doesn't take a cut on direct donations via PayPal or Streamlabs, though the payment processor charges its own fees). Total: $281.58/month, or about $3,379/year. That's a part-time hobby income, not a living.
Now scale up. A Partner with 800 average concurrent viewers, 120 stream hours/month, 400 Tier 1 subs, 50 Tier 2 subs (500 Plus Points if all are paid recurring subs, which qualifies for the 70/30 Plus Program split), 40,000 bits/month, and $500/month in sponsorships: Sub revenue at 70% = (400 ร $5.99 + 50 ร $9.99) ร 70% = $2,026.85. Bits = $400. Ads: 96,000 viewer hours ร $3.50 / 1,000 = $336. Sponsorship = $500. Total: $3,262.85/month, or about $39,150/year. Viable, but it took years of consistent output to reach 800 concurrent โ and that number fluctuates hard with algorithm changes and competing streams.
Sponsorships deserve a separate note. Once a streamer clears roughly 500 concurrent viewers consistently, direct brand deals often outpace everything else combined. A single mid-market gaming peripheral deal at that size might pay $500โ$2,000 for a 30-day integration. This is where the calculator's sponsorship input becomes the most impactful line in the spreadsheet.
Three calculation errors show up constantly, and each one inflates what streamers expect to see at payout.
The honest answer is: yes, but the path has narrowed. Twitch's concurrent viewer numbers have been pressured by YouTube Live and Kick since 2023, and discoverability for new streamers remains genuinely poor โ Twitch's browse function still surfaces large channels disproportionately. Payouts start at $50 for most payout methods ($100 for wire transfers), so small channels often wait a few months for their first payment, and converting USD into your local currency can cost extra fees.
What works in 2026 is niche specificity paired with off-platform growth. Streamers who clip content for TikTok or YouTube Shorts and funnel that audience back to Twitch grow meaningfully faster than those who rely on Twitch discovery alone. Tools like Restream let mid-tier streamers simulcast to Twitch and YouTube simultaneously, protecting income if one platform's algorithm turns cold. Elgato Stream Deck handles scene switching and alert management without breaking flow, which matters when you're streaming 100+ hours a month. Streamlabs Ultra consolidates donation tracking, overlays, and analytics in one dashboard โ useful once you're generating enough revenue to justify the subscription.
The floor for full-time Twitch income is realistically 500โ800 consistent concurrent viewers, which takes most dedicated streamers 2โ4 years to reach. Below that, treat it as supplemental income and build the content library that makes growth possible. If you're also running an affiliate link strategy alongside streaming, the Affiliate Marketing Earnings Calculator on simple-calculator.online can help you model that revenue stream separately.
On the standard split, Twitch keeps 50% for Affiliates and Partners alike โ you get $3.00 per $5.99 Tier 1 sub at US prices. Through the Plus Program, both Affiliates and Partners can raise their share to 60% (100 Plus Points for three consecutive months) or 70% (300 Plus Points). Some older Partner contracts have individually negotiated splits.
Yes. Affiliates and Partners both receive 55% of net ad revenue when they run at least 3 ad minutes per hour. How much that adds up to depends on your viewers' regions, the season, and how many of them see ads at all; the calculator applies a cautious $3.50 per 1,000 viewer hours.
Exactly $0.01. Viewers pay more per bit depending on how many they buy at once (100 bits cost $1.40, making each bit cost $0.014 to the viewer), but the creator always receives one cent per bit regardless of what the viewer paid. There's no volume bonus or Partner rate for bits.
Streamers with 50โ150 average concurrent viewers typically sustain 30โ80 active subs, with Prime subs making up a significant portion. Expect 15โ25% of your regular concurrent viewers to be subscribed at any given time โ higher if you run sub-only chat modes or offer compelling sub perks like Discord access or emote sets.
Twitch pays on a net-15 basis โ earnings from one month are paid around the 15th of the following month, provided the account balance has reached the payout minimum: $50 for most methods such as direct deposit, PayPal, or check, and $100 for wire transfers. Accounts that don't hit the threshold roll over to the next month.
Plug your own sub count, viewer numbers, and stream hours into the calculator above to see exactly where your monthly and annual Twitch revenue could land.