The YouTube and Twitch logos.

Should You Live Stream on Twitch or YouTube in 2023?

An extensive breakdown.

BY RYAN STEWART:  When getting started with your live streaming career, it is normal to question whether you are on the right platform.

Big names like Ninja (Fortnite “Professional”) gained their popularity from Twitch, hence proving it’s reliability and capabilities but YouTube, on the other hand, is one of the most visited sites on the entire internet and their constant efforts towards the live streaming platform could make it a much-prioritized platform in future.  Which should you be using?

Twitch or YouTube – Short Answer

Twitch has a far superior monetization model as well as the broadcasting interface.  Moreover, it has a much more significant amount of engaged viewers. As of 2023, it is the platform you should be streaming on.

With that being said, YouTube Gaming has been evolving continuously.  It has a far superior video recommendation system which will help reach more users. The reasons to not stream on YouTube are the current monetization model and unavailability of extensive chat control and broadcasting optimization settings, though those could change at a moment’s notice.

Twitch or YouTube – A detailed analysis

Twitch has a simple broadcasting dashboard which features options to give you extensive control over Twitch chat. You can easily assign those you trust to be moderator or editors for your channel.

Partner Program – Which one is better?

Twitch has a Partner Program which would allow you to monetize your Twitch channel. You can compile a set of perks for your viewers at a monthly-subscription price.  These perks can include exclusive emoticons, video quality, etc. The program is quite restricted, and you require a decent audience size before you can even apply for it.

YouTube also has its Partner Program which requires significantly less effort to get approved for.

Growing your channel – Twitch or YouTube?

Growing your channel on Twitch is more straightforward than you think. Twitch host is a feature which allows a channel to host content/stream of another live streamer. Using this feature, you can contact other streamers and establish a relationship with them. This will help you gain a much extensive reach leading to faster growth of your channel.  Additionally, consider organizing contests or giveaways using competition templates as another effective method to engage your audience and attract new viewers.  There is no such feature on YouTube Gaming, and it is very unlikely to be added in future.

Twitch lets you create your personalized page which you and your visitors like, it similar to what YouTube has during its initial time, but it was soon after removed from the platform. Though YouTube gaming won’t allow you to host your friends, It sure has a better video suggestion system; If you are a good streamer, YouTube will help you grow at a much rapid pace.

Viewer Experience

The viewing experience is a crucial factor.  While it doesn’t directly affect you as a streamer, a better user experience will ensure viewers spend more time watching you.

When it comes to streaming quality, YouTube takes the win. Twitch lets you choose between a set of settings; low, medium, high and source while YouTube gives users a much more extensive set of options to choose from.

It’s exceedingly rare to encounter lags on both the platforms, but of the two, they are more common on Twitch.

Conclusion

Both the platforms are highly optimized for user experience and are both amazing broadcasting tools. Taking every aspect into consideration, Twitch takes the lead, but there are quite a few things it could learn from YouTube Gaming.

Declaring Twitch as the Winner, Let’s learn more about the platform

The infographic below narrates the history of Twitch as a live streaming platform and its evolution over time: