Although many other platforms like YouTube and Facebook Gaming have garnered favor with streamers, Twitch remains the central hub for live gameplay and other live streams on the internet. Twitch is crucial to defining internet culture, especially related to video games; it's responsible for kicking off crazes around games like Among Us, Fall Guys, and even chess. One great advantage that Twitch streamers have over people who just make videos for sites like YouTube is direct community engagement, and the high level of engagement cuts both ways. Fans can directly support their favorite entertainers monetarily through systems built into Twitch.
One regular way is by subscribing to a Twitch channel, either through a one-time payment or by scheduling a regular monthly payment. Twitch streamers can set up special benefits for their subscribers in exchange for the financial support -- everything from unique emotes to special Discord features via Twitch integration. Another more fluid way of supporting Twitch streamers is by donating bits to them. Bits are essentially a currency built into Twitch that users can buy, then spend on streamers as a means of donating. However, the way bit prices translate into money for the recipient streamer is a little unclear at a glance. Exactly how much is a Twitch bit worth?
How Much 500 Bits is Worth on Twitch
Twitch sells bits in ratios of 100. For instance, Twitch users can buy packages of 100 bits, 500 bits, 1500 bits, and so on. What might give Twitch users pause is that the price for each package doesn't line up perfectly; one would expect logically that $1 could buy someone 100 bits, since $1 is 100 cents. Instead, they're priced slightly higher than that, with 100 bits costing a Twitch user $1.40 to buy. Bits are priced this way because that's how Twitch makes its profit on bit sales. 100 bits actually is worth $1.00, so if a user buys 100 bits, Twitch makes 40 cents and the Twitch user gets $1.00's worth in bits.
The same is true for larger amounts. 500 bits are in fact $5.00 that a user can send to a streamer they like, but to buy 500 bits, a user has to pay Twitch $7.00. Twitch users do discounts on Twitch's share of the profit if they buy larger packages of bits, getting them a better deal if they can afford to make a large bit purchase at one time rather than making small ones over time. It's worth nothing that Twitch bit values and prices vary a little bit based on international currencies, but the value of bits in United States dollars is pretty stable.
Making the Most of Bits on Twitch
In theory, directly donating money to a streamer is technically a more efficient way of spending money on them than buying bits through Twitch. Viewers should be aware of Twitch streamers' potential preference for direct donations. However, not every Twitch streamer has a donation link set up, and the vast majority of Twitch streamers are more than happy to receive bits instead of donations. They still translate directly into money for the streamer at the end of the day, and there's also all kinds of options for fun bit integrations both built into Twitch and available as streaming widgets.
Twitch has a few convenient ways for users to earn bits, too. Users can sign up to regularly buy more bits so they don't have to worry about constantly buying new batches of bits. Twitch also has an option to watch ads in exchange for a couple bits. Although ads don't offer a ton of bits all at once, they're an easy, affordable way to earn some bits to give to streamers. Bits are a pretty solid Twitch feature. They're an accessible way of donating directly to streamers that also allow users a lot of self-expression by pairing bits with messages and emotes. Any regular Twitch viewer should consider picking up a couple bits and showing some love to their favorite creators.