If you are hunting for a Kick sub badge maker, the good news is that you do not need a special app with Kick in its name — you need a way to design small, legible square PNGs and a channel that can turn subscriptions on. Sub badges are the little icons that appear next to a subscriber's name in chat and level up the longer someone stays subscribed. This guide covers who can add them, which free tools actually make them well, where to grab free templates, and how to design a set that still reads when it shrinks to the size of a chat badge. For the underlying badge model — the slots, the rules, how it attaches to subscriptions — see our Kick emotes and badges guide; here we focus on making yours.
A Kick sub badge maker is really any tool that exports a small square transparent PNG — free editors like Canva, Photopea, GIMP and Krita all qualify — and because Kick publishes no official badge pixel size, legibility at roughly 20 pixels matters far more than any dimension (last verified August 2026).
Key takeaways
- A "sub badge maker" is really any tool that exports a small, transparent square PNG — free options like Canva, Photopea, GIMP and Krita all do the job.
- Kick publishes no official badge pixel size, so design for legibility at roughly 20 pixels, not a specific dimension (last verified August 2026).
- Badges only go live once subscriptions are enabled, which needs Kick Affiliate or Verified status — and Affiliate is widely reported as around 75 followers plus roughly 5 streamed hours (Kick has adjusted the bar over time).
- You upload one PNG per subscriber-month milestone in your dashboard under Community, and the badge shows in chat automatically.
- Canva has free badge templates; the asset hubs and streamer-art shops that give away overlays and panels sometimes bundle badge art too, but confirm a set actually includes sub badges — and simplify any template so it survives shrinking.
What is a Kick sub badge, and who can add one?
A Kick sub badge is a small icon that appears next to a subscriber's name in chat and evolves as their subscription gets older — and you can add custom ones as soon as your channel can offer subscriptions. Subscriptions unlock with Kick Affiliate or Verified status, and Affiliate is widely reported as needing around 75 followers plus roughly 5 cumulative hours streamed, though Kick has adjusted the requirements over time (last verified August 2026). Until then you can design your badge art, but there is nowhere to upload it yet.
Once subs are on, badges attach automatically: a viewer subscribes, the badge appears next to their name, and it changes at set month milestones as their subscription ages. For how subscriptions themselves work — tiers, pricing, the revenue split — see our guide to Kick subscriptions. This post is only about making the art that fills those slots.
What does a "Kick sub badge maker" actually mean?
It means any design tool that can export a small, transparent square PNG, because that is all a Kick badge file is. There is no official Kick badge maker and no verified pixel dimension, which means the 36 by 36 or 18/36/72 numbers you will see quoted are Twitch's badge spec pasted onto Kick, not anything Kick has published. What actually matters is legibility: badge art renders tiny, roughly 20 pixels wide next to a username, so a clean, high-contrast design beats a detailed, muddy one every time.
Treat "sub badge maker" as shorthand for "whatever you use to make a readable little PNG," and you will not get trapped chasing a spec Kick never published. The design constraint — readable when shrunk — is real and worth respecting; the pixel number circulating online is not.
Which free tools make Kick sub badges?
Several genuinely free tools handle badges well, and the honest split is free versus freemium versus paid. Free editors do everything a badge needs; freemium tools are fine if you avoid the premium traps; paid template shops are optional polish, not a requirement.
| Tool | Cost | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canva | Freemium | Quick badges from free icons and templates | A premium element forces a watermark |
| Photopea | Free (browser) | Editing a PSD or precise PNG work | Ad-supported unless you pay to remove ads |
| GIMP / Krita | Free (desktop) | Drawing a badge set from scratch | Steeper learning curve than Canva |
| OWN3D | Freemium | Themed template sets and AI art | Free credits run out, then a paid Stream Pass |
| Placeit | Paid | Ready-made themed badge packs | Every free export is watermarked |
| Fiverr / Etsy | Paid | A matched, commissioned set | Prices and quality vary by seller |
Two honesty notes. Placeit is often listed as free, but every free export is watermarked — it is a subscription tool, so budget for it or skip it. And many "badge maker" or "badge resizer" sites are really Twitch 18/36/72 tools; use them to shape the art if you like, but follow Kick's month-slot upload model rather than Twitch's three-size workflow. If you also want matching emotes, the same free editors do that job — our companion guide on the Kick emote maker workflow walks through it.
Where can you get free Kick sub badge templates?
Start with the free-first sources before paying for anything. Canva has free badge templates you can adapt, provided you stick to its free elements so nothing forces a watermark, and that is the most reliable free path. Beyond it, the community asset hubs and streamer-art shops that give away free overlays and panels — Kick's own community hub and makers like Nerd or Die among them — sometimes bundle badge art too, but confirm a set actually includes sub badges before you rely on it, since most of their free packs are overlays and panels rather than badges.
