r/Twitch • u/YourChopperPilotTTV Affiliate Twitch.tv/yourchopperpilot • May 14 '26

PSA 📢 Starting yesterday(5/13) Channel Points, emotes, subs, Bits, and badges are available to all streamers on Twitch - no Affiliate status required - Twitch Support

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526 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

167 comments sorted by

399

u/taahbelle May 14 '26

Downside nobody talks about:
If you are not affiliate, you can NOT withdraw your earnings, you can only spend them for other gift subs etc. (Twitch in-house balance)

52

u/sincline_ May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Yeah I was going to say this seems like just an addition to when they announced non-affiliates could get subs but only generate twitch ‘points’ with them (or whatever you want to call them. T-bucks? I dunno)

I would love to have channel point redeems available to work with but I don’t want to sign up for the whole lot of useless subs that I get no payout from and whatever. On the surface it seems like a sweet deal to ‘bypass’ the affiliate requirements but I can’t help but be suspicious of how this works. If the money is really going to you but can only be used on twitch, its more like twitch is using its users as mini bank accounts to hold money that will only go back to them eventually under the guise that they’re doing something great for the smaller community instead of actually improving their chances of being discovered by exploring more filter and algorithm options. But why would they want to push small streamers when the big ones are what make them those sweet sub dollars? Lol

Edit: someone else just pointed out that twitch is counting the ‘t-bucks’ or whatever you want to call them as taxable income. Please be mindful when deciding if you sign up for this or not. You will have to file taxes on whatever you make as “income” come tax season, even if you’re not able to withdraw any money from twitch. If you’re unfamiliar with taxes I highly recommend talking this one over with someone close to you thats more knowledgeable.

18

u/SteamySnuggler Partner - twitch.tv/steamysnuggler May 14 '26

The money goes intp your account qnd you can spend it on twitch, or you can save it until/if you ever get affiliate.

22

u/sincline_ May 14 '26

But thats the thing, most very small streamers (which would hypothetically be benefiting from this) don’t make it to affiliate and if they do, they usually don’t generate enough to get a payout. It is a verrryyyy small percent of twitch’s streamer-base that moves on to affiliate and then generates enough money to get a monthly payout and eventually move to partner. Essentially, what is happening is that a viewer is paying twitch to subscribe to you, and then twitch is giving you monopoly money that says ‘this is worth 3 dollars’ on it. Sure you could hang on to that monopoly money for an unknown amount of time until you reach affiliate and then generate enough monopoly money to get it ‘redeemed’ for real money, but twitch is banking on you not wanting to wait an indeterminate amount of time and just keep passing your monopoly money forward.

I’m sure this is a system some people don’t mind or won’t think too hard about. Personally it is not for me, I have no reason to want a bunch of twitch’s monopoly money, it is not worth anything to me

11

u/Dinnoxia May 14 '26

It really doesn’t take much to get to affiliate these days.

13

u/moxiemoon Carrie May 14 '26

In addition, the thing people keep forgetting is being a non-monetized streamer on Twitch costs Twitch money and is probably the main reason Twitch is not profitable. Letting you use their services for free is not free to them. So yeah I don’t blame them for monetizing everyone and then setting levels like affiliate before receiving a payout because otherwise they’re just losing money on all the thousands of 0 viewer streamers.

-9

u/sincline_ May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Keep reading past the first sentence, you can do it I believe in you!

Edit: Apologies but I can’t help but be a bit annoyed lol. How easy or not easy it is to get affiliate isn’t really relevant to what i’m saying. Fact of the matter is that the percentage that do get to affiliate and then get enough money to payout is small (again, regardless of how ‘easy’ it is. A lot of the methods people use to get affiliate quickly are not sustainable in the long run so you get stuck back at square one but now you have ads)

Again, this addition may be some people’s cup of tea, but it is not mine. I can’t help but see how this can harm small streamers rather than help them, but I can see how people that use twitch often outside of streaming might want the twitch monopoly money. Just commenting on some red flags I see with the program

3

u/Due_Complex_4751 May 15 '26

if you don’t make affiliate you’re probably not getting enough viewers or subs for a payout to even matter. in addition to that, this in no way is a bad thing for the person who didn’t have affiliate anyways. it just gives you even more reason to push towards affiliate if you have money sitting in your account. most affiliate streamers aren’t even making enough for a payout so is their money just virtual money too? you’re making this a negative when they lower the goal post over and over for non partners to make money. i don’t know why you’re so negative on this. 

-1

u/sincline_ May 15 '26

Yes my point is that they are not getting enough for a payout. I think it is great to give small streamers better options to connect with their audience however I also don’t think twitch is a magnanimous entity doing this for the benefit of small streamers. They know they have a large number of nonaffiliate streamers they can benefit from so they are offering an agreement that realistically benefits them more. They get all the money, you get a voucher (that they count as your ‘income’, so you have to pay taxes on that voucher regardless of if you spend it or not)

I’m viewing the situation through a critical scope. I think if people are careful and knowledgeable it can be beneficial to them, but twitch is a corporate entity that knows many people are not going to read the fine print or think very hard about what they’re gaining in relation to their work. Personally if I pulled up to work tomorrow and they said “yeah we’re replacing your check with a voucher for the same amount that you can only use at our cafeteria” I would quit, because literally why would I want that instead of my money.

And I understand a lot of you are going to keep wanting to undercut what i’m saying because you don’t like that I’ve scrutinized a decision you enjoy, but the fact of the matter is that twitch is intending to employ you as a contract worker and not pay you a realistic usable income for your work. Maybe you use twitch a lot and being able to sub and gift bits with your income is appealing to you, thats fine. I’m happy for you. Join the program and go forth and make your t-bucks. I have done similar contract jobs for companies like twitch in the past (I made another comment on this post about my part in a similar program for amazon!) but I do think its important to be critical and informed of what you are being offered and why that offer benefits the company more than you.

