However, if you’re willing to do a little research and watch some tutorial videos, you can create an amazing brand for your debut or anniversary stream. Many programs use OBS Studio’s open-source code as a base, meaning that if you already use OBS, you can migrate your settings, scenes, and filters over. Others, like X-Split, use their own code and often have steep learning curves, so they are more suited for experienced content creators looking for extra control over their brand and better ways to expand their audience. To help you find the right Twitch streaming software for you, I’ve put together a list of the best available. I’ve broken down their features, customer support, customization options, and pricing to help you find the best fit for your work style as well as your wallet. Also: The best gaming TVs The premium features include the ability to create a custom merch store, a custom page for viewers to send donations, access to more custom overlays, streaming to multiple sites at once, and dedicated creator support. Support includes help securing products for reviews, brand endorsements, and other paid opportunities as well as enhanced troubleshooting for any issues you may have. Both the free and premium versions let you add donation and tip widgets, create custom overlays for different scenes, and create polls and giveaways to keep your audience engaged and entertained. Another downside is that you can only broadcast to a single streaming site at a time, which somewhat limits your audience if you’re a more established streamer. However, if you’re just starting out, streaming to a single site is easier to manage. OBS allows you to fully customize your stream, including audio filters for better compression and reduced background noise, virtually unlimited scene creation, the ability to record and live stream at the same time, and hotkeys for your most-used actions like scene transitions and stopping or starting streaming and recording. You can even create contests, giveaways, and loyalty programs for your audience to keep them engaged with your streams. And if you ever run into trouble with technical issues or need help getting started, Stream Elements has a dedicated support team for troubleshooting as well as a library of tutorial videos and a dedicated Discord server to connect with other users. To access all features though, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid subscription, which runs about $15 per month or $60 for a full year. You can even buy a lifetime license for $200, which is a one-time, up-front payment that allows you to use X-Split for as long as you want to create content. With the paid subscription, you can stream to multiple sites simultaneously to expand your audience, create unlimited scenes for streaming different kinds of content, and have a dedicated support team for troubleshooting technical issues. And with paid subscriptions, you’ll get lifetime updates to keep X-Split, and your content, engaging and interesting for returning viewers and newcomers to your chat. You can even integrate other programs like Zoom and Discord or add GIFs, static images, and music to your stream for more exciting content and to make it easier to collaborate with other creators. X-Split is even great for pre-recorded content like YouTube let’s plays, allowing you to record several scenes at once to make post-production and editing easier. The drawback is that Twitch Studio seems very limited compared to other streaming software, lacking any sort of customization options for overlays and alerts. It’s also, at the time of writing, in a Beta build, meaning that it will likely have a lot of issues supporting different games and browsers. However, Twitch Studio is a great option if you’re just starting out and want to get a feel for how streaming will work before you dive into more involved programs like StreamLabs or X-Split. If you want to attract and grow an audience and community, you’ll also need at least a decent microphone (you can check out our list of picks for the best microphones for streaming) for making commentary and chatting with viewers. You can also set up a webcam to show your face, or for tracking facial expressions for VTuber models. And if you really want to get into the weeds: you can buy an Elgato Stream Deck for better control over your scene transitions, audio cues, recording and streaming, and other integrations. You can also incorporate fun lighting in your webcam background to keep your stream visually interesting, or set up rewards for your chatters to redeem to keep them engaged.
