The main source of income for any Twitch streamer is subs, which are subscriptions that viewers sign up for. The motivation to subscribe can have different reasons for a viewer –
They want to support the streamer financially and help them grow, or they want to take advantage of the benefits the streamer gives them when they sign up for a subscription. So subs are paid subscriptions, 50% of the price of which goes to the streamer himself – but there’s a catch: the use of Twitch subs is so far reserved for Twitch affiliates and Twitch partners. To become an affiliate or partner, you have to have a certain number of regular viewers over a certain amount of time. So if you want to make big money with Twitch right away, you’re going to have to start thinking about how to build a steady and loyal community that will be willing to sign up for paid subscriptions for you.
Another way to earn money with Twitch is to collect donations. Viewers have the option to send you an amount of money of their choice and thus support you. This method is also voluntary, but unlike subs, the viewer has no advantages. Especially well-heeled and generous viewers like to donate 4 to 5 digit amounts, but this is rather the exception. Donations are great, but they also have a clear disadvantage for you: You can’t plan with them, because every donation you receive comes out of the blue, which means that it can happen that you receive 200 € on one day and not a single euro on the following day.
With the right marketing and motivation, you can also make money selling merchandise. However, this method only turns out to be somewhat profitable when you have already built up a solid following.
