The 5 deciding factors that determine your optimal platform: niche, audience, revenue model, content format, and long-term plan.

Niche is the strongest signal. Each major platform is dominated by certain content categories and weak in others. Streamers in dominant categories on a given platform get algorithmic tailwinds. Streamers fighting against the platform's category gravity get headwinds.

Audience is the second factor. Where is your existing audience already watching? A streamer with a meaningful YouTube subscriber base streams to YouTube Live first because the audience already lives there. Migration friction kills funnel conversion.

Revenue model is the third. Each platform has different cuts on subs, different tip mechanics, different ad-share rules, different sponsorship support. The platform that maximizes your revenue model wins points here.

Content format is the fourth. Live-native (Twitch, Kick), live-plus-VOD (YouTube), live-plus-short (TikTok), or adult vertical (LJ, Streamate) each fit different production styles.

Long-term plan is the fifth. Where do you want to be in 3 years? The platform that supports that destination today is the right primary today.