So, what’s the best streaming software for Twitch? The ability to stream material shown on your screen is an absolute need for gamers and content makers who want to make money off their gameplay and exhibit their skills. However, choosing the most suitable streaming services for use with Twitch, YouTube, and other video hosting sites might be challenging.

Because of this, we put several streaming software programs to test to offer you the finest streaming software for Twitch and YouTube:

So, without any further ado, let’s jump right into it!

Do I Need a Software to Stream on Twitch?

Yes.

The use of streaming software is essential to putting your material live on Twitch in the best possible quality, and it is one of the requirements. Every streaming software offers the same fundamental functionalities. These include stream encoding, local recording, support for webcams, and different sources for collecting content you stream.

However, finding the correct software to meet your requirements may be challenging when so many possibilities are available on the market. For example, you can produce a professional-quality broadcast by pulling content from many streams if you are using high-quality video streaming software.

Adding overlays, transitions, and special effects to your material is one of the most effective ways to build an audience and is supported by the most advanced streaming software. When you are just starting with game streaming, it is necessary to have access to software compatible with your capture card, has excellent video quality, and provides user assistance.

However, each software will have its benefits and drawbacks. While some programs will be almost ready to use as soon as you install them, others may need a bit of fine-tuning before they can function properly. Your tastes and the level of technical expertise you possess will determine the streaming software that you end up using.

Top 10 Software for Streaming on Twitch

Here is a list of the top 10 streaming software you’ll find on the market in 2023:

OBS Studio

Best Streaming Software Overall

Best For – Users with more experience seeking a free solution want more customization and are willing to get their hands dirty by configuring everything from scratch.

Why We Recommend It?

Open Broadcaster Software, more often known by its acronym OBS, is widely regarded as the industry benchmark for Twitch broadcasters. This free and open-source software allows for a great deal of personalization via plugins developed by other broadcasters, gamers, and developers. It just takes a little bit of know-how and practice to make transitions that are so smooth that they give your stream an air of professionalism.

OBS is preloaded with a select number of features and transitions. However, users may add a large number of additional ones. In addition, you have the opportunity to set up hotkeys with each function so that the effects you create are consistent and occur at the appropriate moment.

No centralized support is available from the platform since OBS Studio is a project created by the community. On the other hand, since there is such a large community of fans, you should be able to discover solutions to your problems within the space of an hour. However, the application is dependable and very rarely has any problems.

It has a wide range of personalization options, and people have developed many widgets and add-ons. While it may be challenging for rookie streamers to get their channels up and running, many of them become more successful as their studios become more familiar with them.

• Free and open source
• Extremely customizable
• Low CPU usage
• Screen recording capable

• Learning curve – can be difficult for beginners

XSplit

Best Streaming Software for Growing Channels

Best For – Streamers willing to pay more for sophisticated settings and want the option of having specialized support staff available to them if they have any problems with their setup.

Why We Recommend It?

You can access the professional production capabilities via XSplit. However, although they are of a higher quality than OBS and SLOBS, the user interface is quite different, and it will take some time to get used to them.

The XSplit Broadcaster software is very modifiable and comes equipped with all the bells and whistles necessary for production. There is a learning curve in getting this streaming software up and running. But, the customer service is great. Hence, you can have all your questions addressed as you work.

You can use a free version of the application with certain limitations and a watermark or upgrade to a paid subscription with more sophisticated capabilities on a monthly or annual basis. Trial codes are often available online and obtainable by buying some Logitech cameras.

XSplit VCam

The XSplit VCam is a component of the application that is available to users at no additional cost. It allows you to blur or eliminate your backdrop without needing a green screen. This may be a fantastic feature that enables you to produce quality in your production value if you have enough lighting and sufficient distance between you and the wall behind you. Altering the backdrop is another alternative that’s open to you.

