Review: Is Streamlabs Desktop Worth Using for Your Channel?
Last Updated on March 5, 2025 by Michael Brockbank
Should you use Streamlabs Desktop to manage your live streams and video content for Twitch and YouTube? With all of the available streaming apps out there, you want to find one that fits your needs. And when it comes to ease of use, I believe Streamlabs is among the easiest.
However, there is a bit of a caveat. While Streamlabs Desktop works quite well for beginners, most of the better features are locked behind the Streamlabs Ultra upgrade. And this can run you around $27 per month or $189 per year.
It’s a bit hefty compared to many other platforms. But you get a slew of tools and functions with that price tag.
Today, though, we’re looking at the streaming app itself.
What is Streamlabs Desktop?
Streamlabs Desktop, originally Streamlabs OBS, is free software that allows streaming to some of the most popular video platforms on the Internet. Focusing on making streaming easy for everyone, a lot of its functions and tools are designed in a way to help anyone become a full-time streamer regardless of technical skill level.
With a few clicks of the mouse, you can incorporate everything from a YouTube membership goal to changing the visual aspect of the video for TikTok and other portrait-based video platforms.
The Desktop software is directly connected to your Streamlabs account. Any changes you make will directly affect one another. For example, using a theme in Streamlabs Desktop that utilizes customized alert boxes will automatically update those alerts on your Streamlabs account.
Streamlabs is one of the most prolific systems to use, especially on Twitch. You’d be hard-pressed to find a streamer who isn’t showing alerts from the system for subs, follows, or donations.
11 Pros and Cons of Streamlabs Desktop
Easy to Manage
The first thing you’ll notice about Streamlabs Desktop is that it’s quite easy to use. Most of the important functions are plainly labeled and easy to find without knowing too much about how streaming apps work.
Connecting your favorite streaming platforms is also a breeze as most of them are listed with a connect function, such as YouTube, TikTok, Kick, Twitch, and Twitter (X). However, you can add other destinations to the software by using the URL and Streamkey provided by those platforms.
The way the software is set up, even the most novice of streamers can get started with a few clicks of the mouse. Of course, that doesn’t include customizing overlays and such.
Customizations Galore
Streamlabs Desktop gives you the ability to customize virtually every aspect of the stream. It’s easy to resize assets, adjust input and output sound, create sources, and much more.
You can also customize the overlays and themes to an extent. While you can’t make visual changes to those elements, you can make a variety of adjustments in the properties screen of each one. For instance, opening the Source Properties of the Alert Box will show all kinds of adjustments you can make.
The bottom line is that you can spend a great deal of time fine-tuning the perfect layout for your stream. It all depends on what you want to show your audience.
Lots of Overlays and Themes*
Overlays and themes can be easily installed within Streamlabs Desktop if you use one of the premade packages. Although you can easily create your own scene and sources, these packages offer a professional appearance and some can even be installed to match the game you’re playing.
For example, I’m using Viking Valhalla while streaming Valheim. And I have a few underwater themes for when I play Subautica.
Unfortunately, most of the overlays and themes available are locked behind the Streamlabs Ultra upgrade. However, there are quite a few free overlays and themes you can use to get you started that are quite attractive.
Remember, you can always install a free theme and then add your own sources to make it more unique. Or, you can simply create your own Scene and add custom overlays you make yourself.
Apps to Accentuate the Stream
Streamlabs Desktop has a collection of apps you can install to add more to your video and streaming content. In the App Store (directly accessible from the software), you can find tools for production value, analytics, audience participation, engagement, and design.
For instance, you can install the tubePlugger app to showcase your YouTube videos during a live stream. That way, you can cross-promote the content on Twitch to get people to watch your YouTube channel.
There are a handful of different apps you can use to beef up the stream. From cross-platform chat to showing a customizable Magic 8 Ball, all it takes is a click of the install button and a few customizations.
Built-in Stream Highlighting
What if you have a key moment that you want to save for a clip or a video? Streamlabs Desktop has a built-in highlighting tool that can save them for you as you play. That way, you don’t have to go through the entire video later to clip out key moments.
After you set up the key binding and replay duration, all you need to do is tap those keys to save the clip.
With the addition of the dual outputs (I’ll go over those in a moment), you can easily take quick videos of great moments to use on platforms like YouTube Shorts, TikTok, or Instagram Reels.
Easy to Multistream
Streaming to more than one platform simultaneously expands your reach. Streamlabs lets you do this directly from the desktop without having to sign up for third-party services. Of course, you’ll want a decent computer and Internet connection to deliver the best experience.
In the free version of Streamlabs Desktop, you can stream to two services at the same time, such as YouTube and Twitch. When you upgrade to Ultra, you can stream to more than two of your choosing. This is great if you’re building an audience on a multitude of platforms.
Once you hit the Go Live button, you can set the details for each streaming service and their respective elements. For instance, you can add a thumbnail to YouTube videos should you have one prepared.
The best part is that you don’t have to open any of the streaming services in a browser tab to manage the stream, especially if you’re using something like Streamer.bot to pull chat into one window.
Dual Horizontal and Vertical Outputs
Although this is a great feature, it does come with a bit of a drawback.
