Streamlabs: All-in-One Free Live Streaming Software

Let’s get to know about Streamlabs, a complete and free multi-platform live streaming software on the go.

The live streaming industry has shown significant growth recently. From April 2019 to April 2020, a report suggests that there was a 99% increase. On average, everyone spends 26.4 minutes in front of their gadgets watching live streaming. Most of the consumers are millennials and 63% of them ages 18-34. And by 2027, it is expected that the live streaming industry will be valued at 184.27 billion USD.

From the report above, you can see how big the potential of this industry is. That’s why no wonder that many businesses are thinking about going live stream to introduce their products to a wider market. This is also a new method to get more engagement and reach more specific customers.

Game streamers are probably the pioneer community that gets the great benefit of live streaming. They play their favorite games while making money at the same time. And the result is fantastic. On average, they can earn $3,000 to $5,000 each month playing around 40 hours a week.

And to do that, you need a good live streaming platform like Streamlabs.

In this post, you will learn:

What Streamlabs is
The benefits of Streamlabs Prime and Pro
How to download Streamlabs
How to use Streamlabs to go live stream on social media.
How to create a charity event

Including the troubleshooting to fix the issues like dropping frames and many more.

Let’s get started!

Contents

What is Streamlabs?

Streamlabs is a free broadcasting and streaming tool for everyone. It allows you to go live on multiple social media like Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and more at the same time instantly.

As a streamer, you can use this app to stream while you are playing your favorite games and show how well you play. Also, you can use it to stream your activities in real time as well as look for donations for a charity.

Yes, Streamlabs also supports you to earn money while you are doing a live streaming. The best thing is that you will get 100% of the money. Streamlabs will not take your money. No monthly fee or other fees. You will get what you earn.

Basically, Streamlabs offers free services. You can do unlimited live streaming with this tool. But, if you need to go more advanced and get more benefits, upgrade to Streamlabs Prime and Pro.

Streamlabs Prime

Whether you’re a new or experienced streamer, Streamlabs has everything you need. So, you can focus on the stream.
And yes the Streamlabs Prime is absolutely worth it.

If you are planning to sell a lot of merch, Streamlabs prime offers better option. It has overlays that no one else has, the pretzel music add on, multi stream, stream deck and many more.

Here are the benefits that you will get if you subscribe Streamlabs Prime:

Unlock access to thousands of professional stream overlays from top designers. Visit here to take a look at the library.
Full access to themed alerts.
Stream to multiple platforms simultaneously: YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and a custom RTMP location.
Get access to the Streamlabs app store to help you increase the interaction with your audience.
Customize the name of your Cloudbot.
Get 10GB+ file storage to store images, GIFs, videos, and many more.
Get access to thumbnail templates in the YouTube Thumbnail Editor.
Use sounds for your alerts from the sound library.
Monetize your stream with Lucra, a ticketed live streaming service.
Create panels for your Twitch Page.

Join Streamlabs Prime now and grow your audiences.

Streamlabs Pro

Everyone can use Streamlabs for free. And you have unlimited access for live streaming.

But having plain live streaming can be boring. It would be more interesting if you can give some effects and GIFs to your live streaming.

Do you know that adding appropriate effects and GIFs at the right time can attract your viewers’ attention? It can also help your channel grow faster than you thought.

Be a Pro member and get access to lots of fantastic and awesome effects and GIFs. It costs only $5.99/month. It’s only worth your cup of coffee.

Here’s how:

Toggle on “Add a GIF to your donation alert” and “Add an effect to your donation alert.”
Click Donate.
Click Donate With PayPal.

How do I cancel Streamlabs Pro?

You can cancel the subscription at any time. If you cancel within the first 72 hours, you will get a full refund.

Follow the steps below to cancel Streamlabs Pro:

1. Login to your account.

2. Go to your tip page.

3. Click the top-right dropdown menu.

4. Select Pro Settings.

5. Click here to cancel.

Download Streamlabs for free

Are you ready for your first live streaming? Click the Streamlabs download button below and install it on your Mac or Windows PC for free.

Or, if you prefer doing mobile live streaming, Streamlabs is also available for Android or iPhone.

Once installed, you can go live streaming on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook instantly. Grow your audiences from multiple platforms in a few clicks.

How to Use Streamlabs

1. How to Live Stream on YouTube

Want to go live streaming to YouTube using Streamlabs OBS? There are two methods that you can try.

Method 1

Login to Streamlabs OBS using your YouTube account.
Press Go Live at the bottom right.

Method 2

Go to the YouTube dashboard and create a new event.
Press Go Live in Streamlabs OBS.
Select the created event in the Go Live screen.
Click Confirm & Go Live.

