Kick hit 100 million users by early 2026. The platform watched 4.5 billion total hours in 2025 alone, a 131% year-over-year increase. But what is it exactly, and do you actually need to be there?

Let’s break it down.

Table of Contents

  • What is Kick streaming?
  • Who owns Kick?
  • What can you stream on Kick?
  • How does Kick discover and recommend streams?
  • What do you need to start streaming on Kick?
  • What’s Kick’s video quality like?
  • How many people actually use Kick?
  • How do you download the Kick app?
  • Is Kick available on Google Play?
  • Is Kick available on the App Store?
  • How do you actually make money on Kick?
  • How much can you realistically earn?
  • Kick Affiliate vs Partner, what’s the difference?
  • How many viewers do you actually need?
  • Can you stream on Kick and other platforms at the same time?
  • Why is audio quality critical on Kick?
  • How do you go live on Kick?

What is Kick streaming?

Kick is a live streaming platform owned by Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven (co-founders of Stake.com), along with personality Tyler “Trainwreckstv” Niknam. People broadcast content in real time, games, music, IRL streams, just chatting, creative work. Viewers watch and interact through live chat. The core appeal is simple: you go live, people watch, you talk directly to them in real time.

The difference? Kick positions itself as a creator-first alternative. Better revenue splits, lighter moderation, and faster paths to monetization. That’s it.

Who owns Kick?

Kick was founded in December 2022 and launched in January 2023. Co-founders Bijan Tehrani and Ed Craven have personally invested nearly $1 billion into the platform since inception. That’s the kind of capital commitment that signals long-term focus, not a flash-in-the-pan project.

What can you stream on Kick?

Kick doesn’t force everything into a gaming box. Here’s what you can actually broadcast:

  • Games
  • IRL (In Real Life)
  • Music
  • Gambling
  • Creative
  • Alternative

How does Kick discover and recommend streams?

This is what separates Kick from Twitch. Most new streamers don’t know how critical this difference is.

Kick’s Browse page ranks streams primarily by concurrent viewer count, not channel history or follower count. Meaning, if you can get people to click on your stream in the first 10 minutes, the algorithm gives you real visibility. Momentum matters more than pedigree. By March 2026, Kick had rolled out a V1 algorithm designed to surface content based on authentic engagement rather than just viewer count, meaning smaller channels actually get featured.

This is backward from Twitch, where established channels get placement. On Kick, you don’t need 100,000 followers to be discovered.

What do you need to start streaming on Kick?

You need:

  • a Kick account,
  • streaming software (OBS, Streamlabs, Restream),
  • your stream key and stream URL from the creator dashboard,
  • a stable internet connection. That’s it.

If you’ve streamed on Twitch before, everything ports over. Your OBS scenes, alerts, overlays, no modification needed. The technical barrier to going live is genuinely gone. The real barrier is different, getting people to watch.

What’s Kick’s video quality like?

Kick supports up to 1080p 60fps streaming. That’s the same standard-quality benchmark as Twitch. Viewers can choose quality depending on their connection. Most people stream at 1080p 30fps or 720p 60fps, which requires stable internet but isn’t demanding.

If you’ve got decent upload speed (6-8 Mbps minimum), you’re fine.

How many people actually use Kick?

Kick went from under 1 million monthly active users in late 2023 to 100 million total users by early 2026. Monthly active users sitting at approximately 60-70 million range, making Kick the third most-watched livestreaming platform.

By March 2026, Kick was regularly recording over 500 million hours watched in a single month. For reference, that’s real growth that happened in under four years.

Is Kick available on Google Play?

Yes. The Kick app is available on Google Play for Android devices.

Is Kick available on the App Store?

Yes. The Twitch app is available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

How do you actually make money on Kick?

Here’s where Kick genuinely changes the math.

1. Channel Subscriptions

You set a subscription price (usually $4.99). You keep 95% of it. That means each subscriber is worth $4.75 to you, every single month. If you have 100 subscribers, that’s $475/month. 1,000 subscribers = $4,750/month. Simple math.

For comparison: Twitch gives creators 50% (50/50 split), YouTube gives 70% (70/30 split). Kick’s 95% is genuinely higher.

2. Tips (Called “Kicks”)

Viewers send you money directly as tips mid-stream. You keep 100% of it. No commission, no transfer fee. Someone sends a $10 tip, you get $10 that day. Not next week, that day.

This sounds small until you realize, tips compound. A stream with good engagement gets 5-15 tips, each $5-20. That’s $100-300 per stream in pure income.

3. Kick Creator Incentive Program (KCIP)

Kick pays eligible streamers an hourly rate based on organic engagement. The more real people watch your stream, the more you earn per hour. No subscriber requirement, just engagement.