• Professional quality broadcasting software
• 24/7 support with priority support for premium members
• Easy to set up and get going
• Enhanced audio features

• Windows only

Gamecaster

Best Software for New Streamers

Best For – Gamers that feel irritated from using competing streaming applications due to their perceived difficulty. This is an experience geared toward newcomers, with the ability to access more complicated settings as your familiarity with streaming grows.

Why We Recommend It?

Gamecaster, which was once an extension of XSplit, has made significant progress throughout the beta period of its development. Streamers who are seeking a streaming tool that is simple to install to begin broadcasting on Twitch will like the studio functionality that comes with Gamecaster. However, for those more interested in creating standard gameplay films than live-streaming them, the program also functions admirably as a powerful recording tool.

Gamecaster has developed a gaming experience that uses an achievements system. Developers designed this experience for beginning streamers and those who are a little more adept. Additionally, the platform provides you with everything you need to begin live streaming immediately.

The user interface makes it simple for you to construct scenes, enabling you to broadcast material that will appeal to your audience. In addition, you can import content from various sources, enabling you to get the specific appearance required by your field.

One of Gamecaster’s limitations is that it does not allow users to add their branding. Even though this free streaming program provides you with all you want, including various overlays, alerts, and scene choices, they do not permit you to upload your own visuals to your broadcasts. Instead, you can tailor your streaming arrangement to your own preferences by utilizing the system-wide variables.

• Very nice LCD
• Quieter operation than the competition
• Strong cooling performance
• Cool adjustable screen
• Various customizability options

• Some features still in Beta

Lightstream

Best Streaming Software for Console Streamers

Best For – Podcasts and talk show streams if you anticipate doing much traveling and will require access to your collection of scenes while you’re away from home.

Why We Recommend It?

Not equipped with a capture card? Lightstream is a streaming tool that runs inside a browser. Hence, making it an excellent choice for streamers who are often on the go and stream using their mobile phone or other devices. You won’t have to worry about your CPU or rebuilding scenes every time you download the program, and you won’t have to rebuild scenes.

You also have the ability, with Lightstream, to broadcast with numerous individuals on the same stream. This makes it simple for you to host conversation shows or compete with other streamers. Additionally, the platform provides console broadcasters learning how to stream on Xbox or PS4 with the most advanced live-streaming software available in video streaming.

In addition, Lightstream is cloud-based streaming software, making it simpler to do live broadcasting from any location.

• Low CPU usage
• Customer support through chat
• Easy setup
• Simple UI

• Very basic features

Streamlabs

Best All-Inclusive Software

Best For – Streamers interested in OBS wanting further interactive added capabilities and characteristics, however (for a small fee).

Why We Recommend It?

OBS had a major influence on the development of Streamlabs, originally known as Streamlabs OBS or SLOBS (mentioned above). Makers developed it to recreate OBS with a simpler user interface and seamless connection with other widgets and bots developed by Streamlabs. Broadcasters that utilize SLOBS have access to various useful features, including an event queue, a library of overlays, an audio filter, and a video editor, all of which are simple to plug in.

When comparing Streamlabs to OBS Studio, it is easier for users of OBS Studio to transition to Streamlabs since Streamlabs can be easily customized and comparable to OBS. Streamlabs is often simpler to understand and navigate for those new to streaming compared to its predecessor. As a result, your camera stream and other parts may be moved around simply and rapidly at your discretion.

Although individual streamers’ performance might vary, many users have reported that Streamlabs utilizes more CPU and memory than competing streaming software. But, they’ve also reported that the program is always being updated and improved.

In addition, Stramlabs comes with excellent customer support, which enables you to obtain assistance figuring out the various studio settings and video, sound, and other choices.

• Easy to use
• Additional easily integrated features
• Website integration
• Easy on CPU

• Parts are still in BETA

OWN3D Pro

Best Software for Easy Set-up

Best For – Fresh and new broadcasters searching for a solution that connects with OBS and provides a comprehensive set of tools.

Why We Recommend It?

