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Free, plain-English guides on models, gear, platforms, and finding an audience. Written by people who do this for a living. No paid course at the end.
Start with the basics
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Guides
What a VTuber actually is, what you need before your first stream, and what you can safely ignore for now.
Rigging, face tracking, scene setup, and getting your first stream out the door without a studio.
Where English-speaking viewers actually find new VTubers, and what makes them come back.
Read the beginner guide
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Real numbers
$650–1,600
The big one, and the easiest to put off. Illustration and rigging are separate jobs, roughly $350–1,000 each, or less bought together from one person.
$20–200
Sold finished on nizima and BOOTH. Plenty of people debut on one and commission something of their own a year later, once they know they'll keep going.
$35–100
The one piece of gear worth spending on early. Viewers will forgive a cheap model. They leave over bad audio and don't come back.
Free
VTube Studio and nizima LIVE both have free tiers, and OBS, which is what most people stream with, costs nothing at all. An iPhone doubles as a face tracker.
$20–50
Only needed for PC-based tracking. Skip it if you have a phone you can prop up beside the screen.
$650–1,300
Only a cost if the one you own can't cope. Try streaming on it first. Most people find out it can.
Cheapest honest start, if you already own a computer: about $70. What most people have spent by the end of year one: $1,000–1,600. Japanese artists quote in yen, so the dollar figure moves with the exchange rate.
Week by week
Week one
A name, a look, and one line on why anyone should watch. All of it can change later. None of it can stay blank.
Week two
Model, tracking, OBS, a scene that isn't ugly, and a test recording you actually watch back. Nobody enjoys this week. It ends.
Your first stream
Two viewers is normal, and one of them is a bot. This is not a verdict on you. Every channel you admire started in exactly this room.
Stream four
The novelty has worn off and the numbers haven't moved. Everyone still streaming today came through this exact week. It is the whole test.
Month two
Whatever you planned, the thing people come back for is usually something you didn't put on the list. Notice it, then lean on it.
This isn't a schedule you have to keep to. It's the shape the first month takes for most people, so that when week four feels like failure, you know what it actually is.
FAQ
Less than most people expect. A ready made model can be under a hundred dollars, and the tracking and streaming software you need are free. A commissioned model costs considerably more, but nothing stops you streaming before you buy one. The single piece of gear worth money early is a microphone.
No. Most VTubers commission their character from an artist. Knowing what to ask for, and what it should cost, matters far more than being able to draw it yourself.
Twitch is built for live and has the easiest chat culture to learn in. YouTube suits streams that will mostly be watched afterwards. Pick one, stay with it for a month, then judge.
No. Plenty of VTubers show their face elsewhere, and some use a model simply because they prefer how it looks on stream. Privacy is one reason people do this, not the reason.
The promises
There isn't one, and there won't be one later. Everything I know how to explain is written on this site for free.
I don't sell my time. A conversation about your plan is free, and it stays free however long it runs.
Every guide is readable without handing over your address. There's no list to join and no download gate.
No affiliate links and no sponsored picks. If that ever changes, it will be written here before it shows up anywhere else.
Free, and nothing to buy
Most of what people regret gets decided in the first fortnight. A model priced by someone who saw you coming. A rigging quote with the wrong things on it. Gear bought for a problem you don't have. Send me the quote before you accept it.
Writing stops at the general case. Whether your plan makes sense for your Japanese, your schedule and what you actually want out of this is a different conversation.
If you get as far as considering an agency or a management team, I know people on the Japanese side and can introduce you. Only if you ask, and it isn't what the conversation is for.
Next step
Start with the guides, or send me the thing you're stuck on.
Start at the beginning and work forward at your own pace
One useful thing a week, and nothing else
Ask a question, or get your setup looked over