Last updated: 2026-01-19

For most creators in the U.S., the best screen recording setup for Instagram Live is to stream and record in portrait directly through StreamYard, then repurpose the replay everywhere else. If you need a free, highly technical desktop setup, OBS can work, and Loom is useful for quick follow-up screen recordings rather than the live show itself.

Summary

• StreamYard gives you a browser-based studio with portrait (9:16) mode, direct Instagram Live support for Professional accounts, and automatic recording on paid plans.
• OBS is a free desktop app with deep control and no vendor time caps, but it demands more setup and stronger hardware. (OBS Project)
• Loom is tuned for short, async screen shares; its free plan caps recordings at 5 minutes and 25 videos, which limits its use for full Instagram Lives. (Loom)
• For most Instagram Live creators who want fast setup, reliable recording, and easy repurposing, starting in StreamYard is the most practical path.

What should you look for in screen recording software for Instagram Live?

When you say “best” here, you’re usually asking for two outcomes: a smooth, vertical Instagram Live that doesn’t break, and a clean recording you can reuse on Reels, Shorts, YouTube, or email.

To get that, your software needs to:

• Stream or record in vertical 9:16 so it matches Instagram’s canvas.
• Capture both your screen and your camera in a clear, presenter-led layout.
• Record the session automatically (ideally both in the cloud and locally for backup).
• Handle typical laptops gracefully without demanding a gaming GPU or complex encoder tuning.
• Make reuse simple—export, trim, and upload the replay without wrestling with formats.

That’s the bar we’ll use to compare StreamYard, OBS, and Loom.

How does StreamYard handle Instagram Live screen recording?

At StreamYard, we built the studio to feel like a live show control room that lives in your browser. For Instagram Live, that matters because you’re usually juggling chat, comments, and on-screen demos while staying vertical.

A few key capabilities:

• Direct Instagram Live support for Professional accounts – You can connect an Instagram Professional account and go live via Instagram’s RTMP workflow. (StreamYard Help Center)
• Portrait studios (9:16) – Portrait Mode lets you stream or record vertically, framing your screen and camera exactly the way your audience will see it on Instagram. (StreamYard support)
• Presenter-led layouts – You can choose layouts where your screen is primary with your camera as a picture-in-picture, or vice versa, and apply overlays, logos, and lower thirds live.
• Screen + mic control – Screen audio and microphone audio can be controlled independently, so you can mute a noisy tab without muting yourself.
• Automatic cloud recording on paid plans – When you go live on paid plans, your stream is recorded in the cloud (up to 10 hours per stream), which comfortably exceeds Instagram’s own one‑hour Live limit. (StreamYard recordings)
• Local multi-track recording – All plans support local recording; the free plan has 2 hours/month of local recording, while paid plans provide unlimited local recording, with separate files per participant for post‑production. (StreamYard support)

Practically, this means you can:

1. Create a portrait studio.
2. Share your screen to walk through a product, deck, or tutorial.
3. Go live to Instagram from your browser.
4. Finish the session with both a cloud recording and local high‑quality files you can edit later.

Instagram itself keeps Lives to about an hour, which makes StreamYard’s 10‑hour per‑stream recording window feel roomy for typical creators. (StreamYard Help Center)

When would OBS be a better fit than StreamYard?

OBS is powerful desktop software for video recording and live streaming. It’s free and open source, and it gives you deep control over encoding, formats, and scenes. (OBS Project)

OBS can make sense if:

• You need granular control over bitrates, codecs, and advanced audio routing.
• You’re comfortable configuring a custom 9:16 canvas and managing your own RTMP workflow to Instagram.
• You have a strong Windows/macOS/Linux machine and you’re willing to tune settings until everything is stable.

