Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover live streaming. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| StreamYard | Wirecast | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $44.99 | From $495 |
| Pricing model | Free plan, paid tiers | One-time purchase |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | One-time purchase |
| Free trial | 7 days | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web | macOS, Windows |
| Covers | Live Streaming, Video Hosting | Live Streaming, Video Editing |
| Works with | YouTube, Twitch, LinkedIn, Facebook | YouTube, Twitch, Facebook |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | 1 | None right now |
Go live to several places from a browser tab
StreamYard runs a live show from a browser with no software to install, which is why it is the default for interview streams and for guests who will not download anything. Multistreaming to several destinations is the feature people pay for. Anybody who wants scenes, plugins and local capture is describing OBS instead.
Only on this side
Desktop live production bought once, not rented
Wirecast has been Telestream's live production software for long enough that the broadcast world treats it as furniture: unlimited inputs, scoreboards, instant replay, and streaming to several destinations at once. It is sold as a licence rather than a subscription, in two tiers where the dearer one adds replay and higher-end output. Against free software like OBS the case is support, stability and the features a paid crew expects to find.
Our note
The honest comparison is OBS Studio, which is free and does most of this. Pay for Wirecast when somebody needs to call support during a live event, or when replay and scoreboards are part of the job.
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.