Subathons are overwhelming — this isn't. Plan your event step by step: goals, incentives, timer rules, a day-by-day schedule, and a live countdown widget you can drop straight into OBS.
🥚 Subathons, explained like you're new (because everyone is once)
A subathon is a stream where viewers add time to a countdown clock — every sub, donation, or cheer extends the stream. When the timer hits zero, the stream ends. A donothon is the same thing driven by donations, and a marathon is a long multi-day stream with a fixed schedule and no timer. This page handles all three.
Why do one? Subathons compress weeks of community energy into one event — they're hype, they fund big goals, and they're a milestone your community builds with you. The flow is simple:
Set your rules — how much time each sub/dono adds, and (please) a hard cap.
Set goals + incentives — what milestones unlock ("at 50 subs I do karaoke").
Plan the schedule — blocks of games, chatting, art, collabs, breaks.
Prep your body and your tech — food, sleep plan, mods, backups.
Go live — add the timer widget to OBS and let chat take the wheel.
Work through the steps below in order. Everything saves as you go.
1 · The basics
💡 First subathon? Start the clock at 4–6 hours and cap the whole event at one weekend. A great first subathon is one you finish feeling proud, not destroyed — you can always go bigger next time.
2 · Timer rules
How much time does each event add? These power the quick-add buttons on the Go Live control panel. Typical starting points are pre-filled — tune them to your community's size.
🛟 The cap is not optional (okay, technically it is — but don't). Endless subathons sound fun until you're 30 hours in with chat still adding time. A cap protects your health AND gives the event a finale moment people show up for. Announce it up front: "the clock can never exceed 48 hours."
3 · Goals & incentives
🏆 Goal ladder
Milestones for the event total (subs, dollars — your call). Check them off live as they're hit. Keep early goals easy so momentum starts fast: a goal hit in the first hour is worth three hit on day two.
🎁 Incentives
What unlocks at each milestone — the reason people push the number. Mix free hype ("karaoke hour") with meaningful ones ("name on my model"). Only promise what you can actually deliver after the event.
4 · Day-by-day schedule
Block out each day in chunks: what you're doing, whether it's a collab, and whether it needs tech setup. You won't follow it perfectly — that's fine. The schedule exists so you never sit there at hour 9 wondering what to do next, and so collab partners know when to show up.
🧩 Block pattern that works: alternate high-energy (games, collabs) with low-energy (chatting, food breaks, "yap breaks"). Schedule real meal breaks ON the schedule — "dinner with chat" counts as content. End each day with something calm.
5 · Prep & safety
The unglamorous part that makes or breaks the event. Work through this in the week before.
❤️ Non-negotiable: if your event runs past ~16 hours, plan sleep. Sleeping on stream (timer paused or "sleep cam") is a beloved subathon tradition — your community will protect your rest. Pushing through multiple days without sleep isn't dedication, it's a health risk, and your viewers don't want it either.
6 · 🔴 Go live — timer + control panel
🔐 The live timer widget needs you signed in (top right) — that's what lets the widget read your timer from anywhere. Your plan above still saves locally either way.
🖥️ Your OBS timer widget
Add this URL to OBS as a Browser Source (suggested size 800×220, transparent background built in). It updates within seconds when you add time below — from any device, even your phone.
Sign in + generate to get your widget link…
The link contains a private random token — anyone with it can see the timer (that's the point, it's your stream), but only you can control it. Regenerate any time to revoke the old link.
⏱️ Timer controls
SUBATHON TIMER
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not started
➕ Add time (uses your Step 2 rules)
🎨 Widget display
7 · 📋 Your event plan, at a glance
Everything from the previous steps in one place — so you can sanity-check the whole event, and share it with your mods and collab partners. 📋 Copy plan as text gives you a paste-ready version for Discord.
📬 Sign in to sync
Magic link, no password. Signing in saves your plan across devices and powers the live OBS timer widget.