This work deals with the in‐depth investigation of thiol‐yne based network formation and its effect on thermomechanical properties and impact strength. The results show that the bifunctional alkyne monomer di(but‐1‐yne‐4‐yl)carbonate ( DBC ) provides significantly lower cytotoxicity than the comparable acrylate, 1,4‐butanediol diacrylate ( BDA ). Real‐time near infrared photorheology measurements reveal that gel formation is shifted to higher conversions for DBC /thiol resins leading to lower shrinkage stress and higher overall monomer conversion than BDA . Glass transition temperature (Tg), shrinkage stress, as well as network density determined by double quantum solid state NMR, increase proportionally with the thiol functionality. Most importantly, highly cross‐linked DBC /dipentaerythritol hexa(3‐mercaptopropionate) networks (Tg ≈ 61 °C) provide a 5.3 times higher impact strength than BDA , which is explained by the unique network homogeneity of thiol‐yne photopolymers.