Best for
Best for creators streaming to a live audience who want alerts, overlays and viewer interaction ready to use.
Live Streaming Comparison
Streamlabs vs. StreamYard
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for hosts running interviews, shows and webinars with remote guests straight from the browser.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Streamlabs | StreamYard |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; Ultra from $15.75 / month Ultra is $189 billed annually, or $27 billed monthly. Streamlabs Desktop itself is free. | lower value Free; Essential from $14.99 / month Essential is $14.99 per month billed yearly, or $18.99 billed monthly. Essential, Core and Advanced are for individual use only; StreamYard Business, for organizations and larger teams, is priced through sales. |
| Free trial | Free plan; a free trial of Ultra is offered | Free plan; 7-day free trial on Core and Advanced |
| Output | Live streams and local recordings | Live streams and recordings up to 4K on Advanced |
| API | Yes, a Web API with OAuth 2 and a Socket API, plus a separate API for controlling Streamlabs Desktop | No public API to automate studio creation; individual On-Air webinars can be embedded with per-event codes |
| Hosting | Installed locally on Windows 10 or newer and macOS 12 or newer | Runs in the browser, no download |
| Scenes and sources | Custom scenes built from webcams, game capture, desktop capture, music and microphone input in one application, on the core OBS engine | Multiple layouts and scenes in the browser studio, with screen sharing and viewer comments shown on screen |
| Multistreaming to several platforms | Yes, to multiple platforms or custom RTMP at the same time, on Ultra only. Dual Output streams in vertical and horizontal format at once | Yes, 2 destinations at once on Essential, 3 on Core and 8 on Advanced |
| Overlays and alerts | Hundreds of free overlays, with 1,000+ themes and overlays on Ultra. Alerts for followers, subscribers, tips and cheers, plus widgets such as tip trackers, polls, goals and a chat overlay | Branding with overlays, logos and banners. The free plan shows the StreamYard logo in the stream |
| Remote guests | Collab Cam: 1 guest or camera on the free plan, up to 11 guests or cameras on Ultra. Guests see and hear the host and the chat while streaming | Guests join from the browser without a download. 6 on screen on the free plan, 10 on Core, and 15 backstage on Advanced |
| Platform integrations | Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, Kick, Facebook, Patreon and custom RTMP | YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Twitch, Instagram and custom RTMP |
| Audio mixing | An audio mixer is built into the desktop app | Echo cancellation, background noise reduction, stereo audio and automatic mic level in the studio audio settings, plus a background music library with a volume slider on every plan and a volume control for shared screen audio. No built-in multiband equaliser |
| Local recording | Yes, with no watermarks or time limits | 2 hours per month on the free plan, unlimited on Core, up to 4K on Advanced |
| Desktop or browser | Desktop, installed on Windows 10 or newer and macOS 12 or newer | Browser, no installation |
| API and control | A Web API with OAuth 2 for alerts, donations and a real-time Socket API, plus a documented API for remote control of Streamlabs Desktop | No public API to automate studio creation or embed the full studio; On-Air webinars can be embedded per event |
| Deployment | On-premise | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Community forum | Email helpdesk |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Not stated | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | more entries Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, Kick, Facebook, Patreon | YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Twitch, Instagram |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Streamlabs Free; Ultra from $15.75 / month StreamYard Free; Essential from $14.99 / month
- Free trial Streamlabs Free plan; a free trial of Ultra is offered StreamYard Free plan; 7-day free trial on Core and Advanced
- Deployment Streamlabs On-premise StreamYard Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Hosting Streamlabs Installed locally on Windows 10 or newer and macOS 12 or newer StreamYard Runs in the browser, no download
- Support Streamlabs Email helpdesk, Community forum StreamYard Email helpdesk
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Streamlabs
Strengths
- The desktop app is free, with local recordings free of watermarks and time limits
- Alerts, widgets and hundreds of overlays included without plugins
- Streams in vertical and horizontal format at the same time
Limitations
- Multistreaming and the full theme and app library require Ultra
- Only one Collab Cam guest or extra camera on the free plan
- No Linux version
StreamYard
Strengths
- Nothing to install for the host or the guests
- Free plan with up to 6 participants on screen
- On-Air webinars for 100 viewers on the Advanced plan
Limitations
- The free plan shows the StreamYard logo and streams in standard definition
- Essential, Core and Advanced plans are for individual use only
- No public API to automate the studio
Plans
Pricing
Streamlabs
- Starter $0 Free. Limited themes and overlays, 1 Collab Cam guest or camera.
- Ultra $27 Per month billed monthly, or $189 per year billed annually. Multistreaming, 1,000+ themes and overlays, the full app library and up to 11 guests or cameras.
StreamYard
- Free $0 6 participants on screen, 2 hours of local recordings per month, standard definition, StreamYard logo in the stream.
- Essential $14.99 Per month billed yearly ($18.99 monthly). All Free features plus unlimited streaming, 2 destinations at once and Full HD (1080p).
- Core $35.99 Per month billed yearly ($44.99 monthly). 3 destinations, 10 on screen, Full HD, unlimited local recordings, 50 hours of stored recordings, no StreamYard logo.
- Advanced $68.99 Per month billed yearly ($88.99 monthly). 8 destinations, 15 backstage, 4K local recordings, On-Air webinars for 100 viewers.
- Business Not stated For organizations and larger teams. Priced through a meeting with StreamYard's sales team.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Streamlabs
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
StreamYard
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Reviews are not published yet. The form on a tool's page works and reaches us, but nothing from it appears on this site, so no score here is based on a review. The rules below are the ones that will apply once reviews go live.
Every review is read by a person before it appears. We require a working email address and use it to come back to the author, so a review has a reachable sender rather than being anonymous. We publish positive and negative reviews alike, we pay nothing and offer nothing for a review, and we accept none that was bought or incentivised.
What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on what they tell us, plus the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
A vendor cannot have a review removed, cannot buy one, and cannot have one changed. Paid placement and a paid listing have no effect on which reviews appear or on any score.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Streamlabs https://streamlabs.com · checked against the official source on 2026-10-05
StreamYard https://streamyard.com · checked against the official source on 2026-10-05
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.