Trovo is a relatively new streaming platform that has burst onto the streaming scene over the last few years. But how does it compare to Twitch? Keep reading as I do a detailed comparison of the two streaming platforms.
Twitch Vs Trovo: What’s The Difference?
Twitch and Trovo are both platforms dedicated to live streaming; however, the main difference between the two is that Twitch has more users and has been around for longer than Trovo has.
Twitch Pros & Cons
| Twitch Pros | Twitch Cons |
|---|---|
| Established brand | Poor sub splits |
| Backed by Amazon | Oversaturated with streamers |
| Lots of streaming tools for streamers and viewers | Inconsistent moderation |
| Millions of monthly users | Tons of ads |
Twitch is an established brand, having been around for over 10 years, and is backed by one of the largest companies in the world (Amazon).
Besides their reputation, they also have some of the most robust set of tools for streamers and attract millions of monthly users to the platform.
However, they are not perfect. In recent years many users have complained about excessive ads, lack of discoverability, and poor sub splits. All these have led users to consider alternative platforms, such as Trovo.
Trovo Pros & Cons
| Trovo Pros | Trovo Cons |
|---|---|
| Less competition | Poor sub splits |
| Lots of streaming tools for streamers and viewers | Less users |
| Skippable ads | Confusing monetization |
Trovo was founded in 2020 and has steadily climbed in popularity. They offer far less competition than Twitch, similar creator tools, and best of all skippable ads.
Their monetization though is a little confusing as users “cast spells” in order to contribute to a streamer. If you are a regular Trovo user then you know what these tools do, but if you are not, it can be a little confusing.
Like Twitch, Trovo also has low sub-splits (50%-50%) which is unfortunate for creators. The small number of users can also make it difficult to grow on the platform.
Now that you know some of the pros and cons for each platform, I wanted to talk more thoroughly about how these two platforms compare in some of the most important categories for a live streaming platform: monetization, discoverability, stream quality, UI, UE, and growth.
Monetization
| Monetization Options | Twitch | Trovo |
|---|---|---|
| Subscribers | X | X |
| Gifted Subscribers | X | X |
| Donations / Tips | X | X |
| Ads | X | X |
| Sponsorships | X | X |
| Affiliate Offers | X | X |
Trovos monetization options are almost identical to Twitch. For this reason, the two platforms are tied when it comes to monetization.
Neither really offers anything special over the other. Trovo does have an incentive program for their top 500 creators which is actually kind of cool.
The way it works is if you are one of the top 500 earning streamers on the platform, Trovo will give you a bonus. The bonus is a percentage of how much revenue you generated for a certain month.
Also, you are ranked from #1 – #500 in regards to revenue generated. Those with a higher rank get a bigger percentage split and therefor a bigger bonus.
This could be a good incentive for you and your community because the more they give, the higher you rank and the more you will receive.
Twitch though has something similar with their Partner Program. Some of the top Twitch partners and streamers earn higher sub-splits than normal streamers so it pays to have viewers.
But since these perks are only relevant to the top streamers, it doesn’t seem right to rank one ahead of the other in regards to monetization. Especially when every other form of monetization on the platform is just about the same.
Trovo’s subscription tiers are priced slightly different than Twitch’s though. Here is a table detailing the two subscription prices:
| Sub Tier | Twitch | Trovo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4.99 | $1.99 |
| 2 | $10.99 | $4.99 |
| 3 | $24.99 | $8.99 |
Lastly, it’s easier to get monetized on Trovo than it is on Twitch. Trovo requires:
- 20 followers
- 5 hours of stream time
Twitch on the other hand requires:
- 7 days streamed in the last 30 days
- 500 minutes streamed in the last 30 days
- 50 followers
- 3 average viewers on your streams over the last 30 days.
Neither is insanely difficult to get monetized with, but Trovo is easier than Twitch since they have requirements to start earning.
Which Pays More: Twitch Or Trovo
Twitch pays more than Trovo. Twitch and Trovo have the same splits for their subs and gifted subs (50%), but Twitch pays more for tips on their platform (100% compared to Trovos 50%).
Twitch subs also cost more, meaning a streamer will get more for each sub; however, you could make the argument that with a cheaper sub cost, more people will use them on Trovo so that doesn’t really matter.
Discoverability
Trovo has better discoverability tools than Twitch. Trovo offers community events, a filter that users can use to display new streamers on the platform, a featured videos page that shows popular stream clips, the Trovo Boost Project, the Trovo Treasure Box, and they allow multi-streaming.
Twitch’s Rivals is similar to Trovo’s community events but it’s unclear really how Twitch selects streamers for Twitch Rivals.
With Trovo, anyone can enter their community events which removes the ambiguity. I also like their featured clips page because even though you can clip on Twitch, there is no real way for these clips to be shared or spread on the platform.
Now the Trovo Boost Project is the most interesting discoverability tool of the bunch. With this, streamers who have a lot of engagement on their channel can earn points on Trovo and then use those points to boost their channel to Trovo’s homepage.
Twitch also has a homepage with current live streams, but again, it’s not always clear how streamers get placed on this homepage.
Next, Trovo has a way for streamers to do giveaways on their channels as a way to drive people to their streams.
These giveaways are called Treasure Boxes, and it is where streamers can give away Trovo’s currency on their streams and in doing so rank higher in the streamer directory. It does cost a streamer money, but it at least is a way for them to get some exposure.
Lastly, Trovo allows their streamers to multi-stream, regardless of their affiliation with the platform. This is ideal because it allows streamers to expand their reach beyond just Trovo.
The only real drawback to discoverability on Trovo is the fact that most of the users are non-English speaking.
In fact, only about 10% of the users on the platform speak English. This means that it may be difficult to get viewers in your stream who speak the same language as you.
As far as Twitch is concerned, they don’t really have any discovery tools. They have categories and Twitch tags, but so does Trovo.
If you want to grow as a Twitch streamer, you will have to drive people from other platforms, like Youtube, over to Twitch. For these reasons, Trovo wins in discoverability.
Stream Quality, UI, & UE
Twitch and Trovo are both tied when it comes to stream quality as both allow for up to 1080p, 60 fps streams.
When it comes to UI (user interface) and UE (user experience), Twitch and Trovo are also tied in my opinion. And this is because Trovo’s layout is basically a clone of Twitch.
Their chat is on the right, their subscriber button is in a similar place, the homepages look alike, and so on and so forth. I think Twitch looks a little cleaner, but it’s not a major difference. You can see below how similar they are.
As I was using Trovo and visiting different streams, it became more and more apparent to me just how similar the platforms are. If you switch from one to another, it won’t be hard to get adjusted.
Growth
Twitch offers better growth opportunities for streamers than Trovo simply because they have more users than Trovo does.
You can grow on Trovo and earn as a creator, but you are limited as to how big you can grow your audience since there far fewer users on the platform.
Should You Stream On Twitch Or Trovo
If you want to grow as a streamer and a content creator, then I suggest streaming on Twitch over Trovo because there is more potential there right now to grow. However, if you are interested in being part of a small, growing platform, then Trovo is a good option.
As a streamer it’s important to try and reach as many people as you can, and so if you are debating between Twitch and Trovo, consider streaming on both.
Streaming on multiple platforms helps you reach as many people as possible and doesn’t require any extra work from you, the creator. In the end, both platforms have their pros and cons and it’s up to you to decide which is best for you.
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Eric streams 3 days a week on Twitch and uploads weekly to Youtube under the moniker, StreamersPlaybook. He loves gaming, PCs, and anything else related to tech. He’s the founder of the website StreamersPlaybook and loves helping people answer their streaming, gaming, and PC questions.
