Live Stream Software For Mac



Studio 6 Live Production Software. Transform your computer into a professional live production control room with Livestream Studio. Input multiple feeds, add graphics, master audio, and stream in one robust, easy-to-use package. VMix also functions as live streaming software that allows you to publish your live productions directly to the Internet! VMix runs on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 platforms. VMix is a complete live video production software solution with features including LIVE mixing, switching, recording and LIVE streaming of SD, full HD and 4K video. Be.Live is a super easy web software for live streaming. Open Broadcaster Software. My Rec ommendation for Open Broadcaster Software.

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  4. Best Live Streaming Software For Mac Free
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Why pay for costly software and complicated hardware to live stream events? Explore these five free tools instead.

Live streaming events has its upsides, and as businesses invest in their remote work infrastructure, it’s becoming an essential practice.

You can reach people who couldn’t make it to the event due to cost, timing, or logistical limitations. You can expand the audience reach beyond your venue or city and attract digital viewers from around the world. You can also increase audience engagement by allowing viewers to comment and ask questions.

Live streaming also allows you to keep the show running when crises such as the coronavirus outbreak hit. Large-scale events such as the Grammys and Broadway readings can shut down their physical presence and take the show online. Musicians and artists can use it to live stream impromptu gigs and create digital events from scratch.

There are many live streaming tools that can be used to broadcast events online.

However, if cost concerns are keeping you from live streaming, then free live streaming tools are a simple fix to the problem.

5 free tools to live stream your event

Here are the tools we will cover (arranged alphabetically):

This article looks at five free live streaming software options. See the full list of free live streaming software solutions here.

First, what do we mean by “free”? For a tool to be classified as free, it must offer a standalone free version and not a trial version where the product must be purchased after a set period. For more details on how we selected these products, you can read our methodology here.

1. Facebook Live

Facebook Live will help you jump right into broadcasting events online. It comes with dual benefits. Firstly, it bypasses the complexities of traditional live streaming platforms that require hefty hardware setup and complex video rendering capabilities. Next, it taps into an already existing audience base—Facebook friends or Facebook page followers.

A Facebook Live event stream (Source)
What do you need to go live?

✔ A smartphone with the Facebook app installed or a computer/laptop with a built-in/add-on webcam.

✔ A personal Facebook profile or Facebook page for the business/event.

What are the key features of the tool?

  • Toggle the privacy setting to make live streams visible to the public or keep them private within friends/followers. Also, tag people or locations and add filters, writing, and drawing to the videos.
  • Access metrics such as peak live viewers, total views, average watch time, and viewer demographics.
  • Add a personal touch when going live on a smartphone—walk around the event, talk to people, and broadcast from a personal vantage point.
  • Screen-share if using a computer/laptop. However, this requires downloading a screen-sharing extension.
  • Save videos to your Facebook gallery once the broadcast ends so that they can be viewed later.

What should you watch out for when using the tool?

  • Negative comments from any viewer are visible to the entire audience and enshrined in the video.
  • Using Facebook’s built-in publisher to enhance the video quality of the live stream requires technical know-how and third-party tools.
  • Live stream can be also fetched from a video encoder via an API. However, the process requires some technical know-how and screening under Facebook’s App Review policies.
Who is the tool most suitable for?

Events of any size—from a small poetry reading of fifty people to a mega product launch of 5,000 attendants. This is the best tool to leverage a personal or business Facebook presence and reach an audience that has already shown interest in what you do.

2. Instagram Live

Instagram Live is a feature of Instagram Stories that can be used to broadcast events to a digital audience and engage with them in real time. It is quite similar to Facebook Live in its functionalities and user experience. The catch is that Instagram Live allows users to go live only on the mobile version of the tool and not the desktop version.

Starting a live stream on Instagram (Source)
What do you need to go live?

✔ A smartphone with the Instagram app installed.

✔ A personal or business/event Instagram profile.

What are the key features of the tool?

  • Draw, color, tag people, and add location, emojis, gifs, and filters on the live feed in real time.
  • Select between private or public audiences. Whenever a live stream starts, push notifications alert the user’s followers.
  • Engage with the audience as they send likes and comments. A stream of comments is displayed on the bottom of the screen—pin select comments to the top of the comment stream or disable comments entirely.
  • Filter out comments containing offensive keywords, phrases, or emojis by choosing the “hide offensive comments” option before going live.
  • Save videos to Stories so that they can be revisited by viewers for up to 24 hours after a live stream. Saving videos to Highlights on the profile makes them available beyond 24 hours.
  • Go live with another user on Instagram by having them join your stream and request to go live with you. This yields a split-screen interaction that viewers can watch.

