The Best Live Streaming Platforms (2022)

YouTube Live

High quality streaming up to 4K60, the ability to embed live streams on your website, and tools like live chat give you a robust platform to build your community.

Pros:

• Free for streamers and viewers
• #1 website in the world for video and #2 most used search engine make it a no-brainer for free organic reach and SEO
• Videos are playable on nearly every device
• Most people already use YouTube, so the player and interface are familiar
• Embeddable player can be used nearly anywhere
• Fast and consistent when it comes to playback

Cons:

• Free (it's a two-edged sword - viewers often deal with ads and recommendations that you can't control)
• Content ID (YouTube's automated system that listens/looks for copyrighted material to protect YouTube from legal action - it will remove content it believes breaks copyright law even if you have proper licensing for it)
• Amount and length of ads has been going up substantially lately, so I expect people to begin moving away from YouTube more and more in the future as alternatives grow
• Lack of control (your audience and their experience is out of your hands - you must play by the platform's rules and algorithms)

Protocols Accepted: RTMPS, RTMP, and HLS

Formats Accepted: Up to 3840 x 2160 at 60 fps (51 Mbps maximum bitrate)

Simulcast to Other Destinations: No

My Favorite Feature: Organic reach and discoverability

Facebook Live

With 2.5 billion monthly active users and live videos receiving some of the best engagement on the platform, Facebook Live is a natural choice to send your live stream.

Pros:

• Free for streamers and viewers
• Largest potential audience and organic reach
• Live streams show up in people's news feeds, so it's the easier way to get in front of viewers
• Potential for community interaction and engagement is better than any other option

Cons:

• Not everyone is on Facebook, especially younger generations
• Audible Magic (Facebook's automated system that listens/looks for copyrighted material to protect Facebook from legal action - it will remove content it believes breaks copyright law even if you have proper licensing for it)
• Unpredictability (ever since Facebook Live was launched its reliability has been hit or miss, so much so it's best not to rely on it as your only means of streaming)
• Reputation (it appears Facebook's glory days could be in the past, so reaching new audiences may become more difficult as people leave the platform or disengage)

Protocols Accepted: RTMPS

Formats Accepted: Up to 1920 x 1080 at 60 fps (9 Mbps maximum bitrate)*

Simulcast to Other Destinations: No

My Favorite Feature: Ease of use

*1080p streaming is still being rolled out and not guaranteed.

Twitch

While Twitch is widely recognized as a streaming platform for gamers, it can still be a great option for non-gamers as well.

Pros:

• Runs on AWS infrastructure (highly reliable and a great way to diversify your stream from other providers)
• Embeddable player, including chat (an easy way to build a community through your website)
• Reach a younger audience that may not be found on the other platforms

Cons:

• Not as well known to non-gamers
• Organic reach and SEO are much lower compared to the other two options above
• Audible Magic (similar to Facebook's automated system - it will remove content it believes breaks copyright law even if you have proper licensing for it)

Protocols Accepted: RTMP

Formats Accepted: Up to 1920 x 1080 at 60 fps (6 Mbps maximum bitrate)

Simulcast to Other Destinations: No

My Favorite Feature: Community building tools

Resi

Resilient Streaming Protocol takes streaming quality and reliability to a whole new level. It offers a built-in buffer and error correction to give you a stable stream even on unreliable upload connections.

Subscription plans include social (distribute to YouTube or Facebook), web streaming (embeddable player), and multisite (connect remote physical locations).

A proprietary hardware encoder (or Renewed Vision's ProPresenter proprietary software encoding) is required along with a subscription plan, which makes for a fully integrated and robust ecosystem that just works.

Pros:

• Resilient Streaming Protocol is the best option for slower and less reliable Internet connections
• A wide variety of plans and features to cater to many needs and situations
• Stellar customer service
• Reliable hardware solutions that pretty much work out of the box
• Ability to connect multiple physical locations through live streaming with time-slip player functionality

Cons:

• Proprietary hardware or software is required and can be a barrier for many budgets
• BYOE (bring your own encoder) not an option

Protocols Accepted: *Resi Encoder or ProPresenter Required

Formats Accepted: Up to 3840 x 2160 at 30 fps (Prism Encoders) or up to 1920 x 1080 at 60 fps (Ray Encoder)

Simulcast to Other Destinations: Yes (YouTube Live and/or Facebook Live)

My Favorite Feature: Absolute reliability, even on slower and inconsistent Internet connections

Boxcast

An established and reliable infrastructure as well as great hardware encoders that make their platform robust and user-friendly.

Features like simulcasting (Facebook, YouTube, and Periscope), smart TV apps (Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, and Chromecast), automated captioning, ticketed events, and even multisite players make Boxcast a quite capable option.

And now with Boxcast Flow you get similar reliability as Resi on unpredictable upload connections (requires BoxCaster, BoxCaster Pro, or the Broadcaster App for iOS).