First things first, OWN3D Pro is a plugin for OBS Studio. Second, OBS Studio is present on this page as the second streaming software option we suggest. In fact, these two work incredibly well together and provide broadcasters with an insane level of versatility concerning the configuration of their streams.

Streamers with little prior expertise will have no trouble using OWN3D Pro’s plugin since it streamlines the configuration procedure and makes OBS Studio less intimidating for beginners.

Over 600 overlays, notifications, and widgets are available to broadcasters on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook using OWN3D Pro.

Because this selection is so extensive, changing the aesthetic of your stream just only a few mouse clicks. Personalizing your overlay is easy, and we do not doubt that even a novice could accomplish it. Users just using the free version will have access to all of the functionality. However, they will have fewer options for overlays and notifications.

Streamers can customize their alert settings for various metrics, including followers, subscriptions, contributions, cheers, raids, and hosts. OWN3D Pro has sophisticated options for each, making it possible to achieve maximum customization while maintaining a straightforward workflow.

Utilizing the built-in analytics tool with OWN3D Pro, you can get an idea of how well your channel is doing. For example, see the monthly performance of followers, subscribers, tips, bits, raids, and hosts, all broken down into individual views.

You can also configure filters to exclude or include additional information to go further into the data and determine what aspects of the strategy are successful and which are not.

• Very nice LCD
• Quieter operation than the competition
• Strong cooling performance
• Cool adjustable screen
• Various customizability options

• Requires OBS Studio

Twitch Studio

Most CPU Friendly for Twitch

Best For – People who have never streamed before and are interested in having a guided setup experience.

Why We Recommend It?

Twitch Studio is the company’s response to the requirements of new broadcasters.

Twitch Studio, now in Beta, was developed to be simple. It has guided customization and automatic detection of all the settings you would typically be responsible for configuring on your own.

Choosing the appropriate bitrate to use when configuring your streaming software is one of the more difficult tasks. That’s because the optimal option for this may vary depending on your screen’s resolution and framerate, as well as the speed and reliability of your internet connection (specifically your upload speed).

This procedure is made easier for you by Twitch Studio, which will automatically determine the bitrate that works best for you.

The guided setup feature of Twitch Studio makes things easier for newbie broadcasters. For example, Twitch studio allows users to add numerous sources, such as their camera, microphone, and video sources, that they want to use during their life.

It will recognize your microphone and camera without having to do anything unless you have many peripherals. If that’s the case, you will have to navigate and choose the right one.

Twitch Studio comes with its built-in alert system that is ready to use right out of the box. This is handy if you want to utilize notifications for followers, subscriptions, and other streamers, as many other streamers do.

You will not have as many possibilities for personalization with Twitch Studio as with other streaming software. Nevertheless, this might be the right choice for you if you are looking for a solution that will allow you to be up and running in the shortest amount of time.

• Customizable
• Integrated into Twitch
• Very easy, guided setup
• Simplifies more technical options, like bitrate selection

• Still in Beta

Nvidia Shadowplay

Best Streaming Software for GPU Encoding

Best For – People who live stream and want to share the best moments of their gaming by recording short snippets of it and posting them straight to their social media networks.

Why We Recommend It?

Because it has many NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards already installed, NVIDIA Shadowplay is one of the best solutions for Twitch streaming software because it makes your experience incredibly fluid and provides you with a streamlined gameplay flow.

Using NVIDIA Shadowplay, you won’t have any problem broadcasting your gaming live on websites like YouTube, Facebook, or Twitch. These sites are just a few of the many that support live streaming. Nvidia gives players the ability to record and stream their games straight from their graphics processing unit (GPU) thanks to the preloaded software (Graphics Processing Unit). Players will have a streaming experience that is complete and fulfilling as a result of this. However, you can’t use it to stream other media, so you can’t use it for that.

You can capture events utilizing the instant replay capabilities of NVIDIA Shadowplay. Then you may play them back and make observations about them later. You may record and preserve thirty seconds of gaming by doing nothing more than tapping a button.