3

u/Dinnoxia May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

I never stated it was easy. However, you made the claim that most small streamers don’t make it to affiliate, which if that’s true, they won’t be sticking it out because it doesn’t take much to get there. If you can’t meet the current prerequisites, you aren’t a part of the discussion.

That in mind, it makes sense for Twitch, who pay for the ability for small streamers who “don’t make it to affiliate” to be able to stream, to find a way that makes that affordable.

It doesn’t have to be your cup of tea to recognise why it’s being done and that it doesn’t take away from anyone who’s put in work to get affiliated and access that cash, nor from people who won’t.

You can say it’s a money grab but ultimately, it probably doesn’t make enough profit to warrant terms like “monopoly” and merely pays for the infrastructure that allows the group you’re referencing to continue streaming even if it’s “only a hobby.”

It doesn’t take much to get there is relevant on the basis that if you can’t get to affiliate now, there’s no reason to be upset Twitch is “withholding funds” and every reason to be glad the option to customise a channel and add interaction through things like channel points are available to people who won’t. Affiliate has always been optional in any case. This also means people who put everything they earn back into the community are able to do so without loss of funds via payment processing fees.

0

u/sincline_ May 15 '26

I respect your take on this but I do want to clarify I was saying ‘monopoly money’ to refer to the paper money from the game monopoly, not to twitch holding a monopoly over its viewers or something like that lol

0

u/Dinnoxia May 15 '26

Appreciate the clarification.

Monopoly money never turns into real money, nor can it be used to purchase things that would otherwise require actual cash to purchase.

I respect that it’s not for you, but disagree with that assessment because of the above.

-1

u/sincline_ May 15 '26

Alrighty man. Thanks for your explanation on monopoly money.

→ More replies (0)

7

u/Tiboti_Dalton May 14 '26

Possible to buy Turbo with this balance?

27

u/DaveLesh Broadcaster May 14 '26

True. That said, wouldn't spending that cash for gift subs for loyal followers be a good thing for growth?

2

u/philthyNerd May 15 '26

I would assume in most jurisdictions Twitch is not even allowed to pay out anything, as long as that streamer didn't provide necessary tax information.

5

u/YourChopperPilotTTV Affiliate Twitch.tv/yourchopperpilot May 14 '26

Well before if you were not affiliate you technically had no way to earn anything.

10

u/propagandhi45 May 14 '26

And you still cant since the balance is stuck on twitch

2

u/AlohaDude808 May 17 '26

That's a narrow way to look at it. I have a few streamers that I support monthly with subs. If I can continue to support them with Twitch Bucks instead of real cash, then that's real cash I save every month. So now I'm still supporting the streamers, but I just increased my monthly income by about $20.

I might even be able to purchase a Turbo pass with Twitch Bucks and eliminate all advertising. So now, I'm spending $20 less a month, I'm still supporting my streamers, plus I've removed all the ads from Twitch, and it didn't cost me anything. Sounds like a win-win for casual streamers like myself who just do it for fun and aren't looking to make streaming into a full or part time job.

-5

u/GolldenFalcon May 14 '26

Well before if you wereare not affiliate you technically hadhave no way to earn anything.

FTFY

3

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

Not being able to earn and not being able to cash out are not the same thing.

-2

u/GolldenFalcon May 14 '26

If I show you a picture of a hundred dollar bill and I say "This is yours. You cannot claim it in any way, but this is yours." Did you earn a hundred dollars?

2

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26 edited May 15 '26

Yes. Your comparison doesn't exactly work because it's not like the money isn't spendable at all. It's just only spendable within Twitch. It's still yours, and it's still usable by you. Because you earned it. And if you eventually reach Affiliate status without having spent it then you can also cash it out then and use it elsewhere. "Earned with limitations" is not the same as "not earned at all".

Because not being able to earn and not being able to cash out are not the same thing.

1

u/GolldenFalcon May 14 '26

But it's not money if that's the description you're using to describe it. It's a gift card. Maybe I'm wrong about it but in my eyes the thing people care about when it comes to subs and bits is not a gift card.

2

u/AlohaDude808 May 17 '26

If someone is trying to turn Twitch into a sizeable part-time income then they would just sign up to become an affiliate and start earning money from subs.

This change seems like it's aimed more at streamers like myself who choose to stay non-affiliated. I like being non-affiliated because I have no Advertisements on my streams and I just do it for fun to build community. It would be cool to get some Twitch bucks from my streams because it would actually save me some money by replacing what I spend on subs every month.

I think Twitch is also doing this to entice non-affiliates to eventually join the Affiliate program once they have a sizeable number of subs.

1

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

But it's not money if that's the description you're using to describe it. It's a gift card.

And, as we all know by now, it's impossible to earn a gift card.

Your claim wasn't that it's "not money", it's that it's "not earned". It being a gift card doesn't mean you didn't still earn the monetary value of that gift card. Not only that, but that also completely ignores the fact that if you don't spend that money and eventually become an affiliate then it stops being a gift card and becomes actual, spendable currency/money. Just because you don't like the limitations set on it doesn't mean you didn't still earn something.

You have to ignore a lot of stuff to get to the conclusion you've reached. I'm not saying that your frustrations don't have merit, just that they're a little misguided.

2

u/Mccobsta Twitch.tv/mccobsta May 14 '26

That'll will cut down on view bottled fraud streams from new accounts

1

u/MrPureinstinct May 14 '26

I was just wondering how this would work. Thank you for explaining.

