Marathon-Timer Marathon-Timer
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⚖️ Comparison

The best subathon timer in 2026

Most comparisons of subathon timers are written by the tools themselves, and unsurprisingly they all come first. This one is written by the people behind Marathon-Timer, so read it with that in mind — which is exactly why it also says where Marathon-Timer is the wrong choice.

ℹ️ Figures for the other tools come from their own public documentation and from the comparison Blerp published in July 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and it gets corrected.

Side by side

Marathon-TimerStreamElementsStreamlabsBlerpMix It UpNightbotStreamer.bot
Multi-platform
Twitch ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
YouTube ✔ ✕ ✔ ✔ ~ ~ ✔
Kick ✔ ✕ ✕ ✔ ~ ✕ ~
Donations from external services
Streamlabs ✔ ? ✔ ? ? ? ?
TipeeeStream ✔ ? ? ? ? ? ?
StreamElements ✔ ✔ ? ? ? ? ?
Ko-fi ✔ ? ? ? ? ? ?
NineStore ✔ ? ? ? ? ? ?
PayPal ~ ? ? ✔ ? ? ?
What actually matters
Pause and resume ✔ ~ ~ ✔ ~ ✕ ~
Goals with a progress bar ✔ ? ? ✔ ? ✕ ?
OBS browser source ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✕ ~
Interface languages 14 ? ? ? ? ? ?
Price Free Free $19/mo ? Free Free Free

✔ Yes · ~ Partial · ✕ No · ? Not stated on their public pages

What actually matters

A subathon timer has one job: keep the countdown honest while you stream. Everything else follows from that. Does it read the platforms you stream on? Does it pick up donations from the services your community already uses? Can you pause it for a break without losing the clock? And does it survive a browser crash mid-run?

Which one to pick

⏱️

Marathon-Timer

Free with no paid tier and no commission. Reads Twitch, YouTube and Kick, and pulls donations from Streamlabs, TipeeeStream, StreamElements, NineStore and Ko-fi onto the same clock. Goals with their own overlay and a public page you can paste in chat. Interface in 14 languages, and you can hand the controls to anyone you choose without sharing your account.

🔊

Blerp

The widest platform list, TikTok and Rumble included. Appearance is limited to a text colour and a background colour. Their own comparison says some features require a subscription without saying which, and their subscription page covers soundboards, TTS and alerts without mentioning the timer or the goals.

🧩

StreamElements

Bundles overlays, alerts and a chatbot, with a timer among them. Subs are read from Twitch only, and pausing for a break is handled by hand.

💧

Streamlabs

Comes with Streamlabs Desktop rather than the other way round. Twitch and YouTube, no Kick, and the premium features sit behind the Ultra plan at $19 a month.

⚙️

Mix It Up

An automation tool that can also drive a timer. Expect to build the workflow yourself; there is no ready-made subathon setup.

🤖

Streamer.bot

Free and open source. Everything is yours to wire, the timer included — there is no subathon feature out of the box.

🌙

Nightbot

A chat bot, not a timer. You can fake a countdown with custom commands, but there is no visual clock for your overlay.

What Marathon-Timer does, in detail

None of this is a claim about the other tools — it is simply what is in the product today, so you can check it against whatever you are using.

  • Donations from Streamlabs, TipeeeStream, StreamElements, NineStore and Ko-fi all land on the same countdown, with duplicate protection so one donation relayed by two services is not counted twice.
  • Every goal board gets its own OBS overlay and a public page you can paste in chat, so viewers follow the progress bar without asking you where you are.
  • Hand the controls to whoever you want — a moderator, a co-host, a friend — with separate rights for adding time, starting and pausing, and appearance. They sign in with their own Twitch account and never touch yours.
  • Fifteen themes, your own font uploaded from your machine, your colours and spacing, and your own CSS if you want to go further.
  • Several timers on one account, each with its own link, style and settings — useful when you run more than one event or share a channel.
  • Interface in 14 languages, including the overlay and the public pages your viewers see.
  • A Stream Boss on its own overlay: a boss your community takes down with subs, bits and donations, whoever lands the final blow taking its place. Several bosses at once, each with its own sources, multipliers and lifetime — permanent, per subathon, daily, weekly or monthly.
  • A happy hour that multiplies the time earned for a set while, launched straight away or scheduled ahead, with a minimum per event and a countdown badge on the overlay.

When Marathon-Timer is not the right answer

If you stream on TikTok or Rumble, it will not read your events yet — TikTok is on hold while we apply to their partner programme, and Rumble is on the list but not connected. If you want alerts, a chatbot and overlays in one place, StreamElements does far more than a timer. And if you build elaborate automations, Mix It Up and Streamer.bot go where we do not. Marathon-Timer does one thing, for free, in your language.

Frequently asked questions

Is a free subathon timer good enough for a real subathon?

Yes. The paid tiers in this field usually cover branding, extra widgets or platform breadth, not the reliability of the countdown itself. What matters is that the timer reads your events and survives a crash, and that does not have to cost anything.

What happens if OBS or my browser crashes mid-subathon?

With Marathon-Timer the remaining time is computed on the server, not counted down in your browser, so there is nothing to lose and nothing to restore. Reload the overlay and it picks up exactly where it should be. Tools that count locally are the ones that need a recovery feature.

Can I run one subathon across Twitch and YouTube at the same time?

Yes. Subs, bits and memberships from Twitch, YouTube and Kick land on the same countdown, alongside donations from the services you connect. You do not need one timer per platform.

Subathon timer, platform by platform

⏱️

Subathon Timer

Everything the timer does, and which platforms it plugs into.
📘

What is a subathon?

Definition, rate card, rules and how to run your first subathon.
💜

Twitch subathon timer

Set up your countdown on Twitch: connection, events counted and OBS overlay.
▶️

YouTube subathon timer

Set up your countdown on YouTube: connection, events counted and OBS overlay.
🟩

Kick subathon timer

Set up your countdown on Kick: connection, events counted and OBS overlay.
💧

Streamlabs subathon timer

Set up your countdown on Streamlabs: connection, events counted and OBS overlay.
🧩

StreamElements subathon timer

Set up your countdown on StreamElements: connection, events counted and OBS overlay.

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