8 Best Free Live Streaming Software of 2026

Meld Studio is the closest rival to OBS Studio for streamers who pay nothing, and it ships more of the modern streaming toolkit in the box. The vendor describes it as free live streaming and recording software for Windows and macOS, with multistreaming, Multi Canvas, Multi Chat, Stream Manager, multitrack recording and audio per scene built in with no plugins. Free multistreaming covers unlimited destinations, so one stream can reach Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, Kick and X at once, and Multi Canvas sends a portrait layout for TikTok or Shorts alongside the horizontal one. Recording goes up to 4K with up to 8 audio tracks, including a VOD track for Twitch. The paid tiers, Meld Pro at $17 per month and Meld Max at $50 per month billed annually, add more Meld Spark AI requests for building overlays and alerts, not streaming capacity. The limits are platform and maturity: there is no Linux build, and the plugin and tutorial base is smaller than OBS Studio's.

OBS Studio is the reference point for free streaming software: the OBS Project describes it as free and open source software for video recording and live streaming, and there is no paid tier to upgrade to. Release 33.0.1 runs on Windows 10 and 11, macOS 13.0 or newer, and Linux. You build an unlimited number of scenes from game and window captures, webcams, capture cards, images, text and browser sources, then switch between them with custom or stinger transitions. The audio mixer has per-source filters such as noise gate and noise suppression, and VST plugins add more. Studio Mode lets you preview a scene before it goes live, and Multiview shows 8 scenes at once. The trade-off is setup time. OBS ships without alerts, chat overlays or multistreaming, so Twitch and YouTube streamers usually add browser-source widgets or plugins. The many encoder settings can slow down a first-time streamer, although the dockable interface can be rearranged to fit your workflow.

Streamlabs Desktop suits streamers who want a channel that looks finished on day one. The free download for Windows 10+ and macOS 12+ captures webcam, games, desktop, music and microphone, and it builds in what OBS Studio leaves to plugins: alerts for follows, subs and tips, a chat overlay, 12+ widgets, the Cloudbot chatbot and hundreds of free overlays. Free Dual Output streams one portrait and one horizontal platform at once, for example Twitch horizontally and TikTok vertically, and Collab Cam adds one guest or second camera from a shared link. Automations can switch scenes and clip highlights from gameplay, with 5 active on the free plan. Ultra, listed as starting at $15.75 per month, adds full multistreaming or custom RTMP, thousands of themes, all apps, up to 11 guests and 10GB of cloud storage. The free tier is generous, but the app regularly points you toward Ultra, and there is no Linux build.

SplitCam is a free desktop broadcaster that leans on multistreaming and a virtual camera. Its site says it is free forever with no watermark and no signup, and that the free download is the full app with no premium tiers or feature locks. Scenes combine webcam, screen, game capture, browser, NDI, IP cameras, video files and PDF slides, with Fade, Stinger and Luma Wipe transitions. Multistreaming goes directly from your computer to Twitch, YouTube, Kick and 84+ other platforms with a separate bitrate for each, rather than through a cloud relay. Streamer extras include a Tip Notifier, live drawing, real-time blur and a hotkey replay of the last 10 seconds, and the audio mixer accepts VST 2 and VST 3 plugins. On Windows you can import OBS Studio scene collections. The catch with direct multistreaming is upload bandwidth, since each platform gets its own upload, and the community is smaller than the OBS or Streamlabs ecosystems.

PRISM Live Studio comes from the same family of apps as the PRISM mobile streamer, so it suits creators who split their time between a PC and a phone. The desktop app is a free download for 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 and for Apple Silicon Macs on Monterey 12.3 or higher. The vendor lists simultaneous streaming to several live platforms, real-time screen sharing and AvatarLive, which lets you stream without showing your face, along with masks, background filters and touch filters. One account works across the mobile, desktop and Lens apps, and PRISM Plus, a paid subscription, carries over between them. A new Windows beta built on OBS is available, but installing it removes your existing PRISM Live Studio. The drawbacks are thin public documentation compared with OBS Studio and pricing that is only shown inside the mobile app, so we could not verify a US price for Plus.

Restream Studio is a browser studio paired with Restream's multistreaming service, so it suits talk shows, podcasts and interviews more than game capture. The free plan lets you pick 2 of 30+ social channels and stream to both at once, for example Twitch and YouTube, with Restream branding. In Studio, the free plan supports 6 on-screen participants at HD 720p, customizable scenes, overlays and backgrounds, and AI background music in 3 genres. Guests join with an invite link, and cross-platform chat collects comments from every channel in one place. You can also send OBS Studio or Zoom into Restream as the encoder, which is how gamers usually combine it with desktop software. Standard costs $19 per month billed monthly and adds a third channel, removes Restream branding and raises Studio to 10 on-screen participants. Professional at $49 per month unlocks 1080p in Studio and dual format streaming.

StreamYard is the easiest way on this list to put several people on a YouTube or Twitch stream, because everything runs in a browser and guests join from a link. The free plan includes all essential studio features, 6 on-screen participants and 2 hours a month of local recordings, but streams carry the StreamYard logo and the pricing page lists streaming limits for free users. The Greenroom lets you prepare guests before they appear on air. Essential, at $14.99 per month billed yearly or $18.99 monthly, adds unlimited streaming, multistreaming to 2 destinations and Full HD 1080p. Core at $35.99 per month billed yearly removes the logo and adds overlays, cloud recording and 10 on-screen participants. Paid plans come with a 7-day free trial, and StreamYard says payment is in US dollars or Indian rupees only. Gamers will find it limiting, since it does not capture games itself.

XSplit Broadcaster is a mature Windows broadcaster with a free tier that is usable but clearly capped. XSplit says the free version streams at up to 720p without a watermark, while higher resolutions, more than 30 fps, background removal and the virtual camera add a watermark. Free users get 4 scenes, chroma key, scene transitions, plugins, AI voice clarity and AI live captions, and the free license covers personal use only. Premium removes those limits and adds unlimited scenes, simultaneous broadcasting to several services, a projector, preview editor and commercial use. It costs $14.99 per month, $59.99 per year or $199.99 once for a lifetime license, which is unusual in this category. Multi Output Mode, still in beta, sends horizontal and portrait layouts at once and supports Twitch Dual Format Streaming. For streamers who will never pay, the 720p cap and 4 scenes make OBS Studio or Meld Studio the stronger free choice.