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Audience

Anyone interested in free and open source software for video recording and live streaming

About OBS

Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Download and start streaming quickly and easily on Windows, Mac or Linux. High performance real time video/audio capturing and mixing. Create scenes made up of multiple sources including window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, capture cards and more. Set up an unlimited number of scenes you can switch between seamlessly via custom transitions. Intuitive audio mixer with per-source filters such as noise gate, noise suppression, and gain. Take full control with VST plugin support. Powerful and easy to use configuration options. Add new Sources, duplicate existing ones, and adjust their properties effortlessly. Streamlined Settings panel gives you access to a wide array of configuration options to tweak every aspect of your broadcast or recording. Modular 'Dock' UI allows you to rearrange the layout exactly as you like. You can even pop out each individual Dock to its own window.

Pricing

Free Version:
Free Version available.

Integrations

Ratings/Reviews - 8 User Reviews

Overall 4.6 / 5
ease 3.8 / 5
features 4.6 / 5
design 4.1 / 5
support 3.9 / 5

Company Information

Open Broadcaster Software
United States
obsproject.com

Videos and Screen Captures

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Product Details

Platforms Supported
Windows
Mac
Linux
Training
Documentation

OBS Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What kinds of users and organization types does OBS work with?
Q: What languages does OBS support in their product?
Q: What other applications or services does OBS integrate with?
Q: What type of training does OBS provide?

OBS Product Features

Live Streaming

Streaming Platform Integration
Access Control
Audience Analytics
Audience Engagement
Browser-based
Customizable Branding
Encoding
Event Scheduling
Live Streaming Production
Moderation
Monetization Tools
Multi-Screen / Split-Screen
Multiple Camera Feeds
Multistreaming
Session Recording
Social Media Integration

Screen Recording

Audio Capture
Multi-Screen Recording
Screen Capture
Annotations / Drawing
Backup
Collaboration Tools
File Sharing
Speech-to-Text
Video Editing
YouTube Uploading

OBS Additional Categories

OBS Verified User Reviews

Write a Review
  • Mark M.
    Streaming Engineer
    Used the software for: 2+ Years
    Frequency of Use: Weekly
    User Role: User
    Company Size: 100 - 499
    Design
    Ease
    Features
    Pricing
    Support
    Probability You Would Recommend?
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

    "Simply great"

    Posted 2024-02-16

    Pros: Can do everything you want and more. The greatest piece of open source software I know. Nothing bad to say about it.

    Cons: Nothing bad to say about it, really. The documentation and error handling could be improved, but given some time they probably will.

    Overall: Great experience. Of course, there is a learning curve, but that is definitely worth it. No commercial software encoder is this good.

    Read More...
  • Karel M.
    Freelancer
    Used the software for: 2+ Years
    Frequency of Use: Daily
    User Role: User
    Company Size: 1 - 25
    Design
    Ease
    Features
    Pricing
    Support
    Probability You Would Recommend?
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

    "My Experience with OBS "

    Posted 2023-01-05

    Pros: I mainly use this for live streaming on Twitch and YouTube. I love the fact that it is free to use and for me it is the best software to use for anyone who is looking to live stream or record. It is also great for those people who do podcasts.

    Cons: I do not think it is the easiest software to adjust to and there is a slight learning curve but once I took the time to learn all the features and how to use them it became the perfect software for me. I also think it lacks features that allow for people to easily set up their live streams.

    Overall: I love OBS and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for live stream or recording software.

    Read More...
  • Mohammed A.
    Content Creator
    Used the software for: 2+ Years
    Frequency of Use: Yearly
    User Role: User, Administrator
    Company Size: 1 - 25
    Design
    Ease
    Features
    Pricing
    Support
    Probability You Would Recommend?
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

    "Fine for free software"

    Edited 2022-12-03

    Pros: Has many features like adding input and output.
    Free software with these features.
    Available on multiple OS Windows, Mac and Linux.

    Cons: Bad user interface.
    Hard to use.
    Very heavy on CPU and GPU.

    Overall: I used it on Twitch a couple of times and my PC was running like crazy. I am not sure why using it consume a lot of CPU and GPU comparing to other softwares.
    I wish they fix the user interface or adding a better overlay.

