Streaming Platforms
Facts + My Personal Opinions on Streaming Platform Options
Introduction
If you're here, chances are you already have your streaming platform home. Still, I'm positive that some readers are entirely new to streaming and are considering starting in the IRL Category. Even if you already do have a home, maybe you'll notice something I mention here that peaks your interest. Perhaps you're considering multistreaming after seeing the Multistreaming Options page.
Each platform listed below are platforms I have personal experience with in one way or another. I'll give you the facts about each, and my opinions about each based on my personal experiences. Obviously there are many more options, but I consider these the main platforms, and again, I have personal experiences with them.
Full disclosure, I am currently a Kick Phase 3 Partner who is in the Kick Creator Incentive Program (KCIP). I personally recommend Kick over everything else, and not just because I'm a partner now. I was already exclusive on Kick for quite a while before I was offered a partnership. Now, they pay me every single time I go live, and I personally believe no other platform would have ever done that. They also offer an unheard of 95/5 revenue split on subscriptions and gifted subscriptions. With the introduction of the KCIP program, and the revenue split, I honestly don't know why you'd want to stream anywhere else.
IRL Discoverability: Very high. It's easy to pick up a handful of viewers doing IRL on Kick.com. Kick.com also has led a surge in IRL content over the past year. However, they do not have an IRL Category and you'll be under Just Chatting. They have an IRL tag, but I'm not able to edit my tags so I assume no one else can either.
The service is solid, and the moderation is not as strict as you see on Twitch.tv, but more and less strict in various ways when compared to sites like YouTube and Rumble. Kick staff are the most accessible, easy to contact, and a real person will tell you what you've done if you find yourself suspended or banned.
IRL Moderation: Kick promotes IRL. Using slurs, streaming violence or showing any nudity will result in a suspension. Repeated violations will result in a ban.
Twitch has been popular for many years now. I'm sure you've heard of it. Because of the nature of IRL and the moderation, I don't recommend doing IRL on Twitch. Twitch does have some big IRL creators, but most are focused on themselves while live more than their surroundings, and most just travel to foreign countries from what I've seen, where it's less likely something that will be moderated will take place. On Twitch, for example, if you're live and someone runs up and says things that break the TOS, Twitch can and historically has taken action against creators as a result of that. If you're walking down the street and a fight breaks out and you film it, chances are Twitch will take action against that.
IRL Discoverability: Decent. People seeking IRL can find it, but Twitch removed the IRL Category and now you're just under Just Chatting, which is heavily saturated with all types of streamers.
IRL Moderation: Twitch hosts some large IRL creators, but removed the IRL category and tag entirely, so you have to use another category, typically Just Chatting. Using slurs, streaming violence or nudity, etc., will result in a permanent ban. Gambling in a casino will result in a permanent ban.
In my experience, YouTube has always been popular for IRL because there is a lack of moderation. If they receive enough reports though, even if they're just all fake, they will take action automatically without even reviewing the content.
IRL Discoverability: Low. It's true that if a user consumes a great amount of IRL content, you may be recommended to them, but otherwise good luck.
IRL Moderation: It really just depends if you end up on their radar. People regularly break TOS on YouTube and nothing happens. Once you're on their radar though for any TOS violation, they will moderate you continuously going forward.
Rumble is growing in popularity, but really particularly in the political scene. If you're planning to stream political content, protests, etc, you may do better here just based on the nature of the platform. However, regular IRL is really hit or miss. The Just Chatting category is only ever really promoted if one of the few big streamers there are in it and live at the time.
IRL Discoverability: Decent, but it depends on the type of IRL content you're trying to produce.
IRL Moderation: I don't really know. They are definitely more political in nature, so some things you wouldn't expect to see on other platforms you may see here, and others that you would expect to see on other platforms may not be tolerated here. Gambling is not allowed, so no casinos.
Trovo is a weird one, because they initially were focused on mobile gaming, and was largely popular in other countries, particularly Russia and Spanish-speaking countries. It is a Chinese company that is owned by Tencent Games, and was (and may still be) the only platform that hosts official PUBG Mobile and COD Mobile tournaments. I was there early on, and was ultimately permanently banned as a result of doing IRL. However, they have since advertised IRL and even sent me an email about this, but I did not pursue it as I am happy on Kick.
IRL Discoverability: Probably much higher if you are speaking Russian or Spanish. Looking now, they have a ChitChat category which has Russian IRL streamers on it.
IRL Moderation: Everyone I knew personally who streamed IRL there was banned, but they have since shifted focus to IRL and advertised it, so I really don't know.
DLive was once an extremely popular platform and I streamed there for about a month, choosing it over anything else in late 2020 around the time I started IRL Streaming full-time as my job. They partnered with and featured PewDiePie as a livestreamer before that, as well as having a deal with Ice Poseidon. Their unique 'lemons' crypto system, which allowed viewers to earn free currency to donate to their favorite streamers was also very, very popular. It is honestly pretty much dead now, but it's really just because no big creator is currently using it.
IRL Discoverability: Basically zero. The system is all in place, but no one is there to find you.
IRL Moderation: They used to heavily moderate content that went against their TOS, but don't seem to anymore. I imagine they just don't have the staff dedicated to it. If you're breaking TOS though regularly, they may notice and take action.
I have to mention Robotstreamer because it's where I got my start. I found it because Ice Poseidon had a physical robot on the site, which is what the site was created for, but over time it shifted because the reality was people streaming from their desktop attracted more viewers than the robots, and those streamers were attracted because Ice Poseidon's audience were coming to the site, so you had a high chance of some of them clicking around and seeing you. I have always loved the staff and community.
IRL Discoverability: Very low, but a great place to multistream if you're trying to grow elsewhere and you're seeing literally no viewers. See Multistreaming Options for more information. It's specifically great for that because there are viewers there, and there are streamers there. Typically there are only a handful of streamers there, but they have dedicated small audiences who are interested in viewing other streamers on the site. So if you've been on 'X' site for 2 months and you've been lucky to have 1 viewer pop in for an hour once the entire time, go live there and you'll probably have 5-10 in the first hour or two. If you do plan to multistream there, or if you want a chat overlay for this site, the only site that offers it to my knowledge is Powerchat.live.
IRL Moderation: While I am aware that they have taken action against a couple of people over the years, particularly nazis, it's basically anything goes. You can do IRL naked if you want to. You could go live in the movie theater watching a movie the day it comes out (though you might get in legal trouble). They only moderate and take action against the most extreme content, or if they are issued a DMCA.
So at first, I was a little hesitant to add this one to the list, but ultimately decided to mention it. Huya.com is essentially the Chinese version of a site like Kick or Twitch. They even have an IRL Category. Unlike Trovo, which is owned by a Chinese company, Huya is exclusively in the Chinese language and the vast majority of the creators and audience are Chinese people.
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