Twitch, Kick or YouTube? The Best Streaming Platform for New Streamers

Twitch or Kick? Every person you ask will probably have a different opinion on what you should pick. Twitch might sound like the natural choice with 240 million monthly active users, but for casino streamers the rules are complicated and the biggest names have already moved on. Kick was built for creators, takes only 5% of your subscription revenue, but only has a fraction of Twitch's audience. And then there's YouTube, the dark horse nobody talks about enough.

Finding the best streaming platform for new streamers isn't a one size fits all answer. Here's how all three actually stack up.

Twitch: Still Number One, Just Not for Everyone

Twitch seems like the obvious choice. It's the OG of streaming and 240 million monthly active users speaks for itself. 19 billion hours watched just in 2025 and no competitor is even close to catching up.

Most streaming fans remember the headlines from 2022 when Twitch decided to ban slots, roulette and dice games from unlicensed casino sites. Stake, Rollbit, Duelbits and Roobet were named specifically and the biggest names in casino streaming followed the audience out the door. A Columbia Business School study found a 63.2% reduction in weekly gambling streams on Twitch in the months after the ban.Twitch is still number 1 despite this, just not for everyone. As a new streamer the first question to ask yourself is whether the ban actually affects what you want to stream.

Getting Started on Twitch

Twitch just made a pretty significant change. As of May 13 2026, subs, emotes and Channel Points are open to every streamer on the platform, no affiliate status needed. That means you can start building a community and getting paid from day one. The catch is you still need affiliate status to actually withdraw anything. Hit 50 followers, stream across 7 unique days and keep 3 average concurrent viewers and you're in. Once you're there, Twitch takes 50% of every subscription. Fair? Maybe not but it's just the way it works.

Kick: Built for Casino Streamers

Kick launched in December 2022 and made their presence known very quickly. Finally Twitch had a serious contender. Three years later it has 100 million registered users, 4.5 billion hours watched in 2025, up 131% year on year, and a peak concurrent viewership of 569,856 in October 2025. It holds 11% of the gaming live streaming market, a number that did not exist three years ago.

For casino streamers the appeal is obvious. No content restrictions, no complicated rules about which casino sites you can stream. You go live, you play, and if someone subscribes you keep 95% of it, compared to Twitch's 50% cut. That difference compounds fast once you start building an audience.

Despite all the hype, Kick is still significantly smaller than Twitch. The casino streaming community is here and engaged, but the broader audience Twitch has built over a decade hasn't followed. For a new gambling streamer that means less competition in your category but also a smaller pool of potential viewers to find you.

Your First Steps on Kick

Affiliate requirements are slightly easier than Twitch. Hit 50 followers, stream across 7 unique days and keep 3 average concurrent viewers and you're in. The 95/5 split kicks in the moment you become an affiliate. Partner status is a bigger step up, requiring 250 followers, 75 average concurrent viewers and 25 active subscriptions in the past 30 days.

One thing worth knowing: Kick allows multistreaming from day one. You can go live on Kick and YouTube at the same time with no restrictions, which means you are building two audiences simultaneously from your very first session.

YouTube: The Dark Horse

YouTube is not really a live streaming platform. It is a search engine that happens to support live video, and that’s more important than you might think.

YouTube Gaming recorded 8.8 billion hours watched in 2025, up 12% year on year and its best year ever. It holds 24% of the gaming live streaming market. The live audience on YouTube is smaller than Kick or Twitch but that is not why you use it.

When you finish a stream on YouTube the VOD gets published automatically and indexed by Google. Twitch VODs expire in 14 to 60 days. Kick VODs are not indexed by Google at all. A YouTube stream from six months ago can still be pulling views today, which means every session you do is building a library that compounds over time.

For casino streamers YouTube works best alongside Kick rather than instead of it. Go live on Kick where the casino audience is, clip the best moments, post them to YouTube the same day. Over time that library becomes a discovery engine that sends new viewers back to your live streams.

How YouTube Actually Works for Streamers

Getting started on YouTube is simpler than either Twitch or Kick. There are no follower requirements to go live from a desktop, you just set it up and stream. Going live from your phone is different, that needs 1,000 subscribers first.

The money side takes longer. To unlock ad revenue you need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months. Until then YouTube is purely a discoverability play, which is exactly what you want it to be at the start.

Monetization: What the Numbers Actually Look Like

Based on €4.99 standard subscription price. Twitch Partner Plus requires 350 recurring subscriber points per month to qualify.

Which Platform Should You Start On?

For a casino streamer starting from zero the honest answer is Kick first, YouTube from day one.

Kick is where the casino audience is and the playing field is more level than Twitch. No content restrictions and a 95/5 revenue split means a new channel can actually build something here without fighting established creators for every viewer.

YouTube is not a live play at the start. Go live on Kick, clip the best moments and post them to YouTube the same day. Over time that library builds a second discovery engine, that you should not underestimate.

Twitch makes sense later when you have an audience worth bringing over. The one exception is poker. If poker is your game Twitch still has a serious community and the content is fully allowed. Starting there is a legitimate choice.

Multistreaming

Most serious streamers in 2026 broadcast to Kick and YouTube at the same time. Tools like Restream and Streamlabs make it straightforward from a single setup and both have free tiers to get started. Kick allows it with no restrictions and at affiliate level on Twitch it is permitted too. It sounds like more work but in practice you are just pressing one button and building two audiences at the same time.

The platform you start on can always change. Pick the one that fits what you want to stream and go live.

Ready to get started? Follow the how to become a streamer guide to get properly set up before your first session.