These days, audiences have moved online. Instead of broadcasting to traditional channels, everything can be found at the click of a button online. This has been incredibly good for creative types and opened up a wealth of new professions.
Now, you can make a living streaming games or make a name for yourself broadcasting anything from news to fashion advice! Most people want to look professional, so they’re hunting for the best streaming software available.
This is probably what brought you to our Streamlabs OBS review. This is one of the top streaming software available, and we will break down extensive strengths, weaknesses, and features. By the end of this article, you will know for sure whether it’s suited to your needs.
Streamlabs OBS Review
Let’s take a look at Streamlabs OBS. I really enjoy the features it offers, especially since it’s a free system! While it’s still in beta, and thus has some issues, overall it’s an amazing system and one of my favorites!
Pros:
- Very highly customizable in every area you need!
- Tons of great features and themes
- Seamless integration without ever having to open web browsers during live sessions
- Extremely user friendly design – no brainer for editing and managing settings!
- Twitch chat pane is already placed into the software
Cons:
- Has a few bugs to work out
Only allows 1 webcam per session
What is Stream Labs OBS and why use it?
Streamlabs OBS is a great way to create beautiful videos that you can stream. This lets you amp up and revitalize your YouTube and Twitch streams and videos without requiring you to know how to code anything or build custom layouts. It’s about the same as OBs, but it has a much simpler user interface, making it way easier to use and understand.
Streamlabs OBS is still in beta, so it may change a bit as it gets closer to the official release, but generally speaking, software that is popular in beta testing only continues to improve as the release dates approach.
This software came about because Streamlabs wanted to create a platform that could record videos and stream but would be very easy to use without sacrificing any of the great features of OBS’ open source creativity. It allows you to access everything OBS has to offer but makes the experience much simpler for people who don’t have much experience.
It's much simpler to use but you can still completely customize all of your settings and features without losing any functionality. It’s basically OBS but with a custom skin and some extra features thrown in for good measure.
It's perfect for people who want to stabilize their streaming when they use Twitch, YouTube, and other sites without having to blow a ton of money on expensive software that ends up being difficult to understand and limiting your features. It's extremely versatile (just like the original OBS) but keeps all your features intact.
It’s also great because it will integrate with itself and play well with others. A lot of online broadcasters use Streamlabs for their alerts, donations, and other features when they host streaming video. This application will drop that into your experience without having to toggle between your game and the internet. It's all-encompassing.
How to Use Streamlabs OBS: How easy is it to use?
Streamlabs is really easy to use, especially when compared to OBS. Everything you need is really easy to find in the user friendly interface and the tools and features are much more pronounced. Go Live and Record buttons will always be massive and easy to click, so you know where they are.
Way Better than Original OBS
OBS is a tricky beast to handle. It’s very difficult to tweak and the settings are finicky, even for experts on a good day. This made it almost impossibly steep for beginners to learn from, especially given that there isn’t any centralized tech support or single point of contact outside of the user community for help.
Streamlabs, on the other hand, is a fantastic manager. They’ve worked really well for a while, but they were also very basic and didn’t have anywhere near the features most professional users need.
When Streamlabs decided to release their version of OBS it was like the best of both worlds! The simplicity of the design from Streamlabs married the complex features, rich layouts, and heavily customizable options that OBS afforded users, making it ideal for beginners and advanced users alike!
This software works immediately, right from installation. “unbox” it and you can start recording and streaming immediately, without spending hours mired in setup wizards and adjustments. It will automatically recommend settings for you based on your network and system capability. This is fantastic for new users who don’t have a lot of experience adjusting things because with only a few clicks they’re up and streaming.
That being said, if you’re one of the more advanced users who actually knew their way around OBS, you won’t be missing anything. All of your deep settings and details are included in this port, but with a much more convenient user interface that no longer requires toggling, opening web browsers, and adjusting every individual setting every single time you change something.
What are some of the most notable OBS Streamlabs features?
There are a lot of great features included with Streamlabs OBS, but one of the most notable is how well it will optimize your settings. When you install the software, I will take a look at your network and system specs and use them to optimize your streaming.
Once it is done, you can easily continue modifying things. This allows you to customize everything to your exact needs and specifications. I would suggest getting familiar with the software before you tweak too much, though. Otherwise, you may find it difficult to undo a mistake and your stream won’t thank you for it.
Importing from StreamlabsOBS Website
Streamlabs OBS is really easy to import because of how well it plays with other features. Adding anything to your live stream or recorded video is easy because your alert box, goals, and anything else can be imported directly from the website. This lets you drop it into your software without opening pesky web browsers while you’re trying to work.
Importing from OBS
A lot of people are using OBS and just need a little more structure. The good news is that if you’re one of those people, you can import all of your resources and any settings you have directly into Streamlabs without needing to reconfigure anything new. This will save you tons of time and prevent unnecessary stress that usually accompanies migration.
This is also pretty convenient because all you’ll need to do if you want to change some alerts or other elements is just made a few small adjustments without having to open a browser.
Themed Visual Layouts
The themed layouts are another fantastic option that you have with this software. There are over 350 different themes that you can use while you’re recording gameplay to help highlight your experiences, and that number continues to grow every day!
There are even themes that are specially designed for specific genres or games. They include animations, effects, and graphics that you can install if you want your audience to see and experience more than just your selfie cam and gameplay.
The themes also all include special scenes for Be Right Back and Starting Soon pages, which lets you switch your feed while you're live if you ever need to step away but don't want to end the broadcast. This lets you look a bit more professional than you would if the viewers were staring at an empty screen.
Widget Themes
These themes also allow you to choose widgets for your broadcasting. Underground alert boxes will let you add some fire and burning images to your alerts to catch the attention of your viewers. Just make sure that you change the sounds to match in your dashboard!
Each theme included will automatically save its own settings once installed so you won’t need to keep changing your sounds back and forth constantly with every layout.
Instant Access to Your Streamlabs Dashboard
The layout makes it really easy to move back and forth between tools when you need to. One mouse click can take you from the editor to the dashboard during live games. This is super convenient because you can adjust your alerts and elements on the fly during a live session without needing to open your browser.
Noise Gain and Suppression
One of the best parts of this software is that they made sure to include suppression for noise gain. These features are fantastic if you’re recording from a noisy area and need to eliminate background noises. Loud neighbors, barking dogs, honking car horns, crying babies, and air conditioning noises all disappear thanks to their background noise elimination.
Streamlabs OBS Pricing
Streamlabs OBS is completely free, so it’s well worth it to try it out and see if you like using it. It offers tons of great features, so a lot of fans of XSplit Broadcaster are switching, especially the ones who are on the Gamer version of the XSplit.
The only cost of this system is your time and effort spent learning it. That means that if you come across some spare time, it is well worth it to take it for a spin. If you're completely slammed, it's still free software so you may just discover that you can save money while still getting all the great features your paid version offers (and maybe even more)!