Streamlabs, OBS, and vMix alternative
A Streamlabs Alternative With Nothing to Install
Streamlabs, OBS, and vMix are desktop programs: you install them, feed them your sources, and your computer does the work. ShowUs is a production studio that runs in a browser tab. Scenes, a broadcast audio mixer, a soundboard, remote guests, tickets, and multistreaming are all there when you open it, on any computer, for you, your producer, and your guests.
Why Creators Move Off Desktop Streaming Software
Desktop streaming software is powerful, and it also ties the show to one machine. Creators move to a browser studio when that becomes the bottleneck: when the show has remote guests, more than one person running it, or a laptop that cannot encode and run a video call at the same time.
- Remote guests usually need a separate call app routed into the software.
- Only the person at that computer can run the show, so a remote producer is hard.
- Multistreaming from your own machine multiplies the upload bandwidth you need.
- Every scene, plugin, and audio setting lives on one computer, so changing machines means rebuilding.
ShowUs vs Streamlabs: Side by Side
ShowUs and Streamlabs both give you scenes, overlays, and multistreaming. Streamlabs is a free desktop app built for gaming streams, with paid multistreaming. ShowUs is a browser studio built for shows with guests, with a screened caller queue, a remote producer seat, and ticketing included. Choose by whether your show is a game or a conversation.
| ShowUs | Streamlabs | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Browser, nothing to install | Desktop app |
| Built for | Shows with guests and callers | Gaming and solo streams |
| Remote guests | Invite links plus a screened audience queue | Collab Cam guests |
| Remote producer | Yes, from their own browser | Tied to the streaming computer |
| Landscape and vertical at once | Yes, on every plan | Yes, with Dual Output |
| Multistreaming | Included, 3 to unlimited destinations | Part of the paid Ultra plan |
| Tickets and paid access | Built in, keep 95% | Not offered |
| Game capture and alerts | Not the focus | A core strength |
| Price | From $19.99 a month, 7-day free trial | Free app, paid Ultra plan |
Competitor details checked October 2026 from public sources. Plans and features change, so check Streamlabs, OBS, and vMix directly before you decide.
An OBS Alternative With Nothing to Install
OBS is free, open source, and endlessly configurable, which is why it is the default for so many streamers. The cost is setup: plugins, virtual cameras, audio routing, and a separate tool for remote guests. ShowUs replaces that stack with one browser studio, so a new producer can run your show without installing or configuring anything.
You do not have to give OBS up entirely. Send its output into ShowUs with a stream key and use ShowUs for distribution, a ticketed event page, chat, and recording. When a show needs callers and private talkback, produce it in the ShowUs studio. Read more about the ShowUs studio features.
What Can I Use Instead of vMix That Runs in a Browser?
ShowUs is a browser-based alternative to vMix for live shows with remote guests. It covers the parts of vMix most talk shows and podcasts use: scenes and transitions, a per-source audio mixer, graphics and lower thirds, remote callers with private talkback, and streaming to many platforms, without a Windows PC or an install.
vMix remains the stronger tool for broadcast work that depends on local hardware, such as many camera inputs through capture cards, instant replay, or NDI production on a local network. If your show is people talking, a browser studio removes the hardware from the equation.
What You Give Up by Leaving Desktop Software
A browser studio is not the right tool for every stream, and it is worth being clear about what you lose.
- Local capture. Game capture, capture cards, and local camera rigs are what desktop software does best.
- Plugins. OBS and Streamlabs have large plugin ecosystems that a browser studio does not replicate.
- Gaming overlays and alerts. Streamlabs' alert boxes, widgets, and overlay store are built for gaming streams.
- Free forever. OBS costs nothing. ShowUs is a paid service after its 7-day free trial.
If those matter most, keep your desktop software, and consider sending its feed into ShowUs when you want tickets and multistreaming. If your show is built around guests and conversation, the ShowUs browser studio is the simpler place to run it.
Running a Hybrid Setup
You can keep desktop software for what it is best at and use ShowUs for distribution and revenue. In Self-stream mode, OBS or Streamlabs sends its finished program to ShowUs, and ShowUs sends it on to your destinations, hosts it on a ticketed event page with chat and a store, and records it. A gaming creator might stream a tournament from OBS this way and sell tickets to the watch party on ShowUs.
- 1Create a show in ShowUs, open it in the Produce page, and switch the stream mode to Self-stream.
- 2Copy the RTMPS server and stream key ShowUs shows you.
- 3In OBS or Streamlabs, set a custom stream server with that server and key, and start streaming.
- 4Add your destinations in the Multi Stream section, and ShowUs fans the feed out to all of them.
The feed keeps the resolution and frame rate your encoder sends, so a high-frame-rate game stays that way. When an episode needs callers or the browser studio's scenes, switch that show to Auto-stream and produce it in ShowUs instead.
FAQ
Do I need OBS or Streamlabs to use ShowUs?
No. ShowUs runs entirely in your browser, with scenes, audio mixing, a soundboard, and guest management in one tab. If you like your OBS or Streamlabs setup, you can still send its feed into ShowUs with a stream key.
Can ShowUs capture games like Streamlabs?
ShowUs can use screen sharing as a source, but it is not built for game capture. For a gaming stream that depends on local capture, alerts, and gaming overlays, desktop software like Streamlabs or OBS is the better tool.
Does ShowUs work on a Mac or Chromebook?
Yes. ShowUs runs in a modern browser, so it works on Windows, Mac, and Chromebook computers without a download. Guests can join from a phone browser too.
Keep reading
Run your next show from a browser tab
Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, with nothing to download for you, your producer, or your guests.