Twitch vs Mixer: Mixer is rapidly gaining ground after Ninja has left Twitch and moved to Mixer. While Twitch is a huge live streaming platform with 80% of all broadcast hours, the mixer, owned by Microsoft, leaves no cornerstone to dethrone the giant.
On paper, Mixer may seem insignificant to Twitch, but you can’t deny that Mixer is very promising with its modern technologies and unique features. This is why we offer you an in-depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the two streaming platforms.
If you’re having trouble moving or staying, this article will help you make a decision. So without further ado, let’s start the royal battle of Twitch vs Mixer.
Twitch vs Mixer: an in-depth analysis
Here we have classified the sections in terms of performance, audience, moneytization, ease of use and unique features and issues. We have done extensive research on both platforms and have highlighted many key factors that can help you choose your next live streaming platform. That said, let’s start with the performance.
Performance
Twitch is one of the oldest live streaming platforms, so it has taken advantage of proven protocols that have enabled stable performance. Twitch uses a decade-old RTMP (real-time messaging protocol) protocol to send and receive audio, video, and data over the Internet in real time. However,Mixer does use the promising Faster than Light (FTL) protocol which is touted as one of the best real-time video streaming protocols.
FTL has something called less than a second latency, which means that there is virtually no delay or instability during the live stream. It also brings instant interaction between the streamer and the audience.
From a technology point of view, it is clear that Mixer is equipped with the latest technology and is much better for streaming in real time. ButRTMP is not outdone either. It has undergone numerous revisions and bug fixes over the past ten years, so its performance is relatively stable and reliable.
Coming to my personal experience, I found Mixer streaming to be much faster and instant than Twitch streaming. Now it’s up to you to choose which one to choose? One gives you reliable performance and the other offers the latest technology and the promise of real-time interaction.
Public
In terms of audience, there is simply no competition between Twitch and Mixer. Twitch has been around for almost a decade and has collected more than 1.5 million streamers and has 140 million monthly active users.Compare that to Mixer and you have a meager 69,000 streamers and 10 million active users per month.
Simply put, Mixer is nowhere near Twitch and if you are a budding streamer, Twitch is a better platform for growing your audience. Except that things change quickly enough for Mixer.
According to a recent report from Streamlabs , Mixer has grown by 357% since the last quarter and its expansion is constant. A few days ago, Twitch’s biggest star Ninja, who numbered 14 million people, joined Twitch after an exclusive partnership with Microsoft.
This then shows that Mixer will be the next big platform with a solid audience. So if you are someone who wants to become a top streamer, now is a good time to join Mixer. Also, sinceMixer is not supersaturated like Twitch, you have a better chance of developing your audience and making it appear on the front page.
All told, Twitch is unquestionably the king for attracting more users, but you must also count in the recent wave of Mixer. It will be a difficult choice for you, but if I had to choose one, I would choose Mixer.
Monetization
1. Twitch
To come to the elephant in the room, monetization is a key factor for the banners to choose a platform. Twitch being a fairly old platform, it has a long list of sources from which streamers can generate income.
For starters, Twitch offers a program called Partner Program that allows you toearn affiliate money, channel subscriptions, announcements, products, and user donations using Twitch’s virtual currency, Bits. However, before becoming a Twitch partner, you must define certain criteria and create a substantial audience.
These arethe following criteria that you must meet: you must broadcast at least 25 hours and 12 days a month and keep at least 75 viewers on average per month. If you haven’t met the criteria yet, you can earn money on Twitch otherwise. You can link your PayPal account to your dashboard and get user donations without Twitch being listed.
2. Mix
Now regarding how you can monetize on Mixer, you have a similar partner program that allows you to make money from your feeds. Like Twitch, you must meet certain conditions and only you can become a partner. Here are the requirements:the age of your account must be greater than 2 months ;
You should have more than 2000 followers; you should broadcast for more than 12 unique days and 25 hours per month. It seems that Mixer is quite strict with its partnership requirement compared to that of Twitch. For a new streaming platform, it would have been preferable if the criteria were a little flexible for budding players.
