Short answer
Before you start
- Be 13 or older (or your country's age of digital consent, if that's higher), with a parent or guardian's permission if you're under 18
- An email address of your own to sign up and verify the account
- OBS, Streamlabs Desktop or another streaming app installed on your computer
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Step by step
- 01
Get what Kick is and what's on it
Kick Help: Guide for parents and educators ↗Someone sent you a Kick link, you clicked, and now you're wondering where you've landed. Kick is a live streaming platform for people 13 and older. It runs on the web and on phones. You'll find streamers gaming, showing off their art or running podcasts. Kick says it's free to use whether or not you have an account.
What you should see: You open kick.com without logging in and a live stream plays.
- 02
Create a free account
Kick Help: How to create a KICK account ↗You don't need an account to watch. You do need one to chat, follow, subscribe, make clips or stream. Signing up is free. Go to kick.com, click Sign up in the top right, then enter your email, a username, a password and your date of birth. Open the email Kick sends you and click the link to verify the account.
Kick is for people 13 and over, or the age of digital consent in your country if that's higher. If you're under 18, Kick says you need a parent or guardian's supervision and consent. One piece of Kick's advice worth taking: turn on two-factor authentication from day one, since it's also required if you ever want to monetize.
What you should see: An email from Kick arrives with a link to verify your account.
- 03
Connect OBS and go live
Kick Help: How to stream on KICK.com ↗Kick works with OBS, Streamlabs Desktop, XSplit and MELD, among others. In your creator dashboard, open Channel, then Stream URL and Key. That's where your server URL and stream key live. In OBS, go to File, Settings, Stream, set the service to Custom and paste both in. Treat the key like a password and never show it on screen.
Kick takes up to 8,000 kbps, a maximum resolution of 1920x1080 and 60 fps, and only H.264 for now. Before you start, set a title and category under Edit Stream Info, because without them your stream may not start properly. Then click Start Streaming in OBS. The full walkthrough with screenshots is in the How to start streaming on Kick guide.
What you should see: When you click Stop Streaming in OBS, your channel shows its offline banner and the VOD is saved to your channel page.
- 04
Turn on subs after 5 hours of streaming
Kick Help: How to become a KICK Partner ↗This is the bit everyone asks about. To enable subs, Kick's English help page asks for at least 5 hours of streaming in total. They don't have to be in one go: you can build them up over several days. You can track your progress under Achievements in your dashboard. Once you qualify, an Enable Subscriptions button shows up in your Streamer Dashboard. Click it and follow the steps.
Watch the naming: this page calls the sub-enabled level Partner. If you've done the 5 hours and the button isn't there, see the troubleshooting section below.
What you should see: The Enable Subscriptions button appears in your Streamer Dashboard.
- 05
Check what you keep from each sub and each KICK
Kick Help: Understanding KICK's revenue split ↗A Kick sub is a flat $5 a month. You keep $4.75 of each one, and the remaining $0.25 is a processing fee. That's the 95/5 split people talk about. With KICKs, Kick's tipping currency, you also keep 95%.
There are also Bounties: short-form clip campaigns paid by Kick or a brand, with the amount set in each campaign. Your earnings count as income, so taxes in your country are on you.
What you should see: In your Streamer Dashboard, the Revenue or Earnings section shows your subs, your KICKs and your next payout amount.
- 06
Learn about verification and the Partner Program
Kick Streamer: The KICK Partner Program ↗One level up is the Partner Program on streamer.kick.com, which pays per stream and is separate from subs. First you need a verified channel. That means being an Affiliate, as that page puts it, and, in the last 30 days, 15 hours streamed, 50 average viewers, 100 unique chatters and 10 active subs. Kick also asks for a confirmed phone number, two-factor authentication, no username change in 30 days, 2 VODs on your channel from the past 7 days and no terms violations in 30 days.
The Partner Program then asks for 30 hours streamed and 250 unique chatters in the last 30 days, 25 active subs, 250 followers and an average of 75 concurrent viewers. Joining is free, and you apply by emailing kickpartners@kick.com. Kick calculates this income per organic view of your live streams, but doesn't publish the rate. If you multistream, you switch on the multistreaming toggle and earn 50% of your usual revenue. Streams in the Just Sleeping and gambling categories don't earn it.
