Which is Better STREAMLABS or OBS in 2022 (Pros & Cons)

As a streamer you’re pretty much left with two options for your broadcasting software I’m sure you all know them and that is Streamlabs obs and obs studio. So which is better Streamlabs or OBS and which one should you use to Stream.

This guide will give you an answer to this and will help you to choose software according to your suitability.

 

Which is Better Streamlabs or OBS Studio in 2022

Streamlabs is now called Streamlabs desktop which is very simple and easy-to-use software. It is basically designed for people who do not want to learn the ins and outs of broadcasting software.

I personally now use OBS studio and after using obs studio for a while now and genuinely love my experience.

I’ve come up with 3 major reasons as to why I feel like OBS studio is better than Streamlabs desktop.

 

How OBS is Better than Streamlabs?

Keep in mind, that my feedback and opinion here in this article are not only based on my personal experience but also from many other streamers.

So here are the 3 major reasons that will prove why me and other streamers say OBS studio is better than Streamlabs.

NOTE:- These reasons I am sharing as based on my and many other streamer’s experiences. After these reasons I will also share PROS and CONS that will help you to decide that should you use Streamlabs or OBS.

 

REASON 1 – Streamlabs is Glitchy

Streamlabs keep on crashing with no warning nothing. I just looked up and it was gone which means there was no feed being sent to youtube or Twitch for my stream.

This was extremely annoying after the first time it happened I thought maybe it was just a fluke and in time it would just stop and go away. I’ve tried restarting my computer, reinstalling the app everything under the sun, and still, it kept crashing.

There were other features inside of Streamlabs that were also glitchy the big one I want to mention is Game Capture.  A lot of people choose the game capture source as their way to do so this is because game capture will capture your game and won’t capture anything else on your desktop for privacy reasons.

But the issue of the game capture is that it flickers all the time and this isn’t just me, the issue I’ve seen is all over Reddit and all over Streamlabs forums.

Everywhere game capture is a big problem constantly when loading in the game or even during the gameplay game capture will just flicker non-stop.

So the easy solution to that is just to use display capture however some people may not be comfortable with that alternative so therefore that makes obs studio better than Streamlabs. 

 

REASONS 2 – Streamlabs Labels Occupies too much Space

Now if you don’t know Streamlabs has their own alert system as well as a separate download for their stream labels. Labels are what you see on a lot of streams showing top donations, new members, and the new Subscriber’s things.

When it comes to Streamlabs those labels I just mentioned are all live on your desktop all those files have to be placed somewhere and take up space either on your desktop or an external hard drive.

However, when it comes to OBS studio and Streamelements integration they make it super simple to set all this up and the great thing about it is it’s all web-based.

 

REASON 3 –  Streamlabs is not lightweight and takes high CPU Usage

Now keeping beginner streamers in mind or Streamers with low budget PC, I would not recommend Streamlabs as it takes high CPU Usage.

Though Streamlabs is easy to use and has many inbuilt default features. You will go through will lots of lags and low-quality streams in the case of a PC with low hardware.

On another hand, OBS is considered one of the best streaming software which is lightweight and can help you to quality stream even with a low-end PC.

 

Should you Use Streamlabs or OBS

As this guide shows you the difference between Streamlabs and OBS, you must also have a look at the pros and cons of this software.

This will help you to better understand which is better Streamlabs or OBS. I will first start with the OBS studio.

PROS of OBS Studio

OBS Studio is of course a free open software and is considered one of the best streaming software.

Here I am sharing a few top pros of OBS studio that will help you to decide whether you should use OBS or Streamlabs.

NO #1 – Lightweight Streaming Software

OBS Studio is a lightweight software that uses the lowest resources and if you are a streamer with a budget PC and need a lightweight software then OBS would be the best option for you.

OBS software files size is around 70 MB whereas Streamlabs file size is around 240 MB which is almost 3 times more than OBS. 

