- In this video, we'll look at the latest
Mac livestreaming software, a roundup,
and a review of the leading options
and my pick for the best livestreaming software
on Mac right now.
(upbeat electronic music)
Hey it's Justin Brown here from Primal Video
where we help you amplify your business
and brand with video.
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and all the links to everything we mention in this video
will be down in the description box below.
Let's jump into it.
Now whether you're looking to go live on YouTube,
Facebook, Periscope, Twitch,
or pretty much any other major platform,
there are a lot of software options right now
to help you do it.
They're also constantly updating and improving,
which is awesome.
So in this video, we're gonna run through a quick review
of the leading options right now one by one
including the strengths, the weaknesses, the pricing,
my recommendations, and everything that you need to know
to pick the best option for you.
So I'm gonna start off first by covering off
on the software options,
the programs that you'll actually download
and install on you computer,
and then make sure you stick around because after that
I'm gonna show you some newer options
that just run in your web browser,
and some of these are an absolute game changer.
So with that 2D landscape
of all of these options is getting very saturated,
but we'll jump straight into the shortlist,
and we're gonna ignore the options
that aren't worth your time.
So our shortlist for best livestreaming software on Mac
includes, OBS, Ecamm Live, Wirecast, Zoom,
Be.Live, StreamYard, and Lightstream,
and we'll jump in and take a look at each one of these now.
So the first option is OBS, or Open Broadcaster Software.
Now this is totally free,
and it's available on both Mac and PC.
Now this is probably one of the most
popular solutions out there
when it comes to livestreaming software
maybe because of the price
but also because of the feature set.
This is definitely on the more advanced side of things
in regards to the level of control
and everything that you have over your livestream.
That's not to say that it isn't good
for an absolute beginner as well,
but there definitely is a learning curve
as the overall user interface
and experience isn't really intuitive.
Now, OBS make it easy enough to set up different scenes
for your livestream, so you might have a scene
where it's your webcam fullscreen,
a second scene might be your computer screen share.
So they make it easy enough to set these up
and tailor up the look and feel
but also to switch between them easily while you're live.
So OBS gives you lots of advanced controls over the setup
of your livestreams but there's no wizards
or step-by-step setup pathways.
There's also no presets or templates
that you can quickly use and apply
for broadcasting to places like YouTube and Facebook
with the recommend settings.
You actually have to and do a little bit of research
and look and see what those settings are
and what YouTube recommends, and what Facebook recommends,
or Twitch, or any other platform,
and key those in manually into OBS.
So it's not a deal breaker,
but it definitely doesn't have a lot of the presets
and templates and those sorts of things
that make it much easier to get up to speed
than some of the other options that we're going to cover.
But in saying that as well,
a lot of the other options that we're gonna cover
that have those presets and set templates
don't have the level of control
that you can customize things up
as much as you can inside of OBS.
Now one big advantage with OBS, though,
is that you've got a massive plugins library,
so have all these bolt-in tools and add-ons that you can get
to take your livestreams up a notch
adding in things like social media integration
and interaction so that you can bring in your comments
from places like Facebook or YouTube
and overlay them easily into your livestreams.
Some of the other options we're gonna cover
already have some of those things built-in,
but just know that there is a massive library
of plugins and bolt-ons for OBS
to really be able to get more power out of it
and to be able to customize it up
for what you're looking to achieve.
And also given that it is such a popular option
and that it is opensource,
there's also an amazing community there for support
if you've got any issues.
So if you're an absolute beginner,
or someone who just wants to get
up to speed livestreaming fast,
OBS could be a little bit overwhelming,
and you definitely will need to put in some time
to learn where everything is and to get everything set up.
The next option we've got is Ecamm Live.
Now this one is Mac only, there is no PC option of this.
But I would say this is one of the best
bang-for-buck options out there right now.
The amount of advanced features and functionality
that they have packed into this while still keeping it
really, really intuitive and really, really easy to use
is just insane.
This is one of those programs
where even if you're an absolute beginner
and someone who's not so tech-savvy,
you could easily up to speed really, really quickly
and be livestreaming
and have an awesome looking livestream.
Having the ability to bring in
comments from people on YouTube or Facebook,
to be able to interact with them live,
to be able to pick up and move titles and things around,
but also to be able to easily bring in guests
into your livestream.
There is direct integration inside of Ecamm Live with Skype,
and this will allow you to bring in up to five guests.