A few pros in this context:

• No subscription fee – OBS doesn’t charge to unlock recording or streaming features. (OBS Project)
• Flexible canvas and scenes – You can set a vertical base resolution and build complex scenes that mix your screen, webcam, overlays, and more. (OBS knowledge base)
• Hardware encoder support – If your GPU supports it, you can offload recording to hardware encoders for performance. (OBS knowledge base)

The trade‑offs:

• Setup time – You’re responsible for configuring resolutions, bitrates, audio, and sometimes custom RTMP endpoints for Instagram.
• Hardware dependence – Recording reliability lives and dies with your CPU/GPU and storage; there’s no cloud layer to catch issues. (OBS system requirements)
• No built‑in cloud recording or sharing – After you record, you still need to upload and manage files somewhere else.

For many Instagram Live creators who just want to go live vertically with a clean recording, that overhead is more than they need. OBS is a good choice when you actively want that complexity and have the time to master it.

Is Loom good for recording Instagram Live sessions?

Loom is primarily built for quick, asynchronous screen recordings you share by link—think walkthroughs for your team, not hour‑long live shows.

On the free Starter plan:

• You’re limited to 5‑minute screen recordings per video.
• Each person in the workspace can store up to 25 videos or screenshots. (Loom help)

On Business and higher tiers:

• Loom advertises “Unlimited videos” and “Unlimited recording time”, which lifts those caps for typical usage. (Loom pricing)

Where Loom can fit into an Instagram Live workflow:

• Recording short recaps of your Live to send to an email list or internal team.
• Capturing quick screen-only explainers that reference something you taught on Instagram.

Where it falls short:

• Loom doesn’t provide a full live studio targeted at Instagram Live; its focus is recording clips and sharing them via links. (Loom pricing)
• The free plan’s 5‑minute cap makes it impractical for capturing an entire Live session unless you upgrade.

For those reasons, Loom is better treated as a companion for short follow‑ups rather than the core tool for your Instagram Live show.

How does pricing compare for teams doing regular Instagram Lives?

If you’re running Instagram Live as a team sport—hosts, producers, designers—pricing and seat models start to matter.

• StreamYard uses per‑workspace pricing, not per‑user pricing. A single plan can cover multiple collaborators in your studio, which often works out cheaper than paying per seat as your team grows.
• StreamYard offers a free plan, plus paid options with a 7‑day free trial and first‑year discounts when billed annually, alongside periodic special offers for new users.
• Loom, by contrast, bills per user per month on Business and Business + AI tiers. (Loom pricing)

On the OBS side, there’s no subscription fee, but remember that you “pay” in hardware, setup time, and the lack of built‑in cloud recording and collaboration.

For a small team running recurring Instagram Lives and repurposing replays, StreamYard’s per‑workspace model keeps costs predictable while letting everyone join the same studio.

How do separate tracks and portrait outputs help with Instagram Live replays?

A big part of Instagram Live’s value comes after you end the broadcast. You might want to:

• Cut shorter vertical clips for Reels and Shorts.
• Reframe a screen demo in landscape for YouTube.
• Clean up audio for a podcast feed.

StreamYard supports this with:

• Local multi‑track recording – Each participant is recorded locally with separate audio/video tracks, which gives editors more control over levels, cuts, and framing. (StreamYard support)
• Both landscape and portrait outputs from one session – You can run a portrait show for Instagram while capturing high‑quality recordings that are suitable for reformatting into landscape content later.

OBS can also produce high‑quality files if you configure it carefully, but you’re managing the track count, formats, and storage yourself. Loom focuses more on single‑track, watch‑and-comment experiences than on exporting rich multi‑track media for heavy editing.

If repurposing is a priority—and for many Instagram creators it is—having those separate, high‑quality tracks from StreamYard removes a lot of friction.

What we recommend

• Use StreamYard as your primary studio for Instagram Live when you want vertical streaming, clear presenter-led screen sharing, and automatic recordings you can reuse.
• Reach for OBS if you specifically need fine-grained encoder control, complex desktop scenes, and you’re comfortable investing time in configuration.
• Keep Loom in your toolkit for short async follow-ups and screen recaps, not as your main Instagram Live recorder.
• Optimize for workflow, not specs—the “best” tool is the one that lets you go live confidently, capture a clean replay, and repurpose it quickly without burning hours on setup.