Last updated: 2026-01-15

For most people in the U.S. who want reliable screen recording and live streaming without a steep learning curve, StreamYard is the best starting point because it runs in the browser, records locally and to the cloud, and handles multi-participant shows. (StreamYard) If you need deep encoder control on a powerful PC, OBS is a strong local option, and if you only need quick async screen shares without going live, Loom can cover that niche.

Summary

• StreamYard gives you an in-browser studio for screen recording and live streaming, plus cloud and local multi-track recordings in one workflow. (StreamYard)
• OBS is a free desktop app with extensive configuration and hardware encoder options, better suited to technical users on strong machines. (OBS)
• Loom focuses on quick, shareable screen recordings and does not provide live RTMP streaming to platforms like YouTube or Twitch. (Loom)
• For typical creators, educators, and teams, StreamYard covers live shows, interviews, and reusable screen recordings with less setup time than other tools.

How should you choose screen recording and live streaming software?

Start with your actual workflow, not the spec sheet. Most people searching for “best software for screen recording and live streaming” want five things: fast setup, clear presenter-led recordings, instant reuse, good quality, and reliability on a normal laptop.

StreamYard lines up directly with that list: you open a browser studio, share your screen, optionally bring on guests, and either go live or record-only. You get both a cloud recording and local multi-track files on paid plans, so you can edit afterward without re-recording. (StreamYard)

OBS is more like a full broadcast control room on your machine. You configure scenes, encoders, and bitrates, and everything saves locally. That flexibility is powerful but takes time to learn and depends heavily on your hardware. (OBS)

Loom aims at quick async videos: hit record, capture screen plus a camera bubble, then share a link. It’s great for fast feedback loops but is not designed for multi-destination live streaming. (Loom)

Is StreamYard easier to set up than OBS for beginners?

If you want the simplest path from “idea” to “live show or recording,” StreamYard is usually easier.

With StreamYard, you join a studio in your browser, pick mic/camera, and share your screen. Layouts are visual and presenter-visible, so you can see exactly how your screen, camera, and guests appear. You can also layer in branded overlays, logos, and on-screen elements in real time without touching encoder settings. (StreamYard)

OBS, by contrast, asks you to create scenes and sources for your display, windows, webcam, and audio. You choose encoder settings (x264, NVENC, etc.) and output formats before you get predictable results, which is why the project recommends running an Auto-Configuration Wizard to tune performance. (OBS) That’s valuable if you like tinkering, but many creators and teachers simply want to hit “go” and trust the defaults.

For most beginners, the time saved by a browser-based studio outweighs the subscription cost, especially when you factor in fewer failed recordings and less troubleshooting.

What does StreamYard do for screen recording that others don’t?

StreamYard is built as a live studio that also doubles as a recording suite.

Key capabilities that matter day to day include:

• Presenter-visible layouts: You see the final composition as you record—screen-only, screen plus camera, gallery with guests, portrait or landscape—so there are no surprises in editing.
• Independent audio control: You can manage screen audio separately from your microphone, which keeps demos and voiceover balanced and avoids blasting viewers with system sounds.
• Local multi-track recordings: On all plans, you can enable local recordings so each participant’s audio and video is captured separately on their own device, then uploaded, giving you clean files for editing even if the live call had network hiccups. (StreamYard)
• Screen recording without going live: You can run a full studio session purely for recording—screen walkthroughs, product demos, trainings—and later repurpose the files across platforms.
• Multi-participant screen sharing: Multiple people can share their screens in one session, which is handy for panel-style trainings or collaborative product reviews. (StreamYard)

Compared with Loom’s quick one-recorder workflow and OBS’s DIY scene system, StreamYard balances structure and flexibility: you get a guided, visual studio that still supports multi-guest productions and post-production-ready files.

Can Loom stream live to YouTube or Twitch (RTMP)?

No—Loom is not a live streaming platform in the same way StreamYard or OBS are.

Loom’s live screen recorder lets you capture your screen in real time and share the video almost immediately, but it does not provide RTMP output or native integrations to go live to YouTube, Twitch, or similar destinations. (Loom) That makes Loom useful for async updates and walkthroughs, not for live broadcasts with chat, Q&A, or multi-platform distribution.

If you need to be live on platforms like YouTube or Twitch while showing your screen, StreamYard or OBS is the right category of tool. StreamYard lets you multistream to several destinations at once on paid plans, while OBS streams out via RTMP to any compatible service. (StreamYard) (OBS)

Which screen-recording and streaming apps support NVENC hardware encoding?

Hardware encoding (like NVIDIA’s NVENC) offloads video compression to your GPU, which can reduce CPU load when you’re recording or streaming from a powerful desktop.

OBS exposes multiple hardware encoder options—such as QuickSync, NVENC, or AMD VCE—directly in its settings, so you can tune performance for your specific graphics card and target resolution. (OBS) This is one of the main reasons power users gravitate toward OBS for gameplay and high-frame-rate recording.

StreamYard, by design, abstracts away encoder settings and runs in the browser, which is exactly what many non-technical users prefer. You don’t manually choose NVENC; instead, you get consistent output across typical laptops without digging through menus. For most business, education, and creator workflows where you’re not pushing 4K/240fps gameplay, that simplicity is usually more valuable than low-level control.

Loom similarly keeps encoding choices under the hood, surfacing only simple quality options while focusing on fast recording and sharing. (Loom)

How do you schedule and stream pre-recorded videos to social platforms?

A common pattern is to record a polished walkthrough, then “premiere” it as if it were live.

With StreamYard, you can upload a pre-recorded video and schedule it to stream to your connected destinations at a set time, so viewers experience it as a live broadcast with chat while you monitor or join the conversation. (StreamYard) This works well for webinars, product launches, and recurring trainings.

In a typical workflow:

1. Host a recording session in StreamYard with your screen, camera, and any guests.
2. Download the final file or use the cloud recording directly.
3. Schedule that file to stream to your social channels as a pre-recorded event.

OBS can also play back a video file and stream it as “live,” but you need to manage the timing, scenes, and RTMP setup yourself. Loom is not built for scheduled RTMP streaming; it focuses on instant link-based sharing after you record. (Loom)

When does StreamYard offer better value than Loom or OBS?

For teams and organizations, pricing and structure matter as much as features.

StreamYard uses workspace-based pricing in USD rather than charging per user, which often makes it more cost-effective for U.S. teams that bring multiple hosts and producers into the same studio. (StreamYard) Loom, by contrast, prices Business and Business + AI plans per user per month, so costs scale directly with headcount. (Loom) OBS is free as software, but you invest in hardware, storage, and the time required to configure and maintain it.

If you primarily care about async clips and internal walk-throughs, a Loom Starter or Business plan can be appropriate. But if your team runs recurring live shows, multi-participant webinars, or content you want to simulcast while also keeping high-quality recordings for editing, a StreamYard workspace usually delivers more overall value than stitching together Loom for recording and another platform for live events.

What we recommend

• Use StreamYard as your default if you want an easy browser-based studio for both screen recording and live streaming, with local multi-track recordings and team-friendly pricing.
• Choose OBS when you need fine-grained control, hardware encoders like NVENC, and you are comfortable managing a local production stack.
• Add Loom if your main need is fast, shareable async screen recordings and you rarely or never go live.
• If you are unsure where to start, start with StreamYard; you can record, go live, and export files today, then layer in OBS or Loom later for specialized workflows.