And you could easily change the layout
and switch things up while you're live
literally with a click of a button.
But just like OBS, you also have the ability to set up
and customize up different scenes
to switch between different scenes while you're live.
Now, one of the stand out features for me
besides everything that I've already mentioned
is while you're screen sharing,
you also have the ability just to pinch-to-zoom
on your track pad or on your mouse
to zoom in on certain areas of your computer screen
to really make it easy for your viewers
to follow along with what it is your showing them
if you're sharing your computer screen.
That is a huge feature.
To do that in some of the more advanced
and more professional software, like Wirecast,
which we will get to, you've really gotta dive into menus
and things to be able to scale it up while you're live,
which makes it very clunky, but with this,
it's literally a pinch-to-zoom on your mouse,
or on your track pad, and you're able to do it.
Now, we are definitely not gonna cover off
on all the features inside of Ecamm Live.
We have done a full walkthrough on Ecamm Live,
and I will link it up in the cards,
but just know that it is one of the best bang-for-buck
livestreaming programs out there right now.
Now in regards to pricing, they've recently moved
from a one-time fixed fee to a subscription-based model.
You can pick up the standard license for $12 per month
or the professional license for $20 per month,
which is crazy cheap.
And really, unless you need those specifically need
some of those advanced features, I would say most people
would easy be able to get away with the $12 per month.
For me personally though, I go with the Pro plan
because it's got the virtual camera out
but also 'cause it's got the realtime bandwidth monitoring
as well which the inner geek in me really likes.
So Ecamm Live will be perfect for anyone,
whether you're an absolute beginner
and never livestreamed before,
right through to someone who is a professional livestreamer,
just given the ease of use
but also the amount of features
and control that you have in there.
The next option is Zoom.
Now, Zoom will work on both Mac and PC.
Now, it's not really livestreaming software,
instead it's more video conferencing software
that can livestream.
Feature-wise, it probably has the least amount of features
of all the options we're covering,
but that also means
&it's going to be really, really easy to use.
You can easily stream to places like Facebook and YouTube,
and you can share your computer screen.
But probably the biggest feature
is the ability to not just bring in one or two guests
into your livestream,
but because it's video conferencing software,
you actually can instead go live with your entire call
of up to 100 people who are on live with you.
So if you're creating livestreams
where you wanna be able to bring people in easily
and not be restricted by numbers,
then this is really the best option.
While you're live,
you'll get to choose between a Speaker View,
which is where it'll automatically switch between
the active speaker or whoever is speaking,
or a gallery view, which is really a Brady Bunch style view
with a number of people displayed in a grid
on-screen all at once.
As for the downsides,
besides the limited controls and functionality,
probably the biggest one is while you can stream
out of Zoom, you can't read or respond to comments
or interactions from your streams from within Zoom.
So you'll need to head over to Facebook, or to YouTube,
or to wherever you're streaming
to be able to see all the comments and all the interactions
and to interact with your viewers there.
So it's not a real deal breaker,
but it would be awesome if the chat was integrated
inside of Zoom as well.
Now, in regards to pricing,
to be able to livestream from Zoom,
you will need the Pro plan, which is 14.99 per month.
So Zoom is gonna be perfect for anyone looking for something
easy to use where you can easily bring in
and manage multiple guests on the stream
without all the bells and whistles included
in a lot of the other options.
The next option is Wirecast.
Now, this is definitely more
on the much more professional end of things
than all of the other options so far.
The interface itself is, actually, really easy to use.
It's pretty easy to get your head around how it all works
and how to get up to speed and setup
and running with it fast.
I've done a lot of high end corporate livestreams
in my time, and Wirecast has been a rock-solid solution
for all of them.
One of the big advantages with Wirecast,
and I did just touch on it,
is it's got all of these advanced features and things,
which is awesome.
So you really know that you're covered,
and you've got a complete solution with Wirecast.
But it's also really, really intuitive
and easy to find things,
and I think that is a critical distinction
between something like Wirecast and something like OBS,
which also has a heap of advanced control and functionality,
but if you're at a pinch and something goes wrong
while you're live, and yes, this stuff does happen,
it's much quicker, much easier,
and much more stress-free finding and fixing these things
in Wirecast than it is something like OBS
where you're just going through menus and menus
just trying to find and fix things.
So that is a massive advantage
as far as I'm concerned for Wirecast.
