Streamlabs is live streaming and recording software for Windows and macOS, with its desktop application called Streamlabs Desktop. It combines camera feeds, screen or game capture, microphone audio and viewer notifications into a broadcast that can be sent to streaming platforms or saved locally.
Streamlabs Desktop scenes and sources
A scene holds the sources used for a particular view of the broadcast. You can prepare separate scenes for gameplay, an opening screen or a break, then change the view without rebuilding its contents. Streamlabs Desktop can also import scenes and profiles from OBS Studio.
Capture sources give you different boundaries for what appears on screen. Window Capture selects an open application, Display Capture shows a selected screen, and Game Capture targets a running game. A Video Capture Device source adds a webcam, while Audio Input Capture brings in a microphone. Device selection controls let you choose which camera and microphone supply the broadcast rather than relying on the computer’s default devices.
Overlays add visual elements around the captured material. Streamlabs includes a selection of free themes and overlays, while Ultra opens the full library. The editor layout is also adjustable, so the video preview, audio controls, chat and recent events can occupy different positions in your workspace.
Alert Box and on-screen widgets
An Alert Box source puts viewer activity into the broadcast itself. A follow, subscription, tip or other supported event can trigger a notification, with the available event types determined by the platforms connected to your account. Alerts can be customized by event type, and variations apply different alerts when particular conditions are met.
Other widgets keep information on screen beyond an individual notification. A chat overlay displays messages within the video, follower and subscriber goals show progress, and tip trackers reflect viewer contributions. Signing in enables alerts, widgets and other account integrations.
Collab Cam
Collab Cam adds a guest or another camera through a shared link. The incoming camera feed becomes part of the stream, while guests can see and hear the host and follow the chat. The free plan allows one guest or additional camera; Ultra increases that allowance to eleven.
Reacting to game events with Automations
Streamlabs can react to events in supported games through Automations. You choose a game condition and attach one or more actions, such as switching scenes after a victory, hiding a source when health falls or saving a replay. Templates provide starting points for selected games, while custom automations let you choose the trigger and response yourself.
Saved automations can be edited, tested and enabled individually. Free users can have five active at once, while Ultra supports ten.
Dual Output
Dual Output maintains horizontal and vertical layouts at the same time. Each can have its own resolution, scenes and sources, allowing a widescreen broadcast and a portrait broadcast to use different arrangements.
The free plan can stream to one horizontal destination and one vertical destination simultaneously. Ultra extends delivery to additional destinations through multistreaming. Streamlabs connects to services including Twitch and YouTube and supports custom RTMP destinations; the selected service still determines the account access needed to broadcast there.
Local recording
Recording saves content to the computer for later use. Streamlabs lets you choose the destination folder, file naming, recording quality and output format. Recording-only use does not require a Streamlabs account, and local recordings have no imposed time limit or Streamlabs watermark.
Encoding settings and Dynamic Bitrate
Streamlabs separates the scene’s canvas resolution from the scaled output resolution, with controls for frame rate and bitrate. Encoding options include CPU-based x264 and compatible hardware encoders such as NVIDIA NVENC.
For live broadcasts, Dynamic Bitrate can adjust the outgoing bitrate as network conditions change.
