Kick vs Twitch comparison: How are the two platforms different?

Twitch and Kick look like the same site at a glance, but is there any comparison to be made between them? And what are the differences?

Kick has been aggressively marketing itself as a serious competitor to Twitch. That’s no small endeavor as Twitch has long had an iron grasp on livestreaming. This has also cemented it as one of the biggest social media platforms in the world.

Kick pulled this off by signing splashy contracts with a number of major Twitch streamers, including the likes of Felix “xQc” Lengyel and Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa. So then what’s the actual difference between Twitch and Kick, and are these comparisons apt? Here’s how the platform are the same, and different.

Are Twitch and Kick the same thing?

Twitch and Kick are livestream-focused social media platforms with different ownership and rules.

Twitch has a much longer history and was an early pioneer in live streaming on social media. Founded in 20007, it was known as Justin.tv. It was eventually rebranded to Twitch and positioned to focus on gaming and esports. In 2014, it became a subsidiary of Amazon, and Twitch’s live streaming technology was the foundation for Amazon Web Services’ livestreaming functionality.

Kick is a newcomer in comparison to Twitch. It was founded in 2022 by a group of investors led by leadership from Stake, the cryptocurrency betting website, with the intent of creating a direct competitor to the Amazon-owned platform.

In many ways, Kick is a marketing arm for Stake. Numerous content creators have explicitly stated that their contracts with the platform require them to gamble on-air. Streamers and YouTubers have also stated that they turned down deals with the platform due to this.

How are Twitch and Kick different?

Kick heavily promotes and encourages gambling content on the platform, while Twitch has greater restrictions on it. This has implications for both regular users and content creators.

The founding of Kick came immediately after a crackdown on gambling content by Twitch and most of Kick’s biggest names gamble on-air. That link between Kick and Stake is difficult to ignore, even for viewers who aren’t interested in slots and casinos.

For streamers, there are other differences. Kick incentivizes streamers to broadcast on the platform by offering a much more favorable revenue split. Kick streamers keep 95% of the money paid through subscriptions. This split is much more favorable for Kick streamers, in comparison to the 50-50 split that is standard on Twitch.

Is Kick the better platform to stream on?

There are some positives to streaming on Kick instead of Twitch, though Twitch is generally the preferred platform for streaming.

As mentioned, Kick offers a much better revenue split relative to Twitch. However, the relatively limited user base of Kick has made it even the most successful streamers on the platform aren’t willing to fully commit.

Streamers like xQc and Amouranth have maintained and even prioritized Twitch despite signing massive contracts with Kick. Kick’s biggest English-language streamer, Adin Ross, was actively courting Twitch for a return to the platform. While the revenue split is more favorable, streamers demonstrably show that Twitch is the preferred platform.

Some smaller streamers have praised Kick for having greater discoverability. Because there are far fewer streamers on Kick in comparison to Twitch, brand-new streamers have a clearer path to establishing an audience.