What Is Twitch Turbo and Is It Worth It?

Twitch has become the most popular live game streaming platform on the internet. It has over 9 million active broadcasters per month and an average of almost 3 million viewers daily. People who are into games, Esports, music, and other hobbies all converge on the site to share and connect with others of the same passion.

In the past months, channels on the platform get a total of over 60 million watch hours per day. These figures are very attractive for advertisers who would like to put their brand in front of millions.

Twitch Partners and Affiliates get the chance to earn an income on Twitch through the support of these ads. Broadcasters can insert ads in the pre-roll, mid-roll, end of the stream, and at any time during the stream. The more ad impressions they get, the larger their revenue.

However, as much as viewers love to support their favorite broadcasters, seeing multiple ads while watching a live stream can ruin the experience. This is why Twitch has provided viewers a way to escape from these distractions: Twitch Turbo.

In this article, we’ll discuss and answer what is Twitch Turbo and is it really worth it, and when you’re done check out our other Twitch guides:

Table of Contents

What Is Twitch Turbo?

Twitch Turbo is a paid subscription service on the streaming platform. The subscription comes with tons of benefits and the coveted sitewide ad-free viewing experience.

The premium service can only be availed every month for $8.99. The price has stayed the same since the subscription’s launch back in 2013.

What does Turbo mean in Twitch? It means you get these supercharged benefits:

Ad-free viewing – No more ads on pre-rolls, mid-rolls, and during streams. You only have to endure front-page takeovers that support the platform. Your beloved broadcasters will still get paid even without you seeing the ads that are being shown on their stream.
Exclusive chat badge – You get the exclusive purple supercharged Turbo badge that proudly appears beside your username in chats.
Extended chat colors – You get exclusive custom colors in chat that will make your messages stand out from the rest.
Custom emoticon set – A custom set of emoticons is at your disposal to make chatting more fun.
Increased video storage – This extends the expiration of saved broadcasts from the standard 14 days to a lengthy 60 days.
Priority customer support – Need assistance? Get immediate help from a dedicated team of agents. Receive answers in 1-2 business days, instead of waiting the standard 5-7 business days.

Twitch Turbo vs. Other Channel Subscriptions: What’s the Difference?

A regular channel subscription also lets the viewer bypass seeing the ads on a broadcast. Let’s see how it differs from a Twitch Turbo plan.

Users can avail of individual channel subscriptions to get ad-free viewing on the respective channels only, not sitewide. The cheapest plan comes at $4.99. You only get benefits bestowed by the channel owner you subscribed to.

If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you get one channel subscription for free every month. However, Twitch Prime comes at a hefty $14.99 per month, which is $6 more than the Twitch Turbo cost.

Some of the Twitch subscriptions’ benefits overlap, but there are still major differences. The main one is that you get a sitewide ad-free experience and priority customer support with Twitch Turbo. While a Prime Gaming or regular channel sub can only afford you ad-free viewing on the channel you are subscribed to with just regular customer support.

Here are the other differences:

	Twitch Prime	Twitch Turbo	Regular Channel Subscription
Ad-free viewing	Only on the channel you are currently subscribed to	Sitewide with only a few exceptions	Yes, only on the channel you subscribed to
Channel subscription	1 free channel subscription per month	No free channel subscription	Only 1 channel per subscription
Exclusive chat badge	Yes, the Blue Prime Gaming crown badge	Yes, the Purple Twitch Turbo supercharged badge	Yes, monthly subscriber badge on the channel
Custom chat username color	Yes	Yes	Yes, only on the channel chat
Emoticons	Yes, channel exclusive & only on the channel chat you are subscribed to	Yes, exclusive glitch emotes	Yes, channel exclusive & only on the channel chat
Extended Broadcast Storage	60 days	60 days	No
Game content	Yes	No	No
Priority customer support	No	Yes	No
Price	$14.99 per month; orFree with an Amazon Prime subscription	$8.99 per month	Tier 1: $4.99Tier 2: $9.99Tier 3: 24.99

Why Should You Switch to Twitch Turbo?

Here’s a short history of Twitch’s subscription schemes, so we can have a better understanding and appreciation for them.

Before, Prime Gaming users have been enjoying sitewide ad-free viewing. The Twitch Prime Gaming subscription comes free with an Amazon Prime subscription.

However, with the large number of Prime users on the platform, the streamers were getting lower revenue. They only earn around $2.50 per subscriber every month, instead of getting paid for each ad watched by their Twitch followers.

Broadcasters are the life and blood of the platform. But, with the low income generated by the Prime subscription for them, something needed to be done to sustain them and keep them happy. To remedy this situation, Twitch revoked the sitewide ad-free viewing from Prime Gaming users.

Now, only Twitch Turbo subscribers get to enjoy watching on any channel without the ads. Twitch Partners still get paid for ad impressions played on their channel without the Turbo subscriber seeing it as they’re watching.

If you love watching streamers play your favorite games, and you can spare the extra monthly fee, then getting a Twitch Turbo subscription is a great choice. You get to support the platform and the broadcasters better with this plan.

Final Thoughts

Advertisements that disrupt the viewing experience can be annoying. However, ads on Twitch are necessary to support the platform and the hard-working streamers on the site.

Twitch Turbo is a great option to get the best ad-free experience on Twitch while giving back to your favorite broadcaster. Even if you don’t care for the exclusive stuff you get with the subscription, you know that you are doing the community good with every monthly subscription you get.