Top Twitch streamers: the Twitch streamers with the most followers

The top Twitch streamers are some of the most successful internet celebrities in the world, but just how many followers do they have?

Twitch, alongside YouTube, has become the primary platform for gaming content online, though new rivals such as Kick are trying to get a piece of the pie. The simple format and relative ease with which you can start streaming nowadays has led to a huge variety of personalities reaching internet superstardom, with multi-million follower counts and ridiculous amounts of income.

Viewers feel closer to their idols on Twitch than they do on TV, leading to very large and loyal followings. The platform is also ripe for drama and controversy, but that just seems to help channels get even bigger in the long run and it gets their faces into the mainstream. It's literally become a viable strategy to get a three-day ban for the free publicity.

We’ve looked over Twitch’s follower rankings and gathered the ten streamers with the most followers to see how they got to the top of the mountain.

Pokimane - 9.3 million followers

Pokimane is the top female streamer on Twitch. She started streaming all the way back in 2013, building up a decent following thanks to her expertise in League of Legends before the explosion of popularity experienced by many Fortnite streamers in 2017 carried her to the top.

While gaming still carries the bulk of her content, she still sees great success with chatting streams, and her extended break through August 2022 didn’t harm her popularity in the slightest.

• No signifcant growth since last update to this list.

JuanSGuarnizo - 10.4 million followers

This Colombian streamer started in 2016 and has slowly got his fingers in many pies since then. Like most popular streamers, he also has a YouTube channel that has over 6 million subscribers, he’s released several singles and three books, one of which was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature. In terms of his streaming content, he streams a variety of games, mostly favoring Minecraft and GTA V.

• +0.8 million followers since last update to this list.

Shroud - 10.5 million followers

Shroud burst onto the scene through CS:GO esports with the organization Cloud9. He broke away to become independent in 2018, gaining 14k followers in a single day at his peak. Like many streamers, he jumped ship to Microsoft’s Mixer and then to Facebook Gaming for a little while, but when both those services didn’t bring the success he’d hoped, he returned to Twitch to enjoy just as big an audience as when he left. In 2022, he temporarily returned to the world of pro gaming as a Valorant player for Sentinels, though his stint on the team ended after just a month.

• +0.1 million followers since last update to this list.

TheGrefg - 11.3 million followers

Like many of today’s crop of internet stars, TheGrefg started at the age of just 14 in 2012. He’s another beneficiary of Fortnite’s popularity, even getting rewarded with an in-game skin. You can take a look at our rankings of the best Fortnite skins for more details.

He broke the Guinness world record for the most simultaneous viewers on a live stream, peaking at 2,468,668 viewers, which was later broken by fellow Spaniard ibai. On top of that, he’s reached into the world of books and music, releasing a few singles over the years.

• +0.8 million followers since last update to this list.

Tfue - 11.4 million followers

Tfue started streaming in 2014 and proved to be very good at several shooter games, which built him a good following. However, he ended up being yet another streamer to blow up when they started playing Fortnite on a regular basis. Unfortunately, his most prominent doings in recent memory involve his lawsuit against FaZe Clan over what he called a “manipulative contract”. He’s still seeing good numbers as an independent streamer riding the battle royale train.

• +0.1 million followers since last update to this list.

xQc - 11.8 million followers

All of the top streamers have had their fair share of controversy, but xQc seems to draw more heat than most of his peers. He started out playing League of Legends but eventually moved into the Overwatch esports scene where he saw a fair amount of success alongside several suspensions for poor behavior, including making homophobic remarks to his opponents.

Still, since he became a full-time streamer he’s been nothing if not dedicated, once streaming for 113 hours in just eight days, with several streams lasting over 20 hours. He's still sticking to his competitive roots, becoming a recordholder in Minecraft speedrunning.

• +0.3 million followers since last update to this list.

Ibai - 13 million followers

One of the top Spanish streamers on the platform, Ibai made his name as a long-time caster, host, and commentator of various esports events. He’d primarily commentate on League of Legends, but his Twitch channel is far more than that these days. He has regular gaming streams but also has a show where he talks to pros like soccer players Ronaldinho or singer Nicki Nicole.

In 2022, he took over TheGrefg's record for most concurrent viewers on a single stream with 3,3 million people tuning in. He's also the owner of an esports team called KOI, which in 2022 merged with popular organisation Rogue to compete in Europe's top League of Legends competition, the LEC.

• +0.8 million followers since last update to this list.

Rubius - 14 million followers

Another Spanish streamer, his following on Twitch is actually just a portion of his over 40 million YouTube subscribers on a channel he started in 2006. Rubius does a little bit of everything across his various channels. Gaming, chatting, speedrunning, and even Pokémon card pack opening. In case that wasn’t enough, he’s published his own comic book series that has an anime adaptation, and a documentary has been made about his life.

• +0.7 million followers since last update to this list.

Auronplay - 15.1 million followers

Officially Spain’s biggest streamer, he also has just under 30 million subscribers on YouTube. He started streaming in 2019 and channeled his YouTube success onto Twitch where he hosts a variety of gaming streams. Truthfully, he doesn’t have any crazy achievements like documentaries or anime series, but he’s such a tour-de-force of personality that he’s managed to grow himself to be the second biggest streamer on the world’s biggest streaming platform.

• +0.8 million followers since last update to this list.

Ninja - 18.5 million followers

Even if you’ve never heard of any other streamer on this list, you’ve probably heard of Ninja. He got his start in 2009 as a top player of Halo 3 esports. He moved into streaming in 2011 and did alright with games like H1Z1 and PUBG.

However, in 2017 he struck gold like no one else, essentially becoming the face of Fortnite streaming. In the years since he’s run all sorts of events streaming with celebrities, raising money for various causes, and having more than his fair share of controversy. Today he’s stepped back from as much of that as he can, just playing whatever he feels like, and he claims he’s “never been happier”.

• +0.2 million followers since last update to this list.

If you'd rather play games yourself than watch others to do it, check out the best multiplayer games, dive into the best co-op games with a friend, or take over the world by yourself in the best strategy games.