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Choosing the right live-streaming platform is crucial for your live-streamer career. This article will help you understand where should you start or in case you are an experienced streamer discover new opportunities.
Times when there were only Twitch have passed, and right now we have a variety of live-streaming platforms suitable for different content. We are going to check the following platforms:
- Twitch
- Youtube Live
- Kick
- TikTok Live
Multistreaming is out of the scope of this article, however in general you can assume that you can combine streaming on several platforms to mitigate their cons and combine their pros.
Twitch
Twitch is a platform for live broadcasting that is predominantly focused on video gaming and includes live competitive gaming events. It also hosts a variety of other streams, such as music and arts. The platform enables streamers to connect with their audience in real time, fostering an interactive and engaged community. Beyond gaming, Twitch attracts a broad viewership with its array of streaming content. Twitch is the second biggest live-streaming platform in total watched hours and the biggest in live-streamed view hours for gaming content(source).
PROS:
- games-oriented, the majority of content is about games
- community building and interaction, Twitch, and 3rd party services provide a lot of different instruments for build and benefit from the community including bits, twitch extensions, overlays, raids, channel points, etc
- good image of quality for low-end PCs, because of the codecs Twitch is using the quality of 1080p is better than in YouTube (source)
- excessive monetization opportunities for Twitch Affiliates and Partners, including, but not limited to, subscriptions, Bits, channel points, donations, and ads.
CONS:
- no high-quality picture support (max bitrate 6000 kbps source).
- toxicity, Twitch chat can sometimes become a place for negative behavior, harassment, or spam, which can detract from the experience.
- saturation, with so many streamers, it can be challenging for new creators to get noticed and gain followers.
- content moderation, Twitch has faced criticism over its content moderation policies, with some users finding its ban decisions inconsistent or opaque.
YouTube Live
YouTube Live is a feature that allows users to broadcast live content to viewers across the globe. This service integrates live streaming capabilities into the YouTube platform, enabling a wide array of content creators, from individuals to large organizations, to engage with their audience in real time. YouTube Live streams can vary widely in content, including but not limited to, gaming, educational streams, live vlogs, and events. Users can interact with the stream through features like live chat, Super Chat, and channel memberships, which further enhance the community aspect of live streaming. The core advantage of the Youtube Live is that it is part of the Youtube. The core advantage is that live streams are seamlessly integrated into YouTube itself and offer much better discoverability than other platforms.
PROS:
- discoverability, YouTube Live offers the best in class discoverability options
- high-quality image support (max bitrate 40000 kbps source)
- nongaming content, YouTube Live claimed the biggest number of viewed hours in live streaming among all live streaming content creation platforms(source)
- content moderation is not that strict and can accept a bigger variety of content
CONS
- weak community-building and interaction instruments (super chat, super stickers, channel membership)
- not popular for gaming content, (four times fewer watched hours than in Twitch)
- although YouTube and YouTube Live are integrated, enhancing potential discoverability, live streaming content still competes with high-quality recorded videos on YouTube for viewer attention
- higher demand to hardware(because of codecs used by YouTube it is better to stream in higher quality that can demand better hardware (source)
Kick
Kick.com was founded in 2022 with the aim to offer an alternative to Twitch.tv in the live streaming sector. The platform is known for its focus on gaming and live streaming, and it promises higher revenue shares for streamers compared to its competitors. The platform is in its beta phase and is developing its community by promoting itself as the most rewarding platform for gamers and streamers. Also, Kick supports gambling.
PROS:
- growing in popularity platform presents opportunities due to reduced rivalry, and Kick secures contracts with prominent Twitch broadcasters (such as xQc) to draw in a larger audience.
- revenue share is the best on the market, 95% of revenue goes to the streamer
- lite content moderation policy
CONS:
Many of the cons of live streaming on Kick.com stem from its novelty and the ongoing process of establishing clear content guidelines.
- weak community-building and interaction instruments
- toxicity, because of the several incidents that occurred live on Kick.com (e.g. IcePoseidon incident) it seems like Kick is gathering rather controversial live streamers and viewers
- weak platform capability in general(no public API, basic social features, etc.)
TikTok Live
TikTok LIVE is a feature within the TikTok app that allows users, referred to as Creators, to broadcast live to their followers. It's used for a variety of interactive activities, such as showcasing talents, performing music, or engaging in challenges. The live-streaming capability of TikTok can be seen as an addition to the classic TikTok content rather than a full-fledged live-streaming platform. However, it brings a lot of opportunities and can boost live-streaming creators.
PROS:
- discoverability, TikTok Live is deeply integrated into the platform and leverages the same algorithms that boost the possibility of going viral
- various monetization instruments, viewers can purchase coins to gift to Creators during their live feed, which then can be cashed out by the Creators
- various interaction instruments, Q&A sessions, the ability to go live with multiple users for added exposure, planned live events for more engagement, categorizing live streams by topics, and access to analytics for growth and improvement
CONS:
- weak community-building possibilities
- TikTok is oriented on short highlights rather than long video content
- vertical alignment only
Conclusion
If you are new to live-streaming and want a smooth start we suggest starting with YouTube Live and combining live-streaming and video recording. In case you want to build a strong community it's better to start with Twitch utilizing TikTok for live-stream highlights and YouTube for recording. If your content demands weak moderation(such as Gambling) you should definitely check Kick.com.