What should you watch out for when using the tool?

  • The tool is more accustomed to the portrait view (vertical view with an aspect ratio of 9:16) than the landscape view (horizontal view with an aspect ratio of 3:2).
  • All live videos have to be recorded on smartphones. They can’t be imported from other devices.
  • You can track metrics such as viewer count, likes, and comments during and after live streams. However, an Instagram Business account is needed for metrics such as accounts reached and impressions.
Who is the tool most suitable for?

Events of any size—from a book launch with 100 people to a concert for a few thousand people. For those with a personal or business Instagram presence, this tool will help tap into an existing audience as well as reach potential digital viewers from around the world.

3. Periscope

Periscope is a livestreaming app for iOS and Android smartphones that helps broadcast events to Twitter as well as the Periscope TV website. Periscope was acquired by Twitter before its launch in 2015 and has since been Twitter’s answer to Facebook Live and Instagram Live.

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Watching the replay of an event on the Periscope website (Source)
What do you need to go live?

✔ A smartphone with the Periscope app installed.

✔ A personal or business/event Periscope account.

✔ A Twitter account to connect broadcasts to Twitter.

What are the key features of the tool?

  • Alert Periscope followers with an auto-generated notification whenever a broadcast starts.
  • Increase the virality of events by enabling viewers to share the live stream on Twitter and Periscope as well as share a link to the broadcast anywhere else.
  • Store event broadcasts for replay and let those appear on your Periscope and Twitter followers’ feeds.
  • Access broadcast stats such as live viewers, replay viewers, and time watched to better understand the audience.
  • Allow all viewers to comment on live streams or send likes, or limit this functionality to the people you follow.

What should you watch out for when using the tool?

  • By default, all live streams are public and viewable by anyone. To create a private broadcast for a select audience, you and the viewer need to be following each other on Twitter.
  • You can draw on and color the live feed in real time, just like on Facebook Live and Instagram Live. However, the graphic enhancement capabilities of Periscope are comparatively limited and only available on its iOS app.
  • Analytical insights about the audience are less detailed compared to similar tools such as Facebook Live or YouTube Live.
Who is the tool most suitable for?

Events of any size—from a dance competition with a few dozen viewers to a political event with a few thousand viewers. For those with personal or business profiles on Twitter, the tool taps into the existing audience as well as generates interest from unconnected Twitter and Periscope users who might be interested in the event.

4. YouNow

YouNow is a live streaming service geared toward younger audiences. It started as the video version of Twitter where users interact with each other over live videos but has evolved into a broadcasting service that can also be used to live stream events.

A “moment” from America’s Got Talent auditions on YouNow (Source)
What do you need to go live?

✔ A smartphone with the YouNow app installed or a computer/laptop with a built-in/add-on webcam.

✔ A personal or business/event profile on Facebook, Twitter, Google, or Instagram to log in.

What are the key features of the tool?

  • Broadcast an event from multiple vantage points by taking advantage of the multiple guest broadcasters feature.
  • Screen share when using the desktop version of the tool. However, that will require downloading the desktop app.
  • Interact with the audience through comments.
  • Allow viewers to share event broadcasts with their followers on the tool.
  • Use the tool’s hashtagging to popularize events. Hashtagging will automatically land your event in the feeds of the viewers following that hashtag.
  • Know how many viewers are watching the live stream.

What should you watch out for when using the tool?

  • All live streams are public by default.
  • The potential audience of your social media friends/followers is lost since the tool does not tap into that. Instead, it relies on hashtags or links to live stream.
  • live streams are saved to the profile only for three days. This limits the number of viewers who could watch it later.
  • Analytical insights about the audience are less detailed than in any other tool in the report.
Who is the tool most suitable for?

Small or midsize events where the goal is to generate interaction with a younger audience. This tool can also be used in innovative ways for events such as auditions, showcases, or gaming competitions.

5. YouTube Live

YouTube Live is a live streaming feature on the popular video-sharing platform YouTube. The tool offers a wide range of broadcasting features, apt for anyone from a lone music performer to a full-fledged event with advertisements and promotions. It offers one benefit that no other platform in this list does—the search potential of being on YouTube, such that an event can be located simply through Google search.


