Twitch Affiliate vs Partner- Know The Difference

The Affiliate and Partner programs are the two major programs Twitch offers to streamers interested in increasing their followership and revenue for their content: Affiliate and Partner. The Affiliate and Partner program both share the reward of earning money for streamers, although they are otherwise a bit different in terms of requirements, benefits, and overall leverage.

The entry stage requirements are a bit lower for Twitch Affiliates, meaning that streamers can earn from subscriptions, Bits, and ads even from the very onset. More than that, the benefits for Twitch Partners are significant. These include higher revenue split, priority support, and more customization options for the streams. 

Their criteria for being included are more intensive compared with the others: higher viewership, a consistent and regular streaming schedule, and so on. The primary differences in Twitch Affiliate versus Partner help streamers see their way through to success by being able to pick which program fits them best and then maximize their potential.

Twitch Affiliate Program

The Twitch Affiliate program is a basic-level monetization program for streamers. It is geared towards newer streamers and comes with relatively accessible requirements for entry.

Significant Twitch Affiliate Benefits:

• Start earning: affiliates will be able to start earning funds from subscriptions, ad revenue, and Bits of virtual currency of Twitch.
• Twitch Subscriptions: Viewers can subscribe for a month to your channel and you get some pay.
• Bits and Cheers: The viewers can use Bits to cheer on your channel. By every Bit used, you earn revenue.
• Ad Revenue: The Affiliates can run ads on their streams and earn some share of the revenue that advertisements bring.

To Become a Twitch Affiliate:

Qualifications for the Twitch Affiliate program are that:

• At least 50 followers on your Twitch channel
• 500-minute total broadcast: You must have streamed at least 500 minutes in the last 30 days.
• 7 unique broadcast days: You must have streamed at least 7 different days in the past 30 days.
• Average of 3 viewers: You need to have an average of 3 concurrent viewers during your streams.

These are achievable for new or casual streamers which makes Affiliate status relatively easy to achieve. You can also check our guide to become an affiliate on Twitch.

 Twitch Partner Program

This is more developed and more aimed at channel developers who have built up a significant and loyal audience. It has greater benefit provision in contrast to an affiliate but requires harder entry.

 Benefits of Twitch Partner

• More Money: revenue splits from subscription fees, plus more opportunities to earn money at all.
• More Emotes: The partners are granted more emotes, and they are also allowed to have full control over their channel branding.
• Priority Support: In Twitch staff, all the partners are entitled to priority support.
• Video Transcoding Options: Better video quality, as well as more options, are available to the user where the resolution of the video can be changed by the viewer.
• Exclusive Sponsorship Opportunities: Most of the sponsorship deals come as exclusive offers to the partners, and they can even have their very own brands that can work in partnership with them.

Requirements to Become a Twitch Partner:

Twitch Partner requirements are more stringent to qualify for. Commonly, a streamer must have:

• A total of at least 75 average viewers watching their streams: You need to have had a minimum of 75 average viewers watching your streams.
• Differently, you need to broadcast on at least 12 unique broadcast days in 30 days.
• You need to broadcast for a minimum of 25 hours in the past 30 days.
• These metrics do not lead directly to being a Partner on Twitch. Applications will always be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account more detailed considerations of content quality and viewer engagement combined with professionalism.

Key Differences Between Twitch Affiliate and Partner

How to Jump From Affiliate to Partner

The majority of Twitch streamers intend to become a Twitch Partner once their viewership has increased and, as a result, the quality of the streams themselves improves. Here’s how you do it:

Steps On How To Grow From Affiliate To Partner

If you want to shift from the Twitch affiliate program to the Twitch Partnership program, look at the following easy steps you can take. 

