Meld Studio vs OBS Studio

Meld Studio is a desktop app for streaming and recording, with a free plan and paid plans. It can stream simultaneously to services including Twitch, YouTube, Kick, TikTok Live, Facebook Live, and custom RTMP destinations. Recording supports 4K, multitrack audio, and instant replay. The audio mixer handles up to 32 input channels, with built-in filters, real-time monitoring, and third-party audio plugins. Scenes can be mirrored to apps such as Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, and Discord. Listed integrations include Stream Deck, VTube Studio, Spout2, VSeeFace, VNyan, Veadotube, Warudo, Elgato, Streamer.bot, Lumia Stream, and Mix It Up. Meld Studio runs on Windows 10 or later and macOS 12 or later, including Intel and Apple Silicon Macs; it is not browser-based. The maker says the free plan has no watermarks or time limits, though Spark requests to try building are limited. Meld Free costs nothing, Meld Pro costs $20 a month, and Meld Max costs $60 a month. Desktop content is stored locally; the app sends crash reports and collects usage telemetry.

OBS Studio is free, open-source software for video recording and live streaming on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It captures and mixes video and audio from windows, images, text, browser windows, webcams, and capture cards. Users can arrange unlimited scenes, switch with customizable transitions, and preview scenes and sources in Studio Mode before going live. Multiview can monitor eight scenes. The audio mixer has per-source filters, with VST plugin support, and hotkeys cover many recording and streaming actions. An API, native plugins, and Lua or Python scripts provide ways to extend the software. OBS supports streaming platforms including Twitch and YouTube, and streams connect directly from a user’s computer to the service. It is distributed under GPLv2 and may be used commercially subject to the license terms. The download page lists Windows 10 and 11 support, macOS 13.0 or newer, and Linux distribution through Flathub or an Ubuntu 24.04-or-newer PPA. The listed plan costs nothing, with no watermarks or usage limitations.