Top 10 alternatives to Restream

Why people look past Restream

Restream is the name people already know for sending one feed to a lot of platforms. That still works. People search for alternatives because the bill tracks how many channels you light up, 1080p in their Studio sits on Professional, or they are actually trying to moderate Twitch, YouTube, and Kick during a game and a combined chat pane is not enough.

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 other cloud relays. Some are local encoders that go live without a middle hop. A couple are browser studios for talking-head shows.

1. StreamChum Studio

This is ours. We built StreamChum Studio so you can go live from the same product you already use for chat, mods, overlays, and Play. Sign in with your StreamChum account. Turn on Twitch, YouTube, and Kick, hit Go live, and you're on all three at once. One encode. Paid plans include those three platforms. We do not charge extra to light up Kick.

• Best for: Windows PC, already on Live Center, going live to three platforms, Play if chat should join.
• Skip if: you needed 12 destinations, Restream's chat relay that copies a Twitch line onto YouTube, or you're on a Mac. Setup is in the Studio guide.

What else is on the desk

The encoder is one slice. Restream's job is distribution. The rest of StreamChum is why people stay after Go live.

• Play: host on Windows, share a link, seat P1 through P4. Viewers play in the browser with a virtual pad. No client install, no desktop access.
• Community memory: profiles that build from ordinary chat, plus viewer briefs on whoever is typing.
• Automod, timers, chat commands, counters, and raid tools on the same desk as the feed.
• Actions and a Stream Deck plugin with a scoped token: chat, overlay, scene, and delay as one recipe.
• Analytics: peaks, platform mix, VODs, and chat replay after the stream.
• Discord go-live posts and shout-outs (outbound only), plus Ko-fi donation events.
• Xbox or PlayStation Broadcast: run Live Center on a phone while the console encodes. Xbox / PlayStation.
• Scene Builder and Studio AI: describe a layout, it places sources. Element studio and free packs for the look.

StreamChum: 14-day full desk, no card. Then Plus or Pro. USD list is $9.99/month or $99/year for Plus, $16.99/month or $169/year for Pro. Both include the desk, go-live, and all three platforms. They differ by creative AI credits, seats, retention, and live caption hours. Restream, from their pricing page: free is 2 channels with their branding. Standard is $19/month for 3 channels. Professional is $49/month for 5 channels and 1080p in their Studio. Buy the job you will click, not the cheaper logo.

2. Streamlabs Ultra

If Restream was the hop after Streamlabs Desktop, Ultra is the swap that stays in that app. Their cloud takes one encode (or two with Dual Output) and fans it out. Free Dual Output is one horizontal plus one vertical. Three platforms, or two of the same orientation, is Ultra. The longer split is StreamChum vs Streamlabs.

• Best for: you already live in Streamlabs Desktop, and multistream was the missing Ultra checkbox.
• Skip if: you need to timeout Twitch, YouTube, and Kick from one desk. Grab it from Streamlabs Multistream.

3. Meld Studio

A newer desktop that isn't based on OBS. Windows and Mac. People use it to leave both OBS and the Restream hop: destinations live in the encoder. Chat next to the preview is a combined view. Handy while you look at the scene. It is not a timeout. The longer split is StreamChum vs Meld Studio.

• 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. OBS, without the extra hop

A lot of Restream setups are OBS pointing at Restream's ingest. You can keep OBS and drop that hop. Extra RTMP outputs, or our OBS plugin so Go live hits Twitch, YouTube, and Kick from the same login as Live Center. Chat and mods stay in the browser. If you want the click in the same product as the desk, that is Studio. Grab OBS from OBS.

• Best for: your scenes already live in OBS, and Restream was only the fan-out.
• Skip if: you wanted to leave OBS this week. The plugin is the compatibility path, not the product default.

5. 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. Restream Studio is in that family too. StreamYard is the one people pick when the show is faces, not a game capture.

• 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.

6. Lightstream

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.

7. Castr

A cloud relay that also hosts video. Send one feed from OBS or another encoder, and Castr fans it out. They also do an embed player, VOD, 24/7 playout, paywall, that kind of stack. Restream's job was "show up on more socials." Castr's job is closer to "we run video as a product." Grab it from Castr.

• Best for: you needed a player on your own site, recordings, and a bunch of destinations from one ingest.
• Skip if: the missing piece was a mod desk for a ranked night.

8. OneStream Live

Cloud studio, RTMP in, and a lot of social destinations. The thing they lean on is pre-recorded as live: schedule a file, run it 24/7, keep YouTube "live" when you are asleep. Restream can upload and stream too. OneStream is the one people pick when the calendar is the product. Grab it from OneStream Live.

• Best for: scheduled files, 24/7 social, a lot of destinations that are not a game capture.
• Skip if: you are live in the game and chat is typing right now.

9. 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. It can go to more than one place without Restream in the middle.

• 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.

10. 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, without paying Restream for the second and third destination, 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.

What did not make the ten

• Stay on Restream if 8 or 30 destinations is the actual job, or you wanted their chat relay. That is a real product. We do three platforms, on purpose.
• TikTok LIVE Studio is the right answer when TikTok is the destination. It isn't a Twitch, YouTube, and Kick desk.
• Switchboard Live is unlimited destinations for agencies, government, and media ops. Not a Friday ranked night.
• vMix is a production switcher. Instant replay and four cameras. Nobody needs it just to stop using Restream.
• Nightbot, Fossabot, and Moobot are commands. They do not send the picture anywhere.

How to actually pick

• Windows, three platforms, chat you can timeout: StreamChum Studio.
• Viewers in the game from a browser, virtual pads, a waiting room: StreamChum Play.
• Already in Streamlabs Desktop: Ultra. A newer desktop that isn't OBS: Meld.
• Scenes already in OBS, Restream was only the hop: keep OBS, add the StreamChum plugin, run Live Center.
• Talking-head guests from a link: StreamYard. Mac talking-head: Ecamm. Console overlay-first: Lightstream.
• Player on your own site, VOD, 24/7: Castr. Scheduled files while you sleep: OneStream.
• You still need a dozen socials: Restream can stay. Live Center can still run the three chats that type during the game.

StreamChum Studio is out now for Windows. Sign in, build a scene, go live to the platforms you already connected. The 14-day desk trial includes the desk. Creative AI credits for describing a new widget start at 0 until Plus or Pro.

Grab it from Downloads. More about the app is on the Studio page. Play is on the Play page. The other encoder roundup is alternatives to OBS. Setup steps are in the Studio guide.