What is Restream and how does it work – For those who want to stream on several platforms at the same time , there are several ways to do it: you can use an OBS plugin even if it means spending more effort to configure everything or you can use an external program like Restream, a software created expressly to comply. this purpose . In this post we are going to see in more detail what Restream is and how it works .
Table of Contents
What is Restream?
Restream is a program, then, that allows you to stream on several platforms at the same time . The possibilities are endless because you can be on all of them at the same time if you want: Twitch, YouTube, Facebook… and also on all those social networks that support live streaming, such as Twitter or Linkedin. In fact, if you want you can do it on up to 30 different channels. All in one and with a really easy setup.
Restream
Restream was born as the first service that allowed simultaneous streaming to more than one platform at the same time . This made its popularity increase a lot in a very short time and it had a good user base.
The next step they took was their Restream Chat . A small program that, once installed, allowed you to connect to your YouTube, Twitch and other direct services accounts and show comments from all platforms in real time.
This allows us to see all the contents of all the chats in the same place without having to change the web page and also answer all the platforms at the same time or only the one we choose.
In addition, by generating a link we can also superimpose a layer on our live where it looks exactly the same as in the program, so that our audience does not have to leave the full screen to see the comments.
Restream Studio
From the beginning, the Restream services were designed to be used with one of the direct tools that existed on the market. Restream’s next step was obvious. Create an online tool to replace those tools and fully integrated. Thus Restream Studio was born .
Restream Studio combines all the basics needed in a live tool.
These are the general features of Restream Studio in its free version.
- Activation controls – deactivation of the camera and microphone
- Share desktop, window, application or browser tab
- Up to six guests via private link.
- Private chat for guests
- Different templates for the layout of content sources (cameras, screen sharing, etc.)
- Volume, activation and featured content controls for all content sources.
- Function to highlight chat comments or written text in the form of a label.
Apart from Restream Studio we can also count on some very advanced and complete modules that will help us both to monitor the status of our direct and to analyze all its statistics . It is a feature that certainly adds value to the suite .
Now let’s talk about prices and version comparisons. To find out if it’s worth upgrading to a paid version, I’m going to take into account two features that I think are the most important.
The first is to get rid of the developer watermark and the second is to broadcast in Full HD 1080.
To find the best price we will look for the annual subscription since they all come with discounts and we will count the cost of a year of contracting as well as that cost divided month by month. Let’s look at the Restream pricing table.
Taking into account the table and what we have talked about before, a cost of $490 per year would have to be considered to make the leap. About €438 to change or €36.5 per month.
Thanks to the possibilities that Restream gives us, this platform is not only ideal for Twitch or YouTube streamers, but also for companies and workers looking to organize events, webinars, workshops, product launches, and much more.
So at a glance, Restream allows us to:
- Broadcast live from the browser (bypassing other software like OBS)
- Invite up to 10 guests to stream
- Customize the branding of your live broadcast: you can add overlays, logos, custom backgrounds, etc.
- Stream to 30+ channels at once
- Chat with your audience through live chat
- View analytics for your streams across all channels
- You can upload your pre-recorded videos and use them as a preroll
In this post we are more aimed at the audience of streaming type gaming or just chatting. If you are clear that you want to be on several sites at the same time, Restream can be a very professional and complete solution.
The only thing to keep in mind is that Restream is paid: with the standard plan of 19 euros/month it should be more than enough for your streaming on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook or Trovo Live .
All four platforms for streamers are covered and the most ambitious can be on all sites at once. You always have a period of 7 free days in case you dare to experiment with Restream.
If, on the other hand, you are looking for a simpler solution, totally free and you don’t mind spending a couple of hours on the configuration.
How does ReStream work?
If there is a clear advantage of Restream, it is that the configuration is really simple and in a matter of minutes you can start your streaming anywhere.
Once we have created the account, we will have to add the different channels where we are interested in streaming and link the accounts . For example, we start with Twitch:
We can add up to 30 channels where we want to stream. For example, we have added YouTube and Twitch, which we can decide whether to activate or not live with the ON/OFF buttons in the right column:
The first time we connect our accounts, before starting the streaming we will have to configure the audio and webcam sources :
It will take us to a tab similar to this one where we can configure everything necessary to be seen and heard well, where we can see the preview of how we are seen before clicking the Go Live button:
And that’s it: this would be the summary of what Restream is and how it works . As it is a program that stands out for its simplicity and ease of configuring multistream on various platforms and precisely because of this added value, the program is not free, unlike OBS, the most popular software.
Conclusions
In general, it is a good tool for direct with the addition of the analytics and monitoring modules, although there are some things that still need to be polished.
In our tests, accessing the direct from mobile as a guest sometimes did not work very well and could not connect. On the other hand, there are some aesthetic details that do not seem to work 100%.
The free version is fine to start messing around but if we want something with a more professional look we will have to scratch our pockets at a rate of €36.5/month. With this, we release several features such as the inclusion of a custom logo and graphics