It’s been a few years since the Great Ninja Exodus that pitted Twitch, YouTube, Microsoft‘s now-defunct Mixer, and more against one another in a heated battle to sign as many gaming-focused livestreaming stars as possible. In the wake of that dealmaking dash, most streamers ended up back on Twitch, and the Amazon-owned platform is still top of mind for most people when you ask, What is the biggest livestreaming platform on the internet?
But according to analytics firm Streams Charts, Twitch isn’t the biggest.
It’s not the second biggest, either.
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Streams Charts just released its latest Global Livestreaming Landscape report, revealing that livestream platforms collectively generated ~29.7 billion hours of watch time in Q1 2025. And, for the first time, that number includes data from TikTok Live–data showing that TikTok, despite being one of the most recent entrants to the streaming space, is apparently the #2 most-watched live platform on the ‘net, beaten only by YouTube.
In Q1, TikTok Live generated 8.027 billion hours of watch time, or around 27% of the livestreaming industry’s total. YouTube, at #1, came in with a whopping 50.3% of the total, or 14.983 billion watch hours.
Twitch came in third place, with 4.847 billion watch hours, aka 16.3% of the total. Fourth was competitor Kick with a much smaller 2.9% of the total, followed by niche streamers like SOOP and NimoTV. Right-wing Rumble is near the bottom, with 0.5% of the total.
Streams Charts attributes YouTube’s extreme lead to the genre diversity of its live content. YouTube Gaming specifically was responsible for just 7% of YouTube’s 50.3% share, while over on Twitch, gaming content was responsible for 12.6% of its 16.3%.
The real focus here, though, is TikTok. You’ve probably seen chatter about TikTok Live pop up here and there. It gets memed on a lot, and has been the genesis of trends like NPC streamers (some of whom got big enough to snap up guest host slots on Kai Cenat‘s last subathon). But it’s also become an ecommerce powerhouse–and a business TikTok itself is interested in nurturing.
During a recent mixer for creators at its New York City headquarters, TikTok said over 400,000 creators go live on its platform every day, to 30 million viewers. It also said those 400,000 streamers are collectively generating $10 million in revenue per day, with 80.4% of that amount generated by streamers who have fewer than 50,000 followers.
Streams Charts’ data shows why TikTok is so bent on promo’ing its live sector: In addition to having a commanding place in the market and making boatloads of money for both creators and platform, TikTok Live’s watch hours jumped 30% from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. It was one of only four platforms to show watch time growth in Q1, alongside YouTube, Kick, and Trovo.
There’s another thing to note here: While TikTok Live is mostly IRL/lifestyle streams (main categories: Outdoors and Chats) and ecommerce, its gaming sector is beginning to flourish. Gaming and esports streams ticked up in this quarter, with streamers broadcasting mobile games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Garena Free Fire.
If TikTok Live continues to grow, its focus on mobile games could set it apart from YouTube and Twitch and stoke it to an even bigger market share. Creators play mobile games on YouTube and Twitch as well, but on those platforms, mobile titles aren’t nearly as popular as PC and console games–meaning this is a niche where TikTok Live could dominate.
Nazar Babenko, Streams Charts’ Product Manager, said TikTok is “steadily closing the gap with YouTube Gaming in terms of gaming content volume.”
He also had a little free advice for Twitch, telling Dexerto that if Amazon’s subsidiary wants to catch up and retake spot #2, it should “innovate in creator tools and monetization options to prevent talent migration.” He advised “expand[ing] localization in emerging markets, especially Southeast Asia and Latin America, where mobile-first viewing is surging.”
We think there’s another underrated lesson in this data, too. The fact that most of TikTok Live’s revenue is generated by small streamers gives it a potential leg up over Twitch, which has notoriously struggled with discoverability and figuring out how to help new streamers attract audiences. Many Twitch streamers already post content on TikTok as the primary way of growing their audiences. If it continues shaping up to be a real streaming contender, it’s possible creators might choose it as a home not just for their supplementary content, but for all their content.
