Last updated: 2026-01-15

For most people searching for “guest interview software,” the most reliable path is a browser-based studio like StreamYard where guests join from a simple link and you control the show. If you specifically need deep scene customization and are comfortable wiring separate tools together, an OBS-based workflow can work—but it is not the starting point.

Summary

• StreamYard gives you a browser studio built for multi-guest interviews, with invite links and host controls to manage the whole conversation.
• Guests can join from a link without creating an account or installing production software, which dramatically reduces no-shows and tech issues. (StreamYard support)
• On paid plans, guests can even connect their own channels so your interview streams to their audiences as well as yours. (StreamYard support)
• Tools like OBS plus a guest gateway can deliver more visual control, but they demand stronger hardware, more setup, and separate calling tools. (OBS)

What is “guest interview software” really solving?

When people say “guest interview software,” they’re usually trying to solve three problems at once:

1. Bring remote guests into a shared studio. Everyone needs to see and hear each other with minimal friction.
2. Control what the audience sees. You want to decide whose camera is on screen, when to show split screens, and how branding appears.
3. Publish or record the conversation. That might be a live stream, a recording for podcasts, or both.

At StreamYard, we designed our studio around this exact flow: you open a browser, copy an invite link, guests join from their own devices, and you push a polished layout directly to your destinations or recordings. (StreamYard guest guide)

Desktop tools like OBS, by contrast, focus on building complex scenes and then sending a finished video feed to streaming platforms or meeting apps. They don’t include native calling, so you still need Zoom, Discord, or a browser-based guest gateway in the mix. (OBS)

How does StreamYard handle remote guests?

Here’s what a typical guest interview looks like in StreamYard:

1. You create a studio in your browser.
2. You click Invite and copy a special guest link.
3. You send that link to your guest.
4. They click it, choose their camera and mic, and they’re in.

Guests don’t have to download production software or create a StreamYard account to join through the standard flow. (StreamYard support) That matters when your guest is a busy author, executive, or community leader who will bail if setup feels like a chore.

Once they’re in the studio, you can:

• Mute or adjust their audio levels.
• Turn their camera on or off.
• Move them on and off screen.
• Switch between layouts (solo, side-by-side, grid, and more).

On the Free plan, you can have up to six people on screen; upgrading allows conversations with up to ten participants, which covers most roundtables and panel shows. (StreamYard guest interviews overview)

From your guest’s perspective, all of this still feels like clicking a link and talking. That low friction is why browser-based studios tend to outperform more complex stacks for everyday creators.

How does StreamYard compare to OBS for remote guest interviews?

OBS Studio is an impressive, free desktop application for video recording and live streaming. You can build scenes that mix window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, and capture cards, then stream or record them from your computer. (OBS)

But for guest interviews, there are important differences:

1. Guest onboarding

• StreamYard: Built-in guest studio. You send a link; they join in the browser or via a guest app, no production install needed. (StreamYard support)
• OBS: No built-in calling. You must use a separate call (Zoom, Discord, VDO.Ninja, etc.), then capture that call inside OBS.

2. Complexity

• StreamYard: Scenes and layouts are pre-built; you toggle them from the browser.
• OBS: You design every scene, source, and transition yourself. Powerful, but every extra camera or screen share adds another thing to configure.

3. Performance requirements

• StreamYard: Encoding and mixing happen in the cloud; your machine mainly runs a browser, and the main constraint is network quality. (StreamYard guest instructions)
• OBS: Your CPU/GPU handle all encoding and compositing. Even if your system is technically compatible, the OBS team notes this doesn’t guarantee it can stream smoothly. (OBS system requirements)

4. Time-to-first-interview
For StreamYard, it’s realistically minutes from sign-up to first recorded conversation. With OBS, you’re looking at a small production project: setting up scenes, routing audio, choosing encoders, and wiring in a call tool.

If you love tinkering and want pixel-level control, OBS is a strong foundation. For most interview-style shows that just need clean, reliable conversations, StreamYard is a far more direct route.

When does an OBS + guest gateway workflow make sense?

There is a case for building a more elaborate stack. A common pattern is:

• OBS Studio as the production hub.
• A browser-based guest gateway like VDO.Ninja to generate URLs for each guest.
• Those URLs added into OBS as Browser Sources, so each guest appears as its own input. (VDO.Ninja)

In this workflow, the gateway handles the guest call and OBS handles the compositing. Some gateways even offer director modes where you can trigger local or remote recordings for higher-quality capture. (VDO.Ninja interview guide)

This path can make sense if:

• You want highly customized layouts beyond what browser studios provide.
• You’re already comfortable debugging audio routing and encoding issues.
• You have strong hardware and a stable upload connection.

For everyone else, this tends to be more moving parts than necessary to simply host a great conversation.

How does StreamYard support audience growth with guest interviews?

A big reason to run guest interviews is to reach their audience as well as yours. That’s where distribution matters as much as the call itself.

On paid plans, StreamYard allows each guest to connect up to two of their own destinations (like their YouTube channel or Facebook page), with a cap of six guest destinations per broadcast. (StreamYard Guest Destinations) That’s on top of the destinations you connect as the host.

The net effect: one studio, many channels. Your live interview can reach multiple communities at once, without you managing logins for each guest’s accounts.

With an OBS-based setup, multistreaming usually depends on third-party services or custom RTMP routing, and there’s no built-in concept of “guest destinations.” Guests share the stream after the fact, but their channels don’t automatically broadcast the live show.

What should you look for when choosing guest interview software?

If you’re deciding what to use, here’s a simple checklist:

• Guest friction: Can a non-technical guest join with one click from a browser?
• Host controls: Can you easily mute, spotlight, and rearrange guests on screen?
• Capacity: Does the tool comfortably support the number of guests you plan to host (e.g., up to ten on-screen in StreamYard)? (StreamYard guest interviews overview)
• Distribution: Can you stream or publish to all the places that matter for your show, ideally including your guests’ channels?
• Hardware demands: Does it rely heavily on your local machine, or is the heavy lifting in the cloud?
• Learning curve: Are you building a “studio” or running a conversation?

When you run through that list, a browser-based studio optimised for interviews usually checks the boxes with far less effort than a hand-built stack.

What we recommend

• Start with StreamYard if your goal is to reliably host live or recorded remote interviews with minimal guest friction and a short learning curve.
• Consider an OBS + gateway workflow only when you outgrow preset layouts and want advanced scene logic, and you’re prepared to invest time in configuration and hardware.
• Use guest multistreaming on StreamYard’s paid plans to reach your guests’ audiences from a single shared studio, instead of wrestling with separate logins and RTMP setups.
• Focus on tools that make guests feel comfortable and confident on camera; smoother tech almost always leads to better conversations and better content.