Twitch is about to get more expensive if you use the mobile app to subscribe to channels. Starting October 1st, 2024, the price for a Tier 1 subscription on the Twitch app will jump from $5.99 to $7.99 per month in over 40 countries. It follows a recent price hike in July, where the cost of subscribing on the web went up to $5.99 per month in the U.S.
Why is it more expensive on the app? Well, Twitch is charging more to cover the fees that Apple and Google take for in-app purchases. So, if you subscribe through the app, you’re basically paying a bit more than if you did it on the web.
Twitch’s Tier 1 price hike fuels user frustration
According to Twitch’s announcement on X, the price for Tier 2 and Tier 3 subscriptions isn’t changing, and the latest increase affects Tier 1. They’ve sent out emails to streamers explaining the situation.
A Reddit user has shared a copy of the email. According to the email, only streamers receive the information, and subscribers should get a notification by October. Renewals at the new price will start on November 1, with existing mobile subscriptions automatically renewing at the new price. So, you don’t need to take any action.
Twitch customers aren’t taking the price increase lightly, despite the company’s assurance that streamers will still receive the same revenue share and earn more per subscription due to the higher prices. Plus, they’ve already bumped up prices before. Last year, Twitch Turbo (which removes ads) went up from $8.99 to $11.99 per month. In July 2024, the cost of Tier 1 subscriptions on the web also rose from $4.99 to $5.99.
Twitch maintained a “legacy pricing” system in which you could continue paying the old price until you either upgraded or canceled your subscription. However, this system wasn’t available everywhere and was limited to certain European countries like Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. That said, these frequent price hikes are making it harder for consumers to keep up, and many are dropping the company’s services altogether.
Twitch’s price increase implications for everyone
As a streamer, keeping your audience engaged is important. However, it’s a major challenge now that some viewers might decide to cancel or not renew their subscriptions. Their frustration is understandable, as they’re now paying more without necessarily getting extra value.
Twitch says you’ll still get the same revenue share. But even with that, fewer subscribers means less total income.
If you had 100 subscribers with a 50% revenue share, you’d earn $250 monthly. If the price increases to $7 per month and you end up with 75 subscribers, your monthly income would be $262.50. But if the number of subscribers drops further to 60, despite the price increase, your income would fall to $210.
So, if you want better engagement and revenue, you’ll now have to encourage your audience to subscribe through the web or desktop app, where the price hasn’t gone up. You’d also have to encourage them to make direct donations or use other platforms—let’s say PayPal or Patreon—and others with lower fees.
If you think about it, Twitch may have just shot itself in the foot. Most streamers prefer donations rather than subscriptions anyway, and Twitch subscriptions don’t financially benefit them as much because they only get about half of the fees.
