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Is streaming a solid money-making venture? Like with any digital entertainment job or activity, streamer earnings are as wildly different as wealth distribution in developing countries. One can make as little as $100, $1,000–$5,000, or well over $100,000 per month. Financial success depends on so many factors, such as personality and entertainment talent, the number of platforms they stream on and post content to, broadcast duration and frequency, and monetization approaches. Then, there’s the community generosity, the number of subscribers, average viewership per stream, and even seasonality and mere luck.
For some, streaming is a side hustle, while others have made it a full-fledged business. We’ll explore common revenue streams creators use to fill their wallets and tell you about three of the richest streamers to show the sky is the limit in this craft.
The golden rule of financial literacy says: don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Streamers are a case in point. Their income sources typically include subscriptions, tips, ad revenue, sponsorships, merch sales, and affiliate marketing.
Subscriptions on streaming and creator monetization platforms are, perhaps, the only somewhat consistent and predictable revenue stream. So, how much do streamers earn from subs?
On Twitch, subscribers pay from $5.99 to $24.99 monthly, of which creators get 50, 60, or 70%.
KaiCenat is the highest-paid streamer on Twitch by subscribers. His current income ranges from $300,000 to over $900,000, according to estimates by Stream Charts. Nearly 400,000 people have subscribed to his channel.
Users who want to support creators on Kick pay $4.99. Streamers enjoy a generous 95/5 revenue split and get $4.74 per sub.
Pricing tiers on YouTube start at a modest $0.99 and reach $499 per month, and entertainers get 70% of the revenue from memberships.
Streamers can earn extra income by offering exclusive content on Patreon, SubscribeStar, Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, OnlyFans, and other platforms.
The audience’s love translates into tips as well. Twitch users cheer creators on during live broadcasts with monetary gifts in bits, the platform’s virtual currency. One bit equals $0.01.
StreamsCharts has a leaderboard of streamers by bits earned. So far, CaseOh has been tipped the most, with over 23 million bits or $230,000 (as of writing this article; the stats continuously update.) A senior data scientist in the U.S. might make this much in a year.
Kick doesn’t have a virtual currency for this purpose. However, creators add links to third-party sites on their profile pages.
YouTube has the Super Thanks tipping program that allows leaving tips on videos and during streams. You’ve likely seen the Thanks button above the comment section on a video page, or even sent a dollar or two to your favorites.
Payouts from video and display ads that run during streams, their recordings, and VOD content complement creators’ earnings.
YouTube creators get 55% of their revenue from ads displayed during the videos and 45% of the revenue from monetizing shorts.
Twitch creators who have qualified to be Affiliates or Partners can also activate ads. The platform gives 55% of net ad revenue from display and video ads, provided streamers agree to run a minimum of three minutes of ads per hour. Those who choose to go below this threshold get 30%.
CPM (cost per mille, i.e. per 1,000 impressions) depends on various factors. These include the region, target audience demographics, time of year, competition among advertisers, ad format, and its placement, etc. For instance, Awisee link building agency estimates that in the U.S., businesses pay between $4 and $10 for 1,000 impressions. Meanwhile, the CPM in Brazil is $1.5–4.
Streamers who build a substantial following make headlines by inking juicy deals with streaming platforms and brands interested in engaging with their audiences.
The first streamer we can’t fail to mention is Trainwreckstv, who claimed to receive $360 million for playing on the Stake crypto casino and showing it on Twitch for 16 months. He’s been broadcasting for 10 years and has more than 443,000 followers on Kick, 264,000 on YouTube, and 2.2 million on Twitch.
A streaming celebrity who started his career as a pro Overwatch player, xQc (Felix Lengyel) signed a two-year contract with Kick in 2023, which brought him $100 million. The public has been wondering whether the contract required him to host iGaming livestreams. In 2024, xQc admitted to being paid to promote Stake during streams on Kick. Over 12 million people follow xQc on Twitch — that’s more than the entire population of Portugal.
In May 2025, Red Bull signed SypherPK, a Fortnite player with over 26 million followers across social media and streaming platforms. The deal amount has not been publicly disclosed, but we know it involves content creation. The streamer has been participating in videos for the brand’s U.S. gaming channel on YouTube — Red Bull LPG.