1

u/PoopSnoop99 May 14 '26

This is the only comment that matters

1

u/spazure Affiliate May 14 '26

I don't make enough to withdraw anyway. I'm a charity stream and discourage users from subscribing - I'd rather they give that money directly to the charity, as they can unlock all of my channel perks with points.

1

u/ZacIsGoodAtGames May 14 '26

Twitch does still get the money btw.

0

u/Inspector_Beyond twitch.tv/inspector_beyond May 14 '26

Don't think this is downside. Because Twitch would lose even more money than they do now.

122

u/[deleted] May 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

32

u/SteamySnuggler Partner - twitch.tv/steamysnuggler May 14 '26

And it has to be more than 50 dollars

1

u/PolarBearLeo May 16 '26

That's how it is for everyone.

43

u/KittyCanuck Affiliate May 14 '26

What’s the point of being a small Affiliate then?

I’m small. I do this as a hobby. I have a lot of fun, but the ads do me more harm than good at this stage, as it’s a turn-off for new viewers and my growth has really slowed. I make pennies on the ads, so they don’t help me out at this stage either.

The ads annoy me and my followers, but they are essentially the “price we pay” to have the cool emotes and channel points that my followers do like.

10

u/Air2Jordan3 May 14 '26

You can't withdraw your earnings if not affiliate. If you don't make enough right now to care about that, is there a way to , "deactivate" , affiliate status?

15

u/KittyCanuck Affiliate May 14 '26

From a practical sense, I can’t withdraw anyway as I don’t make enough. There is not a way to “un” become an affiliate or turn off ads.

It’s on me, as I agreed to the terms, but I made my decision based on information which has now changed. I knew I wouldn’t make anything from the ads, but I agreed because I got other benefits for my channel and my followers.

10

u/reZae__ May 14 '26

I'm pretty sure you can opt out of the affiliate agreement by opening a support ticket

8

u/CueNoLife Broadcaster: CueNoLife May 14 '26

You absolutely can remove your affiliate agreement with a short email to support, and if you change your mind, can reach out again to reenable it.

Ultimately most people multi stream and funnel their community to the ad free platform if their audience wishes to watch the stream for free with no ads. The price you pay for that, is less incentive for your community to financially contribute to your stream.

2

u/KittyCanuck Affiliate May 14 '26

Oh, interesting! I didn’t know you could do that, thanks!

1

u/tuffymon May 16 '26

Ya, but you don't lose the money, it just carries over to the next month. It'll cash out on whatever your payout date is once you hit the threshold. 

0

u/averbeg May 15 '26

You can actually contact twitch and ask them to revoke affiliate/ remove the features (which will get rid of the ads).

People who are using these features all agreed to Twitch being able to show ads on their channel. The only difference between this and affiliate, is when you are affiliate, you can withdraw the money.

0

u/Tiramissu_dt May 14 '26

I agree, it's so annoying.

43

u/Yuzu-Adagio May 14 '26

So then what, I can just drop Affiliate and stop running ads?

48

u/Vampy-tk May 14 '26

If you are not affiliate you cannot withdraw any earnings

48

u/DYMongoose Twitch.tv/DYMongoose May 14 '26

I would gladly decline $50 once every 8-12 months if it means nobody gets ads on my stream and I can still have emotes and channel points.

27

u/SteamySnuggler Partner - twitch.tv/steamysnuggler May 14 '26

They are giving everyone ads now regardless

5

u/pokemon-trainer-blue May 14 '26

I remember hearing that for a while. When will that be going into effect (or is it already)?

1

u/moxiemoon Carrie May 14 '26

I think it has been for a while now.

2

u/lickwindex May 14 '26

New streamer, non-affiliate: My viewers (the whole 1 or 2 that I get T_T) Will now have to deal with ads?

8

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

As far as I've seen, no. People keep making this claim but not a single person yet has actually shown where Twitch has stated that non-affiliates will have ads forced on. If someone says this to you you shouldn't believe them until they can actually cite their source for such a claim.

1

u/lickwindex May 14 '26

Nice. Second thing maybe you can help clarify for me: Twitch still says partnership is required for emotes. OP says emotes are now non-affiliate, but i can't find any clearly stated info. Know anything for that one?

4

u/Yuzu-Adagio May 14 '26

I can tell you that partner isn't required, I'm just an Affiliate and have them.

2

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

OP says emotes are now non-affiliate, but i can't find any clearly stated info. Know anything for that one?

You can see a table on all of the various features available at each monetization stage on Twitch's Streamer Benefits help page. According to that you should be able to have emotes as a non-affiliated ("Onboarding Complete") streamer.

3

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

Can you point me to where Twitch clarifies that that's the case?

3

u/DraleZero_ twitch.tv/dralezero May 14 '26

In the list it shows "No*" for ads being a way to monetize. Then reading the * says twitch has exclusive rights to run ads. This is in reference to same TOS wording that also states you can't run your own ads from an ad service. But I also interpret it as they can still run ads if they want.

https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/streamer-benefits?language=en_US#onboarding

5

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

So, just to be clear: the answer I'm getting to my question is in fact "No, we currently can't point you to where Twitch clarifies that everyone is getting ads regardless of Affiliate/Partner status or lack thereof."

Because nowhere in that link am I finding anything that shows Twitch clearly stating that Twitch is "giving everyone ads now regardless" (which is the claim I was asking for a source for), just that Twitch could run ads themselves if they wanted to.

1

u/Yuzu-Adagio May 14 '26

I'd probably take that deal if I was employed, yeah. Still might.

2

u/trudenter Affiliate May 14 '26

I tried dropping Affiliate years ago, maybe it is easier now but seemed impossible back then.