2. How to go live streaming on TikTok with PC

TikTok has become a new star among social media apps. It has been downloaded more than 2 billion times worldwide and over 600 million monthly active users.

As a content creator, you probably want to increase your engagement with your followers. And live streaming is one of the ways.

You can use Streamlabs OBS to live stream on TikTok from your PC to get closer to your fans. However, only certain people can use this feature. Why? It is because you need to have a great number of followers and a live feature to get access to it.

1. Download and install Streamlabs OBS.

2. Open TikTok and select the plus sign > Live tab.

3. Press Go LIVE to get the Stream key and URL for TikTok.

4. Copy the Server URL and Stream key and go to Streamlabs OBS > Settings > Stream.

5. Change Stream Type to Custom Streaming Server and paste the Stream Key and URL.

You are ready to live stream on TikTok using Streamlabs OBS.

3. How to Live Stream on Twitch from PC

If you are a gamer, then you have heard about Twitch. It is a live streaming platform where you can share how you play games. As a streamer, you can also earn money while playing your favorite games.

In this section, you will learn how to live stream on Twitch using Streamlabs OBS.

Visit Twitch.tv and click Sign Up to create an account.
Enable 2FA: Login to your account and go to Security Settings > enable 2FA.
Sign in to Streamlabs OBS.
Connect Twitch and fill out your login information.

Now, you can go live stream on Twitch with Streamlabs OBS.

As a streamer, you can earn money from streaming. But you need to set up the tip page to do this. The best thing is that all of the money that you earn will go to your pocket.

If you remember, Streamlabs asked you to add your PayPal account when you sign in for the first time. But if you skipped this, you can do the following steps to set up your donation page:

1. Login to Streamlabs and go to the dashboard.

2. Press Settings at the bottom.

3. Choose Donation Settings > Methods and choose the payment methods.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions and press Connect.

5. You will see your name in the URL Streamlabs.com/USERNAME when it is connected.

You can set the range of donation that you want to get from your audiences. It is also possible to change the currency.

Note: Only verified users that are allowed to get donation via credit card and/or UnitPay.

How to become a verified account?

There are two ways to be a verified user.

You must have a good track record.
You must be a consistent pattern of viewers and followers.

4. How to Stream from iPhone and Android

Streamlabs mobile is the best streaming software for the casual streamer who does in real life. So, if you have games you want to play on your mobile device, you can stream instantly.

The mobile app is quite easy to operate. You can add and customize your layouts with ease. Plus, you can stream to different platforms at click of a button.

Here’s how to go live stream from your iPhone or Android device:

Launch Streamlabs on your mobile device and log in.
Choose what you will be using Streamlabs for.
To stream IRL, tap Stream your camera > Go Live.
To stream games, tap Stream your games and follow the instructions.

Now, you are ready to broadcast to Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube at the same time. To do this, you need to enable the multistream feature. Then, tick the account that you want to connect.

5. How to Set Up Donations on Streamlabs

Whether you are a streamer looking for support through tipping or an organization working for a charity, you can use Streamlabs to collect donations from thousands of your audiences.

The live streaming business has shown spectacular growth last year. In the third quarter of 2020, many people spent 7.6 million hours watching live streaming. It was almost twice as much time as the previous year.

Before taking donations from your viewers, you need to set up your Streamlabs tip page or charity account in the first place. It is easy and free. There, you will need to set up the donation setting as well as the payment methods. There are several payment methods that you can select, such as PayPal, PayPal [LEGACY], Credit Cards, Unitpay.ru, and Skrill.

Follow the methods below to start setting up your Streamlabs donation page.

A. Creating a Streamlabs Tip Page

1. Login to Streamlabs.com and choose Settings at the bottom of the dashboard.

2. Select Donation Settings > Methods and choose the payment.

3. Follow the steps to connect your account.

4. When it is connected, your tip page will show as in the link: Streamlabs.com/YOURNAME.

Now, go back to the dashboard. There, you can set the minimum amount of tip or the recommended amount for the donation. If you are not based in the US, you are allowed to change the currency as you pleased.

You can also write a message for your audience. Let them know if you’re taking donations as well as the purpose.

To strengthen your personal branding, add a custom image to the donation page header.

B. Setting up your Charity Live Stream

Streamlabs is a free live streaming platform for charity. It won’t charge any fees from you. 100% of the fundraising will go to the charity. All of the money will go straight to the streamers. Streamlabs never lays a hand on the cash.

There are lots of organizations that have used this platform to seek financial support for the charity. In the last Z event, they even collect $1.98 million in only 24 hours.

Now, do the following steps to manage your charity account:

1. Visit Streamlabscharity.com

2. Sign up as a Fundraiser to create an account. Or, sign up with your Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook account.