What you should see: On streamer.kick.com/partner, opening the question about verification requirements shows the full list.
- 07
Set up Stripe to get paid
Kick Help: KICK payout schedule, thresholds, and methods ↗Kick pays everything through Stripe. Verify your identity with Stripe, add a bank account in a supported country and confirm your payout currency. Kick tracks earnings in US dollars, and Stripe converts them if your bank uses another currency. If your channel isn't verified, you're paid once a month. Your first payout comes at the end of the next monthly cycle, up to 30 days after the month ends, and outside the US it usually takes 3 to 7 business days. Stripe doesn't pay out to every country: if it doesn't work where you live, you can't get paid yet.
What you should see: Your current balance shows in both your Streamer Dashboard and your Stripe dashboard.
If something does not work
- OBS won't connect to Kick
- Copy the server URL and stream key again from Stream URL and Key and paste them back into OBS. If you think your key leaked, click Reset in your Streamer Dashboard to generate a new one. After a reset, you have to paste the new key into your streaming app.
- Your stream stutters or lags
- Kick suggests dropping your bitrate by 1,000 kbps at a time until the lag stops, and trying a lighter preset: Superfast for x264 or P3: Fast for NVENC and AMD. Your internet isn't NASA's, and that's fine.
- You stream from a Mac and can't find the CBR option
- Kick doesn't support variable bitrate, so Rate Control has to be set to CBR. On a Mac, that option shows up once you pick the x264 encoder in OBS, Settings, Output.
- You've streamed 5 hours and the subs button still isn't there
- Open Achievements and check what's missing. Kick's Spanish help page also asks for 75 followers, so that may be the requirement still open on your account.
Test before you go live
- Your email is verified and two-factor authentication is on.
- Your stream key is in OBS and doesn't show in any scene.
- Your next stream already has a title and category.
- You know how many hours you still need in Achievements to turn on subs.
- If you plan to get paid, you've checked that Stripe pays out in your country. And that's it, you know how Kick works under the hood.
Cómo empezar a streamear en Kick desde cero
Related video from Nicole (in Spanish) ↗Common questions
What is Kick and how does it work?
Kick is a live streaming platform. Anyone can watch for free, and with a free account you can chat, follow channels and stream from OBS or another app. Viewers support streamers with $5 subscriptions and with KICKs.
Is Kick free?
Yes. Watching is free with or without an account, and so is signing up. Applying to the Partner Program costs nothing too. The only money involved is what viewers choose to spend: the $5 monthly sub or KICKs, which are non-refundable.
How much does Kick pay streamers?
You keep $4.75 of every $5 sub and 95% of KICKs. If you get into the Partner Program, you're also paid for organic views on your live streams, but Kick publishes no hourly or per-viewer rate, so be wary of anyone promising a fixed number.
What do you need to make money on Kick?
To turn on subs, Kick's English help page asks for 5 cumulative hours of streaming, and the Spanish page asks for those 5 hours plus 75 followers. Check Achievements to see which applies to you. To get paid, you also need Stripe with a bank in a supported country.
What kind of content is on Kick?
Gaming, art, podcasts and live music, plus Just Chatting for talk streams. To see what's on today, the easiest way is to open the homepage and browse the categories.
How old do you have to be to use Kick?
13 or older, or your country's age of digital consent if it's higher. Kick's guide for families mentions 16 in Europe. From that age until the age of majority (18 in most places), you use Kick with the involvement of a parent or guardian who agrees to Kick's terms.
Is Kick better than Twitch?
It depends on where your audience is. What Kick says about itself is specific: a flat $5 sub with a 95/5 split, subs after 5 hours of streaming, and multistreaming allowed in its Partner Program at half the usual pay. In her video (10:41, in Spanish), Nicole says Kick turned on her subs almost straight away, and she still recommends keeping Twitch and having more than one option.