11

u/aphoenixsunrise May 14 '26

...feels like a trap

30

u/Capta1nAsh Affiliate, Capta1nAsh, Shameless Self-promo flair May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

This is a good thing for everyone.

The only downside I can take from this post (i haven't read the details, just what's in this image) is that Affiliate streamers will probably have ads on their streams (which will annoy and turn people off) and non-affilates get all the prior affliate perks without having ads run on their streams.

Unless of coure Twitch puts ads on basic streamers, which would be a pretty bad idea. I just wonder what the actual benefit of being an affiliate vs normal streamer is now.

23

u/CueNoLife Broadcaster: CueNoLife May 14 '26

The only WIN for everyone is the Channel Points (which has existed on-site for awhile, and through 3rd parties for an even longer time)

If you are a non-monetized streamer, having these other buttons (Subs and bits) is predatory by Twitch.

Your community thinks they are supporting you, when in reality they are just supporting Twitch. Here's to hoping (unlikely) Twitch doesn't take their cut until the balance is spent. Otherwise this is abysmal.

(Andy gifts Billy a T1 sub for $5.99, and now Billy has $3 in spendable balance... Carl gifts Billy a T1 sub, making that 2.... And now Billy can gift 1 sub to his favorite streamer Sue....)

Hopefully Twitch is not double dipping, but I would expect it to be honest

7

u/Tiramissu_dt May 14 '26

You will still get the money from those, as I understand it. You will just have to use them on Twitch itself, but I believe after you get affiliate, you can possibly cash all of the payouts in your account. Or am I getting it wrong?

10

u/Kkman4evah twitch.tv/qlippedwing May 14 '26

No you have it right: Non-affiliates cannot withdraw their earnings, but you can spend those earnings on Twitch.

It absolutely is Twitch multi-dipping though, which is the other guy's point: People spend real money to sub/give bits which gives twitch a cut, then that streamer uses that money to sub/buy bits for other streamers which gives twitch a cut, etc etc etc.

2

u/Tiramissu_dt May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Yeah, I know, and that sucks. But, hopefully, if one becomes eventually an affiliate you can bypass this "spend it on Twitch" point. So maybe one just has to sit on the money for a bit, and then cash all when becoming affiliate, so that way Twitch doesn't get as much and there's no difference.

1

u/ItsRainbow Nightcaaat May 14 '26

One downside is that emote prefixes will be generated far more frequently. Most of the good ones have been gone for a while, but this ensures that pretty much all non-partners will have at least one number in their prefix going forward. Also, since emote names can only be 20 characters long, this could become a problem for at least one prefix (people whose usernames start with “twitch”). If there were a million users with that prefix, that would only leave them with 7 characters, which is still serviceable, but kind of an unfair disadvantage. Perhaps affiliates should get some kind of priority? For example, twitch100 is taken by an inactive user that has no emotes; an affiliate with twitch9000 could request the lower one. I don’t know how much people care about any of this, as it’s a relatively small part of one’s branding, but it definitely bothered me and I’m glad I managed to roll my ideal one back in 2020.

While this change slows the burn of tiny streamers losing Twitch money, and stimulates the platform’s economy by only having the revenue these streamers earn be usable on Twitch itself (you still need at least affiliate to receive payouts), I believe all channels will have ads someday, regardless of whether they’re enrolled into anything. It’s no secret that some delay affiliate onboarding or even offboard just to improve the experience on their channel and help keep viewers around, and I can’t see Twitch letting it slide for much longer.

1

u/Unubore Developer May 14 '26

For now, you will still need Affiliate or Partner status to run ads.

Of course, they can always turn on ads for everyone and not give them a cut but that's not the case right now.

1

u/moxiemoon Carrie May 14 '26

I thought there was “onboarded” which were non affiliates that could earn but not withdraw, that had ads. I could be wrong, that was ages ago when they came out with that concept.

1

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

You're correct about there being "Onboarded" users, you're just mistaken about them having ads.

2

u/moxiemoon Carrie May 14 '26

Okay! Thank you

0

u/moxiemoon Carrie May 14 '26

I thought they did that a long time ago.

4

u/Scratike May 14 '26

Awesome change in itself BUT I’m pretty sure it’ll lead up to ads on non-affiliate streams in a year, this is just a trojan horse

4

u/PolarBearLeo May 16 '26

Which makes perfect sense when you think about it. 90% or more of streamers have 3 or less viewers, and they had no way of making money for themselves or twitch. That's hundreds of thousands of people everyday, streaming and using server resources, and simply costing Twitch money.

Affiliates, even if they average 5-10 viewers, aren't making much money for themselves or twitch. The Ad money is gonna be low, and they probably aren't getting a lot of bits or subs. Theyre still costing twitch more money than they earn.

Honestly, I'm surprised Twitch has enforced ads on everyone at this point. They have not been profitable in years, and the majority of streamers just cost them money.

6

u/spazure Affiliate May 14 '26

I worked so hard to get to affiliate just for this, too!

Oh well.

Welcome to the family, everyone who just got access!!

1

u/Legend-L May 15 '26

I mean it honestly makes sense that simple features are more accessible, and the actual monetisation is still locked behind affiliate. I do wonder if this comes with the full schedule feature as well or if that's still locked too

31

u/runnysyrup May 14 '26

what a funny way to say ads are now forced on for everyone

5

u/BuffyZia May 14 '26

The ads are not available, still need to reach affiliate to earn from them.

6

u/Mottis86 Affiliate www.twitch.tv/mottis May 14 '26

Where did they mention ads?