Now in regards to pricing,
you've got a few different options.
There is actually a free version called Wirecast Play.
I don't recommend that one.
That one is YouTube only, and there's some big limitations.
The ones that I'm talking about are Wirecast One,
Wirecast Studio, and Wirecast Pro.
Wirecast One sells for $249,
and that will let you broadcast out to one destination,
like Facebook or YouTube.
The next one up from that, Studio,
which is the one that I would recommend for most people,
is $449, and that would unlock a heap of extra features
and also have the ability to bring in two guests.
So Wirecast does have its own guesting feature
to be able to bring in guests to your livestream.
And above that is the Pro license for $699
letting you bring up to seven guests
and unlocking all of the advanced features,
that's advanced audio processing, PTZ,
camera control, instant replay,
and a whole heap of other really advanced features.
So Wirecast is gonna be a great option
for someone who is looking for something
that is easy enough to use but still has
all of the advanced professional broadcast features
to be able to do some really high end stuff.
But even if you're just looking to create
more straightforward and more simple livestreams,
this is gonna be a rock solid solution
that's gonna be easy enough for you to use and to master
and to get really comfortable with.
So that's it for Mac livestreaming software
that you actually download and install on your computer.
The next ones that we're gonna cover are browser-based,
ones that you run on your internet browser,
and these are pretty exciting.
So the first one we're gonna cover
has been around a little while now, but it's called Be.Live.
Now, this one is probably one of the simplest
livestreaming programs to use, full stop.
You literally just sign up and log into the website,
and then you're presented with three streaming modes,
or three streaming options.
You can choose to go live Solo,
by yourself where you still got the ability
to share your computer screen,
you can do an interview livestream
where you're able to bring someone in with you,
or you can select to do a Talk Show
where you can bring in multiple guests.
And the cool part about this is
your guest to come and join on the livestream
doesn't need to have an account or anything.
They can join from their mobile or from their computer.
If you wanna bring more than one person
into your livestream,
that's when you'll be selecting Talk Show,
and you can have up to four people
on the livestream at one time, yourself included.
But you can also have up to 10 guests
that are waiting in the lobby,
like the green where you can switch people in and out.
Now it's really easy in Be.Live
to bring up any text on-screen or titles on-screen.
You can actually create all the titles ahead of time
before you go live, and then you just click on them
and they'll be featured on-screen.
It's also really easy to bring in and feature comments
from your views on Facebook as well.
This was on of the first platforms that had this feature
to be able to bring in and feature comments
live on your livestream.
You literally just click on the comment,
it's featured on-screen, and you click on it again
to hide it, and it's gone.
Now, as for downsides with Be.Live,
up until recently you could only use it to broadcast live
to Facebook Live and no other platform, but right now,
they've also added integration for Twitch.
So you can't use it with YouTube,
you can't use it with any other platform,
you've got Twitch and Facebook, and that is it for now.
Now in regards to pricing, there is a free plan,
which gives you two 20 minute broadcasts per week,
totally free.
There's also a Lite plan at $16 per month,
which doesn't include screen sharing,
but it does let you do 16 broadcasts per month,
or there is a Standard plan $25 a month,
unlimited broadcasting with screen sharing capabilities
and some custom branded frames as well.
So Be.Live is a solid option for someone,
whether you're a absolute beginner,
first time livestreamer,
right through to someone who is a seasoned pro
but someone who is not looking
for all the bells and whistles.
Someone who literally wants to click a few buttons, go live,
maybe bring a few people in,
this will be a great solution for you.
Now, if you're looking for something similar
but with more advanced control,
that's what the next two options are.
So the next option is StreamYard,
and it is very similar to Be.Live but really on steroids.
You got so much more control over the look
and feel of the broadcast, you can totally customize up
the titles and the branding and everything
to really make it look like your brand.
Unlike Be.Live, you can use StreamYard
to broadcast to more places, things like Twitter, Periscope,
YouTube, as well as Facebook and Twitch as well.
You can also have up to six people
on your livestream with you.
10 of them can enter what they call the Broadcast Studio,
or the green room, and be swapped in and out,
but you can bring on up to six on-screen at a time.
One of the features I really like in StreamYard
is that it is kind of theme and template based,
similar to Be.Live where you've got the ability
just to click on some different presets
like 50/50 camera split, or like you off to one side
and your screen share on the other side.
