How Much Does Twitch Actually Pay Per Sub (and Per 1,000 Viewers)?

A viewer clicks “Subscribe” and pays $4.99. It feels like $4.99 just landed in the streamer’s account. It didn’t. By the time that sub becomes money you can withdraw, Twitch has taken half of it, a payment processor has taken a bite of the rest, and you’ve had to stack up dozens more before Twitch will send you a cent.

So let’s answer the two questions every new streamer actually types — how much does Twitch pay per sub, and per 1,000 viewers — one revenue line at a time, using Twitch’s own published numbers.

What one subscription really pays

Subscriptions come in three tiers, and the default split is 50/50. You keep half of the sticker price:

you keep $2.50 Tier 1 ($4.99)you keep $5.00 Tier 2 ($9.99)you keep $12.50 Tier 3 ($24.99)50 / 50 Default split

That $2.50 on a Tier 1 sub is the real per-sub number for most streamers — not $4.99.

Source: Twitch Help — Earnings analytics (subscription revenue) · checked 2026-07-28

You can improve the split, but not by asking — you earn it through the Plus Program. Hit 100 Plus Points for three straight months and you move to 60/40; hit 300 points and you reach 70/30, where a Tier 1 sub finally pays $3.50. Points are weighted by tier: a Tier 1 sub is worth 1 point, Tier 2 is 2, Tier 3 is 6 — and, since 2024, Affiliates can qualify too, not just Partners.

Source: Twitch Help — Plus Program (60/40 and 70/30 thresholds) · checked 2026-07-28

Source: Twitch Blog — Update to streamer payout programs (2024) · checked 2026-07-28

So the honest per-sub range is $2.50 to $3.50 for a Tier 1 sub — and you only reach the top of it after months of holding a sizeable, consistent subscriber base.

What Bits and ads pay (spoiler: less than you hope)

Bits are the simplest line. Each Bit cheered pays you exactly one cent — a “Cheer 100” is $1.00 to you, regardless of Affiliate or Partner status.

Source: Twitch Help — Bits revenue (one cent per Bit) · checked 2026-07-28

Ads are where the “per 1,000 viewers” question lives, and the answer disappoints most people. Ad pay is quoted as a CPM — dollars per 1,000 ad impressions — and in North America that’s roughly $3–$6, the highest-paying region. But that’s per 1,000 ad impressions, not per 1,000 viewers, and only a fraction of your viewers see an ad in any given hour.

$0.01 each Bit~$3–$6 NA ad CPM~$3–$6 Per 1,000 ad views$100 Payout threshold

Practically: running a few minutes of ads to an audience of 1,000 concurrent viewers might generate a single-digit to low-double-digit dollar amount for that hour — real, but nowhere near what “1,000 viewers” sounds like it should pay. Twitch’s Ads Incentive Program can pay guaranteed CPMs for hitting monthly ad-minute targets, which helps mid-size streamers, but it doesn’t change the fundamental shape: subs are the paycheck; ads are a tip jar.

Source: Twitch Help — Ads Incentive Program (guaranteed CPMs) · checked 2026-07-28

The threshold nobody mentions

Here’s the line that quietly holds new streamers’ money hostage: Twitch only pays out once you’ve accumulated $100, and it pays around the 15th of the following month. At $2.50 a sub, that’s 40 Tier 1 subs before a single dollar leaves the platform. Fall short and your balance simply rolls to next month — earned, but unpaid.

Source: Twitch Help — Payouts ($100 minimum, monthly) · checked 2026-07-28

How many subs to actually make money

Now the question behind the question. Turn the per-sub number into a monthly goal, at the default 50/50, Tier 1. subs only; ads/Bits would lower the count

40 subs Clear the $100 payout200 subs $500 / month400 subs $1,000 / month~500+ subs Minimum-wage full-time*

Four hundred paying subscribers — held month after month — to net $1,000 before tax. That is a large, loyal community, far bigger than the follower count most people picture, and it’s why the vast majority of streamers never clear the $100 threshold at all. The math isn’t hostile; it’s just honest about what “get subs” really has to mean.

(\A full-time minimum-wage income in most US states lands near $1,200–$1,500/month, i.e. roughly 500–600 Tier 1 subs at 50/50 — before self-employment tax.)*

Claimed against banked

A streamer averaging 40 concurrent viewers has a good month: 60 Tier 1 subs, 4,000 Bits, and some ad revenue. illustration

$150 60 subs × $2.50$40 4,000 Bits$25 Ads (est.)≈$215 Banked before tax

A channel that looks healthy on screen banks a couple hundred dollars — and only because it cleared the $100 threshold. The “$4.99” a viewer pays was never the number. Half of it, stacked forty times before payout and taxed as self-employment income afterward, is.

The honest takeaway

• Per Tier 1 sub, you keep $2.50 — rising to $3.50 only after months in the Plus Program.
• Bits pay a flat cent each; ads pay ~$3–$6 per 1,000 impressions, not per viewer.
• Nothing pays out until $100, so subs are the only line that reliably gets you there.
• “Get subs” means hundreds of them, held for months, to reach even a minimum-wage income.

Twitch isn’t hiding these numbers — they’re all in its own help pages. It’s just that “Subscribe · $4.99” is the number everyone sees, and “$2.50, forty times, next month” is the one that reaches the bank.

People also ask

How much is 100 subs on Twitch?

At the default 50/50 split on Tier 1, you keep $2.50 each — about $250 a month from 100 subscribers, before self-employment tax. Reach 300 Plus Points and the 70/30 split lifts that to $3.50 a sub.

How much does Twitch pay per 1,000 views?

Not per view — per ad impression. North American ad CPM is roughly $3–$6 per 1,000 ad impressions, and only a fraction of viewers see an ad in a given hour, so “1,000 viewers” pays far less than it sounds.

What is the Twitch payout threshold?

$100. You’re paid around the 15th of the month once your balance clears it; below that, it rolls to next month. At $2.50 a sub, that’s 40 Tier 1 subs before a dollar moves.

Source: Twitch Help — Earnings & payouts · checked 2026-07-28

How do you get the 70/30 split on Twitch?

Through the Plus Program: hold 100 Plus Points for three straight months for 60/40, or reach 300 points for 70/30. Points are weighted by tier (1 / 2 / 6), and Affiliates now qualify, not just Partners.

Source: Twitch Help — Plus Program · checked 2026-07-28

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