Watching a live stream of an event on YouTube Live (Source)
What do you need to go live?

✔ A smartphone with the YouTube app installed or a computer/laptop with a built-in/add-on webcam.

✔ A YouTube account, which can be created with a Google account.

What are the key features of the tool?

  • Add automatic live captions (in English) to event broadcasts to make them more accessible to people with hearing limitations or those watching without audio.
  • Interact with the audience in the chat window and take questions for the event and receive feedback. Follow conversations even after the live stream is over with the Live Chat Replay feature or disable certain chats entirely.
  • Make use of advanced live streaming features such as broadcast delay and automatic recording.
  • Save event broadcasts as videos on your channel. These can be watched by viewers later on.
  • Assess analytical insights such as average live view duration, total view time, concurrent viewer, playbacks, and chat rate through the analytics dashboard and generate reports to analyze and understand the audience.

What should you watch out for when using the tool?

  • User accounts must be verified to go live, which can take up to 24 hours.
  • At least 1,000 subscribers are needed to go live from a mobile phone.
  • You can go live using third-party hardware or software encoders to enhance the quality of the broadcast. However, that will require some technical know-how.
Who is the tool most suitable for?

Events of any size—from a press conference with a few dozen people to a sports event with a few thousand people. For those with personal or business accounts on YouTube, this is the best way to tap into the existing audience as well as attract potential viewers from around the world via Google search auto-integration.

Next steps

Even with all this information, it can be overwhelming to select a free tool to live stream your event. Most of them sound like they offer similar features and the truth is, they do!

So, the question to ask yourself is: Do I have a presence on any of the social media platforms these tools are connected to?

If yes, go with the tool that allows you to tap into the existing audience base. If not, explore each of these tools and see which one feels the most appropriate for your event and gives a comfortable user experience.

If none of these free tools suffice your requirement, explore other live streaming tools on our website.

Product selection methodology

To select the products mentioned in this article, we identified the most-common live streaming products listings via Incognito Google search on Feb. 7, 2020. Products that appeared on third-party listings at least twice during this research were shortlisted for further evaluation.

Products were evaluated against the definition of a live streaming event: Live streaming an event means to broadcast the video and audio (simultaneously) of an event over the internet using an app or a web platform. The streaming audio and video may have a lag of a few seconds (sometimes).

Tools that did not fit this definition were eliminated, including:

  • Tools that were geared toward a limited audience (e.g. live streaming specifically for gaming audiences).

  • Virtual meeting/video conferencing solutions geared toward a business environment.

  • Tools that did not offer a free version or offered limited capabilities with the free version (e.g. live stream that allows streaming only from the desktop, with one camera and one screen capture). We classified a product as free if:

    • It is offered as a free, standalone version of the software.

    • The free offering is not a trial version of the software where you must purchase the product after a certain period.

Note: The screenshots and products selected in this article are examples to show a feature in context and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations. They have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.

Looking for Event Management software? Check out Capterra's list of the best Event Management software solutions.

Try Ecamm Live completely risk free today for 14 days. No credit card required.

  • Download Ecamm Live to Begin Your Trial
    Requires macOS 10.12 or newer.

The all-in-one livestreaming production
platform for Mac.

Ecamm Live puts the power of Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, and Twitch video streaming at your fingertips.

Your New Broadcasting Studio

Everything's here, including support for multiple cameras, Blackmagic HDMI capture devices, iPhone and Mac screensharing, and more. A live camera switcher lets you direct the show in real time.

Support for saved scenes means you can compose scenes in advance, complete with on-screen titles and split screens.

Advanced support for Elgato's Stream Deck means fast access to scene switching, sound effects, and more.

The Power of a Mac App

Stream in HD quality with one click, using any connected mic and capture device, including your DSLR or mirrorless camera from Canon, Nikon, Sony and others. And when your broadcast is done, you'll find a high-quality recording has already been saved on your Mac.

Seamless Platform Integration

Integration with four leading broadcast platforms means there's no need to worry about stream keys or complicated set-up steps. Whether you're streaming to your Facebook business Page or YouTube channel, or scheduling a broadcast in advance, the app takes care of the details.

And once you're live, you'll see audience size, comments and reactions showing up right in Ecamm Live.


Expand Your Reach with Multistreaming

Ecamm Live's integration with Restream.io and Switchboard Live means livestreaming to multiple platforms simultaneously is as simple as one click. And with built-in support for Restream's chat aggregation, Ecamm Live can even display chat comments from over 20 platforms.

