Curious about where you can go live? I’ve compiled a list of every single live-streaming platform that I know of in 2023. Know of any others that I’ve missed? Join the Streamer’s Haven Discord and let me know! (Or leave a comment, I suppose; that’d work too!)
Table of Contents
Top Three Live Streaming Platforms
Most Popular for Streaming
Supports 4k Streaming*
Up and Coming
* – If you have the upload speed necessary
The Full List of Live Streaming Platforms
I’ve broken down the list of live streaming platforms into various categories based on what kind of content can be found on them. The platforms in this list are not organized in any specific way.
General Live Streaming Platforms
These platforms have no specific focus to them – the live streams can contain just about anything, and so the categorization is simply “general”.
- YouTube Live
- Facebook Live
- Tiktok Live
- Twitter Live
- Instagram Live
- Reddit Live
- Restream
Gaming Focused Live Streaming Platforms
These gaming focused live streaming platforms are some of the most popular platforms out there. They are also some of the most well kown platforms to the public.
- Twitch
- Trovo
- Glimesh
- Facebook Gaming
- Dlive
- Kick
Art Focused Live Streaming Platforms
I only know of a single art-focused live streaming platform at this time, and that is Picarto. Many artists on this platform show off their creative process. Just be warned, there is 18+ content on this site.
- Picarto
Business Focused Live Streaming Platforms
Honestly, I don’t know very much about these platforms, only that they show up a lot in “top live streaming platform” articles a lot. The only one I have any direct experience with is Linkedin.
- Linkedin Live
- Owlcast
- LiveStream by Vimeo
- IBM Cloud Video
- Brightcove
- Kaltura
- Qumu
- Dacast
Live Streaming Platforms in Development
These platforms are not currently at the state where they are fit for streaming on yet, but they are in development. New platforms in the works show that the live streaming industry as a whole is growing, and competition encourages innovation. I’m all for it.
- Lunr
- SharePlay
Dead Live Streaming Platforms
These are the platforms that have passed into the great beyond. I only know of Mixer, a project of Microsoft at this time. If you know of any others, I’d be happy to add them to this list.
- Mixer
The Best Live Streaming Platforms to Start on
Choosing a platform to start your journey as a live streamer comes down to answering a simple question:
- Why do you want to Stream?
The exact answer you come up with will determine your intent, and thus determine which platform is right for you.
Do you:
- Want to make money playing video games? I’d recommend Twitch, YouTube, or Trovo.
- Want to show off your art to friends? Picarto is the place to be.
- Want to create a podcast? Consider YouTube or Twitch.
- Want to play gambling games to an audience? Kick is where you’ll wanna go.
- Want to see where open source is at? Check out Glimesh.
- Have a business trying to do customer outreach? Try some of the business focused platforms.
- Want to maximize your reach across multiple live streaming platforms simultaniously? Restream is the one to use.
- Have a large audience on a social media site like Twitter? Stream on Twitter live (or whatever the platform is that you have a foothold on)
How Do you Monetize a Live Streaming Channel?
A few methods that you can use to monetize your live streaming channel are:
- Ads
- Affiliate Programs
- Selling Products
- Selling Courses
- Tips (TAXABLE)
- Subscriptions to your channel (Once Affiliated)
Of course, none of these matter if you don’t have an audience to make use of these monetization options. You will need to first focus on building a regular audience that finds your content interesting. Once that step is done, you can begin to push products to them in the form of sponsorship deals.
Just remember the FTC’s rules on disclosing affiliations and sponsorships – failure to adhere to them can result in the suspension of your channel, or even jail time.