There's no need to splash the cash if you're wanting to start a new hobby (or even career) with some of the best free streaming software. Whether you're a budding content creator or want to try your hand at editing and live streaming, our definitive list goes through the top options available in 2025, many of which pair nicely with the best free screen recorders and the best audio editors as well.
Our top pick for the best free streaming software is OBS for its lightweight UI, powerful production tools, ease of use, versatility, and integration with many popular platforms straight from the jump, such as YouTube and Twitch. In particular, it excels with its gallery-style scene selector and widget-based approach for adding chat boxes, sources, donation buttons, and other on-screen prompts that have made it a consistently popular option for amateur and pro streamers for over a decade.
With that said, we've also included many OBS alternatives that have different features and varying UI so that you've got the full picture on streaming software options in 2025. Some software will work better with weaker hardware, others excel on the best gaming laptops and the best computers, and, while every program in our list can be downloaded for free, there's (usually) the option for premium plans and in-app purchases, depending on what you want to do with your footage, especially multi-streaming (or mirroring) across YouTube, Kick, Twitch, and others. It will also depend on your operating system, as well, with Windows 11 and Mac offerings.
Best free streaming software in 2025
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Best free streaming software overall
OBS Studio is a free open source streaming application that works on Windows, Macs and Linux. It brings many tools to the table, to help you create a great experience for your viewers, whether you broadcast live or record for later publishing.
It’s designed around scenes which you populate with various input sources (such as a microphone, webcam, watermarks, images, videos, etc). You can easily switch from one scene to the other with ease, and even apply transitions automatically when doing so.
There’s a lot of great flexibility, but it isn’t the most user friendly piece of software. In an earlier review, we hailed it as "the most powerful free screen recorder and streaming tool available for gamers, with everything you need to achieve professional results. It might take a little while to familiarize yourself with its interface, but the effort will pay off."
And not much has altered since to change our minds. When we recently returned to OBS Studio, we still felt it was a great streaming tool, but hampered by glitches and an interface that’s overwhelming to newcomers. On the other hand, we thought it “possesses many tools to help you create great content.”
At least OBS Studio is free, making it worth consideration when setting up your streaming studio. You may well find that you love what you can do with it.
Read our full OBS Studio review.
Best free streaming software for beginners
Streamlabs OBS is one of the top OBS Studio alternatives, since it's built the same foundation as the best free streaming software itself. Only, it comes with a more user-friendly mask over the still-powerful tool.
Like its more advanced counterpart, the program is completely free and open-source. That means plenty of community contributions, but no real support.
Streamlabs offers claims to offer improved performance via automatic optimization, though the difference in our tests was negligible.
With a cleaner interface than OBS Studio, Streamlabs is a good choice for beginners and first-time streamers. However, if you're already happy using OBS Studio, there's little advantage in switching.
As the streaming tool continues to evolve, it'll be interesting to see how it diverges further from OBS Studio in the future. But for the moment there's little difference between the two.
Best free streaming software for games
If you just want to play games, Nvidia Shadowplay is one of the best free streaming software tools for you.
You may have already come across it, since it's bundled with GeForce graphics cards. And it has a major advantage over most streaming software: it encodes in the GPU rather than the CPU, meaning it has negligible impact on performance,
However, Shadowplay far less flexible than OBS Studio. There are no overlays or multi-sources scenes – just the game itself.
That makes it perfect for those only streaming gameplay - it certainly gets the job done. If you want to create something more sophisticated then you'll be better off with OBS Studio – particularly since you can set the top streaming app to use Nvidia's NVENC encoding.
Shadowplay's video recording and screengrab tools are excellent, but streaming isn't its strongest suit.
We've also listed the best video editing laptops.
Best free streaming software FAQs
What is the best free streaming software?
While all the free streaming software in our list is well worth downloading and experimenting with, we believe that OBS is the best of the lot for its high-quality streaming options, lightweight UI, and versatility.
How to choose the best free streaming software for you
When deciding which free streaming software is best for you, start with what you’re going to stream. Streaming games is massively popular, so many of the top streaming apps, like OBS Studio, Xsplit Gamecaster, and Nvidia Shadowplay, are centered around gamers.
Next, choose what level of production you want. Shadowplay is great for just getting your gamestream up and running, but lacks a lot of other features. While OBS Studio offers professional results, but comes with a steeper learning curve. If you want flashy, eye-catching streams, you’ll swiftly outgrow more basic streaming software.
Be honest about your experience level. If you’ve never tried free streaming software before, first try a simple tool like Streamlabs OBS. It offers a good entry into streaming and covers the basics, letting you master more advanced tools.
Finally, be subjective. Select the streaming app that feels right for you - the one that matches your own unique, creative flow.
How we test free streaming software
Just like our readers, we want to know which streaming software is best - so we put each one through its paces, judged against the same criteria that really matters to users.
Free should mean free - no hidden costs or credit card details required. It’s the first factor we review. All of the best free streaming software in our round-up won’t cost a penny.
The best free streaming software should be easy to use. The interface should be clean, intuitive, simple to navigate. Even more advanced streaming apps, like OBS Studio, should be accessible and clear how to master the tool.
Performance matters, and we want to see streaming tools that work well across a range of devices, without stuttering or otherwise interfering with the capture.
User intent is important. Streaming tools are built for lots of different audiences and uses, and we check to see how well it meets the expectations and needs of its target market. For example, the Streamlabs OBS streaming software is great for beginners, but unfit for high-end, professional productions. But both are excellent in their own way.
We've also featured the best gaming PC.
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