There's templates set up for different scenes,
but it literally is click of a button
and it's going to change your scene to those things.
Now, they're not highly customizable at all,
but this is the next level on that scene integration
and swapping up things while you're live
than you get in Be.Live,
and it is super powerful in StreamYard.
In regards to pricing, there is a free version,
which will add a watermark or branding onto your livestream.
You can remove that if you upgrade to the Basic plan
for $20 per month.
You can also then customize that up
and add in your own logo,
and you can also add overlays and backgrounds
and those sorts of things in there as well.
Up from that they have a professional plan
for $39 per month, which really just gives you access
to priority support.
So this is a really great option, again,
for someone absolute beginner right through to advanced,
someone who is looking to be able to bring in guests easy,
to easily be able to set up your livestreams
and go live without too much technical knowledge
or without a heap of advanced features.
I think this is a really powerful option.
And that brings us to the final option which is Lightstream.
Now, this one I think is also a bit of a game changer.
Compared to all the other ones we have covered,
this is closest to StreamYard,
but I would say that I has more features
and more advanced features and control than StreamYard.
Now, just like Be.Live and StreamYard,
this one runs in your browser as well.
But you do also have the option to download this software,
or their local client, as they call it,
to unlock more advanced features.
Just like StreamYard, you're able to go live
to pretty much all the major platforms out there,
Facebook, Twitter, Periscope, YouTube, you name it.
And also like the others, it is super easy to invite
and bring guests into your livestream as well.
Now, you can currently bring in up to
seven additional guests,
making it a total of eight people live on your livestream.
There's also a really cool feature with Lightstream
where you're able to login from your phone
and control your livestream
to be able to start and stop the stream,
to be able to switch the different scenes
that you've got set up all from your mobile device,
so you're not touching your computer while you're live.
Now, this is a fairly new offering,
and they're still rolling out new features.
There is currently no full HD, no 1080P,
but you can do 720P at 60 frames per second,
where they've said that 1080P will be out soon.
And they'll also be very shortly adding in the ability
to stream your video files as well,
so you can playback a video live in your livestream,
which was a feature they had, but they've removed it,
but again, they've said that they're coming back soon.
Now in regards to the amount of control
and customizing out the look and feel,
especially compared to Be.Live and StreamYard,
you'll actually get a lot more control in Lightstream
than the other two.
You can really dial everything in and customize it up
and make it look amazing,
and also, make it match your brand as well.
So while this is kind of the new kid on the block
in this space and it is missing a couple of features,
like your full HD livestreaming
and the ability to playback videos in your stream,
out of these last three,
this is the one that I am the most excited about.
I really like what they're doing,
and I think this is the one to watch.
Now in regards to pricing, Lightstream is free.
Now, I'm gonna read this out so I don't mess it up.
Streaming with Lightstream is free
and will always remain free, but premium features may arrive
with a price point in the future.
So Lightstream is going to be good solution
for someone who looking for a simple
but advanced livestreaming platform
that you can run from your web browser
without the need to get caught up in a heap of settings
and technical stuff to be able to bring guests in
and set up your livestream and everything.
As I said, I really think this is the one to watch
moving forward, especially when they bring out
full 1080 support and also bring back
that video file streaming feature as well.
So that's the roundup of the top livestreaming programs
on Mac right now.
Now with anything like this,
I would strongly recommend that you grab eh trial versions
and at least try out a couple of these
that you think are going to be the fit for you,
and it really is just a matter of finding the right tool
to get the job done.
So test a couple, see which one is a fit for you,
and use that.
There is no right or wrong with this stuff.
And again, we've got the links down in the description below
to where you can grab those trial versions.
But for me, personally, when I'm livestreaming on Mac,
hands down, I'm gonna be using Ecamm Live.
I just really think it's the complete package,
and that's coming from someone who has used Wirecast
and really advanced software for a long time.
My go-to now is Ecamm Live.
And I just think it is the crazy, awesome package,
best bang-for-buck by a long shot.
But I'm also keeping a close eye on Lightstream,
and I really think that that is going to be
an absolute game changer as well.
So those are the best options for livestreaming right now.
Now, one of the great ways to maximize your livestreams
is to repurpose your content after you have been live.
Check out the video linked on screen now
showing you the best ways to repurpose your video content
for portrait for places like Instagram TV,
and I'll see you in the next one.