Twitch is a live streaming video platform which was purchased by Amazon.com in 2014. The service was designed for avid video game fans and participants, including video game tours from users, e-sports broadcasts, and other gaming events. The website can be viewed live or through an on-demand setup for $10.99 per month. The site does not have any regular television programming, nor does it have movies on demand.

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#1 Netflix

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#2 YouTube

7.8 Overall Score

4.5

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#3 Amazon Prime

7.7 Overall Score

4.6

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The Good

Two subscription options
Stream through software
Quality options

Subscription Options

Twitch offers two different subscription options. The first is an ad-driven, but free, subscription. The premium package is called Turbo, which costs $10.99 per month but takes away ads.

Mobile Device Compatibility

Twitch is compatible with a number of mobile devices, allowing subscribers to stream without many issues. Also, Twitch has a mobile app for both iOS and Android.

Ability to Stream Through Software

Twitch allows its users to stream within software, such as EA's Origin, to get their video gaming experience out there. Also, if users have a modern Nvidia card, they can easily stream their in-game experience to Twitch via the card's ShadowPlay driver feature.

Reduced Buffering Complications

With Twitch, subscribers do not need to worry about the strength or speed of the Internet connection. If users do have problems with streaming, they can transition between the video settings (high, medium, low, and mobile) to get your video back up to a consistent stream. Twitch is definitely a unique streaming TV service, as it is for gaming, not a movie and TV episode viewing. The main benefit to Twitch's services is their unique platform and popularity among gamers. Twitch is quickly catching fire and is becoming a huge entertainment platform, creating an online gaming community. It is available to stream through mobile devices and Twitch's mobile app.

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The Bad

Support for Mac
Archiving streams

PC-Driven Gaming Platforms

Twitch is catered to function at its best on PC-based platforms. There isn't much support for those who use Mac products for gaming.

Archiving Your Past Twitch Streams

Users have to manually set up archiving in their settings in order to access past streams. After 60 days, your archived streams will be deleted if you haven't automatically set up the save feature. Although Twitch is unique and not a standard streaming TV service, they have a few drawbacks subscribers should be aware of before paying for the monthly subscription. Twitch functions best on PCs and doesn't have much support for Mac products. Also, users have to manually set up archiving in order to view past streaming.

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The Bottom Line

For gamers, there are many benefits to using Twitch in order to stream and share your gaming experience. Users can broadcast to other users from within their gaming experience via specialized hardware. However, the high hardware overhead made this platform somewhat expensive to get the most out of. Also note that if you are wanting a traditional streaming TV service, Twitch is for gaming, not TV and movie viewing. We recommend reviewing the top rated companies before making a final decision.

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User Reviews

Star Rating

4.2

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41 Reviews

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54%

4 grade

29%

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2 grade

1 grade

10%

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Jon Rego Park, NY

Twitch basically has no customer service. Whenever there are issues with Twitch's Amazon integration, their customer support (which takes 1-2 weeks to respond) just blames Amazon and does absolutely nothing to fix the issue, even though they are the same company.

6 years ago

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Amy Lewis

I am trying to get this cancelled with no luck. My child does not remember his user ID, etc. he hasn't used it in several months. They suggested I file a police report because he used my credit card. I told him he could use it! I didn't know I had to subscribe FOREVER! There is no phone number. You can only correspond by email.

8 years ago

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Francis Adesuyi

this site as been so toxic they will keep pulling money out of my bank account without my permission or knowledge, if i ever pay them remember to make sure I find a way to block any further payments.

1 year ago Edited March 29, 2024

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Kenneth Okerlund

Watching videos is a pain on here, I get frustrated each time I use this service. I much prefer just going to YouTube to watch streamed games there or even watch previous games that have been played.

7 years ago