Free Subathon Timer
A subathon timer is a countdown your viewers extend: every sub, gift, or cheer adds time, and the stream ends when the clock hits zero. Set your starting time below, tap to add time as events come in, and run it fullscreen in OBS. Free, no login, nothing to install.
Set your starting time, then hit start.
Starting time
Add time per event
Someone subs, you tap the button. The clock jumps so chat sees it count.
Manual adjust
Your timer and settings are saved in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
On the roadmap
Our giveaway and poll tools already listen to subs, gifts, and bits live from Twitch. The subathon timer is next: a connected version where every event adds time on its own is in the works. Until then, this page is the fastest manual way to run one, and the connected tools below are live today.
The format
A subathon is a marathon stream where viewers control how long it lasts. The stream runs on a countdown, and every subscription, gifted sub, or bits cheer adds time back to the clock. When chat stops extending it, the stream ends. Some subathons run an evening; the famous ones have run for weeks.
The format blew up in 2021 when Ludwig streamed for 31 days straight, and multi-week subathons have been part of Twitch culture ever since. You do not need his numbers to make it work. A 12 hour subathon on a small channel creates the same loop: every sub visibly buys more stream, so subbing stops being abstract support and becomes an action with an immediate, on-screen consequence.
Why it works
The countdown creates urgency and the increments make every sub visible. Viewers watch their own sub bump the clock, and that feedback loop drives more subs than any panel ever will.
The rules matter
Announce your increments before you start and do not change them mid-run. Chat is extending your stream with real money; the deal has to be clear and stay fixed.
Set a hard cap
Decide a maximum length and sleep rules up front. A capped subathon that ends on a high beats an endless one that ends with you falling asleep on camera.
How it works
Six steps from an idea to a running clock. The whole setup takes about two minutes.
Step 01
Pick how much is on the clock before chat touches it. 6 to 12 hours is the sweet spot for a first subathon; 24 hours if your community is already active.
Step 02
Decide what a sub, a gift, and 100 bits are worth in minutes. Use the defaults or copy a column from the settings table below, then edit the amounts in the timer.
Step 03
Put the increments in your chat commands, your panels, and your stream title. Chat pushes the clock harder when everyone knows exactly what a sub buys.
Step 04
Hit fullscreen and capture the window, or add the OBS link as a browser source. The on-stream view hides every control and scales the countdown huge.
Step 05
Someone subs, you tap the matching button. The clock visibly jumps and a +1m floats off the digits, so chat sees their sub land in real time.
Step 06
When the clock finally dies, make it a moment: final goal check, thank the top gifters, and announce the totals. The ending is the clip that sells the next subathon.
Increment settings
Three tested starting points. Chill keeps a small channel's stream alive, standard is the common baseline, marathon is for big chats where full amounts would never let the clock fall.
| Event | Chill pace (small chat) | Standard (tool default) | Marathon (big chat) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 sub | +2 min | +1 min | +30 sec |
| Tier 2 sub | +4 min | +2 min | +1 min |
| Tier 3 sub | +10 min | +5 min | +2 min 30 sec |
| Gifted sub | +2 min | +1 min | +30 sec |
| 100 bits | +1 min | +30 sec | +15 sec |
| $1 donation | +1 min | +30 sec | +15 sec |
The sanity check before you commit
Estimate how many subs you get in a good hour, multiply by your per-sub increment, and compare it to 60 minutes. If chat can add more than an hour per hour, your timer never falls and the subathon only ends at your cap. That can be the plan, but it should be a decision, not a surprise. Keep the tier ratios roughly proportional to price: Tier 2 is about double Tier 1, Tier 3 about five times.
On stream
The timer has a clean on-stream mode: huge countdown, goal bar, no visible controls. Two ways to get it into your broadcast.
Option A · Recommended
?obs=1, which loads straight into the clean on-stream view.Option B
Good to know: the timer's state is saved in the browser where it runs. A browser source inside OBS keeps its own timer, so control it through Interact rather than from a separate window. Because the countdown is stored as a fixed end time, reloading the source or restarting OBS never loses the clock.
Subathon goals
The timer keeps the stream alive; goals give chat a reason to push it. Turn on the goal line in the timer and put one of these under the clock.
Hour milestones
100 subs = 24 hour stream. The classic. Put it on the goal line under the clock so progress is always visible.
Forfeits
Hair dye at 250 subs, hot sauce at 500, ice bath at 1,000. Chat pays to watch you suffer. It works every time.
Game unlocks
Horror game at 150 subs, viewer-picked challenge run at 300. Let chat buy the content they want to see.
Cosmetic unlocks
New emote reveals, costume changes, a themed overlay for the final stretch. Cheap for you, visible for everyone.
Charity splits
Pledge a share of subathon revenue to charity at set milestones. Adds a reason to push that is bigger than the stream.
Finale giveaway
Announce a giveaway that draws in the final hour. Everyone who stuck around is in the pool. Our wheel handles the draw.
FAQ
Most first subathons start with 6 to 12 hours on the clock. That is long enough to build momentum but short enough that a quiet stream still ends at a sane hour. Established channels often start at 24 hours. Whatever you pick, decide a hard cap before you go live, because a subathon with generous increments and an active chat can run away from you fast.
The most common baseline is 1 minute per Tier 1 sub and per gifted sub, with Tier 2 and Tier 3 scaled roughly to their price: 2 minutes and 5 minutes. Bits usually land around 30 seconds per 100. If your chat is large, halve everything. The suggested settings table on this page has a chill, standard, and marathon column you can copy.
Yes. The timer on this page is manual, so it does not care where you stream. Kick subs, YouTube memberships, TikTok gifts: pick an increment for each, tap the button when one comes in, and the countdown works exactly the same. Only the preset labels are Twitch flavored, and you can change the amounts behind them.
Yes. The countdown is saved as an absolute end time in your browser, not as remaining seconds. Refresh the page, restart OBS, or lose power for ten minutes, and when the timer loads again it recalculates from that fixed end time, so the clock is exactly where it should be. Note that the saved state lives in whichever browser runs the timer.
Yes, completely free, with no login, no account, and no time limit. It runs entirely in your browser and nothing is uploaded. Our paid plan lives in the Twitch-connected giveaway and poll tools; this timer is not gated and stays free.
Not yet on this page. Today you tap a preset button when a sub, gift, or cheer comes in, which is how most subathons are actually run. A Twitch-connected version that adds time automatically from sub, gift, and bits events is in development, built on the same event pipeline that already powers our live giveaways and polls.
The clock stops at zero and shows that time is up. Nothing is deleted: if a late sub comes in, tap the button and the countdown revives from that moment. When you are truly done, thank chat, announce the totals, and hit reset so the timer is ready for the next one.
Last updated July 2026. The timer on this page is free and stays free.
Free giveaway wheel
Draw the finale giveaway winner live, no login needed.
Free Twitch poll tool
Let chat vote on the next subathon goal, straight from chat.
Twitch giveaway ideas
Prize ideas that fit a subathon milestone or finale.
How to do a giveaway on Twitch, step by step
The full walkthrough for the giveaway side of your subathon.
Connect your channel and run live giveaways and chat polls that ingest subs, gifts, and bits automatically. The connected subathon timer joins them next. Free to start.