byDylan Horetski
Published: Sep 01, 2026, 19:20
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Twitch is giving some of its higher-paying subscribers a new chat perk, allowing Tier 2 and Tier 3 subs to send GIFs directly alongside regular messages.
The Amazon-owned platform announced the feature on September 1, confirming that eligible subscribers can search for and post GIFs using a new GIF Keyboard powered by GIPHY.
GIFs in chat is a feature that’s been in testing, but now, the feature is available for all monetized streamers on the platform.
How Twitch’s new GIF chat feature works
In channels with the feature available, streamers have the GIF Keyboard enabled by default. Tier 2 and Tier 3 paid subscribers can then access it by selecting the Emote icon in chat and switching over to the GIFs tab.
From there, viewers can search or browse GIPHY and select a GIF to send as a single chat message. Twitch has placed a 30-second cooldown between GIF messages for each user.
Streamers who do not want GIFs appearing in their chat can disable the feature. Twitch says this can be done through subscription settings, and all Tier 2 and Tier 3 subscribers will receive a notification if the perk is disabled.
Major upgrade – your T2+ subs can now send GIFs in Chat! Get psyched and let your community know they’ve got a whole new way to blow up Chat.
You can turn off the feature any time you like in your subscription settings. Just note that once it’s disabled, all T2+ subscribers will… pic.twitter.com/NOUhS13pbf
— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) September 1, 2026
The company is also applying its existing moderation systems to GIFs. Streamers and moderators can delete individual GIF messages, while GIF searches respect AutoMod settings so terms matching banned words or phrases will not return results.
Chat restrictions such as Emote-Only Mode and Shield Mode can also prevent GIFs from being sent. Users who are timed out, banned or otherwise restricted from chatting will similarly be unable to use the feature.
Twitch says GIF messages are subject to its Community Guidelines like any other chat message. Users are responsible for the GIFs they send, and related stream content could be removed if a GIF violating Twitch’s policies appears on screen.
