Twitch Sub Badge: Complete Design & Upload Guide (2026)

A Twitch sub badge is the small icon displayed next to a subscriber's username in chat. It signals loyalty and tenure — viewers earn different badge tiers at 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months. Getting those badges right, especially at the tiny 18 px size, is one of the most important visual tasks a new streamer faces.

Twitch requires every sub badge to be uploaded at three pixel sizes. Each must be a transparent PNG and stay under 25 KB per file.

18 × 18 pixels is tiny — smaller than most emoji on your screen. At that size, a badge must be immediately readable with no fine detail. Think of it like a logo that has to work on a ballpoint pen cap. Most bad sub badges fail because the designer never tested them at actual display size before uploading.

• •Use simple, bold shapes. A sword, a crown, or a face silhouette reads far better than an intricate crest.
• •Avoid text. Letters become unreadable at 18 px unless you're using a single large character.
• •Strong contrast. Your badge must stand out against both dark and light chat themes.
• •Keep the subject centred with a few pixels of breathing room around the edges.
• •Design on a transparent background — white backgrounds look terrible in dark chat.

Twitch lets you set different badges for Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 subscribers. A common approach is to keep the same icon shape but change the colour or add an accent. For example: a plain sword for Tier 1, a golden sword for Tier 2, and a glowing sword with an aura for Tier 3. This creates instant visual hierarchy.

• •Tier 1 — base colour, simple design.
• •Tier 2 — add a metallic or gold colour shift.
• •Tier 3 — add a glow, sparkle, or animated outline (if supported).
• •Keep the core silhouette consistent across all three so the progression is obvious.

Beyond the tier badges, Twitch shows tenure badges to mark how long someone has been subbed. You can upload custom versions for the 3-month, 6-month, 12-month, 24-month and 36-month milestones, giving your loyal subscribers an extra reward to work toward.

• •Go to your Twitch Creator Dashboard → Viewer Rewards → Subscriber Badges.
• •Click 'Upload badge' for each tier and each size slot.
• •Upload the 72 × 72, 36 × 36 and 18 × 18 versions for each badge.
• •Click Save — the badge goes live for subscribers immediately.
• •You must be a Twitch Affiliate or Partner to unlock custom sub badges.

The Twitch Sub Badge Maker on EmoteForge takes one high-resolution image and exports all three sizes (18, 36 and 72 px) as a ZIP. It enforces the 25 KB limit and shows you a live preview at actual chat size. Everything runs in your browser — no upload, no account.