StreamYard review: what removing the watermark costs
StreamYard is the easiest way to run a multi-guest live show from a browser, and its free plan is a permanent tier with a watermark rather than a trial. Our 1 October 2026 check records Core at $44.99 a month and Advanced at $88.99, with no per-guest charge.
The short answer
Buy StreamYard Buy StreamYard Core if you run a regular show with guests and the watermark is a problem. Core is $44.99 a month, or $35.99 billed annually, verified against streamyard.com/pricing on 1 October 2026, and there is no per-guest or per-viewer charge at any tier.
Skip it if you stream a few times a year. The free tier is permanent, and OBS Studio is free and open source, verified 6 October 2026, so an occasional broadcaster has two $0 options before paying $539.88 a year.
Where StreamYard fits
StreamYard fits the person who wants to go live with guests and not think about software. It runs in a browser, guests join by clicking a link with nothing to install, and the layouts and overlays are handled for you. That is the specific job it does better than a local encoder, which asks you to build the scene yourself.
The rate is flat for the account rather than per guest or per viewer. Our 1 October 2026 check describes the tiers as differing on recording hours, guest count and branding, which means your show format and streaming volume decide the plan rather than your audience size. A stream with 50 viewers and one with 5,000 cost the same.
The free tier is a tier and not a countdown. Our check records it as permanent with a StreamYard watermark on streams and recordings. That makes it a real option for a hobby show, and it makes the watermark the clearest upgrade trigger on the card: either your audience tolerates it or it does not.
The hour and guest limits per tier are the figures this page cannot give you. Our verified snapshot names those as the dimensions that separate the plans without recording the numbers, so read them off StreamYard's own pricing page and check them against your format. A weekly five-guest panel and a solo monthly broadcast sit on different sides of that line.
Annual billing is the biggest discount available here. Core drops from $44.99 a month to $35.99 and Advanced from $88.99 to $68.99, which saves $108 and $240 across a year against monthly totals of $539.88 and $1,067.88. That is roughly a fifth off either plan.
Annual billing is also where the billing surprise comes from. The discounted rate is quoted per month and charged as one payment of $431.88 on Core or $827.88 on Advanced. If a charge appears that matches neither monthly figure, an annual renewal is the first thing to check on the invoice.
The fit weakens if simultaneous destinations are the whole point. Restream Standard is $19 a month, verified 1 October 2026, and is built around pushing one stream to many places, so a creator whose requirement is reach rather than production is paying StreamYard for the wrong strength. The live streaming category covers both shapes.
StreamYard pricing
StreamYard publishes a permanent free tier and two paid plans, flat for the account. The figures below were verified against streamyard.com/pricing on 1 October 2026, and the StreamYard pricing breakdown carries the longer version.
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | Permanent, not a trial. Carries a StreamYard watermark on streams and recordings |
| Core | $44.99/mo | $35.99/mo billed annually, charged as $431.88 once. Removes the watermark |
| Advanced | $88.99/mo | $68.99/mo billed annually, charged as $827.88 once. More guests and destinations |
Audience size is the one thing that does not move StreamYard's price. Four things that do:
- Your recording hours, which our check names as a tier dimension without recording the limits. A weekly show and a daily one consume quite different amounts.
- How many guests appear on screen at once, named as the second dimension and again without numbers in our snapshot. Read both off StreamYard's pricing page against your format.
- Whether the watermark is acceptable. That single question decides between $0 and $539.88 a year, and it is testable in one stream.
- Billing period. Annual saves $108 on Core and $240 on Advanced, charged as a single payment rather than a reduced monthly one.
StreamYard pricing against the streaming tools
StreamYard is the expensive end of browser-based streaming, and it is buying production rather than reach. Restream is $19 a month on Standard, verified 1 October 2026, and is built for pushing one stream to many destinations. OBS Studio is free and open source, verified 6 October 2026, and asks you to build the scene yourself. Riverside is $29 a month on Pro, verified 1 October 2026, and records higher-quality local tracks for a podcast rather than a live audience. Pick the job before the price.