3. Create your Streamlabs charity account.

4. Check the inbox in your email. You will find a welcome mail.

5. Open the message and click the verifying button to verify your account.

Now, you are ready to start your first charity campaign.

C. Start your fundraising

Now, since you have created your account, you are ready to be a fundraiser. You can either be a fundraiser for the registered charity or your own charity.

Once you decide on the charity, you can start creating a campaign for the charity. Write the description and choose the date you will go live, and set the donation target. Click Create Campaign when it’s all completed.

You will now return to your profile page. Press Publish when you are ready for the fundraising event to go live.

Don’t forget to share you charity tip page to your audiences. They can donate to your campaign by simply clicking the link that you have shared.

How do I create charity stream alerts?

Create charity stream alerts to remind you about your charity live stream that you are going to hold. To do this, you need to link your Streamlabs account to the published campaign. It’s a piece of cake.

Go to the dashboard > Settings > Integration to manage your charity campaign.

After the integration has done, you will get the alerts whenever it’s time for collecting donations.

The Best Streaming Settings for Streamlabs OBS

Before you press the LIVE button, it is wise to know your device specs. Setting up too high quality can result in crashes or performance issues.

If you are a new streamer, you can use the Auto Optimize feature in Streamlabs OBS. It will analyze your hardware and internet speed. Then, it will custom the setting based on the results.

It is quite useful if you don’t really understand this technical thing yet.

To access this feature, go to Settings > General.

However, if you have knowledge about technical things, you can custom the setting yourself.

Below is the best setting that you can apply in Streamlabs OBS for streaming on Twitch. Check it out.

1. Quality and resolution

The higher the quality and resolution you choose, the higher the CPU works. Choosing the highest resolution will give you the best output, but it will take more resources.

Therefore, you should consider your computer specs. You can choose the base (canvas) resolution similar to your computer’s original resolution.

You can also reduce the Output (Scaled) Resolution since streaming in 1080p can weigh your CPU. Thus, set it to 1280×720 to balance the performance and quality.

2. Select encoder

There are two kinds of encoders: software (x264) and hardware (NVENC).

The software (x264) uses your CPU to play and stream the video. You should have a high specs computer if you want to have the best quality video.

The hardware NVEC uses GPU to encode video. Stream with it if you are using an NVIDIA graphics card on your computer.

3. Change the CPU usage preset

Change the default CPU usage preset to get the best performance. To do this, go to Settings > Output.

The x264 encoder provides several options of usage preset that you can use. Choosing Very Fast will give you a balance between performance and quality.

The NVENC encoder offers three presets: low-latency, optimal performance, and max quality. You can start with the Quality preset and experimenting to get the best setting for you.

4. Enable Dynamic Bitrate

Dynamic Bitrate feature lets the application adjust the bitrate setting based on network to avoid dropping frames issue.

To enable Dynamic Bitrate, go to Settings > Advanced > tick the Dynamically change bitrate when dropping frames while streaming.

5. Adjust Bitrate manually

You can adjust the bitrate manually to know which works best for you.

Here are some recommended specs for NVIDIA NVENC from Twitch. Select the settings according to the resolution and fps you want to use.

Settings	1080p 60fps	1080p 30fps	720p 60fps	720p 30fps
Resolution	1920×1080	1920×1080	1280×720	1280×720
Bitrate	6000 kbps	4500 kbps	4500 kbps	3000 kbps
Rate Control	CBR	CBR	CBR	CBR
Framerate	60 or 50 fps	25 or 30 fps	60 or 50 fps	25 or 30 fps
Keyframe Interval	2 seconds	2 seconds	2 seconds	2 seconds
Preset	Quality	Quality	Quality	Quality
B-frames	2	2	2	2

Keep in mind that the settings for each computer can be different because of the various specs they have. So, try to experiment to get the best settings for you.

ALSO READ: Google Text to Speech: Read Texts on Your Screen Aloud

Troubleshooting

Sometimes issues appear in Streamlabs though it doesn’t happen often. However, it is still annoying and irritating to experience a problem when you are doing live streaming. And you need to fix it as soon as possible. So, your live streaming can go smoothly.

1. Streamlabs dropping frames issue

Before jumping to the solutions, you need to know that there are three kinds of frame issues. Each has different causes and methods to fix. Check them below:

Lagged frames: It happens due to an overload compositor or high GPU usage.
Skipped frames: It happens due to an overload encoder or high CPU usage.
Dropped frames: It happens due to network errors caused by servers or hardware.

