Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover screen recording. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| OBS Studio | Zight | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $9.95 |
| Pricing model | Free | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | One-time purchase | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | None | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | macOS, Windows, Linux | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS |
| Covers | Screen Recording, Live Streaming | Screen Recording, Media Storage & Review |
| Works with | YouTube, Twitch | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
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
Screenshots and screen recordings with links
Zight, which spent years as CloudApp, captures a screenshot or a short recording and hands back a link before the file has finished uploading. Annotation, GIF capture and a searchable library are the reasons people keep it in the menu bar. The free plan caps recording length and storage, and the cap arrives sooner than expected.
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.