StreamYard billing terms worth knowing
Two things cause most unexpected StreamYard charges: the annual rate is quoted monthly, and the free tier never expires.
- Free plan
- Permanent on our 1 October 2026 check, with a watermark. No time-limited paid trial.
- Core
- $44.99 per month, or $35.99 per month billed annually.
- Advanced
- $88.99 per month, or $68.99 per month billed annually.
- Twelve months paid monthly
- $539.88 on Core and $1,067.88 on Advanced.
- Annual charged as one payment
- $431.88 on Core and $827.88 on Advanced.
- Annual saving
- $108 on Core and $240 on Advanced, roughly a fifth.
- Per-guest charges
- None. Guest count is a plan limit rather than a billed unit.
- Hour and guest limits
- Named as tier dimensions in our check without recorded numbers.
If a StreamYard charge matches neither $44.99 nor $88.99, an annual renewal at $431.88 or $827.88 is the first thing to check, because the annual rate is advertised per month and billed once. Our 1 October 2026 check does not record the per-tier hour and guest limits, so this page states none rather than estimating them. Our creator tool cost calculators will work out a cost per episode once you know your cadence.
What StreamYard gives up
The free tier's watermark sits on recordings as well as live streams, which is the part people forget. A watermarked recording is not reusable as a clip or a sponsor deliverable, so the free plan quietly costs you the content library even when the live show is fine.
A flat rate punishes an irregular schedule. Core costs $539.88 across a year at the monthly rate however little you stream, which is about $10 an episode for a weekly show and about $45 for a monthly one. Count the episodes you will genuinely broadcast before calling the subscription good value.
The hour and guest limits are the figures our check does not record, and they are what forces an upgrade. A format with more on-screen guests than Core allows makes the $44 a month step to Advanced compulsory rather than optional, and that is $528 a year decided by a number this page cannot give you.
Browser-based streaming means the browser is the bottleneck. Quality and stability depend on your machine and connection in ways a local encoder lets you control and tune, and OBS Studio at $0 gives that control to anyone willing to learn it.
Simultaneous destinations are not StreamYard's strength. If reaching several platforms at once is the main requirement, Restream at $19 a month does it for less, verified 1 October 2026, and the production polish you are paying StreamYard for is beside the point.
Recording quality is live-stream quality. StreamYard captures what went out rather than clean local tracks per participant, so a podcast that wants the best possible audio is better served by a recording tool. Riverside at $29 a month exists for that, verified 1 October 2026.
There is no time-limited paid trial, so Core and Advanced cannot be tested free. The permanent free tier is the mitigation and it withholds the thing you would be buying, which means evaluating Core honestly costs one month at $44.99.
How StreamYard compares
The four tools below are the ones a creator weighs against StreamYard, and the axis is production polish against reach and control. Prices are the vendors' published rates with the date each was checked against its own pricing page. The wider field sits in the live streaming software category.
| Tool | Best for | Price | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| StreamYard | Browser-based multi-guest shows with no setup | Free with watermark, $44.99/mo Core | Flat rate punishes irregular shows; tier limits unpublished here |
| Restream | Pushing one stream to many destinations cheaply | Free, $19/mo Standard | Less production polish than StreamYard |
| OBS Studio | Full control of the scene at no cost | $0, open source | Real setup required, and nothing is hosted for you |
| Riverside | High-quality recorded interviews rather than live shows | Free, $29/mo Pro | Built for recording, so weaker as a live production tool |
| Descript | Editing the recording afterwards | Free, $24/mo Hobbyist | Not a streaming tool at all |
What to test on the StreamYard free plan
The free tier is permanent on our 1 October 2026 check and there is no paid trial, so this is the only free look you get at the product. Test the watermark question first, because it decides everything else.
- Run one real stream on the free tier and watch the watermark back on the recording. If you could publish that, the free plan may be your answer permanently.
- Bring on the number of guests your format uses and see whether the free tier allows it. Guest count is a plan limit rather than a billed unit, so this is where formats break.