    Read More...
  • An OBS User
    Office Manager
    Used the software for: Less than 6 months
    Frequency of Use: Monthly
    User Role: User
    Company Size: 1 - 25
    Design
    Ease
    Features
    Pricing
    Support
    Probability You Would Recommend?
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

    "A Very Novice Friendly Software"

    Posted 2022-06-10

    Pros: -They have a very clear tutorial on their website
    -Once you have everything set up, it is very easy to use the exact same settings by saving profiles and scenes
    -Automatically exports your videos to a folder you choose
    -Very versatile in usage
    -It's free

    Cons: -Learning curve
    -It's a very heavy software, so not every computer can handle running OBS and getting smooth results

    Overall: OBS is a great tool for screen capture. There is a small learning curve and you will have to tinker with the settings a bit when starting out, but the option to re-use your previous settings makes for a quick second start.

    Read More...
  • An OBS User
    Student
    Used the software for: 2+ Years
    Frequency of Use: Weekly
    User Role: User
    Company Size: 1 - 25
    Design
    Ease
    Features
    Probability You Would Recommend?
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

    "The best recording and streaming tool"

    Edited 2022-03-02

    Pros: Highly customizable - You can install plugins, and edit OBS as you like.
    Open source.
    Totally free - you don't need to pay a single penny.
    Integration with streaming services (Twitch, YouTube, etc.)

    Cons: No cons for me, at least. I haven't found any issues.

    Overall: Overall, OBS Studio is a great choice for streaming and recording videos. I've used OBS in 2021 for a webcam on Google Meet in my classes, so I customized it to the limit. It's a great tool - and I would encourage anyone to learn and use OBS.

    Read More...
  • Stefan L.
    Consultant
    Used the software for: 1-2 Years
    Frequency of Use: Weekly
    User Role: User, Administrator
    Company Size: 1,000 - 4,999
    Design
    Ease
    Features
    Pricing
    Support
    Probability You Would Recommend?
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

    "If you are serious about streaming, OBS is your home base"

    Posted 2021-06-19

    Pros: -the 'quasi-standard' tool for streamers
    -lots of flexibility and capability build into the base software
    -add-ons expand the capabilities even more
    -totally free ! yet professional level reliability and capabilities (for the serious streamer)

    Cons: -on the edge of too much capability
    -menu structure and where all the options are takes some getting used to
    -add-on management needs improvement

    Overall: If one is or wants to become a streamer, one better gets familiar with OBS. If there is something you want to do while streaming online (like bringing a cellphone video conference call into a live stream), there is likely a way to do it. Through in that it is completely free, very capable and reliable - and you've got the arguably best video streaming tool.

    Read More...
  • An OBS User
    Software Developer
    Used the software for: 1-2 Years
    Frequency of Use: Weekly
    User Role: User
    Company Size: 100 - 499
    Design
    Ease
    Features
    Pricing
    Support
    Probability You Would Recommend?
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

    "The Best Livestreaming Solution"

    Posted 2020-07-02

    Pros: Free and open source
    Video recording
    Great performance
    Live streaming to multiple outlets
    Game Capture with good frame rates
    Highly configurable
    Available across operating systems - Windows , mac and Linux

    Cons: No Cons for OBS. It does everything it claims to be and is free. One suggestion would be to release a lite version for the less technical individuals.

    Overall: OBS is an excellent video recording and screen capture tool but when it comes to livestreaming it is the best in the business. It provides great performance and provides lots of configurations to suit any needs. The best part is it is totally free.

    Read More...
  • Nicolas L.
    Assistant Professor
    Used the software for: Less than 6 months
    Frequency of Use: Daily
    User Role: User
    Company Size: 1,000 - 4,999
    Design
    Ease
    Features
    Pricing
    Support
    Probability You Would Recommend?
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

    "Great Video recording tool"

    Posted 2020-06-18

    Pros: OBS is really easy to setup and use. I find its layout/GUI very intuitive and easy to navigate.
    It is very easy to add different sources for both video and audio and arrange them (there are multiple options for sources) . It is also very easy to convert/remix recorded files into a different format (although I personally use a different software for that).
    You can easily customize and optimize the bitrate and output size. This is great if your internet signal isn't great (streaming mode), or if you want to record a HD video for a presentation (recording mode). You can adjust accordingly

    Cons: One little thing that I find could be improved a little bit is the visibility of the "recording", "paused" status. As you pause a recording or resume a recording, you want it to be clearly visible. It happened to me a few times, that I hadn't click properly on the resume button or have clicked accidentally on the pause button without noticing it.

    Overall: I've started to use OBS Studio to record my lecture during the Covid-19 pandemic and it didn't take long to master its capability. You can do a lot of things with it from very basic recording to very advanced scene creation.
    Although, it something I haven't used much, but the process of installing and incorporating plugins could be improved in my opinion.
    OBS Studio is a great program. It can be configured to your needs as a recording program and even create a professional-level final product for sites such as YouTube. Personally, I recommend this tool.

    Read More...
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