Bits vs Subs for Streamers

Bits and subs are both "a viewer gives you money", but Twitch pays them out under completely different rules. Bits are a flat rate that never moves. Subs are a percentage that changes with your channel's size, your subscribers' country, and which Plus Program level you have reached. Comparing them properly means comparing two different shapes, not two numbers.

The two models, side by side

A bit is worth $0.01 to the streamer, always. Twitch states it pays "1 cent per Bit used to Cheer", and that broadcasters get the same amount "regardless of how users acquired the Bits". No tier, no threshold, no programme changes it.

A subscription is a revenue share of net revenue. Twitch's baseline is 50/50. The Plus Program pays 60% at 100 Plus Points and 70% at 300 points, each held for three consecutive months.

At the US Tier 1 price of $4.99, one sub is worth between $2.50 and $3.49 to you. A viewer would need to cheer 250–350 bits to deliver the same. Run your own numbers in thesub payout calculator and the bits calculator.

Per dollar spent, bits usually win

The comparison above is per transaction, which flatters subs because a sub costs more than 100 bits. The fairer question for a viewer is: I have a fixed amount to spend — which way delivers more of it?

Here the asymmetry matters. The full cent per bit reaches the streamer, and Twitch takes its margin on the sale of the bits rather than out of the payout. A sub is split after the fact. The catch is that we cannot state the bits side precisely, because Twitch prices bits per country and publishes no price list — so the cost per bit is whatever the viewer was actually charged.

As an illustration only, suppose a viewer pays about $0.01 per bit. Spending $4.99 buys roughly 356 bits, which pays the streamer about $3.56 — more than the $2.50 the same money delivers as a Tier 1 sub on the standard share, and close to the $3.49 it delivers at 70/30. Change the assumed bit price and that conclusion moves, which is exactly why we will not print it as a fact. Check what you are actually charged and use the calculator.

Per month, subs usually win

Subs recur. That is the whole argument, and it is a strong one. A subscriber who signs up once keeps paying every month until they cancel, with no further decision required. A viewer who cheers 500 bits has given you one payment; next month they have to decide again.

For a channel trying to forecast anything — whether streaming can cover a bill, whether to go full time — a hundred subs is a floor and a hundred cheers is a history. That predictability is worth more than a few percentage points of share.

Only subs build Plus Points

This is the part most comparisons miss, and it tilts the long-run answer toward subs regardless of the per-dollar arithmetic. Plus Points — the currency that unlocks the 60% and 70% shares — are earned only from subscriptions:

So subs compound. Every sub both pays you now and moves you toward a level where all your other subs pay more. A channel at 100 points that reaches 300 gives itself a raise on its entire subscriber base. Bits, however many, never move that needle.

Tier 3 subs are the fast route: at 6 points each, only 50 of them reach the 70% threshold, against 300 Tier 1 subs.

Where the money comes from changes the risk

Beyond the arithmetic, the two income lines fail in different ways, and that is worth planning around.

Bits income is concentrated. A handful of viewers who cheer heavily can account for most of a channel's bit revenue in a given month, and there is nothing holding them there — no renewal, no commitment, not even a cancellation step. If one of them stops watching, that income disappears without notice. Bit revenue is also lumpy by nature: it spikes around events, milestones and charity streams, and then returns to a much lower baseline.

Sub income is distributed and slow-moving. A hundred subscribers churn a few at a time, visibly, and new subs replace them. The month-to-month variance is small enough to plan against, which is why streamers treat sub count as the number that tells them whether the channel is growing.

The practical consequence: a channel's sub count is a reasonable basis for a budget, and its bits income is not. Treat bits as upside rather than baseline, even in a month where they out-earn subs.

Local pricing moves the sub side

One complication worth knowing if your audience is international. Twitch sets subscription prices per country, and it has changed several — raising Tier 1 web prices in Australia, Canada, the UK and Turkey in 2024. Your revenue share stays the same, but the amount it applies to does not.

So "a sub is worth $2.50" is a US-centric statement. A channel whose subscribers are mostly in a lower-priced market earns less per sub while earning exactly the same cent per bit, because bits pay the streamer a fixed amount regardless of what the viewer paid or where they are. For an international audience, that quietly shifts the comparison toward bits. The sub calculator takes the price as an input for this reason — put in what your subscribers actually pay.

The cap that used to change this answer

Until recently, the sub case had a ceiling. Under the 2022 terms, the 70/30 share applied only to the first $100,000 of annual subscription revenue; above that, large channels dropped back to 50/50. That made bits relatively more attractive at scale.

Twitch removed the cap in January 2024, "effective immediately", for all streamers including those in the Plus Program. A channel on 70/30 now stays there at any revenue. If you are using a sub calculator that still drops your rate past $100K, it is modelling terms that no longer exist — ours does not.

What to actually do

• Ask for subs as the default. They recur, they build Plus Points, and the points raise the rate on every other sub.
• Use bits for moments. Milestones, charity pushes, hype trains and viewers who will not take on a recurring payment.
• Point committed supporters at Tier 2 and 3. They pay more and earn points far faster.
• Remember gifted subs count fully — same share, same points.
• Treat every figure as gross. Twitch pays out at $50.00 and tax comes off afterwards.

One more thing worth saying plainly: these are not rival options you have to choose between. A viewer who subscribes can still cheer, and most engaged communities do both. The reason to think about the difference at all is that your own prompts shape the mix — what you put on screen, what the alerts celebrate, what you say when someone asks how to support the channel. Pointing that attention at subs by default costs nothing and compounds, because of the points.

The honest summary: there is no universal winner. Bits give the viewer a cheaper way to deliver a given amount, subs give you a predictable floor and a rising rate. Put your own numbers through thesub payout calculator, check cheers against thebits to dollars table, and readhow Twitch bits pay out for what sits between the cheer and the payment.