To make a Twitch emote, draw a square image on a transparent background and export it as a PNG between 112 and 4,096 pixels, or as a GIF of no more than 60 frames for an animated emote, as Twitch's emote formatting requirements specify. Upload it from Viewer Rewards in your Creator Dashboard, give it a code after your channel prefix, and it goes live once it passes review against Twitch's Emote Guidelines.
The hard part is not the upload. It is designing something that still reads at 28 pixels, avoiding the content rules that get emotes rejected, and making sure you actually own the art if you paid someone to draw it. This guide covers all three, with a spec checklist and a commission brief you can send to an artist. If you are not yet monetised, start with our guide to becoming a Twitch Affiliate; for what subscribers pay and how the money reaches you, see every Twitch revenue stream.
Who can upload emotes, and how many slots you get
Emotes used to be an Affiliate and Partner perk. Twitch's Monetization for All post says eligible streamers worldwide gained access to emotes, subs, badges, Bits and Channel Points from 13 May 2026, after onboarding in the Creator Dashboard. The Subscriber Emote Guide adds a limit: monetised streamers outside the Affiliate and Partner programs cannot use their channel emotes outside their own channel, while Affiliates and Partners get further benefits.
| Allowance | What Twitch states | Stated in |
|---|---|---|
| How sub points accrue | A Tier 1 sub earns 1 point, Tier 2 earns 2 and Tier 3 earns 6; an earned slot is kept even if points later fall | Emote Slots |
| Standard Tier 1 slots for Affiliates | 5 straight away, a sixth at 10 sub points, and up to 20 in total at 300 points | Emote Slots |
| Standard slots for Partners | Up to 60, earned through sub points, plus 5 on each of Tier 2 and Tier 3 | Emote Slots |
| Animated emote slots | Affiliates start with 5 and can reach 20; Partners can reach 60 through Tier 1, plus 5 each on Tiers 2 and 3 | Animated Emotes |
| Bonus for using Twitch's Alerts | 2 extra Tier 1 animated slots that disappear after 60 days without the Alerts on stream | Animated Emotes |
| Follower emotes | Affiliates and Partners can add up to five free emotes for followers; subscribers can use them anywhere, other followers only in your chat | Follower Emotes |
| Bits reward emotes | Slots begin at the 1,000 Bits reward tier, with the 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 tiers opened automatically | Emote Slots |
If you have no artwork yet, the Subscriber Emote Guide says Twitch offers 120 default emotes you can use alongside your own. They fill slots while you commission a custom set, though they will not make your channel recognisable.
Emote spec checklist: static and animated files
These requirements come from Twitch's emote formatting article and its animated emotes page, in their 1 October 2026 versions. Auto-resize mode converts one large file into every size; manual mode lets you hand-tune each size.
| File requirement | Standard emote | Animated emote |
|---|---|---|
| File format | PNG only | GIF only |
| Auto-resize upload | One square PNG from 112 to 4,096 pixels, under 1MB | One square GIF from 112 to 4,096 pixels, 1MB at most |
| Manual upload | Three PNGs of the same image at 28, 56 and 112 pixels | Three GIFs at 28, 56 and 112 pixels, each no larger than 512KB |
| Background | Fully transparent, with sharp lines and no feathering | Not specified for GIFs, so test against light and dark chat |
| Motion limits | A still image; motion needs a GIF in an animated slot | No more than 60 frames and no more than three flashes in any one second |
| Still preview | The emote itself | The first frame, unless you upload a custom static thumbnail |
Twitch's pages disagree on one number. The formatting article caps a standard emote file at 1MB, but the Subscriber Emote Guide says each of the three manually sized files must be under 100KB. Export manual PNGs below the smaller limit and both pages are satisfied. The flash limit mirrors the web accessibility standard: the W3C's guidance on three flashes or below threshold explains that flashing content can trigger seizures, so treat it as a safety rule rather than a technicality.
Designing an emote that reads at 28 pixels
Most emotes are seen at their smallest size in a fast chat, so judge every draft there first. Twitch's own tips stress simple images, good lighting for photo-based emotes and a consistent style across the set. A practical checklist:
- Shrink the draft to 28 pixels and ask someone who has not seen it what emotion it shows.
- Give the subject a bold outline and crop tightly, so the face or object fills the square.
- Push expressions further than feels natural; subtle eyebrows vanish at chat size.
- Use a word only when it is the whole joke, and check every letter at 100% zoom, as Twitch asks.
- Preview on both the light and dark chat themes, where a dark outline or a white one can disappear.
- Keep colours, line weight and character proportions consistent so the set looks like one channel.
- For animation, make the first frame work as a still, loop cleanly within the frame limit and skip strobing effects.
- Base memes on moments from your own community rather than general internet memes, which Twitch notes date quickly.