• Boost Your Viewership: Achieve this by creating top-notch content, engaging with your audience, and promoting your channel on other different social media pages.
• Stream Regularly: Streaming regularly will create a regular following. Try to stream more days in a week, at least 3-4.
• Improving the quality of content: Invest in better gear, like a webcam and microphone, and implement overlays or other enhancements for a great viewing experience
• Connecting with the community: Hook up with your viewers, provide a friendly atmosphere, and work towards creating a loyal community that will support your channel.
• Network with Other Streamers: That will get you more exposure to their audiences too.
• Brand yourself: A personal Channel brand. Consistent and signature graphics, a logo, and even the sound can work, but not with too much variety in content making your viewers take notice of you uniquely from other streamers.

Benefits Difference of Both Programs 

Here is how the benefits specifically differ between an Affiliate and a Partner. 

Twitch Affiliate Benefits

• Earnings from Subscriptions: Affiliates receive 50% of the subscription price, as most streamers charge.
• Revenue from Bits: Cheer with Bits. Creators receive 1 cent for each Bit cheered by viewers.
• Ad Revenue: Although affiliates cannot monetize their own ads in the background, they can run their own ads during their streaming sessions and thus stand to take an earning share of ad revenue.
• Minimum Customization: The affiliate will have only one tier 1 emote available at the first level.
• Supporting: The affiliate gets standard support from Twitch. The speed of their support is usually slower compared to a Partner’s.

Benefits of Twitch Partner

• Split Revenue: Usually, they can negotiate better subscription revenue splits. This may go up to 70% of cases.
• Extra Sponsorship: The affiliate gets extra sponsorship from the brands and can earn from exclusive sponsorships with the brands.
• More Emotes: Partners may give more emotes to their subscribers based on varied tier levels.
• Priority Support: In Twitch, more and closer support is offered to the Partners.
• Full Video Transcoding: All video quality options are available for streamers, meaning that their viewers will be able to adjust the stream quality according to their internet speed.
• Stream Team Creation: Partners can create and manage their own stream teams to help build communities.
• Sub-Only Chat: The partners have the option to switch into sub-only chat mode that allows interacting only with the paying subscribers.

FAQs

1. How long do you have to wait after becoming an Affiliate to apply for Twitch Partner?

No, you have to qualify for Twitch’s Partner’s requirements. These are criteria, such as high and stable viewership. Twitch uses viewership and engagement to review the applications.

2. Do Twitch Partners make more than Affiliates?

Generally, yes, since they receive better subscription revenue splits, more sponsorship opportunities, and greater overall benefits such as extra emotes and full video transcoding.

3. Can Affiliates and Partners both get paid from ads, subscriptions, and Bits?

Both Affiliates and Partners can earn from subscriptions, Bits, and ads. However, Partners may have more earning opportunities and better revenue splits, in some cases.

4. Will I still be an Affiliate after I am accepted into the Partner program?

Yes. While you are a Twitch Partner, your Affiliate status will automatically be upgraded; you may not still have both statuses.

5. Can Twitch Affiliates and Partners Stream on Other Platforms?

Affiliates can stream on other platforms, however, Partners usually need to sign exclusivity agreements that prevent them from streaming any kind of live content on other platforms like YouTube or Facebook.

6. How long does it take Twitch for a Partner application to be approved?

The time frame for viewing any application to become a Twitch Partner will depend, but typically it will usually take a few weeks.

Conclusion: 

Highly dependent on where one is within the streaming journey, the decision between Twitch Affiliate and Twitch Partner comes across primarily as good for beginner and casual streamers looking to begin monetizing their content without necessarily having to meet very lofty requirements. That just means a straightforward way of starting to earn from subscriptions, Bits, and ads.

Partner is suited for full-time and known streamers to have more scopes and higher revenue potential. Though this one has tougher requirements, the benefit of enjoying a better split of revenue, priority support, and even personalization are valuable status for anyone who will take streaming seriously.

For most streamers, the natural course of events is to start out as an Affiliate and work their way up to being a Partner. You could do that by growing your audience, improving your content, and continuing a regular schedule.