I’m gonna talk about 3 different aspects of streaming for beginners. The streaming software, the alerts services, and the streaming platforms. I wanted to write this and categorize the different software/services that exist.
Streaming Software
There are a few different streaming software options. All basically do the same thing of giving you a canvas where you put your video feeds, overlays, gameplay, alerts, etc… and then sending that video of the canvas to be streamed.
As of right now, the main streaming software people use most is OBS Studio, StreamLabs OBS, Meld Studio, and Twitch Studio. I’m sure there’s others and there are always new ones popping up.
OBS STUDIO
I use OBS Studio and think everyone should, it is fantastic. It can be a bit intimidating and complex at times, but I can say with complete confidence that it will be around in 5 years and once you learn to use it you will not switch to another. A lot of functionality is added to OBS through plug-ins, just a heads up if you don’t want to get into all that.
As almost all browsers are just forks of Chrome browser and dressed up a little differently. Most other streaming software is just a fork of OBS and dressed up differently.
STREAMLABS OBS
StreamLabs OBS or SLOBS is a fork of OBS and I would avoid it. It’s just a lesser OBS that is meant to capture you into their ecosystem and make you pay money. You can and should avoid it.
MELD STUDIO
I’ve never used Meld Studio but from what I gather it’s a simplified OBS that’s geared towards streaming gaming. Where OBS is used for many things other than streaming games on Twitch, or YouTube. It looks interesting and I am curious about it, but like I said, I have no interest or reason to switch away from OBS at the moment. If you are just looking to stream games and don’t want the learning curve and complexity of OBS this might be a good option.
TWITCH STUDIO
Twitch Studio is Twitch’s own software. I have a lot of customers ask me if our products work with Twitch Studio so a fair amount of people seem to use it. If you are only interested in streaming on Twitch and value simplicity over control, this may be a good option for you. However, as I’m writing this in Dec 2025 it may not be the best option to put all your eggs in the Twitch basket.
Cost of switching: Very High. The option you choose for this is one you will probably stick to for a while.
Alert Services
These are services that you link to your streaming account, your Twitch, your YouTube account and they will then listen for and handle events like a follow, a donation, a subscriber, a raid, etc… and then play a video or show an image or whatever when one of those things happens.
StreamElements & Streamlabs
StreamElements is the service that I use and the platform that I use to develop our overlay games and widgets. Big fan of it. They are constantly updating and adding new features. But if I’m being honest, the service that you choose doesn’t really matter. They both do the same thing and the cost of switching is very low.
I have both StreamElements and Streamlabs Browser Source overlays in my setup, they both do the same thing.
StreamLabs is the company, the alert service and they have their own streaming software that is StreamLabs OBS, or SLOBS. That is a distinction many people get confused about. You can use the alert service without the streaming software, and vice versa….but don’t. Stay away from SLOBS.
Cost of switching: Low. You can switch back and forth, use both, very easily.
Streaming Platforms
This is the place that you stream to, Twitch, YouTube, Kick, etc... 5 years ago it was all Twitch and streaming to multiple platforms wasn’t a thing. Things have changed a lot though.
I don’t really have much to say about the different platforms. It’s so easy to multistream now that unless you have a good reason not to, I think you should be streaming to Twitch, YouTube and Kick all at the same time.
My experience with them is more from a development perspective. I can say Twitch is the most open with developers so more things get made for Twitch. YouTube is more closed and difficult to develop for.
Cost of switching: Low. Multistreaming is very easy now, and is becoming the norm.
My ‘Tech Stack’ For Streaming
I use OBS Studio, StreamElements and multistream. I do lots of advanced work in OBS Studio, so if you just wanna stream in a simple way, try Meld Studio. But I think the most important thing with all this stuff is to just start. You have to actually ‘do’ to learn anything.