Some creators follow in the footsteps of music artists and bands by monetizing their popularity through good old merch. Water bottles, stickers, t-shirts, shopper bags, caps, and socks are the usual items for sale. Valkyrae, a multi-talented gaming creator and businesswoman, offers stylish streetwear with tattoo-like prints and fantasy drawings. Check out this hoodie — looks good, yeah?
Vedal, the mastermind behind the massive AI VTuber Neuro-sama, went beyond the classics. He has sold 4,000 LED lava lamps that sync with Neuro-sama’s stream and change colors together with her lamp in real time.
Streamers may earn from affiliate links by sharing unique URLs that link to products or services related to their content or interests. When viewers click these links and make purchases, the streamers earn a commission.
Creators working on Kick are also paid hourly based on the performance of their stream within the platform’s Partner Program. Streamers’ revenue is calculated in real time for every organic view of their broadcast.
Naturally, income from streaming and vlogging fluctuates. But since revenue comes from several sources, there’s always a safety net.
These three men show how to earn money streaming their favorite games and doing things they like.
With confidence, we start this list with Felix Lengyel. Let’s take the above-mentioned $100 million Kick deal and Twitch payout details that became publicly available following a data breach in October 2021. According to the leaked information, between August 2019 and October 2021, xQc earned $8.4 million on the purple platform.
In August 2025, during the Kick livestream with MrBeast and Adin Ross, Felix confirmed having over $100 million in crypto assets. The lie detector evaluated that the streamer was telling the truth.
The Social Blade analytics tool estimates his weekly YouTube earnings at $2,700–$43,000.
The streamer has 4,607 paid subscribers, including 4,584 at Tier 1 paying $5.99 each, according to TwitchTracker*. Assuming his revenue share is 50%, he may get almost $14,000 from Tier 1 subscriptions. *at the time of writing this blog post
Lenguel’s net worth is estimated to be $50 million.
Ninja, or Richard Tyler Blevins, is an esports athlete and streamer who is well known for playing Fortnite. His professional path began in 2009 when he entered a major Halo 3 tournament. From 2011 until 2021, Ninja won over $285,000 in 55 esports tournaments, based on Esports Earnings data.
Richard became insanely popular in 2018 after a Twitch stream where he played Fortnite with rappers Travis Scott and Drake and the American football player JuJu Smith-Schuster.
His Twitch earnings from August 2021 to October 2021 reached $1.3 million.
Celebrity Net Worth estimates that Ninja has earned $50 million so far. His sources of income include subscriptions on streaming platforms, brand partnerships (e.g., with Adidas, Red Bull, La Roche-Posay, McDonald’s and Uber Eats, Twitch, and Mixer), a merchandise line, and other business ventures.
Raúl Álvarez Genes, or Auronplay, is currently the fourth most followed streamer on Twitch. If the streaming platform awarded creators like athletes, he would get the silver — for the second-biggest audience among his Spanish-speaking colleagues.
When live, Raúl can be seen playing various games, such as Grand Theft Auto V, Fortnite, Minecraft, or Luto, chatting about different things, or even hiking with friends.
Streams Charts estimates that Auronplay makes between $18,000 and $28,000 from almost 11,000 active Twitch subscriptions. According to TwitchTracker, he has more than 13,000 subs. The truth might be somewhere in the middle.
His YouTube channel might generate up to $138,000 monthly, Social Blade notes.
Auronplay’s net worth is believed to be $10 million. Not shabby.
If we look at popular creators, it may seem that they earn money streaming like it’s child’s play. However, it’s worth remembering that these people have been putting in a lot of hard work, showing consistency and dedication to get where they are today.
They invest in quality equipment, often spend over eight hours a day interacting with viewers and shooting content, testing new ideas and monetization options, and working on additional projects like podcasting, book publishing, or even co-running media companies. Like any business, individual streaming is nearly a 24/7 venture.
What’s encouraging to realize is that every big name in this industry has started small at some point. And maybe at this very moment, a future star is dipping their toes in this entertainment craft.