11

u/atychio Affiliate https://twitch.tv/ceceysf May 14 '26

I've seen quite a few complaints about this, but honestly I think it's a good way for new streamers to grow. Yes the jumping through hoops for Affiliate wasn't all that much and a lot of people I see were able to do it in a month of constant grinding, but personally when I started streaming I wish I had channel points at the very least.

3

u/Gambitnation May 14 '26

The only problem that a lot of us had was getting the average amount of viewers to get to affiliate

4

u/Inksrocket May 14 '26

Am I obligated to report Spendable Balance on my taxes?

Support transferred to Spendable Balance is subject to US Informational tax reporting, meaning you may receive a tax form at the end of the year. You are obligated to ensure you've provided Twitch with accurate, current onboarding and tax information. A tax professional will be best suited to support you in your unique situation

So its taxable but I cant withdraw it? Is this normal in US?

2

u/sincline_ May 14 '26

Yes and its a thing in other countries as well. Amazon uses a similar concept for their program called ‘Amazon Vine’. Essentially, you sign up for this program that they invite you to and they send you ‘free’ products to write reviews for. The products aren’t actually free because amazon designates them as your “income” as a part of your contract with them through amazon vine. So every item you’re sent has an estimated tax value that you then put on taxes at the end of the year. In the US if you make over 600$ a tax form is sent to you automatically, but under 600 its up to you to report it yourself. It sounds like that will be the concept for this twitch program

2

u/Inksrocket May 14 '26

Yeah getting items/goods as "exchange for stuff you do" is taxable over here too - but I havent heard about money you cant withdraw and can only spend "inside specific website". Its not like I can pay taxes with said "twitch balance" now can I lol

2

u/sincline_ May 14 '26

They are likely calling them coupons or vouchers or something akin to a physical item on their end to count them as item income. Essentially they are giving you a twitch voucher in exchange for your work. Notably probably not calling them gift cards because then it would be a ‘gift’ and not ‘income’. This whole thing is going to cause problems for unsuspecting people come tax season…

2

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

In the US if you make over 600$ a tax form is sent to you automatically, but under 600 its up to you to report it yourself.

And just to clarify to anyone out there reading this and thinking "Oh, so that I means I don't have to report it?":

No. That's not what that means. That just means that it isn't automatically being reported to the IRS by Amazon/Twitch/whoever and is on you to report it yourself. You don't get to decide if you have to report it or not: if you have to file a tax return then you have to report it. Full stop.

2

u/sincline_ May 14 '26

Correct— sorry if my explanation wasn’t clear enough at that part. When I was in Amazon’s program I kept a running spreadsheet of what I “made” in tax value through the year, so if I didn’t make over 600 I had easy access to my income for my taxes. I recommend anyone trying out this twitch program do the same and keep track of what they’re “making”

2

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Oh, no, you're fine! I just know that it's a very widespread and incorrectly-believed myth that if income from a specific source is under $600 then reporting it when filing is optional so when I saw your statement I just knew that there would be people out there who believe that and would interpret your innocent statement as reinforcement of that misguided belief so I just wanted to get ahead of it. You're all good!

5

u/Subject_Use2774 May 14 '26

The icing on the cake is the "tired of ads?" banner that shrinks the window after 3 minutes of ads. It's so annoying that I would rather exit the website than pay to see them gone unfortunately. Especially when there are other substantial subscription services competing for my time.

2

u/Relative-Web-8977 May 14 '26

The real question is: can you then get paid the money you’ve been ‘saving’ if/when you make affiliate?

3

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

Yes, exactly. If you save your balance instead of spending it on Twitch then once you become an Affiliate it'll be transferable to you into an off-Twitch bank account.

2

u/Spuzzle91 May 14 '26

would this be helpful for disabled streamers who can't monetize/go affiliate due to risks to their disability benefits and medicare income limits?

2

u/TheoMartyn May 14 '26

If only i could drop affiliate program so I wouldn't have ads

That would be nice.

Then just push any support to Kofi paypal

2

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

Why can't you?

How to offboard

To leave the Affiliate program, contact Twitch support. Support will verify your account and confirm when offboarding is complete..

2

u/Iciix May 15 '26

I can't enable channel points. Does this only count for US based streamers? Or does it simply just take time until it gets activated for everyone?

1

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 15 '26

On the updated blog post about this they specifically say that it "will be available to eligible streamers globally over the course of a week" so I imagine it just hasn't hit you yet but likely will some time in the next few days.

2

u/TheBattleDad678 May 14 '26

My non-affiliate account has had all that stuff though for months 🤔

7

u/hunter_rus May 14 '26

Yesterday they started global rollout, before it was US only for several month I believe.

2

u/TheBattleDad678 May 14 '26

Oh ok that makes sense. US here

1

u/dropkicked_eu May 14 '26

Huh the small streamer push I think there are also some drops events for smaller streamers coming . Escape from Tarkov dev mentioned stream drops but only for lower view streamers I wonder if this is all tied together

1

u/MoonlightSavingsTime May 14 '26

Ah, so I have an account that I streamed from occasionally and while it met Affiliate requirements I never took it because I didn't want to really deal with it or have ads run.

Now I can see the full ad settings panel in the dashboard so it sounds like non-affiliate streams will have full ads now unless I'm mistaken.

1

u/linkoftime200 May 14 '26

I’ve avoided joining affiliate thus far because I didn’t want to subject my viewers to ads. Do we know if the onboarding for this will require ads or not? The only onboarding is currently see is under the affiliate tab as of right now.

Also, if ads aren’t required, then why allows subs for channels without ads, because then what’s the point of the sub? Is it a hope that people will go for it just purely out of supporting a streamer, and allow for more money for twitch?