This is what separates Kick from pure merit-based platforms. You get paid for time on air, not just subscriber count.

4. Sponsorships & Affiliate Deals

As your channel grows, brands approach you for sponsorships. Kick’s size makes this realistic. By April 2026, Kick partnerships with esports organizations, UFC, and Everton FC created direct sponsorship opportunities for creators at all tiers.

Kick Affiliate vs Partner, what’s the difference?

Affiliate (Entry Level)

Requirements: 75 followers + 5 total streamed hours. That’s genuinely low.

What you get: Access to monetization (subscriptions, tips, KCIP). Can apply for brand deals through Kick’s partnership network.

Time to earn money: Your first month streaming.

Partner (Higher Tier)

Followers: 250 followers minimum.
Average Concurrent Viewers: 75 average viewers.
Total Streaming Hours: 30 hours streamed.
Unique Chatters: 250 unique participants in your chat over the last 30 days.
Active Subscribers: 25 active subscribers on your channel

What you get: Higher KCIP payouts, dedicated creator support, direct sponsorship opportunities, featured placement.

Most creators start as Affiliates. Partner status comes naturally if you’re consistent.

How many viewers do you actually need?

Here’s what nobody tells you: you don’t need big numbers to start earning.

To monetize on Kick: You need 75 followers. Not 10,000. Not 1,000. Seventy-five.

For comparison: Twitch Affiliates need 500 total minutes streamed in the past 30 days. Kick’s barrier is 5 total streamed hours ever. Completely different.

To earn meaningful money: 100+ concurrent viewers means $3-5 per stream from tips + subscriptions. 500+ concurrent viewers means $20-30 per stream. 1,000+ concurrent means $50+.

But here’s the psychological win: even 20 subscribers at $4.99 is $95/month. That’s real income that proves streaming works for you. That proof matters more than the absolute number.

Can you stream on Kick and other platforms at the same time?

Yes. Kick explicitly allows multi-streaming.

You can broadcast simultaneously to Kick, YouTube, and Twitch using Restream, OBS’s built-in multistreaming, or similar tools. Stream once, reach three audiences.

For growth: Repurpose your stream highlights into TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels. Include your Kick channel name in captions. New viewers find you organically. Over time, external promotion converts to visibility faster on Kick than other platforms.

Why is audio quality critical on Kick?

Here’s the brutal truth: viewers will watch 480p video with perfect audio. They will not watch 1080p video with bad audio. Most new streamers focus on camera quality, lighting, overlays. But audio is what makes people stay or leave.

If you’re adding music to your streams, you have a problem: most copyrighted music gets DMCA striked on Kick. The platform doesn’t have the licensing agreements Spotify has. That means flagged streams, lost VODs, potential channel strikes.

This is where stream-safe music solutions matter. Mubert generates royalty-free music in 150+ genres and moods in real-time. Mubert partnered with Restream to integrate this directly into live-streaming workflows. Mubert generates 3 million unique tracks monthly. Real-time generation means you’re not repeating the same audio loop. Your stream audio stays fresh. The generated music adapts to your stream’s intensity and mood.

Here’s why that matters: Audio quality directly impacts viewer retention. Better audio = longer watch time = more tips + more KCIP income.

How do you go live on Kick?

  1. Create a Kick account at Kick.com if you don’t have one. Set your username.
  2. Fill out your profile. Add avatar, bio, links. Spend 5 minutes here.
  3. Go to Creator Dashboard. Click the gear icon (settings).
  4. Grab your Stream Key and Stream URL. Copy both values.
  5. Open your streaming software (OBS, Streamlabs, etc.) and paste Stream URL + Stream Key into the streaming settings.
  6. Set your stream info. Name your stream, pick a category, add tags, decide if it’s 18+ or not.
  7. Test audio and video for 30 seconds. Make sure levels are normal.
  8. Hit “Start Streaming” in your software.
  9. Watch your stream in a separate browser window to confirm it’s live.
  10. Engage with chat while streaming. Answer questions, acknowledge donations, thank subs.

That’s it. You’re live.

The Bottom Line

Kick works because it solved a real problem: creators wanted better economics, clearer path to money, and faster monetization. Kick delivers on all three. The 95% subscription split is real. The lower barrier to Affiliate status is real. The audience is genuinely there, 100 million users, growing.

But what’s genuinely hard on Kick is the same as every other platform: consistency and authentic engagement. You can start streaming tomorrow and monetize within weeks. But building an audience? That takes months of showing up, being real, engaging viewers.

The barrier to going live is gone. The barrier to being watched is still real.

What’s different now is the payoff. When the math works better, when you keep more money, when the algorithm doesn’t punish new creators, that changes everything. You’re not abandoning Twitch or YouTube. You’re adding a platform where the economics work in your favor.

That genuinely matters in 2026.