7TV vs BTTV vs FFZ: Which Custom Emote Platform to Use

All three work the same basic way: you install a browser extension, and suddenly you can see and use thousands of custom emotes that aren't part of Twitch's official system. Some are global (anyone with the extension can use them anywhere), some are channel-specific (uploaded by individual streamers). You type the emote name in chat like KEKW or Pog, and if you have the extension, you see the emote. If you don't have the extension, you just see the text.

The critical thing to understand: these are viewer-side extensions. You're not changing Twitch itself, you're changing how your browser displays Twitch. This means not everyone in your channel sees these emotes—only viewers who installed the same extension. That's why adoption rate matters. The most popular platform means more viewers see your emotes.

7TV launched in 2021 and immediately disrupted the space by offering 200-600 free channel emote slots (the exact number varies based on when you signed up). For context, that's 10-40x more than competitors. With the paid 7TV Max subscription (€3.99/month), you can push that to 1,000+ slots. This is absurd overkill for most channels, but if you're building a massive emote library, it's there.

The emote quality is noticeably better. 7TV supports high-resolution emotes up to 112×112 pixels and handles APNG and WebP formats for smoother animations. BTTV and FFZ are stuck with standard GIF quality. If you care about your emotes looking crisp, 7TV wins on technical specs.

Zero-width emotes are 7TV's unique feature—emotes that don't take up space, so you can stack multiple emotes on top of each other for combos. Chat can layer emotes to create complex images or memes. This creates a different culture around emote usage compared to the other platforms where one emote = one slot in chat.

The downside: it's the newest platform, so adoption is lower. Many viewers still don't have 7TV installed, meaning your elaborate emote collection might be invisible to a chunk of your audience. You're betting on 7TV growing to match BTTV's ubiquity, which hasn't happened yet.

BTTV has been around since 2014 and is installed by millions of Twitch users. This is its killer advantage—if you upload an emote to BTTV, the highest percentage of your viewers will actually see it. Network effects matter. It doesn't matter how good your emote is if nobody has the extension to view it.

The emote limits are restrictive. Free accounts get 15 channel emote slots plus 15 shared emotes. BTTV Pro ($4.99/month) bumps you to 50 channel emotes and 50 shared. That's still tiny compared to 7TV's hundreds, but for most channels, 50 emotes is actually plenty. You're not running out of slots unless you're going crazy with variations.

BTTV's global emote library is legendary. Emotes like KEKW, Pog, and monkaS live here and are recognized across the entire platform. When you use a BTTV global emote, everyone knows what it means. There's shared cultural context that newer platforms haven't built yet.

Chat enhancements beyond emotes are solid—dark mode, anonymous chat, message filtering, auto-claiming channel points. It's a mature product with years of polish. The interface isn't flashy, but everything works reliably. If you just want emotes without learning a new system, BTTV is the safe choice.

FFZ predates even BTTV—it's the original third-party Twitch emote platform. Free accounts get 25 emote slots, and a one-time donation of $5 increases that to 50. Compared to BTTV's subscription model, this is actually a better deal if you just want the slots and don't need ongoing updates.

The main draw of FFZ isn't emotes—it's chat customization. You can modify nearly everything about how Twitch chat looks and behaves. Custom badges for mods, chat font changes, appearance tweaks, message filtering, highlight specific users, hide specific elements. If you want granular control over your chat experience, FFZ offers it.

FFZ's add-on system lets community developers extend functionality even further. There's an ecosystem of FFZ add-ons that add features BTTV and 7TV don't have. This technical flexibility appeals to power users who want to deeply customize their Twitch experience, but it's overkill if you just want to upload some emotes.

The interface feels dated compared to 7TV's modern design. It works fine, but it looks and feels like software from 2015—which it basically is. For some users, that's a non-issue. For others used to modern web design, it's a turn-off.

Emote slots: 7TV wins massively (200-600 free, 1000+ paid). FFZ offers 25 free, 50 paid. BTTV offers 15 free, 50 paid. Unless you're building an enormous emote library, even BTTV's limits are sufficient for most channels.

Emote quality: 7TV supports higher resolution and better animation formats. BTTV and FFZ use standard GIFs. The difference is noticeable if you're looking for it, but not game-changing for most use cases.

Viewer adoption: BTTV has the largest install base, meaning the most viewers see your emotes. 7TV is growing fast but hasn't caught up. FFZ has solid adoption but lags behind BTTV. If you care about maximum visibility, BTTV wins.

Cost: FFZ is cheapest ($5 one-time for 50 slots). 7TV is €3.99/month for Max. BTTV Pro is $4.99/month. If you're on a budget and just need more slots, FFZ's one-time payment is the best deal.

Platform support: 7TV works on Twitch, Discord, YouTube, and other platforms. BTTV and FFZ are primarily Twitch-only. If you stream or moderate on multiple platforms and want consistent emotes, 7TV's cross-platform support is valuable.

Here's what most people actually do: install all three. They're designed to work together, and having all three installed means you see emotes from all three platforms. As a viewer, there's no downside to having multiple extensions. As a streamer, you can upload emotes to multiple platforms to maximize visibility.

Upload your core emote set to BTTV because that's where the most viewers will see them. Use 7TV for anything that benefits from higher quality or if you need way more slots. Use FFZ if you want the chat customization features or prefer their one-time payment model. You're not locked into one choice.

The only real cost is time managing emotes across three platforms. You'll need to upload the same emote to each platform separately and manage three different dashboards. For small channels, that's fine. For large channels with hundreds of emotes, it becomes tedious. Pick your primary platform and only use the others if you have specific needs they fill.

You're a new streamer just starting: Use BTTV. It has the widest adoption, 15 free slots is enough to start, and you'll learn the most common emote culture that exists on the platform.

You have 50+ emotes and need more space: Switch to 7TV or pay for BTTV Pro. 7TV's free tier gives you way more space, so that's the logical choice unless you really want your emotes on the most-installed platform.

You care about emote quality and animations: 7TV's superior format support makes a noticeable difference. If your brand is high-quality, polished emotes, the technical advantages matter.

You want deep chat customization: FFZ gives you way more control over chat appearance and behavior. If emotes are secondary to customization, FFZ is your platform.

You stream on multiple platforms: 7TV's cross-platform support means your emotes work on Twitch, YouTube, and Discord. If you're building a multi-platform brand, this unified experience is valuable.

You're on a budget: FFZ's $5 one-time payment for 50 slots beats both competitors' subscription models if you just need the emote slots and nothing else.