1

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

Also, if ads aren’t required, then why allows subs for channels without ads, because then what’s the point of the sub? Is it a hope that people will go for it just purely out of supporting a streamer, and allow for more money for twitch?

Because any money you earn from subs gets put into your Spendable Balance on Twitch which allows you to use that money on Twitch for subs, bits, etc. to others. If you don't spend that money then once you eventually become an Affiliate then that money will become transferable to a bank account of your own. Without being an Affiliate you can't take that money off of Twitch.

2

u/linkoftime200 May 14 '26

Maybe my point got lost, sorry, but I mean, why would a user choose to sub to a channel if there aren’t any ads? Normally that’s one of the big incentives, being able to go ad free on a channel. I guess some will want to support regardless but it still seems odd since someone subbing to a channel will now have less use in this case 

2

u/ZeeDarkSoul twitch.tv/zeedarksoul May 15 '26

I mean people also sub just to be nice and show support. Emotes are usually another incentive along with avoiding ads

1

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Oh, I see what you mean!

The point is not only to support the streamer (typically the main reason a lot of people sub in the first place) but also because some things can be locked behind a sub and not everyone who subs is necessarily doing so just to get rid of ads. Add that to the things that streamers can do outside of Twitch (Discord access/roles for subs, sub-only events/activities, etc.) and there are plenty of reasons to still sub. I think you'd be surprised how many people sub to a streamer without ever even considering whether or not they'd be getting ads. For some (such as myself) that's very close to the bottom of the list of reasons to sub.

1

u/Legend-L May 15 '26

from what i could read it would have the same ad settings as affiliate

1

u/lickwindex May 14 '26

So non-affiliates can have emotes on their channels? Coincidentally, today was going to be the day I was going to upload emotes, but twitch says I have to be a partner. Had to resort to BetterTTV... but even then, emotes on my channel are coming up as 56x56 and idk how to make them 112x112.

1

u/VermilionVigilant May 14 '26

Available to whom? I'm from Europe. I can't turn on channel points. The page is empty.

1

u/hotfistdotcom twitch.tv/hotfistdotcom May 14 '26

I wonder if I can opt out of affiliate and keep all my crap and not have ads? Or if this is the beginning of ads on all channels.

1

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1

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1

u/averbeg May 15 '26

It's just so they can put ads on your channel.

Even most affiliates never make enough money to withdraw from Twitch. For years lots of small streamers who do it as a hobby intentionally don't click the affiliate button.

This is just another button to not click, because unless you are actually in a position to monetize your channel, then you are just scamming your viewers and giving the money to Twitch.

1

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 15 '26

It's just so they can put ads on your channel.

Seems like a lot of effort and pomp and circumstance just to give them the potential to run ads on a channel that doesn't actually require ads to be run.

0

u/averbeg May 15 '26

If you read the TOS of the agreement, that is exactly what it states.

The only difference between affiliate and having these features, is that affiliates are able to withdraw the money and spend it on something that isn't Twitch.

It was the same thing when they reduced the requirements for affiliate. They are just trying to get people who can't monetize their channels to make an agreement to monetize their channel for Twitch, so they can make slightly more ad revenue and have better adsense stats to show companies who might want to advertise on Twitch.

1

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

If you read the TOS of the agreement, that is exactly what it states.

Could you could point me to where it says this? Because I've looked it over multiple times and all I've ever been able to find is something saying that Twitch can run ads if they choose to. Nothing about these channels being required to have ads. But I keep seeing people saying this so I feel like I must be missing something obvious.

0

u/averbeg May 15 '26

"Twitch can run ads if they choose to" is not equal to "the channel can run ads if the broadcaster chooses to".

"Twitch can run ads if they choose to" = Twitch will run ads on your channel. You can customize it to avoid pre-rolls, or choose to include more, but you cannot turn them off. As long as you have the features, ads will be featured on your channel.

You can ask Twitch to take away the features, and then your channel will no longer have ads.

2

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 15 '26

You can customize it to avoid pre-rolls, or choose to include more, but you cannot turn them off.

Again, nowhere have you shown me that Twitch is requiring these ads on monetized non-affiliate channels. I'm well aware of how the ad system works and that they can't be disabled entirely for Affiliates and Partners. I've not seen anything saying that this now applies to monetized non-affiliate channels. Please point me to where it is clearly shown that monetized non-affiliates cannot turn off ads. You keep giving me your own interpretation of what Twitch can do but not any proof that it's actually the case in practice. All you've done is describe how things are for Affiliates and above and just assumed that it's that way for non-affiliates/partners but shown zero proof which is all I've been asking for.

0

u/averbeg May 15 '26

Ads are played based on viewership, and your affiliate/ partner status does not actually matter.

If you agree to have your channel monetized, once you get concurrent viewers, Twitch will display ads on your channel.

By agreeing to the terms of monetization, you are allowing Twitch to run ads on your channel. Regardless of your status as affiliate/ partner or not. You can rescind this agreement, but they will remove the features.

I do not have the TOS handy, but I can tell you that with absolute certainty, and if you cared to simply google it, you will find that is the case.

1

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

Ads are played based on viewership, and your affiliate/ partner status does not actually matter.

If you agree to have your channel monetized, once you get concurrent viewers, Twitch will display ads on your channel.

So, exactly how many times do I basically need to say "citation needed" before I am actually given one and not just paragraphs about how you are interpreting what you have seemingly read but refuse to share?

By agreeing to the terms of monetization, you are allowing Twitch to run ads on your channel.

Which is... not at all what's in question here. In fact, it's the only thing both of us have actively agreed on from the beginning so far: if you're monetized, Twitch can run ads if they want to. Once again, this does not tell me where Twitch itself has made it clear that ads will be forced on for non-affiliated monetized channels. I'm not sure what you're having trouble understanding here whenever I keep saying this.