Of course, because of the large file size of Streamlab, there are more inbuilt features, especially for the gaming streamers. But I guess some streamers would wish to manually install them according to their requirement. 

NO #2 – Low CPU & Memory Usage

When you are streaming, smoother quality without lags plays an important role especially when you are streaming with a budget PC.

However, most streamer knows that OBS consume very low memory and CPU usage. Streamlab occupies almost 2 to 3 times of CPU and memory usage than OBS. 

NO #3 – Supporting Platforms

OBS is available for all major OS like Windows, Mac, and Linux whereas SLOB is only available for Windows users.

So that’s another pro feature of OBS that makes it more flexible and covers more users.

OBS supports more than 80 streaming services which are far more than Streamlabs.

NO #4 – Regular and Quick Updates

As OBS is the parent software for all streaming software it gets all the updates first.

So if there is any new feature launched in streaming software, being an OBS user you will enjoy it first.

This gives another benefit where if you also share streaming or tutorial videos on YouTube, you can instantly let the people know about new updates by making a video for them.

 

CONS of OBS Studio

Now there are no such drawbacks of OBS but if compared to Streamlabs there can be some cons and you may feel SLOB better.

 

NO #1 – Need to Manually Install Streaming Features

If you are a beginner in streaming this can be really challenging for you where you need to manually install every streaming feature like nightbot shoutout command.

However, you can enjoy all the features on OBS through extensions and plugins but you need to do some workaround.

So you will have to spend some time on OBS to understand its navigation and to understand how it works.

 

PROS of Streamlabs

Streamlabs have their own benefits which I am sharing here that you should keep in your mind before deciding which streaming software to use. But make sure you read the cons of Streamlabs as well.

NO #1- Huge Theme Store

Streamlabs have an inbuilt theme store where you can a lot of free and paid themes. So simply pick a theme that you like and quickly get started.

Now as putting more sugar can give more sweetness you can get Streamlabs prime membership costing $19.99

 

NO #2 – Easy to Use & Start

If you are in rush and want to quickly start steaming then Streamlabs would be the right pick.

After installing the software you just need to sign in with your streaming account and you can start using chat and followers, subscribers, and donation notifications. 

As Streamlabs contains all required features it becomes really easy to use.

 

Differences between Streamlabs and OBS

Check these differences between Streamlabs and OBS based on their pros and cons.

CPU & Memory Usage

I recently made a performance test by opening both SLOB and OBS on my Gaming PC.

I uploaded an offline screen theme on both the software and after 10 minutes I check the task manager to see the usage. 

Here OBS was taking between 3% to 5% of CPU usage whereas SLOB was occupying between 50% to 40% of CPU usage. Memory usage of OBS was around 150 MB and SLOB memory usage was around 800 MB.


Settings up Stream

In terms of setting up the stream, Streamlabs is the best as it gives all inbuilt features where you just need to log in with your streaming account and you can start streaming.

In OBS you need to manually add extensions and bots which can be a little tricky for beginners.

Which Streaming Software Should you Choose?

Probably you got all the information about this streaming software but are still confused about which one to finally use.

So, now it’s time to finalize by having a quick look at the key points of this software.

There are 2 major points that you need to keep in mind or that matter to you while deciding on the best streaming software. 

 

Your Current Situation	Recommended Software	Why
Beginner with Budget PC	OBS	If you are a beginner and have a budget PC then you must go with OBS as this take very low CPU and Memory usage.
Beginner with Good Configuration PC	Streamlabs OBS	If you have a good configuration PC and CPU or Memory usage is not a problem then you can go with Streamlabs.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

WRAPPING UP

After reading this brief guide you must know which is better Streamlabs or OBS. At the bottom, I shared a simple table as most people are worried about high CPU and Memory Usage.

Finally, both these streaming software are good and I would recommend that you can try both and see which suits you more.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for this article or any questions related to this guide.

 

CHECK MORE TWITCH STREAMING SUPPORT BLOGS