Pros:

• Bring Your Own Encoder (proprietary hardware or software not required)
• Boxcast Flow offers greater reliability and quality compared to regular protocols like RTMP
• Simulcasting to Facebook and YouTube
• Automated captioning available for some plans
• Multisite player allows for connecting multiple physical locations

Cons:

• Very little organic reach or SEO unless simulcasting to other platforms (audience has to come to you)
• Can get pricey for some features compared to other options
• Requires a bit of knowledge and understanding of streaming and encoding

Protocols Accepted: RTMP, Boxcast Flow (BoxCaster, BoxCaster Pro, or the Broadcaster App for iOS required)

Formats Accepted: Up to 3840 x 2160 at 60 fps (Boxcaster Pro) or up to 1920 x 1080 at 30 fps (RTMP and Boxcaster)

Simulcast to Other Destinations: Yes

My Favorite Feature: Boxcaster hardware encoders make setup and starting a stream super simple

Castr

Send your stream to multiple destinations starting at only $10 per month.

Along with simulcasting, Castr also offers live streaming and video hosting.

Pros:

• Bang for the buck if you just need simulcasting
• Good customer support available 24/7
• Runs on vast and reliable Akamai CDN

Cons:

• Live streaming and hosting plans can be pricey compared to other options
• Requires a bit of knowledge and understanding of streaming and encoding

Protocols Accepted: RTMP, RTSP, MPEG-TS, WebRTC, SRT, HLS

Formats Accepted: Up to 1920 x 1080 at 60 fps (6.5 Mbps max recommended bitrate)

Simulcast to Other Destinations: Yes

My Favorite Feature: Low cost simulcasting

Amazon Web Services

As one of the leading cloud service providers in the world, AWS makes a lot of sense for live streaming when you need top-notch customizability and scalability.

This is definitely not for the faint of heart and requires significant programming skills, but it is a great option for those that need it.

Fortunately they offer a pre-packaged solution that includes AWS Elemental MediaLive for ingest and processing, AWS Elemental MediaPackage for origination and packaging, and Amazon Cloudfront for delivery to end users and OTT devices.

Pros:

• Granular control and customizability
• Pay only for what you use
• Lots of output options that may not be available with other platforms

Cons:

• Can get expensive quickly
• Requires extensive programming skills and setup

Protocols Accepted: RTMP, RTP, HLS, MPEG-TS

Formats Accepted: Up to 3840 x 2160 at 60 fps (no maximum bitrate defined)

Simulcast to Other Destinations: Yes

My Favorite Feature: Versatility

Wowza

Wowza has been a household name in live streaming for 15 years. So much so, it even provides the infrastructure for many other leading streaming CDNs.

With a wide range of quality hardware, software, and cloud products, Wowza will have everything you need to stream reliably and consistently.

Pros:

• One of the world's largest streaming platforms with a wide range of features and products
• Good customer support and a fairly active forum
• One of the only ways to get 1080p on Facebook Live

Cons:

• Can get expensive quickly
• Paid support plan required for quicker customer support response
• Geared more to professionals, so learning curve can be a bit steep

Protocols Accepted: RTMP, RTSP/RTP, MPEG-DASH, WebRTC, SRT, HLS, CMAF, WOWZ

Formats Accepted: Up to 3840 x 2160 at 60 fps (20 Mbps max bitrate)

Simulcast to Other Destinations: Yes

My Favorite Feature: Scalability

Dacast

No frills, solid live streaming and hosting.

If you don't stream a lot and don't reach a large audience, then this may be a great budget-friendly option.

Pros:

• Solid bang for the buck for standard live streaming
• Customer support available 24/7
• M3U8 links for connecting to third-party apps

Cons:

• Essentially no organic reach or SEO
• No simulcasting without a third-party service
• Requires a bit of knowledge and understanding of streaming and encoding

Protocols Accepted: RTMP, HLS

Formats Accepted: Up to 1920 x 1080 at 25 or 30 fps (4.5 Mbps max recommended bitrate)

Simulcast to Other Destinations: No

My Favorite Feature: Price point for streams with smaller audiences

Restream

ReStream was one of the first players to offer simulcasting as a service. Since then, it has quickly grown to be a popular middle-man and has added many great features.

A full software studio, live chat, and scheduler give you a solid platform that offers more than just simulcasting.

Pros:

• Decent pricing for basic simulcasting
• Simulcast to a large selection of platforms
• Chat included with all plans

Cons:

• Basic paid plan still has Restream watermark
• Basic paid plan doesn't support 1080p
• No fully embeddable player (their embed widget is not as widely supported as other platforms)
• Requires a bit of knowledge and understanding of streaming and encoding

Protocols Accepted: RTMP

Formats Accepted: Up to 3840 x 2160 at 60 fps (15 Mbps max recommended bitrate)

Simulcast to Other Destinations: Yes

My Favorite Feature: Custom branding options