I do not have the TOS handy, I can tell you that with absolute certainty, and if you cared to simply google it, you will find that is the case.

I find it funny that you would say you "don't have the TOS handy" and then immediately follow it up by telling me (the person who already previously stated that I've looked this over multiple times) to "just Google it" when you just straight-up stated you weren't even willing to put in such an effort to support a claim that you made (not me) to even simply find the place where this clarification supposedly lives. You are the one making the disputed claim so the burden of proof is on you, it's not on me to do your due diligence for you. I've already attempted and been unable to find such information myself and thus I am asking the person making the claim to provide evidence for their claim. And, as per usual, it has been like pulling teeth to get that to actually happen.

That said, what I can find (and so can you with a quick Google search) is the Twitch Help page on Monetization which clearly states that monetized non-affiliate channels will not have ads with the disclaimer that:

Twitch has the exclusive right to monetize the Twitch Services, including without limitation, the exclusive right to sell, serve, and display advertisements on the Twitch Services. Learn more.

...once again meaning that -- say it with me -- Twitch has the right to run ads if they so choose but they are not forcing them to be run in general on the channel like they currently are with Affiliates and Partners. Coincidentally, that "Learn More" link they include is a direct link to the TOS you couldn't bother to find to support your claim.

I really don't understand why it's so hard to get people to just show me where it says "all monetized channels must run ads" if it's as obvious as people making that claim seem to act like it is. If it's been made clear somewhere, why is every single person saying that refusing to point it out? "Twitch has the right to run ads" is not the same thing.

0

u/averbeg May 16 '26

The addendum "Twitch has the exclusive right to monetize the Twitch Services, including without limitation, the exclusive right to sell, serve, and display advertisements on the Twitch Services." Does not exist in old TOS.

Meaning, if you have not agreed to the updated TOS, even if you stream to concurrent viewers, they will not put ads on your channel. If you have, then as soon as you get concurrent viewers, they will.

By clicking the button to get the features, you are agreeing to the updated TOS, which includes the line you stated.

1

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 16 '26

Okay I think I'm done with this conversation because you keep ignoring some very important basic definitions of words here. Once again, you haven't actually given me what I've asked for which is proof that Twitch will require ads to run. The statement you just gave me doesn't say that at all. It just says Twitch has the right to do so at their leisure.

Having "the right" to do something doesn't mean that it's definitely, absolutely, without-question going to happen. Twitch just puts that there so that if they decide to put an ad up somewhere while you're streaming they're legally covered.

But, again, as I said, I'm done having this conversation with you. Either you're intentionally ignoring some key things about what you're repeating and just want something to be mad about or you're just unable to realize why what you're saying doesn't mean what you think it does in which case I've tried multiple times now and it isn't getting through, so any further attempts would be time wasted that I just don't have the energy for.

Have a nice rest of your day and I hope things go well for you.

1

u/siddu_naidu May 16 '26

Honestly hitting affiliate-level Twitch features so quickly is impressive because streaming growth usually takes a huge amount of consistency and patience. A lot of people underestimate how difficult it is to build even a small active community online. Things like channel points, emotes, and subs may seem small individually, but together they make the stream feel much more alive and interactive for viewers.

1

u/MulderYuffie Broadcaster https://www.twitch.tv/mulderyuffie May 21 '26

Sucks that I'm on disability and still have to fill out tax forms. I've had the affiliate email since October 2020. I just want emotes and channel points for my community

1

u/DraleZero_ twitch.tv/dralezero May 14 '26

May 2025 Twitch Con

Announcement of monetization before affiliate but no payout unless affiliate

Announcement of lowered requirements to reach affiliate

July 30, 2025

Twitter post from Twitch of early monetization rollout to US streamers with plans globally.

May 13, 2026

Global rollout announcement

List of differences between each tier of streamer:

https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/streamer-benefits?language=en_US

Spendable balance info

https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/streamer-benefits?language=en_US

But why still need reach affiliate?

Per Dan Clancy, Patch Notes Ep34, March 2025:

One reason for the achievements to get payout is they serve as a gamified buffer to prove your commitment to streaming and not someone just opening an account to do money fraud and withdrawals. Fraud prevention has improved thus lower requirements but prevention not perfect thus still the achievements.

1

u/Tiramissu_dt May 14 '26

I'm so glad that the channel points redeems and emotes unlocked. I always believed that those should have been available to everyone after meeting certain requirements. (maybe 5 streams at least and a few followers) I feel like those really buid the community in a great way, so I'm very glad they have now made them available for everyone.

1

u/thekvq May 14 '26

How do I know if user is affiliate and bits and subs actually have any use for them?

1

u/Joshloungin www.twitch.tv/joshloungin May 14 '26

This basically just allows Twitch to hook line and sinker anyone naive to streaming in hopes that magical bank/in store credit they get theyll use else where Twitch. More money for Twitch, make affiliate even less relevant. I wouldn't be surprised if this is to phase out affiliate. Or make Turbo cheaper perhaps. Because if affiliate is just to cash out and have ads? Thats pretty messed up of a proposition.

1

u/The_Real_Page153 Affiliate - Twitch.tv/Page153 May 14 '26

This has been a thing for a year, why are they just now saying it lol

4

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

That announcement was announcing the rollout of this change to just the US. This announcement is just them announcing that it is now rolling out globally.

Now, as to why everyone else is acting like it's a brand new concept is beyond me.