If you would rather not animate frame by frame, the animated emotes page describes Easy Animate, which applies a preset motion such as Shake, Roll or Spin to an existing PNG.
What the Emote Guidelines reject
The content rules live in the Safety Center's Emote Guidelines, separate from the formatting article. They apply to both the image and the emote's name, and they are stricter than general channel rules because most emotes can be used in any channel on Twitch. Twitch also warns that an emote acceptable as a still can be judged differently once animated.
- Hateful imagery and stereotyped caricatures, and insults aimed at a person or group; generic taunts are fine unless they target someone.
- Realistic gore; cartoon or slapstick injury and minor blood are allowed.
- Sexual acts, gestures, aids, fetish wear and implied bodily fluids.
- Nudity or implied nudity, including censor bars and crops that stop just short, plus characters in underwear or swimwear and exaggerated body parts.
- Single letters, even on a sign or keyboard key, unless you are a Partner and the letter is part of an established logo.
- Copies of Twitch's global emotes, apart from at most two Kappa derivatives per channel and VoHiYo derivatives that do not reuse the original assets.
- Anything you lack rights to: other creators' channel assets, other people's artwork or photos, images from games, films and TV, logos, and the likeness of a real person such as a celebrity.
Approval is not permanent. Twitch can remove an emote later, including after guidelines change, and it says severe or repeated violations, or resubmitting rejected designs, can cost you content or lead to a suspension.
Uploading, review and instant upload
- Set your emote prefix first; the upload page will not work without one.
- In the Creator Dashboard, open Viewer Rewards, then Emotes.
- Click the plus button under the tier you want, or upload to your Library and assign a slot later.
- Choose auto-resize or switch it off for manual sizes, then enter the emote code; viewers type your prefix plus that code.
- Submit and wait while the emote shows as Pending Approval, which keeps it hidden from viewers.
- If it is rejected, read the general reason in Twitch's email, change the design and resubmit.
Instant upload skips manual review. The instant upload rules say Affiliates qualify after streaming on 60 unique days within a rolling year, counted from when they became Affiliates, and Partners qualify once 60 days have passed since joining the Partner program and since their last warning or suspension. A warning or suspension removes the privilege, usually until another clean period has passed. Partners in good standing can change their prefix once every 60 days, while other monetised streamers get a one-time change after changing their username.
Commission brief with a rights clause
Paying an artist does not automatically make the emotes yours. Under US law, commissioned art is only a work made for hire if it fits one of the categories listed in the US Copyright Office's Circular 30 and both sides put that status in a signed written agreement; a one-off emote set from a freelancer may fit none of them. Our VTuber model rights guide covers ownership in more depth, including Australian law. For emotes, send a brief like this before paying a deposit:
- Your channel name, prefix and planned emote codes, with the tier or follower slot each one fills.
- Which emotes are static and which are animated, and whether animation is drawn or applied with Easy Animate.
- Reference images of your own face, avatar or mascot, never another channel's emotes to imitate.
- Deliverables: the layered source file, one large square export, the 28, 56 and 112 pixel set, and GIFs within the frame and flash limits.
- Twitch's Emote Guidelines attached, so swimwear, single letters and global-emote copies are designed out from the start.
- A promise that the design is original and not a reused base sold to other streamers, since Twitch bars other creators' assets.
- Revision rounds, deadlines, the deposit and final payment, and refunds if the project is cancelled.
- When the artist may post the set in a portfolio, and the credit wording you will use.
Sample rights clause: “On final payment, the Artist assigns to the Streamer all copyright in the finished emotes and their source files, including the right to edit, resize, animate and reuse them on any streaming or social platform, in merchandise and in marketing. The Artist confirms the work is original and contains no material owned by anyone else, and may show the emotes in a portfolio from [date] with credit to [channel].” If an artist will only license the work, ask for an exclusive licence that lists the same uses, and have a lawyer check the final wording.
Planning to stream on more than one platform? Other services set their own emote rules; Kick, for example, makes channel owners answer for emotes their moderators create, as our Kick rules explainer sets out.
Limits of this emote guide
Sizes, slot counts and eligibility rules come from Twitch help articles and the Safety Center, last checked on 1 October 2026, and Twitch edits these pages without notice, as the conflicting manual file limits show. The long Partner slot tables also contained apparent typing errors when checked, so confirm thresholds in your own dashboard before planning a set around a particular slot.
Review decisions involve judgement, and Twitch says similar emotes you see elsewhere may have been approved automatically or before a rule changed, so they are no guide to what will pass now. The rights clause above is a template to adapt, and it is not legal advice; copyright ownership and moral rights depend on where you and the artist live, so have a lawyer review any agreement for a full set or a mascot you plan to build a brand on.