- Read the recording-hour and guest limits for each tier off streamyard.com/pricing. Our check names them without numbers, and they are what will force your upgrade.
- Count the episodes you will broadcast in a year and divide $539.88 by that. A weekly show makes Core about $10 an episode; a monthly one makes it about $45.
- Price Restream at $19 a month against it if multi-destination streaming is the real requirement, verified 1 October 2026. The two tools are solving different problems.
- Pay monthly before prepaying. Annual saves $108 on Core and arrives as a single $431.88 charge, which deserves a few months of proven cadence behind it.
- Try one stream through OBS Studio at $0, verified 6 October 2026, to see what the convenience is worth to you. The cost calculators will total a streaming stack, and the free resources library has a show launch checklist.
StreamYard questions buyers ask
How much does StreamYard cost per month?
StreamYard has a free plan at $0 a month, with Core at $44.99 a month and Advanced at $88.99 a month, verified 1 October 2026. Annual billing brings Core to $35.99 a month, a saving of $9 a month, and Advanced to $68.99 a month, a saving of $20 a month. The Core plan is the minimum for branded, multistream broadcasts.
Does StreamYard have a free plan?
Yes. StreamYard's free plan lets you stream to one destination with up to 6 on-screen participants, but it includes the StreamYard watermark, outputs in standard definition, and limits local recording to 2 hours per month. It's enough to test the platform and do occasional solo streams, but not enough for professional use.
Who is StreamYard best for?
StreamYard is best for podcasters doing video interviews, live show hosts who bring on guests regularly, church and community streamers, and small teams who need polished multistreaming without technical complexity. It's less suited for solo gamers (OBS is better), creators who need 30+ destinations (Restream wins), or anyone who needs advanced scene control and custom transitions.
StreamYard vs Restream: which is better?
StreamYard has a better in-browser production studio with easier guest management, more polished overlays, and stronger recording features. Choose StreamYard if guests and production quality matter most. Choose Restream if reaching the maximum number of platforms at a lower price is your priority.
What platforms does StreamYard stream to?
StreamYard natively supports YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, X (Twitter), Instagram, Kick, and Brightcove. You can also stream to any platform that accepts RTMP, including Vimeo, Amazon Live, Dacast, and custom websites. RTMP destinations don't support chat integration or scheduling, but the stream itself works fine.
Is StreamYard good for podcasting?
Yes: it's one of the most popular tools for video podcasts. The guest-joins-via-link workflow is perfect for remote interviews, and the multi-track local recording (separate audio and video per participant) gives you clean files for editing. The limitation is that StreamYard records in a browser, so if your internet drops, the cloud recording can be affected. Always enable local recording as a backup.
Can StreamYard record in 4K?
4K local recording is available on the Advanced plan ($88.99/month) and above. The Core plan records in 1080p HD. Live streaming output is capped at 1080p on Core and 4K on Advanced, though most streaming platforms (YouTube, Twitch) max out at 1080p for live broadcasts anyway. The 4K recording is most useful for podcast post-production where you want the highest quality source files.
How many guests can join a StreamYard broadcast?
The Free plan supports 6 on-screen participants. The Core plan supports 10 on-screen guests. The Advanced plan allows 10 on-screen with 15 backstage participants total. Guests join through a browser link with no downloads or accounts required. The backstage area lets you brief guests before bringing them on camera.
Is StreamYard worth the price after the increase?
It depends on how much you use the guest and production features. Core is $44.99 a month and Advanced is $88.99 a month, verified 1 October 2026. If you stream solo to one platform occasionally, that is hard to justify when free alternatives exist, among them OBS Studio, which is free with no paid plans at all, on our 6 October 2026 check. The value equation shifted after the price rise: what used to be a clear bargain is now a calculated purchase.
Can I cancel StreamYard anytime?
Yes. StreamYard subscriptions can be cancelled anytime from your account settings. Monthly plans stop at the end of the current billing cycle. Annual plans continue until the end of the annual term: you won't get a prorated refund for unused months on annual billing. StreamYard also offers a 7-day money-back guarantee on new subscriptions.