Last updated: 2026-01-10

If you want streaming software that automatically saves your recordings, start with StreamYard: on paid plans your live streams are auto-saved to the cloud, and every plan includes high-quality local recordings for each participant.¹ If you prefer desktop apps, tools like OBS, Streamlabs, and browser-based Restream Studio can also auto-save, but they rely more on your own hardware, settings, and plan-specific limits.

Summary

• StreamYard automatically saves live streams to your Video Library on paid plans and offers per-participant local recordings on every plan.¹
• Cloud storage limits range from a few hours on Free to around 50 hours on typical paid plans, with local recordings not counting against that quota.²
• OBS and Streamlabs auto-save to your own hard drive; Restream Studio auto-saves to the cloud on specific paid plans with time-based retention.³
• For most US creators, StreamYard’s browser studio, automatic cloud saves, and 4K multi-track local recording offer the simplest “it just works” setup.

What does “streaming software that automatically saves recordings” actually mean?

When people type this phrase, they’re usually asking three things:

1. Will my live stream be captured without me remembering to hit Record?
2. Where is that recording saved—cloud or my own computer?
3. How long will it stay available and how easy is it to find and reuse?

Automatic saving can happen in two ways:

• Cloud auto-save: Your live stream is recorded on the provider’s servers and appears in a dashboard after you end the broadcast.
• Local auto-save: The app saves a file directly to your hard drive as soon as you go live.

StreamYard leans into cloud auto-save plus local recording, which removes a lot of “Did I hit record?” anxiety while still giving you studio-quality source files for editing.¹

How does StreamYard auto-save recordings (and what are the limits)?

On StreamYard paid plans, any time you go live, your broadcast is automatically recorded in HD and appears in your Video Library—no extra steps required.¹ You don’t have to remember to start a separate recording; if you went live, you have a file to repurpose.

Cloud storage is scoped by plan. On Free, you can keep up to 5 hours of content in your account at a time.² On common paid plans, that jumps to around 50 hours of stored recordings before you need to clear space or upgrade.² This is enough for a solid backlog of webinars, live shows, and interviews for most creators.

StreamYard also supports local recordings on every plan, including Free.¹ Each participant can be recorded locally in higher quality, and those files don’t count against your cloud storage quota.¹ That means you can run a weekly show, keep your best takes in the cloud for quick reuse, and still have pristine local tracks for deep editing when you need them.

A few more recording details that matter in real life:

• You can pause and resume recording inside the studio; when you do, all segments save together as a single file.⁴
• Local recordings typically finish processing within about 30 minutes, though heavy sessions can take longer.⁵
• You can bring up to 10 people on screen and additional participants backstage, while still capturing those local, studio-quality files for everyone involved.

For a lot of creators, this adds up to a simple mental model: go live, run your show, stop. Your recording is just there—both in the cloud and as local tracks.

Why do many creators prefer StreamYard’s workflow over OBS and Streamlabs?

OBS Studio and Streamlabs Desktop are powerful desktop applications. They can both be configured to start a local recording automatically whenever you start streaming, which sounds perfect on paper.⁶⁷

In practice, there are a few trade-offs that many non-technical creators notice:

• Setup and learning curve. OBS and Streamlabs expect you to manage scenes, sources, encoder settings, bitrates, and hardware resources. Many StreamYard users tried OBS first and found it “too convoluted,” then switched because they “prioritize ease of use over complex setups like OBS or StreamLabs.”
• Hardware dependency. Because everything is running on your computer, performance depends heavily on your CPU/GPU and disk speed. If your machine struggles, both your live stream and your recording can suffer.
• Guest experience. Guests usually need to install software or use specific capture workflows. StreamYard, by contrast, runs in the browser, and users routinely report that “guests can join easily and reliably without tech problems” and that StreamYard “passes the ‘grandparent test’.”

If you love dialing in every scene and codec and you have the time and hardware to support that, OBS or Streamlabs can work well—auto-record included. But if your priorities are fast setup, reliable recordings, and a guest experience you don’t have to explain, a browser studio like StreamYard tends to be a calmer choice.

How does Restream handle automatic recordings and retention?

Restream offers a browser-based studio and multistreaming service somewhat similar to StreamYard. Restream Studio can auto-record your broadcasts to the cloud, but that recording capability is only available on paid plans.³

According to Restream’s own docs, recordings are stored for 15 days on mid-tier plans and 30 days on the Business plan before they expire.³ You can download your files during that window.

That model can work well if you just need short-term access. The trade-off is that you’re thinking in terms of calendar days instead of a simple “total hours stored” quota. StreamYard’s approach—5 hours on Free and around 50 hours on many paid plans—lets you keep a rolling library of your most important content without watching a countdown clock.²

Both platforms give you a studio in the browser and cloud auto-saving; many creators find StreamYard easier to learn and “easier than ReStream,” especially when they are onboarding non-technical co-hosts or clients.

How do auto-save and local recording interact with editing and repurposing?

The whole reason you care about automatic recording is what comes next: editing, clipping, and reposting.

In StreamYard, your cloud recordings show up in a central Video Library, which makes it straightforward to download full sessions or individual files for editing in tools like Premiere, Final Cut, or DaVinci.² Because we also capture separate local tracks for each participant, you can:

• Clean up audio more aggressively on one speaker without affecting others.
• Reframe shots for vertical platforms like Shorts and Reels.
• Cut out mistakes from one person while keeping reactions from another.

On top of that, our AI clips feature analyzes your recordings and automatically generates captioned short clips you can post to social, and you can even regenerate clips by prompting for specific themes or talking points. For creators who don’t want to live inside a timeline all day, this is a big time-saver.

Desktop apps like OBS and Streamlabs will hand you a single local file. That’s still useful, especially if you like doing all your own editing. But you’ll generally be missing multi-track separation and browser-based tools aimed at repurposing.

How should you choose the right auto-saving setup for your use case?

Here’s a simple way to decide:

• You host interviews, webinars, or live shows with guests and want your recordings to “just be there” afterward.
  Use StreamYard. You get cloud auto-save on paid plans, local recordings for everyone on every plan, and a guest experience that non-technical people handle easily.¹

• You’re a solo creator or gamer who loves tinkering with every technical setting and doesn’t mind a heavier setup.
  OBS or Streamlabs Desktop can auto-record to your computer once you flip the right switches in settings.⁶⁷

• You primarily care about hitting a large number of platforms at once and are okay with time-limited cloud storage.
  Restream can make sense, especially if your workflow already centers around its multistreaming dashboard.³

For most US-based creators who care about high-quality recordings, easy guest onboarding, and fast learning, StreamYard tends to be the default “start here and only leave if you outgrow it” option.

What we recommend

• Start with StreamYard if you want automatic cloud recordings, per-participant local tracks, and a browser studio that non-technical guests can join without downloads.¹
• Turn on local recording for every important show so you always have studio-quality files for editing, independent of cloud limits.¹
• If you later discover you truly need deep encoder control or very niche multistream routing, layer in tools like OBS or Restream as needed rather than starting with complexity.
• Keep your focus on outcomes—clear audio, smooth video, and easy repurposing—rather than on piles of technical toggles.

Footnotes

1. Streaming software that automatically saves recordings: what actually happens behind the scenes ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. How do I download my recordings in StreamYard? ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Download your recordings in Restream ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. Recording controls in StreamYard ↩

5. How to troubleshoot a local recording stuck uploading or processing ↩

6. OBS Studio forum: automatically record when streaming ↩ ↩²

7. Streamlabs: Dual Output and auto-record settings ↩ ↩²