The dual horizontal and vertical outputs for Streamlabs Desktop are easy to manage, especially if you’re promoting content on something like TikTok or YouTube Shorts. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a way to record videos vertically onto your computer. You can only stream to vertical platforms from Streamlabs Desktop.
A way to get around the recording issue is to stream the video to YouTube in vertical format but set the video to Private. That way, people don’t stumble onto your “recording” while you’re live. Then, you can download the video directly from YouTube once you’re done.
It’s kind of a roundabout way to record vertically, but it works. You can also do something similar with TikTok – stream the video and then download the vertical file.
Connects Directly to Streamlabs
Another time saver of Streamlabs Desktop is that it connects directly to your Streamlabs account. That means it will update your alert boxes when installing certain themes, pull tracking information for things like top tips and recent subscribers, and more.
So, if you go into Multistreaming from the Streamlabs website and add YouTube, the connection will save on the streaming software. That means you can make quite a few adjustments from the web browser to affect your broadcast or recorded video.
There’s nothing wrong with doing all of this manually. But it is a timesaver in some regards, such as changing the alert box to match your theme.
May Feel Overwhelming to Some
There are a lot of options in Streamlabs Desktop and the browser-based account. For some, it may feel overwhelming as there is so much you can do with the software, alerts, merchandise, and panels. It’s virtually a one-stop shop for those who want to turn streaming into a career.
That’s part of the problem, though. With so many things at your fingertips, it can overload someone who doesn’t really need all of the other bells and whistles. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds when you’re looking for something simple.
Still, the platform has everything you need to get started, and it’s not overly difficult to learn what each tool provides. I would suggest exploring all of the options and learning what Streamlabs delivers if you want to take your broadcasts to higher levels. There is a lot there, and it’s worth the time.
Not a lot of Add-on Apps at the Moment
The list of add-on apps for Streamlabs Desktop is a bit on the low side of things. While the App Shop in the software makes installing those apps incredibly easy, you don’t have as many available as you’d see from other streaming software such as OBS Studio.
It also appears that a lot of the apps are only for Ultra subscribers. If there is something you want to use, you’ll need to upgrade.
Currently, I counted 64 apps available for Streamlabs Desktop while there are 1,008 plugins, layout designs, tools, and scripts for OBS Studio. It’s just a bit more convoluted to install the add-ons with OBS than it is with Streamlabs.
Can Be Slightly Buggy
Sometimes, changing from one theme to another didn’t update the alert boxes as it should. I had to move from the scene to another one and then back again to get the correct alert boxes to show. It doesn’t happen every time, but it was worth mentioning.
If you’re getting a “Recording Error” message from Streamlabs Desktop without a code or message, try changing the Encoder of your output.
Once I changed this to nVidia nVenc, the error stopped.
Of course, I also have an nVidia RTX video card. You may need to try a different encoder depending on what kind of graphics chipset you’re running.
Is It Worth Upgrading to Ultra?
Streamlabs Ultra comes with a lot more than just a collection of themes. With it, you gain access to everything offered by Streamlabs, which includes access to all of the panels, themes, several pieces of editing software, and better profit margins from your online store.
So, it’s not just upgrading your streaming software.
You need to ask yourself whether $189 per year is worth all of the features. That comes down to $15.75 per month, which isn’t a lot, in the grand scheme of things. I spend more than that per month on coffee from Dutch Bros or Caribou.
I tend to look at most things as an investment. As the saying goes, “It takes money to make money.” Yet, you still need to weigh whether that investment is still a valid idea for your channel. There are a lot of features in Streamlabs that can accentuate your streaming career. But are you going to use them all?
If you decide to upgrade to Ultra, make sure you take advantage of everything it offers. Browse through all of the themes, panels, and editing tools to see if there are things that you can use for your broadcast. After all, you want to get your money’s worth.
Would I Suggest Using Streamlabs Desktop?
Streamlabs Desktop is easy to use and great for new streamers. It works nearly identical to OBS Studio with a few extra tools and functions. Because it is simplified, it’s probably one of the better options to use for streaming.
This is especially true if you’re planning on multistreaming. Streamlabs Desktop connects to the most popular video platforms with ease every time you go live.
Although the Ultra upgrade unlocks a lot of background features, the free version still has everything you’ll need to stream. And since it connects to your Streamlabs account directly, it’s easy to manage and maintain.
So, the short answer would be yes, I think Streamlabs Desktop is great for the new streamer looking for free software. However, I would seriously consider upgrading to Ultra. It’s a bit more expensive than some alternatives out there, but you get a lot of features for the money.
It all comes down to whether or not you’d use all of the goodies that come with Ultra. Not everyone will.
What is Your Favorite Streaming App?
I currently use OBS Studio for the writing channel and Streamlabs Desktop for the gaming channel. That’s mostly because I don’t want to create a whole new account on Streamlabs and pay for another year-long subscription. Not to mention that it would be a pain to log out of one and into another every day.
Laziness for the win.
Besides, there is nothing in Streamlabs I would currently need for the writing channel’s live streams or videos. Perhaps in the future, I’ll set up a Twitch channel for WriterSanctuary. But in the meantime, I use both apps equally.
Streamlabs Desktop has been a great tool, making multistreaming and visuals easy to implement. With the addition of vertical streaming, I might even start a TikTok for the giggles of it.
Eh…maybe not.
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