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Add Remote Guests With Interview

Ecamm Live inludes a powerful Interview feature for adding guests to your broadcast.

Simply send your guests a web link to join the show for instant split-screen and picture-in-picture layouts.

Add Overlays For a Pro Look

We've made it incredibly easy to add text and graphics such as a company logo, viewer comments and lower thirds to your livestream. Simply type a title or drag an image or comment into place.

Animations and Countdowns

Live Stream Software For Mac

Ecamm Live even supports video overlays and countdowns.

Roll Pre-Recorded Video

Ecamm Live streams high-quality live video, but that's not all. Broadcasting a video file for introductions and pre-recorded segments is as easy as dragging a movie file into the app.

Live Picture-in-Picture

And why stop there? Add a live picture-in-picture to your pre-recorded content. Live and pre-recorded audio is mixed seamlessly.

Share Your Mac Desktop

Livestream your presentations, tutorials and demos with one click. Choose to share your entire screen, or just a particular app or window.

Add a live picture-in-picture to the broadcast for a personal touch.

Ecamm Live In Action

Our users trust Ecamm Live to bring their live show or event to a worldwide audience.

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360 Marketing Squad

Jenn Herman, Stephanie Liu, Amanda Robinson and Mike Allton are the 360 Marketing Squad. Stephanie uses Ecamm to create exciting live shows for their popular Facebook page.

This Week in Photo with Frederick Van Johnson

Ecamm Live has really saved my butt! The software has really upped my game and allowed me to focus on content rather than stressing over production during recording my shows or livestreams.

RV Lifestyle: Ask Us Anything

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Pro Video Academy with Adrian Salisbury

Adrian uses Ecamm Live's support for professional cameras, image overlays and more to produce great professional livestreams on his Facebook Page, Facebook Groups and YouTube channel.

CG Media Solutions

Video producer Carlos Gonzalez of CG Media Solutions relies on Ecamm Live for professional multi-camera live productions.

Bradley Vinson

Speaker, trainer and author Bradley Vinson uses Ecamm Live's graphic overlays and an introduction screen to add a pro touch to his Facebook Live broadcasts.

Roller Hockey Live on Facebook

Alastair Andrew of Drew Media Productions relies on Ecamm for hiccup-free Facebook Live broadcasts.

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Thanks to Ecamm, we were able to stream live, include a visiting missionary via Skype AND have folks who don’t have FB follow along with a phone-in session using another service. Cool!

Desktop-class features you won't find anywhere else:

Scheduling
Build an audience by announcing your broadcasts in advance.
Local Recording
Every broadcast is automatically saved to your Mac.
Comments and Reactions
No need to leave the app to see the latest comments from Facebook, YouTube, Periscope, and Twitch.

Professional camera support:

DSLR via USB Cable
Go live using your Canon, Nikon or Sony DSLR/mirrorless camera for an amazing pro look.
HDMI Capture Made Easy
Native support for HDMI encoders like Elgato Cam Link, AJA U-TAP, Blackmagic Design and more means hassle-free HDMI input.
Newtek NDI®
NDI video sources show up in the camera switcher automatically.

Put on a show:

Screen Sharing
Mac Broadcast your screen, an app or a specific window.
Play Pre-Recorded Videos
Roll video introductions and show pre-recorded clips.
Picture-in-Picture
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Best Mac Streaming Software

Provide live video commentary as you share your screen or play clips.

Feeling Social?

Live Camera Switching
View all camera feeds and switch instantly.
Interview Mode

Video Streaming Software

Instantly invite up to 4 remote guests in crystal clear HD.
(Pro version only.)
Split Screen
Show cameras and guests in a split screen or grid view.

Add a finishing touch:

Overlays
Add text, logos, lower-thirds, PDFs, and even animated GIFs.
Comment Overlays
Promote viewer comments to onscreen overlays with one click.
Green Screen
Change your background with our studio-quality green screen feature.

Get even more with Ecamm Live Pro:

4K Streaming
Record and broadcast in crystal clear 1440p and 4K.

Live Stream Software For Mac Free

(Pro version only.)
Virtual Webcam
Use Ecamm Live features in many Mac video apps.
(Pro version only.)
Realtime Monitoring
Monitor your broadcast on a connected display.
(Pro version only.)

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Best Livestream Software For Mac

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