Today, live streaming has become an important tool to generate leads, create brand awareness, launch advertising campaigns, and provide paid access to video streaming. You press enter and start sharing a live broadcast to reach and interact with your target audiences.
Live streaming charts are ruling in this age of technology. It is not just an alternative adjustment to COVID-19 but holds a great future for the entertainment and cultural industry.
Considering the need of the hour, hundreds of social platforms now allow live streaming all types of video content. But, businesses and brands are looking for a space that gives them the most benefits, and so far, the top two choices are YouTube and Twitch.
They’ve been two of the most popular streaming platforms on the internet, each with its pros and cons – but which one is better for you?
In this Article:
🏷️ YouTube vs. Twitch
The data highlighted by seen connects shows that, if we go on numbers alone, YouTube is the clear winner with a 343% growth rate of its streamer base in the past year. Twitch, by comparison, grew by 197%.
However, despite YouTube’s clear gains, Twitch still holds the crown for live streaming talent as it provides new opportunities for creators to grow engaged audiences whilst making a decent living at the same time.
The major difference between YouTube and Twitch is the interest of the audience. There is no denying that Twitch is the largest live streaming platform in the world and YouTube caters to every kind of content with a great search engine.
To clear the air, we will discuss the pros and cons of both social platforms so that you can decide where to live stream your content.
🎖️ Pros and Cons of YouTube Live
YouTube is one of the leading and highly recognized video platforms across the globe. Everyone who has an internet facility knows about YouTube.
The platform caters to content creators who want to enhance their presence for profitable brand deals. It also targets those streamers who want to focus on pre-uploaded video content and influencers who love to browse multiple topics and not just on gaming.
📢 Pros
- YouTube allows you to customize your thumbnail and let others find you easily with its awesome search engine.
- More than just gaming, the platform deals with a variety of genres, including technology, health & fitness, reviews, and experimental content for those who are gearing up to ‘try something new’.
- Promoting your content is effortless. You can create and share short promotional videos at any time.
- It has great monetization options like Super Chat.
- YouTube community guidelines are easy-going. YouTube warns the user three times before their content or account is removed due to any violation.
- With the help of YouTube’s search engine optimization and algorithm, every content creator gets a chance to be recognized.
- It is easy to live stream on YouTube using a mobile phone.
📢 Cons
- When it comes to promoting your brand, YouTube doesn’t offer much.
- Unfortunately, YouTube is blocked in certain countries, and the live streaming content is often unavailable in some locations.
🎖️ Pros and Cons of Twitch
Widely acknowledged for its video game streaming content, Twitch is the oldest and most established live streaming channel in the world. Let’s check out the pros of live streaming on Twitch.
📢 Pros
- According to Adshot, Twitch was and still is the most recognized video game streaming platform with over 1.8 million average viewers.
- Twitch has tons of helpful bots to assist its audience.
- Twitch offers various extensions for its live streamers, such as overlays, leaderboards, Extensions for Games, Schedules and Countdowns, Streamer Tools, Polling and Voting, Music, etc.
- The community on Twitch is commendable. You can find millions of people with the same interest as you easily.
- Twitch has a better monetization method and pays much more than YouTube does.
📢 Cons
- Twitch recommends popular live streamers and does not provide better opportunities for new streamers to get recognized.
- Twitch chooses the thumbnail itself and does not allow live streamers to edit or customize their thumbnail.
- Platform moderation is not viable for serious streamers looking for real brand collaborations as it bans streamers at times without any explanation.
- To be eligible for Twitch Partner status, Twitch requires streamers to have Streamed for 25 hours on 12 different days. An average of 75 viewers.
🚀 Live stream on YouTube & Twitch at the Same Time
Overall, YouTube and Twitch are both amazing platforms for streaming, and you can build your career on either one of them as a content creator and streamer. If you are more focused on gaming, then Twitch has the edge over YouTube, but if your video content is varied, then YouTube is your best bet.
Why not check out OneStream Live for live streaming, which allows you to multistream on YouTube, Twitch, and many other streaming platforms simultaneously? It is a quick, efficient, and interactive cloud-based service, offering interesting features to schedule and live stream directly from the browser with OneStream Studio, broadcast pre-recorded videos and go live in real-time to 40+ social media platforms and the web, including Facebook Live, YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, etc.
It is important to understand that live streaming platforms have their strengths and weaknesses, but deciding where to stream must be based on your personal choice and business goals.
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OneStream Live is a cloud-based live streaming solution to create, schedule, and multistream professional-looking live streams across 45+ social media platforms and the web simultaneously. For content-related queries and feedback, write to us at [email protected]. You’re also welcome to Write for Us!
