StreamYard vs OBS Studio: Browser Guests or Desktop Scenes

The short answer: if the person running your company stream is a marketer rather than a video technician, and the show is a host plus one or two outside guests, StreamYard is the simpler room, at $299 a month on Business with monthly billing, the plan its usage policy gives companies (StreamYard pricing, Plan Usage Policy, checked on 26 October 2026). If someone on the team will build scenes, mix audio and switch sources by hotkey, OBS Studio does more and costs nothing: it is free and open-source software for recording and live streaming on Windows, macOS and Linux. Choose StreamYard if your job is a guest interview run from a browser tab. Choose OBS if your job is a produced stream or a product demo recording with screens, overlays and scene changes.

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Rule of thumb:

1. Price the show, then the person. For example, a weekly show on StreamYard Business billed yearly costs $249 x 12 / 52 = $57.46 an episode (StreamYard pricing). OBS has no licence fee; its cost is the hours of whoever builds and runs the scenes, which you can count from your last stream.
2. Start from the guest list. StreamYard guests join from a browser or phone in a few clicks, without downloading anything (StreamYard). The OBS homepage describes capturing windows, webcams, capture cards and browser sources on the producer's own machine, and says nothing about inviting a remote guest (OBS). Outside guests every week point one way.
3. Check the machine that will run it. OBS 32.2.2 supports Windows 10 and 11, macOS 13 or newer, and Linux (OBS download). StreamYard runs in the browser, so the guest's laptop matters as much as yours.
4. Agree the number before the first show. Average view duration on the platform you stream to, for one episode made each way.

Task by task

Checked on 26 October 2026 against StreamYard pricing, the StreamYard homepage, StreamYard's multistream guide and the OBS homepage.

What decides it

Who is in the room

StreamYard was built for people who are not in the room: a guest opens a link and joins from a browser or phone, up to 15 can wait backstage on Advanced, and each person's local recording survives a weak connection (StreamYard, pricing). OBS was built for the person at the desk. It captures whatever that computer can see and hear. A panel of three customers in three countries is a StreamYard problem; a founder walking through the product with a webcam corner is an OBS one.

How much production the show needs

OBS gives a producer a broadcast desk: scenes made of many sources, an audio mixer with per-source filters and VST plugins, transitions including stinger videos, Studio Mode to prepare the next scene before viewers see it, and a Multiview that monitors 8 scenes at once (OBS). StreamYard gives a host layouts, branding and comments shown on screen, run from one tab. More control means more to get wrong live. Fewer controls mean fewer ways to look different.

What is left when the stream ends

StreamYard keeps the recording in its library, cuts captioned vertical clips with AI, and exports every guest's local recording as a project for Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve with the tracks already aligned (AI clips guide, export guide). OBS leaves a recording file on the producer's drive. What happens next is up to the editor you already use.

The price of each, on 26 October 2026

OBS Studio is free; version 32.2.2 was released on 14 August (OBS download). StreamYard's company figure is Business: $299 a month, or $249 a month on yearly billing, a toggle the page marks as 17% off, with 2 seats included (StreamYard pricing). Its three individual tiers, from $18.99 to $88.99 a month on monthly billing, carry an "individual use only" label. The vendor's own note applies too: prices may vary with promotions, seasonal deals and renewal terms.

Captioned clips, then a person before anything posts

StreamYard's AI clips analyse a finished recording and return vertical 9:16 clips with captions and a title (AI clips guide). Open the episode in the library and click Generate clips. In the editor, widen any clip that starts mid-answer, by up to 60 seconds before or after the detected moment; set the caption font, colour and position, add the company logo on a paid plan, and switch on Set as default so the next episode's clips arrive in the same style without redoing it.

The human check: someone watches every clip once with the sound off and once with it on, reads each caption against what was said, with names, prices and product terms first, and confirms the guest agreed to short clips before any of them leaves the library. OBS documents no AI step on its homepage; its route to automation is plugins and scripts (OBS).

The logo on the free plan

StreamYard's Free plan puts the StreamYard logo in your streams, and Core is the first tier that removes it (StreamYard pricing). A company that goes live on Free is running an advert for StreamYard in front of its own audience, every episode, until it pays. Rehearse on Free; broadcast on the plan you mean to keep.

A free test of both

Record the same 15-minute segment twice: once in StreamYard Free with a colleague joining as a remote guest, and once in OBS with a webcam scene and a screen-share scene. Note the minutes each took to set up, the problems on the recording, and who could run it again next week without help. If only the person who built the OBS scenes can run them, that is the answer.

Pick by the job

• Choose StreamYard if your job is interviews, panels and LinkedIn Lives with outside guests, run by a marketer from a browser, on a Business budget.
• Choose OBS Studio if your job is a produced stream or a demo recording with several sources and scene changes, run by someone comfortable with settings, or a show with no budget and no remote guests.

StreamYard's plans are in its glossary entry, and its LinkedIn Live setup in how to use StreamYard. OBS has no entry; obsproject.com is its own reference, and Restream vs OBS Studio pairs it with a multistreaming service.

FAQ

Who pays for OBS Studio?

Its sponsors and backers. The homepage describes OBS as free and open-source software made possible by their contributions (OBS).

Can StreamYard record without going live?

Yes. Its homepage describes recording content as well as streaming to Facebook, YouTube and other platforms (StreamYard).

Which StreamYard plans record in 4K?

Advanced and Business list 4K (2160p) local recordings (StreamYard pricing).