There's a lot of different options out there so we'll attempt to list the options here (per platform aka operating system) and their pros/cons. The recommendation below are an opinionated set of recommendations so your experience may vary and may prefer one of the other options that are available.
If you just want to get a quick layout together and start streaming as soon as possible then see the recommendation that:
If you want more control over your stream in how it's set up the see the recommendation below for your platform:
Below is a list of all known options for each platform and some feature/capabilities for each one
- OBS/OBS Studios/Open Broadcaster Software
- SLOBS/StreamLabs OBS (except Linux)
| Cost | Cross-platform | Customizable | Record Locally | Export/Save Settings | Multi-Profile Support | Plugins | External API | Themeable | Stream Key/Login | Captions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OBS | Free | All | Highly | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes via Plugin | Yes | Both | Yes via Plugin |
| TwitchStudio | Free | Windows | Somewhat | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Login | ? |
| SLOBS | Free | Windows/Mac | Somewhat | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| XSplit | Paid | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| StreamElements OBS.Live | Free | Windows | Highly | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes via Plugin | Yes | ? | ? |
| Wirecast | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Lightstream | Web | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Streamyard | Web | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
| Restream Studio | Web | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |