OBS StudioScenes you can swap instantly
Build one layout for the intro, another for the main content and another for the outro, then jump between them with a click or a hotkey.
Free · Open source · No watermark
OBS Studio: record your screen and go live without paying a cent
OBS Studio turns your computer into a small broadcast room. Bring in a game, a browser tab, a webcam and a microphone, arrange them on a canvas, and either save the result or push it live to the internet.
$0price of OBS Studio, forever
3desktop systems supported
∞scenes you can build
1app for recording and streaming
What is OBS Studio, in plain words
If you have ever watched a streamer switch between a game, a chat window and a “be right back” screen, there is a good chance OBS Studio was doing the switching.
OBS Studio is a desktop program that captures video and sound from many places at once and combines them into a single picture. That picture can be written to a video file on your disk, or sent over the internet to a service such as Twitch, YouTube or any server that accepts an RTMP or SRT feed.
What makes it different from a basic screen recorder is the layering. Instead of recording whatever happens to be on the monitor, you design what the viewer sees: a gameplay window in the middle, your face in the corner, a text line along the bottom, a music visualiser behind it all. Each of those pieces is independent, so you can move, crop, hide or replace one without touching the others.
The program is maintained by volunteers and contributors in the open, which is why it has no subscription, no export limit and no logo burned into your footage.
What you can do with OBS Studio
The feature list is long, but most people use a handful of ideas every day.
Sources for almost anything
Capture a whole display, a single window, a game, a camera, an image, a browser page, a text label or an audio device.
Studio Mode for a safe preview
Prepare the next scene on a private preview screen, then push it live with a transition when you are happy with it.
Filters that fix the picture and sound
Remove a green background, sharpen a webcam, cut keyboard noise, lift a quiet microphone or compress loud peaks.
Hardware encoding
Pass the heavy video work to your graphics card or processor’s media engine so the game itself keeps its frame rate.
Plugins and scripting
Extend the program with community plugins, a built-in remote-control server and scripts written in Lua or Python.
From empty canvas to live in four moves
You do not need to learn every menu. This short path is enough for a first broadcast or recording.
- Run the auto-configuration wizardOn first launch OBS Studio asks whether you want to stream or only record, tests your hardware and suggests a resolution, frame rate and bitrate.
- Create a scene and add sourcesA scene is a layout. Click the plus under Sources and add a display or game capture, then a camera and a microphone.
- Connect your destinationPick a streaming service and paste the stream key, or choose a folder and a format if you only want a recording.
- Press StartWatch the audio meters, keep an eye on dropped frames in the status bar, and stop when you are finished.
Who picks OBS Studio, and why
Streamers
Overlays, alerts, chat boxes and scene changes without paying for a locked-down tool. Most streaming guides assume you are using it.
Teachers and course creators
Record a slide deck with a small camera bubble, trim nothing, and export a clean file for your students.
Software teams
Capture bug reproductions, demo a release or run an internal webinar straight from a laptop.
Gamers and clip makers
Keep a replay buffer running in the background and save the last thirty seconds the moment something great happens.
OBS Studio questions, answered
What is OBS Studio?
OBS Studio is free, open-source software that captures your screen, camera and audio, mixes them into scenes, and either records the result to a file or sends it live to a streaming service.
Is OBS Studio really free?
Yes. It is released under the GPL license. There is no paid tier, no watermark and no recording time limit.
Which systems does OBS Studio run on?
Windows, macOS and Linux. The features are broadly the same, though a few capture methods differ by system.
Can OBS Studio stream and record at the same time?
Yes. You can stream to a platform and save a local recording simultaneously, as long as your computer can handle the encoding load.
Do I need a powerful computer?
A modern mid-range machine is enough for 1080p. Using a hardware encoder moves most of the work off the processor.
Ready to try OBS Studio?
Grab the installer for your system, run the wizard, and have a test recording in about ten minutes.