However, as a subscriber, you can alsoearn rewards on Mixer just by watching feeds . It has something called Blender Loot that you can earn by watching and interacting with various game activities.
You can use these rewards to tip your favorite streamer, buy merchandise, etc. Similarly, Twitch has something called Cheers for subscribers, but it’s not a reward system and you’ll have to pay real money on Amazon to buy Cheers.
So that’s how to monetize your streams on Twitch or on Mixer. I would say that in terms of monetization, Twitch is much better with its flexible criteria. But, considering other points, which one would you choose?
Ease of use
In terms of ease of use, Twitch has an excellent user interface and a dashboard. The platform is well optimized for all major browsers and you can start streaming hassle free.Twitch is recognized for its compatibility with third-party programs such as OBS , XSplit, Streamlabs, etc.
Thus, as a streamer, you have the choice between several options. In addition, Twitch has something called Extensions which allows you to display interactive overlays on your screen. In other words, extensions are one of the main strengths of Twitch and allow you to interact with your audience in ways never imagined.
Coming to Mixer, the platform is fairly modern with all the features you would need to get started. But there is something that makes Mixer a unique platform among the live streaming platforms. Since Mixer is owned by Microsoft,there is native support for Mixer on Windows 10 and Xbox One computers. You can easily stream your game with a few clicks. No need to link the main streams and advanced configurations.
On top of that, you have standalone apps like MixPlay that allow you to interact with streamers immersively. You can easily install MixPlay from Microsoft Store. In addition,you can easily stream your game to mobile using the Mixer Create app. The application is available on Android and iOS.
All told, the two streaming platforms are great in their respective ways. The Twitch dashboard is pretty advanced and you won’t find it anywhere else. But the deep integration of Mixer with the Windows operating system is a huge advantage. Either way, it all depends on your preferences. Which would you choose?
Unique features and issues
When Mixer launched its platform two years ago, it offered a co-streaming feature that no other streaming platform had, not even Twitch.The co-broadcast feature is designed for multi-player games where broadcasters can play with multiple peopleand the audience can interact with all broadcasters in one window. It is a great tool for interactive games that helps the audience to see each other’s point of view and participate in the activity.
After the popularity of the Mixer co-streaming feature,Twitch also announced that Squad Steam is built on the same principle. Squad Steam is very similar to the co-streaming functionality of Mixer with multi-player interaction and window viewing.
However, I appreciate the fact that Mixer has managed to co-broadcast effortlessly thanks to its FTL support. It feels much smoother and in real time. Simply put, the co-streaming experience is much more immersive on Mixer than that of Twitch.
Additionally, when it comes to issues, the Twitch community complains about too many advertisements during the live streams.There are many affiliate banners that ruin the immersive experiencewhile reading. On the other hand, Mixer is a new platform that does not bombard you with ads. In my experience, I haven’t seen many ads on the live broadcast page.
Another problem that many have raised about Twitch is thatthe comment section is hijacked by the toxic audiencewhen broadcasting hate comments live. Due to the huge Twitch user base, automatic moderation doesn’t seem to work at all. In comparison, Mixer does not have such problems at the moment, but it should be seen as Mixer which could evolve to a million in the future.
Which would you choose: Twitch or Mixer?
So that’s our deep dive into the battle of two giants of live streaming: Twitch vs Mixer. It’s clear that Twitch is the ultimate live streaming platform with a huge audience, various monetization programs, and a great overall platform for streamers.
But we cannot ignore the promising future of Mixer, which is gradually improving its game in all segments. To conclude, you can only choose the best live streaming platform that suits your preferences.
So that’s all of us. If the article helped you make a decision, please let us know in the comment section below and explain why. We will be happy to hear your valuable ideas.