The customization options are quite limited compared to those offered by competing streaming applications, and the overall broadcast quality is below average. You may, however, make this experience more interesting by employing personalized overlays and a camera in conjunction with one another. Therefore, it is reasonable to anticipate that encoding using a GPU will need a higher bitrate.

• Minimal CPU usage
• Included in GeForce Drivers
• Instant Replay and NVIDIA Highlights features allow for capturing key moments quickly and sharing them online

• Must have Nvidia graphics card

OBS.Live

Best Streaming Software for Professionals

Best for: Users already familiar with SLOBS and searching for OBS but with additional (free) capabilities. OBS.Live uses the same user interface as the original OBS Studio application. Therefore it is especially beneficial if you are already acquainted with OBS Studio.

Why We Recommend It?

A division of OBS Studio by StreamElements, OBS.Live is another alternative to the original product. In OBS.Live the OBS Studio-like capabilities of Streamlabs OBS are present, as well as some additional ones.

Divisions like this one provide a one-stop shop for all of your streaming requirements.

Generally, you would have to open a separate window for each chat session and stream action, such as following and subscribing. Both OBS.Live and SLOBS are great options for keeping everything in the same window and arranging it in whatever way you choose.

Between the more basic streaming software we’ve seen here and OBS Studio, OBS.Live is a fantastic middle ground.

In addition to its great guided setup, it looks and functions much like OBS Studio, so anybody making a move will feel at home. Users can add all of the extra features they want to their stream only by following the step-by-step instructions.

OBS.Live is a free alternative to Streamlabs OBS, which has a few expensive features.

However, one wonderful perk is that you may have a custom-named bot in your chat without paying an extra price.

OBS.Live also has custom overlays and “SuperThemes,” which are overlays and visuals tailored to the particular games you’ll use them for.

• Free
• Fun bonus features
• Library of free overlays and SuperThemes for specific games
• The guided setup makes it more accessible for newer streamers

• Windows only

vMix

Best Streaming Software for 4K Streaming

Best For – High-scale streamers who would love to stream in 4k

Why We Recommend it?

vMix is a high-end production and streaming program particularly useful for professional streamers. This tool can broadcast content to Facebook Live, Twitch, Stream, and a variety of other online video sites.

The app is available in five distinct editions, each with a unique collection of features. You can purchase anything from the most basic plan to the most advanced version. However, there is a significant gap between each version’s maximum resolution, the number of overlays, and the number of inputs.

The more costly versions of vMix provide a variety of interesting features, such as immediate replays with four cameras. Of course, you also have the option to upgrade if you’d like.

vMix is among the greatest Twitch streaming software currently available; however, it also has a few drawbacks. First, because the application is only available for Windows, it is useless if you wish to stream from a Mac OS X or Linux computer. To do so, you’ll have to create a separate partition using Boot Camp. The application is only available for Windows.

The software also has live HD video mixing capabilities, previously only available on hardware devices specifically designed for the purpose. This is without a doubt, but it can significantly drain your system’s resources. This means that it may not be the greatest option depending on how your system works. However, this constraint is inherent to all professional-grade software packages.

• Professional production
• NDI compatibility
• Integrated professional features
• Streams to a large number of platforms
• A wide array of features

• High system requirements

Frequently Asked Questions About Streaming Software for Twitch

Final Words

Selecting the streaming software that is most suited to your needs may seem rather daunting at times; however, there is a plethora of software accessible, and fortunately, the majority of it is either free or has a free version. So what is the most reliable software for broadcasting on Twitch?

No one answer is correct. That’s because most streaming software includes the same fundamental capabilities, except a few extras here and there that enhance the user experience or provide additional functionality.

We hope that we have provided you with a comprehensive summary of the various streaming software that are now in the most widespread usage and that this information will be of use to you to make an informed choice.

Also, check out our guide on the Best Bitrate For Streaming!

This was a complete guide on the best streaming software for twitch.