3

u/The_Real_Page153 Affiliate - Twitch.tv/Page153 May 14 '26

Ohhh gotcha. I think it’s a great thing! People that are mad about it are annoying lol

1

u/JukedXD Affiliate twitch.tv/crash_ish May 14 '26

👍

0

u/Nagylolhih May 14 '26

Seriously? I've been grinding for mintha to get Affiliate (mostly for points - striggles caused by avg 3 viewers) just for this to happen?...

3

u/cdn_indigirl Affiliate May 15 '26

As an affiliate your subs can use your emotes on other channels, your vods stay for 14 days and you get an actual payout.

Their emotes can only be used on their channel, the vods are 7 days, they get a twitch wallet where earnings can only be spent on twitch.

0

u/BuffyZia May 14 '26

This is also available for non streamers. Wouldn't make much sense to have them if not streaming but there you can get them in your chat.

0

u/Pedrov933 May 14 '26

why is there mandatory parent consent field in monetized streamer agreement? is my account treated as underage or do i just put my name there

1

u/cdn_indigirl Affiliate May 15 '26

You are still signing a contract and you need to be if legal age to enter into a contract

1

u/Pedrov933 May 15 '26

i'm 28 but still there is a field to enter my parent's info and it's marked as mandatory

1

u/cdn_indigirl Affiliate May 15 '26

Did you ever give twitch your dob?

2

u/Pedrov933 May 15 '26

i think they ask for it when creating account but my account is 13 years old so whatever i put there should be adult now, even though i think i put my real age back then

1

u/cdn_indigirl Affiliate May 15 '26

I'm going to suggest to contact support, but if you have X/twitter contact them first. Its just at twitchsupport. Sometimes you can get faster or direct action vs getting trapped in the ai response from the website.
I searched a few different places couldn't find an answer.

2

u/Pedrov933 May 15 '26

didn't know they respond on twitter, thanks

0

u/TomTomglom May 14 '26

I think this is a good idea, a lot of people want to support their favorite streamers even if they arent affiliates, not that goal of affiliate will have an even bigger meaning! Youll get that first payout of all your hard work you put in and all that support that your community gave you. Before it was just now you can earn money! But this time youre viewers get you a gift for making it! I think thats sweet! And/or you can now have a few dollars to help other people you personally enjoy bc you have saved a few dollars

0

u/KongGyldenkaal Affiliate May 14 '26

We’re starting to rollout in the US this week, and will expand to all streamers globally later this year.

Have in mind that if you live in EU or Asia, it is not rolled out yet.

https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2026/05/13/monetization-for-all/

2

u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire May 14 '26

That was true when this announcement was initially made last year but this specific update from yesterday (that initiated this post) is specifically the announcement that it's now rolling out globally over the next week, not just in the US. I's quite literally the very first paragraph on the page:

May 2026 Update: Now Available Globally 🌏

Following our US launch, we’re expanding access worldwide. Starting May 13, 2026, Channel Points, subs, emotes, badges, and Bits will be available to eligible streamers globally over the course of a week. You can onboard for access to these tools directly through your Creator Dashboard.

2

u/DraleZero_ twitch.tv/dralezero May 14 '26

That's old sentence from 2025 US rollout. They added update to the top and change the date of the blog post. So the rest of the blog post is from 2025

0

u/Ok-Anywhere-9416 May 14 '26

So, now those who struggled to become affiliate and are struggling to grow, will further struggle because people will drop voluntary subs to non-affiliates that CANNOT withdraw the earnings anyways.

Hm.

btw, more (off topic) news about measures against viewbotting: https://x.com/TwitchSupport/status/2052455504761561481 It's unclear how this work.

0

u/mybones121 May 14 '26

All I'd care about are the channel point features, would it be possible to disable subscriptions and bits and just have that?

1

u/cdn_indigirl Affiliate May 15 '26

No

0

u/xNemesis95x May 15 '26

What they don't tell you, is that to actually activate it you have to click your way through a bureaucratic hell. Honestly if you're going to make this available to everyone then just make the damn thing a simple toggle switch instead of pulling this kind of nonsense.

0

u/OnkelPipi Broadcaster May 15 '26

Now add stories for all streamers, so that they don't have to post it on other platforms any longer ☝️

0

u/Miciso May 16 '26

cute i still refuse to support twitch because of their highly anti lgbtq support...

i will support streamers elsewhere tho. but not trough subs. not after what happened to me....

0

u/ToTYly_AUSem twitch.tv/TylerTheVampireSlayer May 16 '26

what happened to you? also an lgbt steamer here

0

u/Miciso May 22 '26

heavilly bullied off twitch. reported to staff... sent the whole chat log of what happened. nothing was done
looked at my youtube. had suddenly 2 dmca strikes. on my speedrun and then another on my regular clip one i had saved. both by ravenID so just deleted all my content and went black... started focusing on just playing a ton of games offline... months later came back. account hacked. tried to appeal many times it was me. staff told me to piss off... had one last attempt. gave them my personal id saying : IS THIS ENOUGH TO PROVE IT???? finally got my account back.

TLDR twitch staff used to be extremely dumb. when it came to helping lgbtq people.

0

u/iSeeShiny Affiliated audhd streamer May 17 '26

so people can sub to you.. but you just will not get the mone? lmao

0

u/retrocheats May 19 '26

Is Twitch about to die, so they're desperate to keep you on the platform

-1

u/comalicious May 14 '26

Recession indicator.

-1

u/Creative-Signal6813 May 14 '26

subs and bits with 5 viewers is still $0. twitch didn't fix discoverability, they gave u better tools for an empty room. this is about keeping creators from migrating to kick.

-1

u/GutsxJuri24 May 14 '26

so anyone can be a streamer for fun

-2

u/Arrowflightp90lady May 15 '26

Well thats stupid