OBS Studio vs. StreamYard vs. Zoom Events & Webinars

From simple streaming to bigger events, OBS has been able to handle all of it with full confidence from us. Have never questioned if it was going to be unreliable in a specific situation, even with minimal training. Software identified the external input source easily and had no issues setting that up (Blackmagic Mini Recorder), and great for pulling in separate audio from the computer input.

Incentivized

Because it's browser-based, StreamYard is especially well-suited for a situation like mine, where I'm unlikely to have repeat podcast guests very often. It's great that guests don't have to download special software just for a one-time appearance! I haven't personally used StreamYard for livestreaming, but based on its name and reputation, I imagine it's especially well-suited for that use case

Zoom is well-suited for any service-based business that relies on face-to-face communications, whether for client meetings or external sales calls. Zoom also provides a good platform for internal team meetings to discuss creative ideas or for one-on-one sessions. Zoom is also excellent for larger webinars where you need to present to larger audiences.

Incentivized

• RTMP Streaming with customizable bitrate
• Scene Composition and Switching + source control which allows for creators and our customers to move between different types of content they might have (different video feeds, slides etc)
• Audio mixer and audio control - noise gating, a/v syncing, audio source control

Incentivized

• It has an easy and comfortable interface for participants and admins.
• It provides the opportunity to add videos, banners, and slides to your session.
• It provides the opportunity to show live comments and answer to them right from StreamYard.

Incentivized

• Zoom calendar integration is a great way to see what calls are upcoming
• Ease of use for screen sharing and video call settings
• Zoom Workplace is reliable at blocking out external noise that should be muted from actual conversation taking place in calls

Incentivized

• OBS can be a little clunky sometimes, the lots of features can be a bit overwhelming
• I can multitask with it, but can't run heavy software like Premiere alongside it
• No way to make adjustments to file after it's done, have to use After Effects or Premiere for that

Incentivized

• One big downside is that you can't download separate high quality video and audio files for each person in the stream.
• The simplicity takes away from the "customization" that you could potentially have in other platforms.
• A backroom where you could communicate with other people in the stream, without streaming it while live, would be very useful.

Incentivized

• I wish there were more polling options available in Zoom in general, and this extends to both webinar polling and post-webinar surveys. Could certainly do with a more robust polling feature set.
• Setting up Registration for Zoom webinars can be very tricky, and I usually advise against webinar registration. The fact that users have to manually download an .ics to add it to their O365 calendars after registering means lots of issues with users attempting to join after registering early.
• I would have complained about lack of breakout rooms for webinars, or the fact that the practice room can't be turned back on after it was turned off, but Zoom recently implemented webinar breakout rooms plus the Backstage feature, so both of these common complaints are now fully addressed!

Incentivized

We will be renewing with Zoom as long as it continues to meet our needs for client and lead outreach needs in a robust manner. With little error and an easy to use interface, Zoom has met our needs and exceeded our expectations. The cost is right and with a short learning curve, Zoom has been an easy decision to make and maintain.

Incentivized

Very usable because it is free and has had a lot of people helping to suggest improvements and sponsors have allowed the product to grow in sophistication and suitability across a variety of situations and use needs. It is very logical to use once you get started, although the dashboard can seem intimidating at first.

Incentivized

You don't need to be an expert and you don't have anything to install.

Incentivized

Zoom Events is complex, but gets "almost easy" with experience and good guidance. I tell people, "Hosting a meeting is like driving a car; hosting a webinar is like driving an 18-wheeler; and hosting a Zoom Event is like flying a commercial airliner." You need experience, training, and ongoing guidance to be good at Zoom Events. Zoom has staff that knows everything there is to know about Zoom Events, but finding them and reaching them isn't easy. There aren't many consultants out there that are affordable and experienced.

Incentivized

For a free product, a range of support is available. There are plenty of ways to find out answers to questions, because there are probably thousands of people using the product who are willing to share what they have learned. It usually works as designed, so needs for support are limited.

Incentivized

Zoom [Video Webinar] has online web portal where user can take control of the meetings and their settings. It provides details of all the meeting happened and also provides participants list. It has support for webinars and recording also. Zoom [Video Webinar] gave special cloud permissions for paid users also from web portal and that can help in saving disk space.

Implementation was very feasible during our initial usage of the Zoom after COVID-19.

Incentivized

I have also used TinyTake by Mango Apps and I prefer OBS studio because the video quality results are better and OBS allows you to record an unlimited length of the video. OBS also lets you record an entire screen instead of manually having to draw your parameters, which can create oddly sizes videos if you miss by a few pixels.

Incentivized

I've already covered this in other responses. The key reasons I wound up using Descript for certain elements of my process was the better usability of its transcripts and the more-robust AI capabilities it offers. Its suggestions for strong clips seemed more on-point, and it offered functionality like chapter suggestions

We moved away from MS Teams due to several factors: 1)The ability to have a calendar reminder pop up for the upcoming webinar. 2)The ability to have Zoom automatically send a customized one hour reminder email to everyone who registered. 3)Webinar templates that speed up the setup of each of our webinars. 4)Integrated polling and collaboration tools.

Incentivized

• It was great to have a platform that is free that I can experiment with without having to use our business capital on.
• It took time to learn, but it helped me understand a lot of things, so it was a great learning experience.
• It was a great balance of cost and time with the high-quality product we got from it.

Incentivized

• It has increased the reach rate and the number of followers on social media pages, for example, on our Youtube page, the number of followers increased by 2 times the original amount.
• It has reduced the amount of time our communications team spends on editing videos.
• More team members are able to use StreamYard by themselves, which has allowed us to reduce the time our communications team spends on managing live sessions before.

Incentivized

• Prior to Zoom, the best way to train was to travel to their business. Or to do it remotely, it was to allow multiple hours and allocating time to help them set up the technology. It was a mess. We were able to shave travel costs/technology implementation costs.
• We no longer have to waste time playing technology ping pong, bouncing between different platforms. Zoom Video webinar just works.
• My tech team used to have to set up the webinar events, because of how complicated GoToWebinar can be. Zoom makes it easy that anyone can do it.

Incentivized