The popularity of live streaming has led to a huge variety of streaming software tools on the market in 2018. Whether you’re a content creator who’s new to live streaming or you’re a business owner who live streams as a main source of revenue, you can rest assured there’s a solution out there suited for you.

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But which is the best streaming software in 2018? To answer this question, let’s look at the top contenders: OBS, XSplit, Wirecast, and vMix. Each of these software options comes with basic live streaming and recording features, such as single-destination streaming, multiple video sources, chroma key (i.e. Green screen), live switching, and custom transitions.

However, each software has its own advantages, disadvantages, and ideal use cases which are important to consider before making your selection. More commonly known as OBS, is a powerful open source project that is built by a community. Open source software like OBS is free to use, making it a popular choice for price-conscious live streamers.

OBS offers all the live streaming essentials you need to create a great looking broadcast, but lacks the advanced features of paid software. While OBS is a free software, this also means there is no centralized user support team to help you out if you’re having trouble. You need to be self-reliant and figure things out for yourself with just a community forum at your disposal. This usually isn’t an issue for relatively tech-savvy users who are able to set-up and troubleshoot independently, but newer users might face difficulties. Bottom line: Great for technical users in search of a free solution with no need for advanced features like virtual sets, multi-streaming, and guest hosting.

Comes in two versions: XSplit Broadcaster and XSplit Gamecaster. Both versions have a clean, intuitive interface containing all the essential live streaming and recording capabilities with the Gamecaster version slightly stripped down to contain only the essentials needed for game streaming. Unlike OBS, XSplit offers technical support and releases occasional software updates to ensure customers are equipped with the latest features. You can also easily add community-created plugins to enhance the live streaming experience (such as the ability to monitor YouTube comments).

Unlike most other software, XSplit doesn’t include configuration presets for popular streaming destinations like YouTube and Twitch. Setting up XSplit therefore requires a bit of encoding knowledge, so if you’re not familiar with bitrates, keyframes, and audio encoding, you’ll definitely have some homework to do. Advanced users might take issue with XSplit’s limited number of recording formats (MP4 and FLV only), however more casual users likely won’t care. It’s also important to keep in mind that XSplit is available only on Windows, so Mac users will have to look for a live streaming solution elsewhere. XSplit isn’t free, however the cost is affordable. Users can pay a one-time fee or subscribe for annual payments (which amounts to a mere few dollars per month). Check out the XSplit pricing page for more info.

Bottom line: Affordable and easy to use, XSplit is an excellent basic live streaming software option for Windows users who prefer technical support, feature updates, and simple plugin customization – and who don’t mind needing to tinker with encoding settings. Telestream’s comes in two versions, Studio and Pro, that are priced at a professional level ($655 for the Studio version and $995 for the Pro version at the time of writing this article). You get loads of features for the price, such as having guests on your stream, unlimited capture and encoding of video sources, and the ability to stream to different servers and platforms simultaneously. The Pro version takes it a step further, with high-res ISO recording, live scoreboards, 3D virtual sets, more guests hosted on your stream, and more. You can test out all the features with a free trial, although Telestream includes a Wirecast watermark on all streams and recording you do (which can be bothersome). Another plus is that Telestream is a large company, so there’s always new Wirecast features, updates, and improvements in development, along with comprehensive technical support if you run into any difficulties.