Now, let’s take a look at how to fix the dropping frames in order to improve the live stream qualities.

a. Fix lagged frames

Adjust the game to the lower quality than currently. It gives the Streamlabs OBS some space to encode the frames. Limiting the FPS or using V-sync can be another solution.
Set the game settings to 120FPS and 12Hz or lower.

b. Fix skipped frames

Reduce your CPU usage by closing other opened apps that you don’t need.
Consider upgrading your CPU by using hardware encoding (NVENC/AMD).

c. Fix dropped frames

As we have mentioned earlier, the dropped frames mostly happen because of the internet connection failure. When it occurs, you can try to contact your ISP provider and tell them about your issue.

However, there might be possibilities that the network issue occurs due to your hardware failure. If so, here are some steps you can do:

Restart your router or modem. Unplug it for about 30 to 60 seconds and plug it again.
Check your video and audio bitrate. It should not exceed the internet upload speed.
Try connecting to a different streaming server. Avoid using Auto in Settings > Stream.
Reinstall your network driver on your computer.

Those were the methods you can try to fix dropping frames.

2. Recording issue

There are three kinds of message that will appear whenever you experience a recording issue in Streamlabs OBS.

An unexpected error occurred: Unable to write to.
An unexpected error occurred: [empty]
No errors; No Recording File Created.

Here are some solutions that you can do to fix the recording issue:

Check your disk space. Ensure that you have enough space to store the recording file.
Install both versions of Microsoft Visual C++ redist 2017: 64 bit and 32 bit.
Update your graphics card driver.
Run Streamlabs OBS as an administrator.
Make sure that you are allowed to write a file in the recording path/folder.
Use Same as Stream quality.

3. Black screen game capture issue

In some cases, Streamlabs OBS game capture won’t work. It shows a black screen when you try to capture the game.
If you are experiencing this problem, try the following steps to fix the game capture black screen issue.

Right-click on the app and choose “Run an Administrator“.
Delete the capture source and run Streamlabs OBS as administrator. Then, add a new source.
Make sure that you install Streamlabs OBS in Program Files.
Use “Capture Specific Window” or “Capture foreground window with hotkey“.
Disable and enabled the Anti-cheat hook.
Disable 3rd party in-game overlays.
Install Visual C++ Redistributable.
Update all drivers and software.

4. Crash issue

If a crash happens while you are doing a live streaming, try to do the following methods:

Update your Windows. Go to Windows Start Menu > Check System Updates. Press Check for Updates. Install the updates if any.
Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 redistributable (both 64bit and 32bit).
Update GPU driver.
Re-install Streamlabs OBS and run as administrator.
Install DirectX.
Give permission for Streamlabs OBS through any Antivirus.

5. Streamlabs won’t go live issue

To fix Streamlabs won’t go live issue, you can do several steps below by order.

Step 1

Install Microsoft C++ 2017 Redistributables and restart your laptop.
Log out from Streamlabs OBS, close the application, and run as an administrator.
If you use Advanced Output Mode and using NVEC/AMD, the GPU should be set to 0.
Run the auto-optimizer in General Settings if you sign in using Twitch.
Enable 2FA in your Twitch account.
Clear cache and data.

Step 2

If you get an error message, “Invalid Path or Connection URL. Please check your settings to confirm that they are valid.” after doing the methods above, you can do the followings:

Navigate to Settings > Advanced > Bind > IP.
Change it from Default to your local machines. It should start with 192.168.x.x or 10.0.x.x. (or another combination of numbers).

Now, try to go live stream again.

Step 3

Do these steps if the methods above didn’t work.

Go to Settings > Stream > Custom Ingest.
Choose a different service.
Choose the streaming service you want to use.
Select the server (avoid auto).

Step 4

When you click Go Live and you’ve got an error, you should try the followings:

The method below will work to users that are using NVENC only. Go to Settings > Output to see if you are using this device.

Launch Geforce Experience and choose Drivers.
Click the triple dots to update or re-install the driver.
If you choose to download, after it’s completed, click Custom Installation and tick Perform Clean Install.
Choose Install and run it.

Now, you can try to go live with NVENC or NVENC (new).

6. Webcam not working issue

If you can go live, but the webcam is not working properly, you can do these steps:

Update your webcam driver
Remove duplicate sources of the webcam.
Make sure the setting is correct.
Check if all apps to access your camera are enabled. Go to Windows > Settings > Privacy > Camera.

Final Words

Streamlabs is a free live streaming platform that can do multistream instantly. It is simple, effective, and fantastic. It allows you to go unlimited live streaming on YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, TikTok, and more simultaneously.

The overlays are easy to set up and it’s a great-looking app. It provides good quality and good frame rates too.

This is a great app for everyone who wants to reach a cross section of audiences quality. Including make money and get donations for charities.

If you are planning to be a streamer, download Streamlabs OBS app right now.