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4 Easy Ways To Save Money on Twitch Subscriptions

I think it is safe to say that just about everyone likes the idea of saving money. After all, we all work pretty hard to get it, and we all value it.

I mean, who doesn’t want to save money, especially when it is as simple as toggling a setting in your browser? (More on that in a minute)

Let me show you how to save money when you subscribe to a Twitch channel.

Method 1: Amazon Prime Free Subscription Benefit (Limited to 1 Per Month)

Starting things off, we have the Amazon Prime monthly Twitch Subscription Credit. (Say that 10 times fast…)

There is no better price for something than free, and this credit is free and refreshes each month. The only required step for you to take is to link your Twitch Account to Amazon. This can be done by visiting this Amazon merge page.

Granted, this is not actually a 100% free benefit – you only get it if you get and maintain an Amazon Prime membership. It will cost you more overall, but if you’re already picking up prime for access to some of its best features, like:

  • Unlimited cloud-based photo backup service
  • Access to hundreds of fantastic movies and TV shows on Prime Video
  • Unlimited Free 2-Day shipping (on qualifying items)
  • Access to over 100 million songs on Amazon Music
  • And much more

then there is no reason not to use the free monthly Twitch Subscription Credit that comes with being an Amazon Prime member.

Method 2: Save Money by Not Subbing using a Mobile Device

Next up, we have arguably the most important information in this article. I put this second only because the first method costs you nothing extra if you already have Amazon Prime. Full credit for this fact goes to u/redfoxvapes over on Reddit.

I recently learned that subscriptions on Twitch cost more if you’re using a mobile device. This absurdity was born from the Google Play Store and Apple Apps Store and their cut.

I’m not kidding you. Here is a screenshot of a subscription to my Twitch channel on Desktop and Mobile to prove it.

Desktop:

Twitch Desktop Subscription cost - Save money on Twitch Subscriptions

Mobile:

Twitch Mobile Subscription cost - Save money on Twitch Subscriptions
An Extra $1 per month! That’s a 20% price hike!

The worst part is that Twitch can’t even legally tell you that it is higher on mobile due to the TOS they had to sign to register the Twitch App to the Play Store and Apple Apps store.

This bears a striking resemblance to the massive lawsuit from Epic Games against the tech giants.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this practice, and I will do what I can to spread the word and try to save you guys a dollar a month – $12 a year. That’s enough saved to register a website .com domain!

Why Twitch Does This

Somebody has to pay the cut, and Twitch doesn’t want to lose out on their share of the cut, nor does the platform want to affect the earnings of their hard-working streamers. Instead, this cut is passed on to the consumer, who is often none-the-wiser about this hidden cost discrepancy.

This is not okay. So I’m going to show you how to get around this unacceptable practice and save you a bit of money in the process.

Option 1: Use A Desktop or Laptop Computer

The easiest way to get around this asinine practice and save money on your Twitch streamer subscription is simply using a laptop or desktop computer and navigating to the streamer you want to subscribe to. This removes Google and Apple from the equation and lowers the monthly cost of the subscription. Easy, right?

However, I know that not everyone has a laptop or desktop computer. In that case, you can run your phone in Desktop Site Mode.

Option 2: Sub to the Streamer Using Desktop Site Mode

Before we continue, I need to say that you cannot use the Twitch App to subscribe to streamers using your phone for what I’m calling the desktop discount. Instead, you will need to use the chrome browser built into your Android phone or Safari Browser built into your iPhone. I can’t provide screenshots for the safari phone, though, cause nobody I know owns an iPhone.

To do this:

Using the Chrome Browser on Android:

  1. Navigate to the channel on Twitch you want to subscribe to
  2. Tap on the settings button located to the right of the address bar (the three dots)
Settings button for chrome on android located to the right of the URL
  1. Scroll down until you see the Desktop site toggle switch, and tap it. It should have a checkmark in it.
Desktop Site in Chrome Android Chrome Settings
  1. Subscribe with your Desktop Discount

Using the Safari Browser on iPhone:

  1. Visit this article, and follow the directions

It’s that simple. Unfortunately, most people don’t even know this feature exists, so most will continue to pay an elevated monthly subscription cost. Definitely try this for other apps you use in the future, as this trick could save you even more for every instance of this kind of hidden cost BS.

Method 3: Subtember Savings

Did you know Twitch offers discounts on subscriptions to streamers that are done during September? This event is known as Subtember, and when combined with the previous step above, you can save quite a lot of money, especially when combined with Method 2 and Method 4.

However!

These savings Do Not Apply to existing recurring subscriptions, Twitch Turbo Subscriptions, Prime subscriptions, or Mobile app subscriptions.

This means you will need to unsubscribe to a streamer to get the promotional savings of Subtember upon resubscription.

You can read the Subtember 2022 FAQ for more information about this annual promotional event.

Method 4: Save Money by Subscribing for Multiple Months at a Time

Twitch Multi-month Savings
Again, make sure to subscribe on a Desktop or laptop for additional savings – $26.94 per 6 months vs. $35.94 per 6 months

Did you know it is cheaper to subscribe to a streamer if you do it in a 3-month or 6-month spread? It’s true – at least if you planned to support said streamer in the first place for such a long duration and didn’t already have your free monthly Prime Sub used for someone else.

Combining this method with the other methods in this list could result in even greater savings!

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