Live streaming as a content format has seen a steep rise in demand over the past few years, with internet users demanding more engaging ways to connect with their favorite creators. As a part of this shift, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok have become home to a variety of creators hosting their own live content. This includes everything from live-recorded podcasts to commentary shows, coaching sessions, Q&A’s, and more.
For creators looking to get started livestreaming and are researching software options, one tool tends to pop up most frequently due to its open-source nature and popularity with Twitch streamers: OBS.
In this guide, we will review OBS, explain which types of streamers it’s good for, and share the top 10 free OBS alternatives for creators, whether you are using Macbook, PC or Chromebook, and whether you use it for live streaming or video recording.
OBS, which stands for Open Broadcast Software, is a free and open source livestreaming studio launched in 2012. Thanks to its over 10 years on the market, the software benefits from a large support community and volunteer Github contributors that have amassed overtime. And its familiar “layers-style” interface, similar to Photoshop, makes it the first option for many creators in niches like gaming and tech. Furthermore, as a not-for-profit organization, OBS benefits from the support of a number of sponsors including YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and Nvidia.
Despite its massive open-source support and reliable basic features, OBS often falls short for creators used to the expansive features on TikTok, YouTube Creator Studio, and other modern streaming platforms. Read on to learn more about where OBS succeeds, where it is lacking, and which OBS alternatives free in 2023 are being adopted by creators.
While many describe OBS as difficult to learn and lacking in more innovative features, it does come equipped with certain core functionality that makes it better than streaming natively through certain social apps. These strengths include:
For anyone tech-savvy who has used creative tools like Adobe Photoshop, the OBS Sources interface will come naturally. With OBS, you can insert different elements including new video or audio sources, images from your computer’s filesystem, text layers, and screenshare windows. These appear in the Sources panel, and like Photoshop, appear from front to back on your livestream preview depending on their top-to-bottom ordering in the panel.
Want to record a game clip while streaming, or capture your reaction to something mid-stream? OBS gives users the ability to start and stop recording, similar to video conferencing tools like Zoom.
You can use OBS for more than just generating a livestream output. With OBS’ virtual camera feature, you can turn the output of your stream preview into a video source, to use in other applications like Zoom and Google Meet just as you would a webcam. This is a feature you won’t find in most free OBS alternatives.
Are you someone flexible who likes to go back and forth between operating systems? OBS has support on Mac, Windows, and Linux, so if you ever switch from PC to Mac (or vice versa), you can still use OBS.
Unfortunately, OBS’ old age combined with its non-commercial business model comes at a price. Here are some of the ways in which the software is lacking compared to more modern OBS alternatives free to use in 2023:
If you are serious about live streaming and want to grow your viewership, one of your top priorities should be focusing on audience engagement. Nowadays, viewers expect an engaging experience complete with polls, onscreen elements like memes, and dynamic stream overlays. OBS offers none of these without the help of costly plugins and external software. For this reason, many creators are turning to AI-assisted livestream studios like Opus, which has easy-to-use features like polls, emoji rain, and magic memes.
Right out of the box, OBS is just fine for solo streamers. But if you want to invite guests or co-hosts to your livestream, you are out of luck. Bringing a guest onto your stream requires extra software like OBS Ninja, as well as painful configuration and troubleshooting.
Start running your very first livestream with OBS and you will quickly realize: with OBS, it’s hard to make changes on the fly and host a dynamic stream. Necessary functions like adding and removing sources, rearranging elements, adding text, and more are all tedious and error-prone given OBS’ interface. Software like Opus, that has automatic presets, templates, and AI-assistance, is designed for streamers who want to host a dynamic show without getting flustered.
At Opus, we are in beta with a new, browser-based livestream studio that is pioneering a new way to create live streams. A magical way.
Our studio comes complete with AI-assisted production features, audience engagement features like polls and magic memes, and the ability to simulcast (multistream) to platforms like YouTube, Facebook and TikTok. It’s both easy to use and powerful, plus radically creative, making it the best option for new livestream hosts in 2023.
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Restream, founded in 2015, is most widely known in the market for its multistreaming capabilities. Through Restream, users have over 30 different multistream destinations to choose from. Aside from their multistreaming features, Restream also has a studio product and an “Upload and Stream” feature for livestream-releasing pre-recorded video.
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Riverside was launched in 2020 to make it easier to record podcasts and video hosts. While the product still focuses primarily on podcasters, some creators who host live interview shows find that it is the right tool for them.
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OneStream, a Finnish company, is fourth on our list. Similar to Restream, Onestream touts itself as one of the best tools for multistreaming specifically, with over 40 multistream destinations available to choose from. And similar to Restream, OneStream also offers additional products including a broswer-based studio and “Live Spaces” for hosting streams on a dedicated webpage.
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For those who want a lightweight streaming studio made for simply broadcasting, XSplit is worth a look. The company, founded in 2009, has two main products: Xsplit Broadcaster and XSplit VCam, each of which have a free tier and a couple of different paid plans. With a minimalist approach focused on the basics, XSplit Broadcaster allows for simple livestreaming and multistreaming.
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Melon, a favorite amongst online event professionals and webinar hosts, is a potential solution for creators who want customization and don’t mind a stripped-down free tier. Melon, like Riverside, was founded in 2020 after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had begun. While feature availability varies depending on the pricing plan Melon offers multistreaming, multiple guests, screen share, and overlay customization.
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Owned by online event SaaS (and startup unicorn) Hopin, Streamyard is a livestreaming tool made primarily for the professional crowd. While their Free plan is limited, it still allows for hosts to run a simple and reliable livestream, with the option to unlock more advanced features through Streamyard’s “Basic” or “Professional”
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Streamlabs, the parent company behind Melon, maintains a suite of products including their own livestream studio called Streamlabs Desktop. As expected, Streamlabs offers both a free plan as well as a paid plan named “Streamlabs Ultra”.
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Another desktop-only streaming studio, PRISM Live Studio equips users with a number of key livestreaming features for free, like multistreaming, chat management, guest invitations, and stream overlays.
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Wave.video provides a full suite of video-related creative tools, similar to a platform like Veed or Canva. While the majority of their users are drawn to Wave’s non-live features like their video editor and design tools, Wave has recently launched a livestreaming product with a reasonable feature set, including managed chat, co-streaming, and basic multistreaming.
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Thankfully, as a content creator, you have plenty of OBS alternatives free at your fingertips. Some however, are better than others depending on your niche. Here are our final recommendations for which livestream platform to choose, based on your niche and the type of live stream you are looking to start hosting.
Have you decided on the right live stream software, but don’t know where to go next to start streaming? Check out our ultimate guide on how to start livestreaming in 2023.