The catch with any template is detail: packs that look great at full size can turn to mush at chat scale, so treat a template as a base, then simplify and recolor it to your channel. Kick's community green, #53fc18, on a dark badge reads on-brand without copying anyone. To keep the whole channel cohesive rather than a pile of mismatched downloads, our guide to Kick channel branding covers matching colors and motifs across every asset you make.
How do you design a badge set that reads at chat size?
Design for the smallest size first, because that is where badges actually live. The workflow below produces a milestone set that stays legible when it shrinks to a chat badge.
How do you upload sub badges to Kick?
Upload happens entirely in your Kick dashboard — there is no API or bot that can add badges for you. Open your dashboard, go to Community, find the Sub Badges section, and place one PNG into each month slot, such as 1 month or 3 months, then save. Kick handles the display scaling and swaps a subscriber's badge automatically as they cross each milestone.
Because the flow is dashboard-only, ignore any "badge uploader" service that claims to automate it — the real process is manual and takes a couple of minutes per badge. That is also why you should keep your source files: if you want to tweak a badge later, you re-export the PNG and re-upload it to the same slot.
Should you make your own badges or commission a set?
Make your own if you enjoy design or want to iterate quickly; commission if you want a polished, matched set and your time is better spent streaming. The free do-it-yourself path — Canva, Photopea, GIMP or Krita plus a free template — costs nothing but your effort and keeps full control in your hands.
The commission path runs through marketplaces like Fiverr and Etsy, where badge work commonly costs tens of dollars per set and is frequently sold alongside a set of custom emotes as one coherent subscriber-perk bundle. Prices and quality vary widely by seller, so check a portfolio and confirm you get the source files and commercial-use rights before paying. Many streamers split the difference: they commission a strong emote-and-badge set once they have subscribers worth designing for, and handle small tweaks themselves after.
Where does growing your channel fit in?
None of this matters until you have subscribers to hand badges to, and subscribers come from an audience that keeps showing up. Growing that audience is the real work, and some streamers try to jump-start visibility with a paid push — our Kick live viewers service exists for exactly that — but we will always say the honest part out loud: buying viewers goes against Kick's Terms of Service, carries real risk, and does nothing on its own to earn a subscription. What we deliver and what we refuse to promise is spelled out in our FAQ. Badges are the reward layer; earn the subs first, and a clean, readable set makes them feel worth keeping.
The honest bottom line
A Kick sub badge maker is not a product you have to buy — it is any tool that exports a clean, legible square PNG, and the best ones are free. Design for the tiny chat size, ignore the Twitch pixel numbers Kick never published, fill your early milestone slots first, and keep the look consistent with the rest of your channel. Once subscriptions are on, a well-made badge set turns a plain sub into a small mark of belonging next to someone's name — which is exactly the point.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Kick sub badge maker and do you need one?
A Kick sub badge maker is any design tool you use to create the small icons that sit next to a subscriber's name in chat. There is no single dedicated app you must use — free editors like Canva, Photopea, GIMP and Krita all do the job, because a Kick badge is just a small square PNG. You do not strictly need a specialist tool at all; you need something that exports a clean, legible transparent PNG for each month slot.
How do you make sub badges for your Kick channel?
Pick a design tool, set up a small square canvas, and draw one simple, high-contrast motif that matches your channel look. Export it as a transparent PNG, then make a variation for each subscriber-month milestone so longer subs feel like an upgrade. Upload each PNG to its month slot in your Kick dashboard under Community, and the badge appears automatically next to subscribers' names in chat.
What pixel size should a Kick sub badge be?
Kick publishes no official badge pixel size, so any exact number you see quoted is usually Twitch's spec copied across. The honest guidance is to design a square, transparent PNG and make sure it stays readable when it shrinks to roughly 20 pixels next to a username. Keep the shapes simple and high-contrast rather than chasing a specific dimension.
Do you have to be a Kick Affiliate to add subscriber badges?
Effectively yes, because sub badges only exist once subscriptions are enabled, and subscriptions unlock with Kick Affiliate or Verified status. Kick Affiliate is widely reported to need around 75 followers and roughly 5 cumulative hours streamed, though Kick has adjusted the requirements over time. You can design your badge art before you qualify, but it will not go live until subscriptions are switched on for your channel.
Where can you find free Kick sub badge templates?
Canva is the most reliable free source — it has free badge templates you can adapt, as long as you stick to free elements so no watermark is added. The community asset hubs and streamer-art shops that give away free overlays and panels sometimes bundle badge art too, but confirm a set actually includes sub badges before relying on it. Treat any template as a starting point and simplify it so it still reads at chat size.
How many sub badge slots does a Kick channel have?
Kick keys sub badges to subscriber-month milestones rather than a fixed slot count, and it does not publish a definitive milestone ladder. Its help articles name 1 month and 3 months as examples, with longer milestones above them. Fill the early slots first, since most of your subscribers will sit at the lower tiers, and add higher milestones over time.