What is Bigo and How Can I Make Money On It?

You’ve seen TikTok, your teenage relatives are obsessed with Twitch, but what is this new app, Bigo?

Bigo is a Singapore-based streaming entertaining app, where users stream for hours a day from their smartphones. They can stream any talent they wish to showcase — comedy, singing, DJing, or even just talking. Viewers can pay their favorite streamers in the form of gifts which are then converted to in-app currency.

The currency system of Bigo is purposefully nebulous — users spend their real dollars, or other local currency, to buy diamonds, which are then used to buy gifts. Fans can give hosts gifts in chat, which then are awarded to the hosts as beans, which can then be converted to money.

To summarize:
real currency from fans->diamonds->gifts->beans-> real currency to hosts

Is it purposefully confusing? Open the app, and you’ll find bells and whistles similar to a Las Vegas slots floor. The app purposefully tempts you to “gifting” hosts you’re watching, so it’s possible to spend real currency with a simple misclick.

There are reasons to buy diamonds besides tipping hosts. Buying diamonds, or “recharging” can help hosts level up, which helps them gain visibility, and therefore can help them get more viewers and more tips.

Hope this has been a good intro to Bigo, happy streaming!