Choosing the right streaming software can be a crucial step when you are about to begin your streaming career. Once you have decided on the perfect choice, changing to a different one can seem complicated.
In the streaming world, the two most popular options for live streaming software are Twitch Studio and OBS. Almost every streamer and content creator uses one of these to work through their streaming needs.
Since choosing the right software requires a ton of research, we have curated a detailed article focusing on the two types of software in length. This article will help streamers pick the suitable option for their particular uses, from their features and functionality to their differences.
So let’s have a detailed look into Twitch Studio Vs. OBS and what features these two offer.
What Is Twitch Studio?
Twitch studio was first introduced at the Twitch Con 2019. It is a free tool that allows streamers to optimize their streams, view chat, check activity feeds, get alerts, and more. It is designed for beginners to have easier control over their streams.
The software is quite functional and also gives off a captivating look. It is supported by Mac OS and Windows systems and is perfect for tweaking your microphone settings, webcam, green screen, and bitrate to help you get the best out of your streams.
Whether starting your career as a Twitch streamer or already well-established, Twitch Studio can be a great sidekick for all your streaming needs. It will make your streams easier to work around while ensuring user-friendliness.
Salient Features
- Easy-to-navigate UI makes it easier for beginners to get started.
- Users can pay to get access to more plugins and multiple feature integrations.
- Automatically find the best user settings based on your system.
- Twitch broadcasts can now make use of integrated scene management.
- The highest quality for recording and streaming real-time gameplay on the service.
- Use the integrated chat and notification capabilities on your Twitch account.
- The user interface is straightforward, which is excellent for newcomers.
What is OBS Studio?
Even if you are a new streamer, there’s a good chance you have heard about OBS, also called Open Broadcaster Software. It is a high-performance broadcasting software used to perform all modern streaming needs.
OBS was released in 2012 and, since then, has quickly gained a ton of users. What makes it unique is its open source meaning developers can create and customize incredible effects and resolve bugs and glitches by reviewing the code at any instant.
It also offers a fully customizable interface allowing users to drag and drop every element of their workspace. Plus, thanks to the program’s flexibility, you can adjust the frame rate and other settings to your liking.
The OBS studio also doesn’t heavily load your CPU usage to ensure that your streams achieve the smoothest quality by using your computer hardware properly. It supports live streaming on almost every central platform, including Twitch, Facebook Live, and Youtube Live. It is also compatible with macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Salient Features
- Livestream to multiple platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook.
- Supports various platforms, including Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS.
- Making the most efficient use of hardware with no adverse effect on performance.
- Hundreds of different plugins can be incorporated thanks to open-source development.
- Stream Organization can be altered from its look and feel to its audio and video quality.
- Maintains its high quality over time with consistent updates and support for a wide variety of streaming devices.
Difference Between Twitch Studio vs. OBS
- Twitch Support
Firstly, the most critical difference between the two is that Twitch Studio is made for Twitch only, meaning you can’t stream to any other platform like YouTube or Facebook. This can be a big drawback for content creators who wants their content to be seen on a larger scale.
On the contrary, with OBS studio, you can broadcast your streams anywhere, allowing streamers to showcase their skills over multiple platforms to many users.
- Interface and Functionality
Another significant difference between the two is their functionality. Twitch Studio focuses on beginners with fewer and simple functions, an automatic setup based on your system, and easy installation.
On the other hand, OBS studio offers much more complete control over your streams by allowing you to choose from hundreds of different plugins. These plugins can be as minimal as an extra feature or as extensive as allowing you to do anything you want in your live stream.
- Performance Usage
After having a detailed test to see which software impacted the most PC resources, it’s clear that Twitch Studio takes up a major chunk of CPU usage and RAM. It also had quite a high power usage.
With OBS, these results were on the opposite side as it used less CPU usage, RAM and had significantly low power usage. However, these results were tested with no plugins installed on OBS, so it’s best not to overdo them, as they can affect your performance.
Twitch Studio vs OBS – The Winner?
Based on the above differences, it’s pretty clear that OBS is the winner in terms of performance and functionality. Yet, Twitch Studio is the right choice if you are starting as a professional live streamer and don’t want to confuse yourself with complex features like transitions, alerts, and donations.
Conclusion
Twitch Studio and OBS each have advantages and drawbacks you should consider when making the final decision. A lot contributes to deciding which live-streaming software is best for your needs. What is suitable for one person might not be the best option for someone else. Yet, after going through this article, you should have a thorough insight into the two most widely used streaming software.
