Nov 10, 2021
Twitch has over 200 extensions available for download. But you only get to pick six: three panel extensions, two component extensions, and one overlay extension.
Once you fill these six slots, there’s not an option to add more. (At least not at the time of this writing.) It’s up to you to decide which extensions you need and which ones you want but can live without.
Sounds like an easy decision, right?
Even though choosing one extension over another won’t have a detrimental effect on your channel’s success, it could mean the difference between a subpar audience experience and a stellar one.
Choose your Twitch extensions with as much care as you chose the microphone you use. Because to get the most value out of your Twitch streams, you first have to know where your priorities lie.
Maybe you need to stream with royalty free music (or other types of music) that won't get flagged by the DMCA. Maybe you want to focus on audience growth and engagement or be more intentional about increasing revenue.
Whatever the case, here are six of the best Twitch extensions that will help you do that and more.
Good visuals and good audio go hand-in-hand on Twitch. That's why it’s so important to have a good audio setup and music streaming process.
With the Twitch Pro extension from Soundstripe, you’re able to reap all the benefits of the free version and then some.
For $3.99/month, you get unlimited access to over 200 hours of stream-worthy royalty free music, exclusive Pro playlists, and a song shuffle feature. The cherry on top is that you can now create custom playlists as well.
If you’re not ready to make the leap to a paid extension yet, you can join the 65,000 other streamers who installed the free version and test the waters first.
(For more information on the Pro version, check out this blog post.)
The Exclusive Content for Subscribers extension is a tool that gives you more agency over the type of content you create on Twitch. Here’s how it works:
As soon as you install this panel extension, you can start creating exclusive content by using the extension’s content builder. The videos, images, or other posts you make will then be featured on your Twitch channel page.
Every time you share new members-only content, an alert message is sent to subscribers and non-subscribers to let them know they can either access the content immediately or subscribe to see it.
With this extension, you’re able to reward (and retain) current subscribers, incentivize non-subscribers to join, and boost engagement in the process.
And if you want to be even more strategic, you can promote your social media platforms via the content you share.
Let’s face it: Twitch isn’t just great for streaming your own content and connecting with your own audience. Another big draw is that you can also fully embrace the viewer role and enjoy the content that other streamers create.
Whether you’ve been a pro streamer for years or you’re just joining the platform, the Twitch Now extension benefits every Twitch user.
Since this is a browser extension, you’re able to receive updates when your favorite streamers go live even when you’re not on the Twitch platform.
From a user-perspective, this extension saves you the trouble of constantly checking up on your favorite streamers’ schedules. And from a streamer-perspective, it gives you some peace of mind that your channel viewers will know whenever you’re streaming and be able to join in.
What this ultimately means is that you’ll be able to stream anytime — scheduled or not — and your dedicated viewers will be alerted instantly. You won’t have to worry whether or not you’ll have an audience for your stream.
If one of your top priorities is earning more revenue from your Twitch channel, one of the three panel extensions you should consider installing is the Streamlabs Merch Store.
As far as third-party developers go, Streamlabs is known for creating some of the most popular and useful extensions for Twitch streamers. (It’s why this isn’t the only Streamlabs-created extension in our list.)
The Merch Store extension falls into the Loyalty and Recognition category and allows your viewers to peruse and purchase your Twitch merchandise without leaving your stream.
Another great thing about this particular extension is that Streamlabs handles all of the processing, shipping, customer service, etc. so that you don’t have to.
One of the best ways to boost viewer engagement before, during, and after streams is by using an extension like BetterTTV, i.e., “BTTV” or “Better Twitch TV.”
This extension improves user experience by giving your viewers more capabilities in chat, which includes extra emoticons, split chat lines, and a word/phrase blacklist.
As the channel owner, you can see deleted links and messages and also use the /massunban script to unban anyone that’s banned in chat. Also, your viewers can take advantage of Anon Chat and join a channel anonymously.
The loyal viewers that tune in for your streams, engage with you in chat, and support your channel the core of your Twitch community. So, they deserve recognition and a special shout out every now and then.
With an extension like Streamlabs Leaderboard, your top supporters from every session, week, month, or all time (depending on how you sort the data) will be listed front-and-center on a panel.
Not only does this reward audience engagement, it also incentivizes more engagement by sparking some healthy competition among your viewers. To climb higher on the leaderboard, viewers will need to earn more cheers and loyalty points.
This means that as viewers work toward securing a top ranking, your streams get more engagement. It’s mutually beneficial and takes very little effort on your end to benefit from — especially since all you have to do is activate the extension.
All of the extensions mentioned in this guide were built to help improve the streamer experience in some shape or form. But even with 200+ available extensions, you might need a hyper-specific type of extension that hasn’t been built yet.
If that’s the case, you always have the option to enlist the help of a third-party developer or build your own extension. (Here’s a forum resource run by Twitch that can help you get started in this process.)
At the end of the day, every extension is built to improve the Twitch user experience, but not all extensions will improve yours.
You know your channel and audience better than anyone else, so use that to your advantage and select the extensions that will help your platform thrive long-term.
Interested in reading more top resources and getting our best filmmaking tips and tricks? Here are a couple of our most popular articles from across the Soundstripe blog:
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