There are three main players in the online streaming business: Twitch, Kick, and YouTube Live. As consumers, we all have our opinions on them, and perhaps your choice depends solely on which one your favorite streamers are on. However, behind the scenes the differences are more pronounced, and they really matter to creators. Each platform has its own guidelines, tools and policies for creator support, and strategies for growing an audience.

So we asked you, the fine folks of Just About Content Creators, to share your wisdom on each platform. As Twitch is the most popular streaming site, you had lots to say about it and slightly less for its rivals, but we can always run this bounty again and update this guide with fresh knowledge. So if you do experiment with Kick or YouTube Live, keep your thoughts in mind, and in the meantime, here’s your analysis of the top three streaming platforms.

Twitch - analysis and how to succeed

Twitch.tv, originally known as Justin.tv before it switched to focus mostly on video games, is the granddaddy of all streaming platforms. It took years before YouTube got in the game with YouTube Live, and even though Kick is now on the scene, it hasn't yet done enough to take a significant chunk of Twitch's near-monopoly. Other sites have tried - you can stream on TikTok and Instagram now, Facebook Live was a thing for a while, and even Reddit had a streaming section that disappeared as quickly as it arrived - but through all these challenges Twitch has remained numero uno.

So what do you all have to say about it in comparison to the other platforms? FUN INC, a dedicated EVE Online streamer, explained that one of the key elements to get him streaming on Twitch as opposed to the others is that the barrier for entry is so low, and it's so simple to get started:

"From my perspective, as someone who isn't particularly technologically minded, setting up to stream to Twitch was really easy. Once I had OBS downloaded and figured out a few things, I was rolling. Provided you have a degree of patience, you will be streaming relatively quickly. The foundation of all of this was a decent internet connection. After one aborted attempt thanks to the frame rate being too low, once I had a solid internet connection installed, I was away."

He went on to say that even though there are some very professional streamers on the platform, you "don't need stream decks, fancy animations, and whatnot." His experience creating a community from scratch has been slow going, but he reckons Twitch is the best platform for that, which likely goes hand-in-hand with how popular the platform is generally.

Brother Grimoire, another EVE Online streamer, echoed those sentiments, explaining that Twitch is the most convenient platform to reach your target audience because it has the largest presence in the market. Which, of course, is excellent when you're still growing. However, he thinks Twitch's monetisation guidelines leave a lot to be desired, since Twitch "takes half of your subscription revenue as a creator", and that since the platform has been around for so long, breaking into a niche or category can be difficult.

YouTube Live

Brother Grimoire also shed some light on YouTube Live, explaining that it's too late to the party, leaving itself a massive job of eating into Twitch’s lead, on which it hasn’t done enough. However, he does believe YouTube Live has the advantage of being on the same site as standard YouTube, so content creators "can grow their brand with both full-length videos and shorts, which should translate into more traffic in their live streams".

avrona is a content creator who mostly streams on YouTube Live, and reckons it's definitely the best place to stream if you also create conventional pre-recorded videos. However, while we've had two advocates for discoverability on Twitch so far, avrona recommends YouTube Live for that, along with some thoughts on accessibility:

"By far the biggest deciding factor is discoverability, along with how easy it is to grow and start earning money. In 2023, it feels almost impossible on any platform. However, on YouTube it at least feels somewhat feasible, as you can gain an audience through either long-form videos or Shorts. It also feels like the most accessible platform, as it’s a platform everyone knows, and hasn’t gone overboard on features."

Kick

Finally, we have Kick, the newest player in the market. None of our submissions seem to have tried streaming on Kick, but avrona says it "does little in terms of promoting its features other than its revenue split", and this means it's "even more of a mystery". When launching, Kick led with the fact the streamer retains 95% of the revenue they bring in, whereas Twitch takes a whopping 50% - a huge positive in favour of Kick. But if the platform can’t bring in the viewership, meaning you’re taking 95% of a much smaller whole, is it worth it? It’s for you, the creator, to decide whether your audience on Twitch is likely to be more than double what it is on Kick. Then there’s the question of ease-of-use and platform features, which are more of a mystery on Kick but likely to be less developed as it’s the newer product.

Do you stream on Twitch, YouTube Live, or Kick? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and keep your advice in mind when we run this bounty again in future.