Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover live streaming and screen recording. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Ecamm Live | OBS Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $16 | Free |
| Pricing model | Free trial, then paid | Free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Billing | Annual only | One-time purchase |
| Free trial | 14 days | None |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | macOS | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Covers | Live Streaming, Screen Recording | Screen Recording, Live Streaming |
| Works with | YouTube, Facebook | YouTube, Twitch |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Live streaming and recording, Mac only
Ecamm Live is what a Mac-based show runs on when OBS is more configuration than the host wants: scenes, guests, overlays, camera control and a recording of it all, in a window that behaves like a Mac app. Multi-camera and interview layouts are the reasons podcasters pick it. It exists only for macOS, which settles the decision either way.
Only on this side
Free and open source streaming and recording
OBS is what most of the streams you watch are running, and it costs nothing because it is a volunteer project rather than a business with a free tier. Scenes, sources, filters and a real audio mixer are all there, along with plugin support. Nothing about it is friendly on the first evening, and the settings that decide whether your stream looks good are the ones with no explanation next to them.
Our note
Every paid streaming tool in this catalog is, in part, selling you an escape from OBS's settings panel. That is a real thing to buy if your time is worth more than the evening. If it is not, OBS does everything they do and costs nothing.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.