There are a LOT of articles giving out the wrong information when it comes to donations on Twitch and how much of a cut they take. There are a lot of ways to spend money on Twitch, including donations where sometimes they may take a cut and others not.
Let’s break down IF Twitch take from a donation how much of a cut they will take.
Can you donate through Twitch?
This is the part which causes the misleading information – there is no native way to donate through Twitch themselves other than the charity tool, which is used in special events and so on.
Yes, you can donate ON Twitch but it is not via Twitch unless it is through the Charity tool (which is rare).
You can technically do it through bits but we’ll get to that separately.
To add a donate button into an about page or in links shared by a chat bot it is done via a third party extension such as Streamlabs. The donation is then put through an intermediary such as PayPal, Credit Card, Venmo, Cashapp and so on.
Does Twitch take from donations?
Twitch don’t take from donations because the donations don’t go through Twitch’s payment system. In the event that you donate via the Twitch Charity tool
then Twitch do not take a cut from this. This is the official wording.
Twitch and PayPal Giving Fund do not take a cut of donations. Your entire donation minus payment processing fees go to the charity according to PayPal Giving Fund policies.
Twitch Charity Tool FAQs
Bits are a virtual currency, you do not donate the money you spent on the bits to the streamer, so they do not count. You buy the bits separately, and then use the bits to cheer on the streamer making it not a donation at all and one of the less cost effective ways to support a streamer financially.
To a streamer, each bit is worth 1 cent – no matter how much it costs you.
Subscribing is also not a donation, it is a regular payment you make to Twitch to access extra content on that channel. Twitch do take a cut of this (50% for affiliate, 30% for partner).
So, when I donate to a streamer what do they get?
If you donate through a link on Twitch to donate, the amount they make depends on the intermediary they use.
PayPal
If PayPal is the payment system a streamer has chosen to receive a donation then they will take a flat $0.48 fee, followed by 2.89% of the whole amount. A $1 donation will mean the streamer gets $0.48 taken off which leaves $0.52 and then another 2.89% of the remaining which is around $0.47 – less than half.
Larger donations are a little more generous – a $10 Twitch donation via PayPal will give the streamer $9.22. They are a business and do need to pay employees to maintain the systems which allow the donations to take place after all.
Streamlabs
Many streamers will use Streamlabs donation feature on Twitch to support themselves financially. They also take a cut from the donation and they are very similar to PayPal’s fees (if you choose to use a debit/credit card to make the donation).
This is the exact wording
The standard fee charged by the credit card processor is 2.9%+ .30 cents USD. This fee will vary by country of streamer and donor. Any overpayment of fees from the viewer will be automatically added to the streamer’s account. There is also a 2% currency exchange fee if your donor is donating with a different currency than what you stated in your onboarding.
Streamlabs Setting up Credit Card Donations FAQs
Although PayPal is slightly more expensive, many might choose them over Streamlabs due to the ease of which you can then spend the donations at other places which accept PayPal payments.
Cashapp
CashApp is a little different. CashApp will charge the SENDER a 3% fee if they use a credit card to send or FREE if they use a debit card. However, Cashapp will charge the receiver (the streamer) 1.5% of the amount they withdraw into their own bank account.
Cashapp isn’t too popular to get donations on Twitch but it does allow the streamer to get a larger chunk of the money. Cashapp can take a 1.5% cut from a Twitch donation going from the donator all the way to the streamers account which is almost half that of PayPal.
Conclusion
Twitch do not take anything from donations because they do not take donations in the first place. The most popular donation administrators all take a cut of some sort with Cashapp being the cheapest and PayPal being the most expensive. However, the most expensive is still less than 3% overall which means the streamer does get the vast majority of the donation.
