Super Chat is the obvious way to support a YouTube live stream, but it only opens once your channel is in the YouTube Partner Programme, and YouTube keeps 30% after VAT. A tip link in your description works from your first stream and leaves you more of every pound. This page compares the two and shows how to add tips and alerts to your YouTube lives.
YouTube pays creators 70% of Super Chat, Super Sticker and Super Thanks revenue, calculated after VAT and, for purchases on an iPhone or iPad, Apple's App Store fees. In the UK, VAT at 20% comes off first, so a £10 Super Chat leaves about £8.33 before the split and about £5.83 for you.
A tip through your own page is paid in pounds on your connected Stripe account. On a £10 tip with a standard UK card, Stripe takes £0.35 and DonoLink £0.35, so you keep £9.30.
Super Chat needs a channel in the YouTube Partner Programme, which opens fan funding from 500 subscribers with watch-time requirements, a creator aged 18 or over and the feature switched on in YouTube Studio. Streams made for kids, age-restricted streams and private or unlisted streams never show it. A tip link has none of these conditions: it works wherever you can share a link.
Make the link easy to find during and after the stream:
Add the DonoLink alerts browser source in OBS: each tip plays with your image, sound and text-to-speech, and a goal bar fills live. Super Chats stay in the YouTube chat, so you can run both without double alerts. Viewers pay by debit or credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, plus Pay by Bank and Revolut Pay once Stripe has activated them for your account. PayPal is coming soon.
Viewers tap the link in your description or pinned message, choose an amount and pay. Super Chats need the YouTube app on a phone; a tip page works in any browser, with no YouTube or DonoLink account.
How to donate on YouTube Live: Super Chat vs a donation link
| Route | What reaches you from £10 | When it works |
|---|---|---|
| Tip, standard UK card | £9.30 | From your first stream |
| Tip, Pay by Bank | £9.40 | Once Stripe has activated it |
| Super Chat | About £5.83 | Partner Programme, 18+, switched on |
Super Chat: 70% after 20% UK VAT, bought outside the App Store; App Store purchases leave less. Tips at Stripe's published UK rates, October 2026.
YouTube pays you 70% after VAT and any App Store fees. With 20% UK VAT, a £10 Super Chat leaves you about £5.83.
Yes. Put a tip link in your description and a pinned chat message. It works below 500 subscribers and on streams where Super Chat is off.
Yes, many creators link a support page in their description. Follow YouTube's rules on external links; clickable links in descriptions need advanced features on your channel.
Yes, through the DonoLink alerts browser source in OBS or Streamlabs Desktop. Super Chats keep showing in the YouTube chat.
Yes. Keep Super Chat for viewers who like it and add a tip link for those who want more of their support to reach you.