Twitch Sub Badges: Sizes, Design Rules & Ideas (Complete Guide)
Updated July 3, 2026 · 6 min read
A sub badge is the smallest piece of branding on Twitch — and one of the most visible. It sits next to a subscriber's name on every single messagethey send. Loyal viewers genuinely care about "leveling up" their badge, which makes a good badge progression a quiet retention tool: people stay subscribed partly to reach the next badge.
The specs
| Property | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Sizes | 72 × 72, 36 × 36, 18 × 18 px (all three) |
| Format | PNG with transparent background |
| Animation | not supported — badges are static |
| Milestones | configurable: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12+ months (add more as your community ages) |
Designing for 18 pixels
18×18 is brutally small — roughly the size of this: ▪. Everything you know about emote design gets compressed further:
- Flat icon, not illustration. Think traffic sign, not artwork: one silhouette, solid fills.
- 2–3 colors maximum. Gradients and shading vanish at this size.
- No outlines thinner than 2px at the 72px master — they disappear when scaled down.
- High contrast against both chat themes. Badges sit on dark and light chat backgrounds; avoid very dark or very light edge colors.
- Test at 18px. If you can't tell month 3 from month 6 at real size, the progression doesn't work.
Progression ideas that work
- Material tiers: the same shape in bronze → silver → gold → diamond. Instantly readable, universally understood.
- Color shift: one mascot silhouette cycling through your brand palette.
- Evolution: egg → hatchling → dragon; seed → sprout → tree. The most fun for communities, slightly harder to keep readable.
- Accessory stacking: the same face gaining a cap, then glasses, then a crown.
Whichever system you pick: keep the silhouette identicalacross tiers and change only color or one detail. That's what makes the progression readable at 18px.
Uploading badges
In the Creator Dashboard, open your channel's subscription/viewer-rewards settings and look for Subscriber Badges. Upload all three sizes per milestone, save, and the badges go live after Twitch's review. Affiliates and Partners both get loyalty badges; gift-sub and bits badges are handled by Twitch automatically.
Skip the resizing entirely
EmoteGenerator creates transparent, Twitch-ready emotes from a text prompt — all sizes (112/56/28px) included automatically. Your first emote is free.
FAQ
What size are Twitch sub badges?
Sub badges need three sizes: 72×72, 36×36 and 18×18 pixels, as PNGs with transparent backgrounds. The 18px version is what viewers see next to names in chat.
How many sub badge tiers can I set up?
Twitch lets you set badges for escalating subscription lengths — commonly 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, with further milestones beyond that (up to multiple years). You don’t need all of them on day one; you can add milestones as your community ages.
What is the difference between sub badges and emotes?
Emotes are pictures viewers post in chat; badges are tiny icons that appear next to a subscriber’s username on every message. Badges are about 4× smaller than emotes in practice, so they need far simpler designs.
Can sub badges be animated?
No — subscriber badges are static PNGs. Animation on Twitch is limited to emotes (GIF) and channel elements like alerts.
Do I need different artwork for each badge size?
Usually you design once at 72×72 (or larger) and export downscaled versions — but always check the 18px result. If it turns to mush, simplify the design rather than sharpening the export.
Related: full emote specs in the size guide — and our generator exports badge sizes (72/36/18) alongside every emote automatically.