StreamYard Alternatives 2026: 5 Options, 4 Free
StreamYard alternatives: Restream, OBS Studio, Riverside, Zoom and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 25, 2026.
•3 min read•Screen Recording & Streaming
Verdict:StreamYard runs browser-based live shows to several platforms, and people leave it for a free plan with fewer limits, a desktop tool, or a meeting room. Its free plan puts a StreamYard logo on streams and caps local recording at 2 hours a month, with 6 on-screen participants. Restream's free plan allows 2 channels at once with 6 participants and Restream branding, so the trade is channel count against logo. OBS Studio is free and open source under GPL-2.0-or-later, streaming from your own machine with no logo, but it has no remote guest recording, so guests must join another way. Jitsi Meet is a free Apache-2.0 meeting room you can self-host, though the public service limits meetings to 95 minutes from October 9, 2026. Zoom's Basic plan allows meetings up to 40 minutes with 100 participants, and Pro is $14.16 a month on annual billing. Riverside has no free plan and starts at $24 a month after a trial. Pick the tool that matches your audience: many platforms, one machine, or a room your guests already use.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restream | Free (stream to 2 channels at once, 6 on-screen participants in Restream Studio, Restream branding); paid from $19 per month, billed monthly (Standard) | Web | Streaming to two platforms at once | Docs only |
| OBS Studio | Free (open source, with no paid tier listed on its site) | Windows, macOS, Linux | Streaming from your own computer at no cost | Docs only |
| Riverside | Paid from $24 per month, billed yearly (Pro; $35 billed monthly) | Web | Recording remote guests for editing | Docs only |
| Zoom | Free (Basic plan: meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 participants, 3 AI meeting summaries a month, 5 clips of up to 2 minutes); paid from $14.16 per user/month, billed annually (Pro; $16.99 billed monthly) | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Hosting a meeting with guests you know | Docs only |
| Jitsi Meet | Free (free; meetings on meet.jit.si limited to 95 minutes from October 9, 2026) | Web browser, Self-hosted | A self-hosted meeting room with no fee | Docs only |
| Streamlabs | Free (Streamlabs Desktop is free and open source); paid from $15.75 per month (Ultra, listed as 'starts at') | Windows, macOS | Recording and streaming | Docs only |
| Castr | Paid from $19.99 per month, billed monthly (Starter, 6 multistream destinations; $16.67 a month billed annually) | Web | Live streaming | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
See the tools in action
Images from the linked documentation. Versions and features may differ from current plans.
Good fit if
- You want to stream to two platforms on a free plan (Restream is the pick)
- You want to stream from your own computer at no cost (OBS Studio is the pick)
- You want a self-hosted meeting room with no fee (Jitsi Meet is the pick)
- You host a meeting with guests you already know (Zoom is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on StreamYard features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
StreamYard today: Free (StreamYard logo on streams, 2 hours of local recordings a month and 6 on-screen participants); paid from $14.99 per month, billed yearly (Essential; $18.99 billed monthly) (StreamYard pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for StreamYard alternatives
StreamYard's free plan keeps the StreamYard logo on every stream and allows 2 hours of local recordings a month with 6 on-screen participants. Essential is $14.99 a month billed yearly ($18.99 monthly) and multistreams to only 2 destinations. Eight destinations, 4K local recordings and 15 backstage participants require Advanced at $68.99 yearly or $88.99 monthly, and the page notes prices vary with promotions and renewal terms.
Restream
Compared with StreamYard: Free plan streams to 2 channels at once with 6 on-screen participants and Restream branding. Versus StreamYard, whose free tier puts its logo on streams and allows 2 hours of local recording a month, you gain two-channel output and accept Restream branding instead.
Price: Free (stream to 2 channels at once, 6 on-screen participants in Restream Studio, Restream branding); paid from $19 per month, billed monthly (Standard) (Restream pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Streaming to two platforms at once.
OBS Studio
Compared with StreamYard: Free GPL-2.0-or-later broadcasting app with no paid tier listed. It streams from your own machine with no StreamYard logo, but it has no remote guest recording, so guests must join another way.
Price: Free (open source, with no paid tier listed on its site) (OBS Studio pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. GPL-2.0-or-later (open source).
Project activity: 78.4k GitHub stars · latest release 33.0.0 (Oct 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Streaming from your own computer at no cost.
Worth knowing: OBS records on your machine; it has no remote guest recording.
Riverside
Compared with StreamYard: No free plan, only a 14-day trial, then Pro at $24 a month on annual billing. Compared with StreamYard's free plan you pay before testing a live show, and Riverside is strongest when recording guests locally.
Price: Paid from $24 per month, billed yearly (Pro; $35 billed monthly) (Riverside pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Recording remote guests for editing.
Zoom
Compared with StreamYard: Basic free plan allows meetings up to 40 minutes with 100 participants. Pro is $14.16 a month on annual billing. Against StreamYard you keep a meeting most guests already know, but you lose its branded stream layout tools.
Price: Free (Basic plan: meetings up to 40 minutes and 100 participants, 3 AI meeting summaries a month, 5 clips of up to 2 minutes); paid from $14.16 per user/month, billed annually (Pro; $16.99 billed monthly) (Zoom pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Hosting a meeting with guests you know.
Jitsi Meet
Compared with StreamYard: Free Apache-2.0 video meeting software that you can self-host. The public meet.jit.si service limits meetings to 95 minutes from October 9, 2026. You gain a free room you control and lose StreamYard's multi-platform live output.
Price: Free (free; meetings on meet.jit.si limited to 95 minutes from October 9, 2026) (Jitsi Meet pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. Apache-2.0 (open source).
Project activity: 30.2k GitHub stars · latest release stable/jitsi-meet_11248 (Sep 14, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: A self-hosted meeting room with no fee.
Other popular options (paid)
Streamlabs
Compared with StreamYard: Streamlabs Desktop is free and open source, and Ultra is $27 a month. You gain a more customizable OBS-style studio with overlays, but a heavier desktop setup than StreamYard's browser studio.
Price: Free (Streamlabs Desktop is free and open source); paid from $15.75 per month (Ultra, listed as 'starts at') (Streamlabs pricing, checked 2026-10-25).
Castr
Compared with StreamYard: No free plan; Starter is $19.99 a month billed monthly ($16.67 annually) with 6 multistream destinations, against StreamYard Essential's 2. Built for multistreaming, with fewer guest-interview features than StreamYard.
Price: Paid from $19.99 per month, billed monthly (Starter, 6 multistream destinations; $16.67 a month billed annually) (Castr pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want to stream to two platforms on a free plan: Restream
- You want to stream from your own computer at no cost: OBS Studio
- You want a self-hosted meeting room with no fee: Jitsi Meet
- You host a meeting with guests you already know: Zoom
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Restream, OBS Studio, Riverside, Zoom, Jitsi Meet: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from StreamYard. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-25: StreamYard, Restream, OBS Studio, Riverside, Zoom, Jitsi Meet, Streamlabs, Castr. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.