Are you an established content creator who wants to start incorporating live streams to interact with your audience and maximize your engagement? Or perhaps you are planning to enter the world of video creation, and utilizing live streams is a part of your plan. Or, maybe you are already utilizing live-stream and want to improve. In either case, you should know which software is the best when it comes to streaming your videos live on twitch or YouTube.
Who can do live streaming?
The simple answer; anyone can do live streaming. But how much of your content consists of live streams, depends on the nature of your content. If you are a gamer, almost all your content will consist of live streams, but if you are an academic assistant providing cheap assignment help and you want to make video tutorials to help the students do better in their assignments, then you may go live every once in a while.
Regardless of what your channel is about, you can incorporate live streams if you feel that interacting with your audience will benefit you and help your chances of growth.
5 streaming software to enhance your streaming experience:
YouTube has its own live stream feature that you can use. But for a better experience, it is recommended that you use streaming software. Here are five that are currently the best when it comes to streaming videos on twitch, YouTube, and other platforms.
All of this software is built for specific needs. So, if you have the best website for assignment writing, you should not use the same software to stream your educational content as gamers do to go live. Because the “best” for them may not be the “best” for you.
Xsplit broadcaster:
This one is for the gamers out there. Xsplit allows you to record and share your gameplay with your audience. With Xsplit, you also get a heads-up display that allows you to interact with your audience and monitor the stats.
Features and benefits:
- You can edit video scenes before broadcasting them by utilizing the Scene Preview Editor
- You can customize your settings by using NVENC to get the optimal quality and performance.
- You can use the intuitive editor feature to easily add subscriber goals, donation trains, followers alerts, events lists, tips cups, etc. to make your live stream stand out.
- With Xsplit, you can record and stream videos at 4k at 60fps.
- XSplit has Facebook Chat, Twitch Chat, and YouTube Chat widgets
Pricing
You can either go free or pro. If you choose to go free you will have limited features to enjoy. If you want to go pro, the subscription starts from 2.50/month.
Dacast:
Dacast is a video monetization platform and Video-on-demand streaming software. It is made for hosting, live streaming and managing professional broadcasts.
Dacast has a content management system in place to store all of your recorded and live video content that makes them a secure and powerful platform for video hosting.
Features and benefits:
- Analytics:Dacast offers advanced analytics which means you can track how your videos are performing, by viewing custom reports.
- HTML 5 Video Player: HTML 5 format is ultra-compatible – it allows you to stream to any device anywhere (including mobile streaming)
- In case you face any issues, Dacast has 24/7 technical support and it also has quite a large community of users and a comprehensive knowledge base.
Pricing
You can subscribe to one of the 4 packages
- $39/month for the starter package
- $63/month for an event
- $188/month for scale
- They also have a custom package where the price varies.
Wirecast:
If production quality is what you care the most about, you should get started with Wirecast. Wirecast was developed by Telestream (a well-known name in the world of video). It helps you create TV-like streams.
So if your channel is mainly focused on streams and events, consider investing in Wirecast (disclaimer: it is expensive).
Features and benefits:
- Wire cast has an ISO recording feature that archives all the live video inputs without modifying them. These video clips are stored separately from the composite program recording.
- Wirecast also has a huge stock media library that is free. You can access over 500,000 media assets, including videos and backgrounds, etc.
Pricing
You have two options for subscription with Wirecast;
- Wire cast Studio costs $599 for enhanced live production and streaming
- Wire cast Pro costs $799 for advanced live production and streaming
It’s a pricier tool, but the best professional live streaming software out there.
Onestream:
Onestream allows you to record videos and stream recorded videos and publish it to over 40 platforms. You can record events and schedule them for streaming to media platforms up to 60 days in advance.
Features and benefits:
- Team management features allow multiple team members to log in from a single account.
- With one stream, you get multiple upload options which include a camera, screen shares, and file uploads.
- No software installation is required if you want to use OneStream.
Pricing
- Free – 5minutes/ stream max, 1 social account, unlimited streaming, and no multicasting
- Basic – costs $10/ month and you get unlimited streaming, pre-recorded multicasting, 15 minutes/ stream max.
- Standard – costs $ 39/month and offers unlimited streaming, pre-recorded and real-time multicasting, 1 hr. / stream max.
- Professional – $89/month and features include pre-recorded and real-time multicasting, unlimited streaming, 8hr/ stream for recorded streams.
Restream:
If you have a massive social media presence and want to stream on multiple platforms at once, this one is for you. Restream allows you to stream to over 30 platforms simultaneously.
Restream also allows you to edit the stream or add more channels on the stream without exiting the stream – a feature called “Real-time Platform and Channel Toggling”.
You can monitor your stream on multiple platforms from a single dashboard. Some other key features of Restream include:
Features and benefits:
- The automatic alerts feature sends notifications to the viewers on Facebook, Discord, and Twitter.
- Add CTA to your live stream.
- Allowing the users from different platforms to chat with each other (this one is quite cool)
- Hide inappropriate words in the chatbox
Pricing:
- If you go for the standard subscription, you have to pay $16/ month. With the standard package, you get six hours/stream, no video storage, no uploads, and no pre-recorded streams.
- The professional package costs $41/month and with a professional subscription, you get pre-recorded video streaming, and an option to upload 1 hr/2Gb video, 10 videos worth of storage space, and a stream recording option of 10hrs/stream.
- Premium account costs $83/month and with this subscription, you can upload videos of up to 5 GB/2 hrs. Apart from that, you get storage space for up to 25 videos. And you can record streams up to 20hr/ stream.
- Then comes the business account – costs $249/month and offers pre-recorded video streaming, 4 hrs. /10 GB video uploads, 50 videos storage, 20hr per stream max stream recording.
Final words:
Choose one based on your objectives and the nature of your content. If you are using any of this software for the first time, it is recommended to watch tutorials, so that you understand the interface and can utilize all the features.
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