Top 10 alternatives to OBS for streamers

Why people look past OBS

OBS is powerful, and also a lot of work. Three chat windows, a scene that still looks generic, and hours of setup if you want it to look like your brand. People search for alternatives because they want the show up, not a second job as an engineer.

Fair warning: this is a StreamChum blog, so our app is on the list. We'll say when we're talking about us. The other nine are real. Some are OBS with extra features built in. Some run in a browser. One of them is a full production switcher.

1. StreamChum Studio

This is ours. We built StreamChum Studio so you can go live from the same product you already use for chat and mods. Sign in with your StreamChum account. Turn on Twitch, YouTube, and Kick, hit Go live, and you're on all of them at once.

• Best for: Windows PC, already on Live Center, going live to three platforms.
• Skip if: you're on a Mac, or you only stream from a phone. Setup is in the Studio guide.

2. Streamlabs Desktop

The easier OBS. Alerts and widgets are already in the app, so you don't have to hunt for browser sources on day one. That's useful if you want a look on stream tonight and you don't want to become an overlay person first.

• Best for: you already know OBS and you want the widgets closer.
• Skip if: you need to moderate Twitch, YouTube, and Kick from one desk. Grab it from Streamlabs.

3. Meld Studio

A newer desktop that isn't based on OBS. Windows and Mac. People use it for effects, layouts, and multistream without stacking a bunch of plugins. Chat in the encoder is a combined view, which is handy while you're looking at the preview.

• Best for: replacing the encoder, and you want a combined chat view next to the preview.
• Skip if: you need actions that land on the right platform. Grab it from Meld.

4. XSplit Broadcaster

Windows, paid, and the UI is more designed than OBS. If OBS's layout wears you out and you still want a local encoder on the gaming PC, XSplit has been that option for a long time. You pay for a cleaner interface. Grab it from XSplit.

• Best for: Windows, local encode, you want the interface to feel finished.
• Skip if: you wanted a free starter pack, or chat and mods across three platforms.

5. Prism Live Studio

Free, desktop and phone. Face filters, IRL, a PC app when you need one. If you're streaming from a phone or walking around, Prism is a better fit than a PC capture setup.

• Best for: the camera is the computer. Phone, IRL, walking around.
• Skip if: you need a full PC scene with game, webcam, and overlays. Grab it from Prism.

6. StreamYard

A studio in the browser. Guests join from a link. Good for interviews and panels when you don't want guests to install anything.

• Best for: people talking, guests from a link, no install.
• Skip if: your show is a game, a webcam, and overlays at 60fps. Grab it from StreamYard.

7. Restream Studio

Same family as StreamYard, different job. One feed to a lot of destinations, plus a combined chat you can read. If you think of multistreaming as sending the same video to lots of platforms, Restream is the name people already know.

• Best for: lots of destinations, a studio in the browser, a chat view you mostly read.
• Skip if: you need timeouts that still run on the source platform. Grab it from Restream.

8. Ecamm Live

A native Mac app. Guests, layouts, a finished-looking show. If you're on Apple silicon and OBS still feels awkward, Ecamm is the one a lot of Mac streamers already use.

• Best for: Mac, talking-head, guests, a show that should look finished.
• Skip if: you needed Windows. We currently ship Studio for Windows, which is why this list has more than one row. Grab it from Ecamm.

9. Lightstream Studio

Browser plus a helper app. Aimed at people who don't want to run a full encoder on their PC. Console streamers, overlay people, anyone who'd rather not set up Windows just for a webcam and a banner. You give up some local control so someone else's computer does part of the job. Grab it from Lightstream.

• Best for: console, overlay-first, you'd rather not run a full encoder locally.
• Skip if: you want every source, bitrate, and scene sitting on your own PC.

10. vMix

This isn't a streamer starter pack. It's a production switcher that also streams. Instant replay, NDI, lots of cameras, sports, a room with an actual producer. Nobody needs vMix just to stream a game with a webcam. Grab it from vMix.

• Best for: sports, replay, NDI, more than one camera, someone producing.
• Skip if: the show is one game, one webcam, and chat.

What did not make the ten

• Twitch Studio is gone. Twitch ended support in 2024. Old installers aren't a plan. If a roundup still ranks it, it's out of date.
• TikTok LIVE Studio is the right answer when TikTok is the destination. It isn't a Twitch, YouTube, and Kick desk.
• Wirecast sits next to vMix for churches and newsrooms.
• NVIDIA Broadcast is a filter, not a go-live app.

Still in OBS and not ready to leave? Stay. The OBS plugin lets you keep your scenes and go live to the same three destinations. We'd rather you go live than argue about which app to use.

How to actually pick

Use the table at the top. If two rows both sound like you, pick the job you hate more: encoding, or chat. Encoding pain points at Streamlabs, Meld, XSplit, Ecamm, Lightstream, or vMix. Chat and mods across three platforms points at StreamChum.

StreamChum Studio is out now for Windows. Sign in, build a scene, go live to the platforms you already connected.

Grab it from Downloads. More about the app is on the Studio page. Setup steps are in the Studio guide.